Welding General Thread - A general guide on turning hot steel into trucks, trains, and airplanes as well as posting your own welds.

Big Fat Frog said:
That helmet does seem nice. I think I’ll snag one when I have the opportunity. Already upset I put stickers on ol’ reliable though *sigh*

Agree with you on MIG, though. It’s incredibly fun and easy, and I love the sound it makes. It’s basically the cliché sound you hear in cartoons and movies all the time. The wire is a bitch though when it gets all snagged. Happened to me before and I couldn’t get it back in properly so I basically wasted a good couple feet of wiring.
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The Digital Infinity is truly one of the best quality of life investments I've made as a welder, and I'm saying that having worn many helmets of Miller and Lincon make and quality. Ergonomic, light despite its quite intelligent electronics, which are VERY smart depending on the mode and how you set it, and changing parts out are easy as can be.

Ah wire feed issues lol. I may talk about that later in a future section on how not to fuck yourself or at least minimize it, but consider it a rite of passage, we've all been there
 
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I'm too old to become a hardcore welding autist, and the main reason I'm thinking of buying a welder is for minor repairs around the house. Would a cheap-ass stick welder like this one reviewed a while back by This Old Tony be good enough for light use maybe 3-4 times a year?


I'll buy a decent quality welding helmet and other safety gear though.
 
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For $127 you can get this machine.
www.weldingandcutting.com

Marquette By Lincoln Electric Auto-Pro 155s

The Marquette Auto-Pro 155S 220v Stick Welder is compact for portability and has a 10 to 155 amp output that supports mild steel stick electrode diameters from 5/64' to 5/32'.
www.weldingandcutting.com
It is an import but it is backed by Lincoln Electric.
It says it will do tig if you buy a torch for it.

If you want to go with one of the random no name import machines my advice is buy it from Amazon and use the crap out of it the first 30 days.
Quality control is hit or miss on this stuff.
If it is going to fail you want it to while you can send it back.
Another option is to buy the extended warranty.

I did that with a Prime day special plasma cutter I bought.
It wasn't too expensive to get a 3 year warranty on it.

Good Luck!
 
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TheGoodNamesHaveBeenTaken said:
For $127 you can get this machine.
www.weldingandcutting.com

Marquette By Lincoln Electric Auto-Pro 155s

The Marquette Auto-Pro 155S 220v Stick Welder is compact for portability and has a 10 to 155 amp output that supports mild steel stick electrode diameters from 5/64' to 5/32'.
www.weldingandcutting.com
It is an import but it is backed by Lincoln Electric.
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Unfortunately I'm not in the States, so I'll have to resort to...
TheGoodNamesHaveBeenTaken said:
one of the random no name import machines
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There's a Home Depot kinda place over here that sells what looks like those cheap-ass 120A stick welders under their house brand. I'd like to think that quality control would be a bit better on these than similar units from from Amazon or AliExpress. 3 year warranty and I can take it back to the store. An Amazon cheapie is probably $20-$30 less expensive, but I'm happy to pay a little extra for a decent warranty and the reduced risk of electric shock.
 
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Faggot Welding.png


To start off your going to need to Flux your joints really well....
 
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Ok I have returned for what will be
Part 4: Flux-Core
images (98).jpeg
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Stick is coming next, I promise.

Flux Core is interesting. It's quite similar to MIG, uses the same machines usually, but it is different. It in a phrase, is the 21st century version of stick. Deep penetration, slag, optional use of gas, and high deposition rate. It can be used in all positions, though it does need to be dragged much like stick. It's a bit tricky to get the hang of AT FIRST, but once you do, you can use it for EVERYTHING.

What do I mean by everything? While it is less suited for thin metal, though it can do it, it's real strengths come from welding thicker plates, such as on Ships, fences, trailers, really anything you can think of. I even used a little on a sculpture:
20230113_043137.jpg
Mostly internal, but I did.

Now there is slag, but it's much easier to chip away than Stick. Just have a good slag hammer. Machines for this process are cheap if you're just looking to get started, Harbor Freight has a few boxes that at least do the job.

I hope this has been helpful, if you have any questions, just ask! I'll see you in Stick next!
 
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What's your opinion on dual shield?
Flux core that requires shielding gas?

One more brand that beginners might want to check out is Firepower.
I suspect they are imports now but they are backed by ESAB.
This explains some about them https://firepoweronline.com/about-us-2/

If the price was right this would be an option that isn't getting in to the wild wild West of the Chinese machines.

This looks like a decent deal https://www.amazon.com/FIREPOWER-1444-1200-120-230V-Thickness-Regulator/dp/B097S2Q2JR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=24QLWC0NAF575&keywords=firepower+welding&qid=1681012648&sprefix=firepower+welding,aps,194&sr=8-1&th=1

$543 for a 200 amp Mig welder.
The Hobart Handler 190 is $850 at Tractor Supply.
Even the Hobart Handler 140 is $600
The Firepower is a WAY more capable machine for less money.
Granted the Hobart is a transformer machine.
That has plusses and minuses.
Transformer machines are usually more durable but they are a lot heavier too.

The newer Hobart Handlers seem to be prone to problems in the wire feed circuity.
If you google Hobart Handler wont feed you get a lot of hits.
There are even places that sell parts that are supposed to fix the problems.
Then again they are one of if not the most popular series of welders of all time.
They may not fail more often, there are just so many of them out there.

In favor of the Firepower it is a dual voltage machine.
You would have to step up to the Hobart Handler 210 MVP to get that.
60 more amps doesn't sound like much but in my limited experince 220 Volt Mig welders are much more capable than 110 V units.
You can spend less time grinding & beveling and more time welding with a 220 Unit.


My advice would be if you are intrested buy it, consider the extended warranty from Amazon.
Either way work it HARD for 3 weeks and send it back if you don't like it.
You would have to pay freight but it has a 30 day return.

One more thing, $150 rebate!

Have never used one of their machines but my brother had one of their torches.
They were labeled Firepower by Victor back then.
His set worked great and he did not baby them.

I don't know where the Firepower or Victor stuff is made now.
I have an old Victor torch and regulator set up.
It works great.
 
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TheGoodNamesHaveBeenTaken said:
What's your opinion on dual shield?
Flux core that requires shielding gas?
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Dual shield is great but not as cheap. That's part of the pro of Flux-Core, gas is optional at the cost of ease of use and heat. Still, if you're just buying a box and don't want to buy a tank and then fill it, Flux-Core is a good choice
 
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Disappointed no one has mentioned explosion welding yet.



Obviously not for the hobbyist, unless you meet a generous glownigger on Discord who would find it politically convenient to hook you up with a few pounds of RDX. But damn is it cool. Take two metals, blow them together with a controlled explosion, and boom, you have armor cladding on your hull.
 
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Shart Attack said:
Disappointed no one has mentioned explosion welding yet.



Obviously not for the hobbyist, unless you meet a generous glownigger on Discord who would find it politically convenient to hook you up with a few pounds of RDX. But damn is it cool. Take two metals, blow them together with a controlled explosion, and boom, you have armor cladding on your hull.
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It's welding in a sense that there is fusion. It's certainly generating a ton of energy. Reminds me of a HEAT warhead but in reverse by their description.
1280px-Obus_501556_fh000021.jpg
 
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Car Won't Crank said:
I can JB weld stuff. Hope to learn actual welding when time permits.

View attachment 5046817
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Learn it if you can man, I'll promote it till the day I die. Trade school is cheap, just do research on the school you want to go to, use youtube, and buy a welder. Speaking of, I'm buying a welder, a Firepower multiprocess machine

Check around different sites for different prices and rebates, but you really don't need much to start depending on what you want to learn.
 
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Didn't know there was a welding thread. My dad was a CWI with boiler and pressure vessel. Taught me in middle school, so I did odd jobs after school for a while. I can only do stick and tig, but I hear mig is the easiest even though I've never touched it. I find stick to be boringly simple, and TIG is what I love to do. It's like meditation.
 
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