Welders

[GMC]

This topic started on another thread but i thought i would give it it's own home.
The story so far...

Can I ask what welder you would recommend to a home user playing around with dirt bike parts and customising?

AC DC Tig, or a Mig and Spoolgun?

Would it be possible to fabricate an aluminium fuel tank with a Mig?

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GMC that is awesome work. 
A work of art.

Is that welded with AC DC Tig, or a Mig and Spoolgun?

Can I ask what welder you would recommend to a home user playing around with dirt bike parts and customising?

Would it be possible to fabricate an aluminium fuel tank with a Mig?

regards
Gav

Thanks Gav
Not sure if you’re referring to the muffler or the chamber but the seams down the length of the chamber are Migged and all the welds around the circumference of the chamber are Tigged.

The muffler bracket is Tigged

Not sure what to recommend in welders, it’s a dilemma for me as well.
There’s always a very thin line between
“You get what you pay for”
and
“A fool and his money are soon parted”

From my experience the cheap arse Migs aren’t that great so I imagine the cheap Tigs aren’t that great either.

Are you looking for a Mig or Tig?
Either way the modern Inverter welders are the way to go and most of the modern small Migs have the option of scratch start Tig built in.
However that won’t help you put an Aluminium tank together.

Forget using a Mig for these sorts of jobs, unless you’re going to make it out of ¼” plate.
Migs are the best for general fabrication work but there not much chop for anything delicate or from ‘exotic’ materials.
A Spool gun should help with aluminium but I still wouldn’t use it on a tank.

A Tig would be best but it can take a while to get the experience needed which can be a costly learning curve based on the price of Argon these days.

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Thanks for that insight Geoff. Appreciate it.

Are you looking for a Mig or Tig?

Yes this is my dilemma, but now you have me leaning towards tig setup.
I liked the look of those new Mig/Tig Combo's with the option of a spoolgun, but I dont know how good the Tig operation would be compared to a dedicated Tig machine?
Plus, way down the track I know I would like to tackle something like a Tank or airbox in aluminium. Which, as you mention really requires an AC-Tig.
Just thought it would be nice to be able to do some light fabrication, and still be able to weld a trailer or something big.

Not sure what to recommend in welders, it’s a dilemma for me as well.

I have spent a fair bit of time looking at welders, and I just keep going around in circles on what to get.
Theres no way I can afford those Millers and Lincolns etc. So that really leaves the Chinese stuff.
So far I have found that the good cheap brands are Tokentools, Everlast and Unitig/Unimig, which apparently dont blow up and have good quality transistors/invertors.
I also read that added Plasma cutter can reduce the life of a Tig Welder, in cheap machines?


These are the units I have been looking at.  ( BTW, I have stuff all welding experience ).

http://tokentools.com.au/prod31.htm      (mig/tig)

http://tokentools.com.au/category6_1.htm          (tig)

http://www.everlastwelds.com.au/welders/?pid=MTS_200S             (mig/tig)

http://www.everlastwelds.com.au/welders/?pid=products-category-58.html             (tig)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/UNITIG-ACDC-200-AMP-TIG-WELDER-/280883623249?pt=AU_Welding&hash=item4165f7f551            (tig)


These ones below look interesting, but I cant find reviews on em.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/WeldSmart-200-Amp-Ac-Dc-Pulse-Tig-Stick-Welder-Arc-/120613577375?pt=AU_Welding&hash=item1c1521229f
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Cigweld-Weldskill-200-AC-DC-Tig-new-Model-/280900156973?pt=AU_Welding&hash=item4166f43e2d


Thanks again.

( Just checked out your website, bloody hell your right into it - good lookin stuff. Website looks cool to ).

[GMC]

The Millers and Lincolns are at the top end of the market and the Chinese at the bottom but there are a few middle of the road brand’s that are worth considering.


A Mig is what you need if you want to make a trailer or a workbench etc.

A DC Tig is what you need if you want to weld a frame or exhaust or make something from stainless.

 An AC/DC Tig is what you need if you want to make an alloy airbox.

I have read too that the Plasma / Welder combo’s don’t last that well
That doesn’t help your dilemma much but if you are not that experienced that I would suggest a Mig with the Tig option.

You can start your experience with some brackets and workbench’s etc and you can start learning to Tig with a scratch start Tig (its all we had back in the 70’s when I first learnt to Tig)
Then in time you can get yourself an AC/DC Tig to do Aluminium
$1000.00 – 200 amp AC/DC Tigs seem like a good deal compared to my 5 grand unit, how times change.

[GMC]

“Oils aren’t oils Sol”

I was in the hunt for a Mig in recent times so I checked out a few….

BOC are good in that they will happily demo what they have, take along some steel that you are thinking you want to weld otherwise they will just drag out a big plate. All welders will lay down a bead and stick things together but some will do it nicer than others.

BOC have a mid size (physical size) and I can’t remember its name but it is a green unit
It was about a grand or so. It would stick things together okay but it coughed and spluttered a bit too much for my liking.

They also have a taller unit, can’t remember what they call it but it is a redish colour.
It was around $1500 and it was a great machine. I would have happily bought one unfortunately an Architect had designed the controls. For the sake of an extra button and gauge it would have been perfect, but as it is it was a real pain in the arse to adjust it as you had to keep going back & forth with the buttons to take you to another ‘window’ in order to make different adjustments .

Tested a Kempi Adaptive Mig and it impressed me a lot.
There are a few Migs now that will automatically adjust themselves to suit the conditions. You need to set the heat range and it will then adjust the wire speed once you start welding.
It was around $2200 and I was seriously thinking about getting one but in the meantime ESAB brought out a similar machine for around $1500.

I bought one of these ESAB units and it was a fantastic welder to use, you could adjust it manually too so if your keen, like me, you can fine tune it for different jobs.
Unfortunately I blew 2 of them up in the first 3 weeks.
It wasn’t that it was a crappy welder but these welders that accept feedback to adjust themselves are fragile internally. It was determined that ‘feedback’ through the earth lead from my AC Tig destroyed the Migs circuit boards.
They offered to replace it again (so a big thumbs up for ESAB) but I declined for fear of future problems.
Most guys would probably be happy with them but I tend to work from the same workbench so always have the earth leads attached which doesn’t work with these welders. They did offer to sell me one of their AC/DC Tig’s that they would guarantee not to be a problem but I wasn't ableto shit 5 grand out of my arse at the time.

I then needed a Mig in a hurry so I opted for  Jasic from a local supplier, Its okay, it will stick things together but not as smoothly as I would like.
Got my eye on an inverter Kempi that doesn’t automatically adjust.
It should be a good unit at somewhere around $1500
But at the moment I need to find a new transmission for my Ute so a new welder is down the list.

[Lozza]

Pete from Tokentools is top bloke , I got my replacement welder from him a fan went and I drove down there and he fixed it on the spot and replaced a flow meter all FOC.

[GMC]

I was looking at A Unimig as well.
I know of a few factories that happily use them but they have released (a while now I guess) an Inverter Mig.
A welding supply store was selling them for around $1800 and would have happily demoed one but then I saw some cheap Tool shop selling them for $1200.

Trouble is the cheap store weren’t interested in letting me try one, they couldn’t as the salespeople they employ wouldn’t know how to turn one on, they just wanted to make a quick easy sale.
I couldn’t bring myself to pay the extra from the store with good service and I didn’t want to buy one from a store that didn’t give a shit whether I liked it or not so I gave Unimig a miss altogether

[topari]

Pete from Tokentools is top bloke , I got my replacement welder from him a fan went and I drove down there and he fixed it on the spot and replaced a flow meter all FOC.

Small world. I just purchased my new TIG setup from Pete.

http://tokentools.com.au/prod18.htm#mc_signup

[GT43]

Just discovered this "Welding" thread, - good idea GMC. Thanks.
Interesting info here.

Ill'e have a look at BOC, see what they have on offer.
But Tokentools might be the go.

Yes, trying to learn Tig aluminium welding worries me a bit, as I have no Tig experience at all. Have heard of people that are good at Tig DC welding, even struggle when they go over to AC aluminium.
If I go straight into learning Aluminium Tig, there might be a National shortage of Argon gas, in trying to get the hang of it. 

if you are not that experienced that I would suggest a Mig with the Tig option.

I think youre right. Cheers.

Wouldnt it be great if someone released a Welder that did Mig, Tig ac/dc and stick (MMA), the whole lot in one.

[Lozza]

If I go straight into learning Aluminium Tig, there might be a National shortage of Argon gas, in trying to get the hang of it. 

Not really just practice walking backwards and forwards to the grinder, and cleaning grey ash off the job. It's not hard to get acceptable results, but things like crater fill and welding at a open end are the tricky bits.

[Mike52]

I was looking at A Unimig as well.
I know of a few factories that happily use them but they have released (a while now I guess) an Inverter Mig.

I have a Mag Mate Pro inverter mig and cannot believe the performance . 250 amps on a 15 amp lead , fully adjustable and only weighs 16kg.

[Slakewell]

I have an old CIG 180 ac/dc tig that I purchased from a sheet metal guy whom had had just upgraded for the paltry sum of $200 that meets my needs for bike restro. I have owned a beautiful Miller 350 with full remote slider that was really nice to use.
I would recommend to any home welder a good second hand CIG 250 MIG and then purchase a new Binsiel gun for it , These are good dependable MIGs with a nice arc. One well kept secret that most miss is point 0.8 wire instead of 0.9. This allows these small migs to work much better.

[GMC]

I was looking at A Unimig as well.
I know of a few factories that happily use them but they have released (a while now I guess) an Inverter Mig.

I have a Mag Mate Pro inverter mig and cannot believe the performance . 250 amps on a 15 amp lead , fully adjustable and only weighs 16kg.

Now you’ve confused me, granted it’s easily done these days but “Mag Mate” comes up as a BOC unit not Unimig.
And it appears to be the BOC unit that I hated!!

[Zakk]

I was looking at A Unimig as well.
I know of a few factories that happily use them but they have released (a while now I guess) an Inverter Mig.

I have a Mag Mate Pro inverter mig and cannot believe the performance . 250 amps on a 15 amp lead , fully adjustable and only weighs 16kg.

sounds impressive, whats the machines duty cycle? also what welding wire you using to weld with 250 amps?

[GT43]

Ill'e have a look at BOC, see what they have on offer.

Ermm, sorry I meant to say Kempi instead of Boc.

Theres too many brands.


Is Unimig/Unitig a rebadged Jasic ?


 

[Tim754]

Wouldnt it be great if someone released a Welder that did Mig, Tig ac/dc and stick (MMA), the whole lot in one.

Son using such 440volt unit right now ,even has it's own 28KVA diesel generator, nine various sized gas cylinder provision,Plasma, a oxy/act set self contained and is on  a self propelled platform. Only two hundred and forty two grand including GST....

[GMC]

Ill'e have a look at BOC, see what they have on offer.

Ermm, sorry I meant to say Kempi instead of Boc.

Theres too many brands.


Is Unimig/Unitig a rebadged Jasic ?


 

Yeah, I noticed those Unimig’s looked similar to my Jasic last night when I googled them.
That puts me off Unimig’s, well that model anyway.

The Tokentools Mig seems all right on paper but I’m not that keen on driving to NSW to test one out.

Both the Kempi and Esab are definitely good units, just more expensive that your average e-bay special