Subject: Re: Welder choice for auto welding

From: [email-masked] (Steven J Orlin)
Date: 28 Jan 1994 23:08:01 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
Andy Dingley <[email-masked]> wrote:
>In article <[email-masked]>
>           [email-masked] "Bob Maccione" writes:
>>   I've got a hole in the floor of my 55 Olds and would like to attack the
>> welding of it myself.
>
>No question about it, get a mig.
>
>Oxy/acetylene ? Great fun, but sloooowwww........ In the UK, the costs of

fun?  I would never think of Oxygen/acetylene welding as fun...
nerve racking is more like it.
>
>Tig ?  Great thing to have around, but expensive to buy. For simple bodywork,
>I'd be hard-pressed to think of any advantage over mig.

Oh, you seem to know a lot about tigs obviously.

I must say that the TIG welder is my favorite.   While it does cost more
than others, and it requires Argon gas, and a contant water/ coolant supply,
the welds come out far superior with less talent than many other welders.  
And it is the most versatile welder I have used (not most mobile though!)

I wouldn't even want to think about welding tubing, or aluminum with anything
else.

Quite simply, there is nothing intimidating about a TIG welder.  You control
the "juice" at the touch of a peddle with your foot, and it produces a small
beam of light that iluminates the area around where you are working.  No
blowing holes through things, if you're careful.

Oh well, to each his own.

Anyways, the overwhelming response for auto work seems to be in favor
of mig.

steve

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From: [email-masked] (Andy Dingley)
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 19:23:39 +0000

[email-masked] "Steven J Orlin" writes:
> Quite simply, there is nothing intimidating about a TIG welder.

The price is intimidating. For 200 UK pounds, you can buy a brand new mig
welder and enough supplies to repair the average car. You're looking at 400
pounds *at least* before you get a reasonable second-hand tig welder, then
have to keep it fed and watered.

Tig is wonderful, but mig will get *this* job done just as well. When both
methods are "point and click" welding, then save the money.

-- 
Andy Dingley   Codesmiths of Newcastle   [email-masked]

          Save the whales !   Collect the whole set

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From: [email-masked] (Bruce Haley)
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 15:40:32 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Steven J Orlin) writes:

|> fun?  I would never think of Oxygen/acetylene welding as fun...
|> nerve racking is more like it.

Sure, oxyacetylene welding is lots of fun, as long as you are good at it.  It
takes much more practice to get good at it, though.
 
|> I must say that the TIG welder is my favorite.   While it does cost more
|> than others, and it requires Argon gas, and a contant water/ coolant supply,
|> the welds come out far superior with less talent than many other welders.  
|> And it is the most versatile welder I have used (not most mobile though!)
|> 
|> I wouldn't even want to think about welding tubing, or aluminum with anything

Yes, TIG is the cadillac of welders.  You can weld anything, and weld it very
pretty, with TIG.  The big drawbacks of TIG are expense (I have yet to see a good
TIG unit for less than $1000), and, with respect to auto body work, finite length
filler rods (and tungsten electrodes that need reshaping frequently).  It can get
awful annoying when you are welding a 4 foot frame rail to have to stop every 6
inches or so for a new filler rod.  This is where MIG shines - just start up your
gun, and you can weld all day long without stopping, if you desire.

For the average homeowner, the cost is the big factor, which is why you usually
end up with a gas unit or a small MIG (and usually flux-cored, at that).

Just my $0.02.

Bruce
-- 
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" Signature file ?  We don' need no stinking signature file !!"

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From: [email-masked] (Paul Compton -RESCU)
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 1994 10:31:59 GMT

-> Be very careful where you decide to use braze on a car.  It cracks
   -> very easily, and shouldn't be used in any area which absorbs
   -> vibrations.
   -> It is also not as strong as weld.
   ->
   -> I've only had bad experiences with braze --except making lanterns :)

   --> Something's wrong with your technique.

   I use mig extensivly in car repair work and would seldom use gas partly 
for the reason that many cars are built from "high strength steels" which can
buckle, corrode or in unusual cases split after being gas welded. Where I do 
use gas is where I am repairing a bent pannel and know I will have to beat it
I use gas.
	In the UK brazing in NOT acceptable for structural rapairs to unit
construction cars and if spotted will lead to an MOT fail, I know of one 
person who brazed on a replacement sill and then had to mig weld it, he ended
up in hospital due to the toxic fumes produced
	I have modified my mig with a variable pulse wire feed which allows
very thin sheet to be welded
	With tube frames I would mig weld 16 swg tube if after speed of 
construction and probably bronze weld (gas) if after light weight

		Paul Compton

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Paul Compton                                    Rothamsted Experimental Station
                                                  Harpenden, Herts. AL5 2JQ. UK
e-mail: [email-masked]                         +44 (0)582 763133 x2413
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