21 replies to this topic

[josh.evans]

gas is much better i had a clark 110e and it was very good. getting a good weld is i recon mainly down to getting your welder set up properly when i 1st got mine the weld very horible but someone then came round and set it up for me a it really dod make a huge!! difference. and i would recomend a one of the auto welding mask and it make it much easy its really hard to get a good weld with though cheap welding masks that just have a dark tint very hard.

good luck with your welding and finding one

Josh

[R1mini]

MIG everytime for car work, 60amps wouldn't bother me but not good for a beginner. It is entirely possible to get very neat results with a mig, some of the mig welds you see posted are grim but most of that is poor preparation and the operator, done properly it's neat and quick

Cheers
David

[jwb_moto]

Sean you can get tig torch attatchments that dont have the big tail on the back so you can get in all sorts of places. when im ready to order a welder im getting a tiggy as imo there is a lot less rework to be done after the weld has been completed.

The one im ordering comes from a company called R-tech they also do mig welders and are uk based with good customer feedback from what ive read across some of the welding forums.

[Rich.]

I guess its all just preference. If time was a concern, go for Mig, if not then i would choose tig anyday, as do most of the Automotive resto prorams such as American Hotrod and the ike, but even then you see some of the guys prefering to Mig instead. All just preference. However in general, you get a much neater weld, can weld FAR thinner material easier, have a much greater control over the weld (The heat displaced, the size of the bead, the penetration, the amount of filler ect), yet i have to agree its not for your weekend hobbist, however as a process its my fav by far.

As for the torch attatchment, its just a smaller tungsten tighting cap and you use a cut down tungsten which makes the torch tiny, if not smaller than a Mig.


Rich

[TopGearRules]

Im looking for a welder at the moment. Anyone tired an Arc welding system? Are they any good for mini work?

Alex

[Rich.]

If you have never welded before the your going to struggle to jump straight onto bodywork iwth an Arc. There very good for thick metal, yet even then its quite a hard process to lean, but not the best on thinner metal. It is possible with lower amps and thin rods, but for a first time welder you would be far better with a Mig.

Rich

[MiniDick]

The positive with Arc welding is that you don't need gas and they're cheap. The negative is it can be dirty, you can get *woman of ill repute* in the weld if you don't keep the weld tidy, even when you use the smallest welding rods, it's a pain in the arse if you keyhole the metal. MIG is probably best for auto work if you're a novice, just get some scrap metal, clean it the slap some lines out, just remember to set the welder up for the thickness of metal you're welding, there's plenty of info online about setting your welder up. When MIG welding outside you might need something to stop the wind as if it blows your shielding gas away, your weld will be porous. TIG welding is nice, but it can take ages to get the speed right and feeding the wire in etc. If I was a beginner, I'd start with a MIG.