About Welding metals Options

[njccmd2002]

why?

[Cuts_the_Pilot]

being a fitter and machinist i believe im suitably qualified to anwser this qn.

TIG welding is prob one of the harder ones to get a neat weld with good penetration, you can get the strongest weld for the weld size with a tig, and they look the neatest. But they are expensive to buy, expensive to run (as pure argon gas is more expensive to buy then argonshield, argonshield is the gas used by mig welders). If your good at using it you can weld extreemly thin metals, such as ally cans. (im not that good lol)
If you want to weld aluminium with your tig they are more expensive again.

MIGS are easy to use, easy to get a good looking weld, generally you cant weld much below say .8mm thick, but you wouldnt want to most of the time. As i said before argonshield is cheaper then pure argon. You can weld thicker metals with a mig, for example you wouldnt weld anything over 10 or 12mm with the average tig, but a normal mig you can confortably weld up to say 25mm thick or more (up to 1 inch for you non metric people).


OXY, Good for welding odd metals, and dissimilar metals, such as copper, brass etc.
Well if you want to seam weld your car then yeah get one , for normal welding dont even think about it.
oxy sets are handy to have because they can be used for other things such as if you have a bolt stuck you can heat up the part and get it out, but thats not often and headting barels chew through gas like there is no tomorrow.

You didnt mention stick welders, which is a good thing really they are the cheapest of the lot to buy, and run, but sticks are yesterdays news, they arnt too bad to use, you can weld big stuff, and you can weld inside and out (outside if its windy your gas will be blown away in the case of the other 3).
But sticks produce slag and that requires chipping off, plus you have to stop all the time to chuck a new stick in if your doing a run.

get a mig, will be most suitable for your application....Also if you have no experience welding go to a tafe or similar place (duno what you would call them over there but its a place apprentice mechainics, fitters, hairdressers, plumbers, sparkies etc go to do some training out of work, so everyone gets at least a bit of the same training).
That way you get to learn a few tricks of the trade.