Welding help!! Which type?

[BigBlueBeast]

I am new into the welding game, and after seeing just having a hole welded in the sill of my car, I am wanting to go bigger and get my own welder to do general jobs. I want one that will weld VERY thin steel (sports car body panels) but also Landy chassis. I dont want to blow holes in the car, but dont know whether to get ARC, MIG, Gas or Gasless. Any help on here would be appreciated!

[Terranosaurus]

Mig sounds like the thing for you, gas MIG is usually better but gasless is perfectly good and can certainly have its uses if you need to weld outside (with a breeze) - theres also a fair number of Gas/No Gas MIGs about.

You'll struggle to weld thin panels with  ARC, OxyAcetalene gas welding can be good on panel work but then you're into licenses etc an it all gets too compicated for DIY use IMHO.

[piggysteve]

Check out these guys mate, some good advice on here.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php



Steve

[Panda]

As said above....gas-MIG

[topless matt]

Def gas mig for what you need, if it is outside, put a screen up to shield it from the wind and you will be fine.

[carbore]

Allegedly DC inverters for TIG are getting quite cheap and are the "must have" for the DIY restoration market (as all my mates told me after I forked out for a Ceobra MIG)

[lee celtic]

gas/gasless mig best allround choice by far , tig is very good for thin sheet and bracket making but the mig is the best all rounder...

[topless matt]

It depends on what you are used to, i have been welding with an arc for almost 10 years now and i find it the easiest for me. I can weld 1mm plate up to 20mm plate with the right welder.
HOWEVER.......... many people find a mig easier as they dont stick, easy to see what is happening and a host of other reasons. plus it is harder to blow holes in metal with a mig unless you are doing something wrong. :lol:

[V8MoneyPit]

I would suggest a MIG is easier to learn as a beginner. It is far more forgiving with respect to using the wrong power for the metal thickness. Nice results can be achieved with practice as with anything. I've been using a MIG for 20 years or so (the same one!).

Just recently been self teaching TIG welding of aluminium. A whole different ball game  :shock: But, it's the material, not the TIG that makes it difficult.

If you anticipate using your welder for aluminium in the future, then TIG is the way to go. However, don't be tempted by one of the cheap inverters. You need to spend a fair amount to get one suitable for ally. Fortunately, my colleague at work spent £2.5k on one that I make good use of  :lol:

[boss]

a DC inverter is only about £150 but you need all the other stuff to go with it buy the time you have bought your self a tig set using said inverter you will have spent more money than you would have done on a half diecent mig.  if you were to buy a tig like this you might be annoyed( i know i would) at having spent that much money on a welder that wont have hotstart and ac/dc function.

as said before, it doesnt matter what set you have you can weld anything aslong as you know how. i have a sealey mig i bought it for £100 second hand. there ok....only ok, not good not bad. if your going to be serious about it get a good one kemppi (i think it how its spelt) make good ones at a reasonable price and migatronic ( :drool: ) if you can stretch to that much.

get yourself a GAS mig(argoshield) , some steel and play around for a few hours. youll be sorted in no time

[SWEETY]

Interesting read guy's :Pbeen thinking of getting a mig myself (motor going to need welding soon)& teaching myself to weld :doh:what would be the best sort of power to get as an all rounder as i'll have panels to repair & am thinking of poss having ago of building a heavy duty bumper or poss winch bumper for my truck in time

[V8MoneyPit]

I think Boss has hit the nail firmly on the head. For most light steel work, a half decent DIY level MIG will do perfectly well. My 20 year old SIP 130 has done *almost* every steel welding job I've needed to do. It does struggle a little at the chassis steel thickness in that the thermal cut out kicks in too often. But this is solved with a little patience.

[Ridgeback]

I also agree with boss but would add the following,

Tig can give very nice welds but as he said you could get a good spec Mig for the cost of a low spec Tig set. Tig is not very good on rusty landrovers and requires good clean metal to get any welds.
Its also not as easy to use when welding very thin rusty cars.

I'm sure everyone has there own opinion on what is best and as always with this type of question everyones an expert but we should remember that not everyones practical skill level is the same and for this reason the Mig would be best to start with.

I spent 3 years on the advanced welding institute course and have been coded on many different types of welding. I have also seen the damage that can be causes by bad welding.

The thing with Mig welding is its easy to get what looks like a good weld but has no penetration, this is a problem if welding safety critical parts on your car.

I don't want to put anyone off welding there own cars but make sure you have had plenty of practice first and make sure your happy with the weld penetration before welding your car.

When looking for a welding set its always good to get the most powerfull you can afford and again if you can afford the extra, go for one with a Euro torch (means you can replace the torch)
Get plenty of scrap to play with and try and think about the effects of heat before starting welding. You will find that big areas might need you to weld small parts at opposite corners to spread the heat and avoid bending or distorting the metal.