i am getting into welding,and even though i dont have a welder yet,i am looking for a good starter one.i was wondering,if i was to make a manifold out of mild steel,would this be a good material to use?would it rust?what if i painted it.

P.S.:i am a n00b at welding.

 

it will rust. mig is easiest to learn and most economical for most of us. practice practice practice.

 

I got my syncrowave 350 up and running today (tig) and actually practiced welding on an old bent mild steel midpipe. It didn't rust THAT much for some reason after sitting outside for eight months; it might have been treated though....

You can get food grill paint and paint up your exhaust with it. It's matte black but should hold. One of the guys in the security forum securitricked out his car and mentioned that he made his exhaust less noticeable and more sleeper-like with that paint...

 

Thanks for the responds guys.I have $250 dollars to spent on a welder,any recomandations?i know it aint enough,but like i said,i just wanna start with something.I've seen some for around that price,but when they say the specs on it,i get COMPLETLY LOST.any help would be greatfull

 

Okay. Look for something used but in good condition. I would go with a Lincoln MIG. By the way, you will have to buy/rent/lease a tank on top of that $250. I definitely wouldn't pay any less than $250 for any welding machine. edit: I mean Miller mig! Lincoln isn't that bad though..


Modified by parasonic at 5:36 PM 12/30/2004

 

tank for what?how much do these run for?

 

its gonna be costly no matter how you go about it. youll spend half your money in tank deposit (for the shielding gas) first fill and a spool of wire.

if thats all the money youve got, i would save up a while instead of ending up with a half worthless machine and no money. start asking around your friends who they know with a welder. everyone knows someone with a mig. i would pay someone i knew the cost to cover electric and cosumables,, then go and play once in a while. that way you can bring your projects, weld them yourself cheap, and not have to buy all the equipment, wire up your garage, etc. probably not what you wanna hear, but a good place to start. other people learned the ropes the hard way and can help you avoid the same mistakes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dabig1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the responds guys.I have $250 dollars to spent on a welder,any recomandations?i know it aint enough,but like i said,i just wanna start with something.I've seen some for around that price,but when they say the specs on it,i get COMPLETLY LOST.any help would be greatfull</TD></TR></TABLE>I second the other responses. I bought a Lincold 135, a tank of C25, some wire, nozzle dip, wire brushes, etc. I'm at about $650. This is about the minimum you should be expecting to spend if you want to be able to do anything with the welder. I already wish I had gone bigger, but at the time I hadn't researched enough.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mike_belben@yahoo.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its gonna be costly no matter how you go about it. youll spend half your money in tank deposit (for the shielding gas) first fill and a spool of wire.

if thats all the money youve got, i would save up a while instead of ending up with a half worthless machine and no money. start asking around your friends who they know with a welder. everyone knows someone with a mig. i would pay someone i knew the cost to cover electric and cosumables,, then go and play once in a while. that way you can bring your projects, weld them yourself cheap, and not have to buy all the equipment, wire up your garage, etc. probably not what you wanna hear, but a good place to start. other people learned the ropes the hard way and can help you avoid the same mistakes. </TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks for the advise guys,i guess i do have to save up,lol.Maby i can get my parents to give me some loot .i'll pay them back ofcourse

o,and by the way,my garage is already wired for a welder,220v ithink,because the guy who was here before us was restoring a model t.

 

Where do you live?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kookz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Where do you live?</TD></TR></TABLE>

pittsburgh why?

 

Sorry, I meant where in Pittsburgh. I live in Shadyside, go to Carnegie Mellon.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kookz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sorry, I meant where in Pittsburgh. I live in Shadyside, go to Carnegie Mellon.</TD></TR></TABLE>

o,yeah,i live in southside for the week and go to carnegie,glendale for the weekends.

southside is turning ghetto,and glendale is a white trash,wannabe ghetto.i wanna live in florida.

EDIT:what do you do at carnegie mellon?

 

well,from the researche i've done through the NORTHERN catalog,i found something a little better for my budget.I found two welders that i found to somewhat quality.

the first one is a Hobart handler 125, is hobart the company that supposedly sucks?i think i saw a post somewhere in here where someone said he would never buy something from them.

Any way,from what i understand,is a gasless welder.It says it uses a selfshielding flux-cored wire.here are the specsutput of 90 amps,19vdc @ 20% duty cycle;63 amps,21 vdc @ 20% dc w/ current range of 30-125 amps.

i know you guys are hardcore welders w/ $1500 dollar welders,but i wanna just start some where.I wanna buy this one and after a few months buy a MIG gas conversion kit for $80.by the way,the welders costs 330.

EDIT:i'll post specs on the other welder i soon as i eat.by the way,its a weld-pak.any good?

 

:burp:

alright,on to welder numero 2

weld pak ,actually,now that i am looking at the specs,it says its a lincoln.those are suppose to be good aint they?it says it welds mild steel from 20 to 12 gauge,does that mean that it wont weld stainless steel?it also has mig conversion kit for 125.

specs:115 volt,60 hz,20 amps input.rated dc output of 88 amps @ 18 volts,20% duty cycle.max 32 open circuit volts.wire speed 50 to 300 in. per minute.it also comes w/ welding shield,and free video.i think i like this one better.

EDIT:this is the slowest moving thread evar

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dabig1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">southside is turning ghetto,and glendale is a white trash,wannabe ghetto.i wanna live in florida.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOTS of trailer parks in Florida.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by parasonic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

LOTS of trailer parks in Florida.</TD></TR></TABLE>

even in miami?

 

20% duty cycle mean at max current you can weld for 2 minutes, take a break for 8 with the fan running. some machines are rated on a 5 min cycle but most are 10.

and the ratings are so low on that thing that youll be using it at max current all the time. 12 guage,, i mean thats thinner than stereo wire. i have thicker earings. what about when you wanna weld up some little bit of angle iron or something? lack of penetration means every weld you lay is compromised.

start checking ebay for used older equipment. atleast it will have a higher rating. the more reading you do the better your odds of coming out ahead of the game.

 

Lincoln, Hobart, and Miller all make good machines.

There's nothing fun or pretty about flux-core. It has its place, but for automotive work, MIG is better.

I would wait until you can buy what you want. Engloid wrote a great post about getting a truly entry level welder and why it's not a good idea. In the end it's just a waste of money.

I'm in Civil Engineering.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mike_belben@yahoo.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">20% duty cycle mean at max current you can weld for 2 minutes, take a break for 8 with the fan running. some machines are rated on a 5 min cycle but most are 10.

and the ratings are so low on that thing that youll be using it at max current all the time. 12 guage,, i mean thats thinner than stereo wire. i have thicker earings. what about when you wanna weld up some little bit of angle iron or something? lack of penetration means every weld you lay is compromised.

start checking ebay for used older equipment. atleast it will have a higher rating. the more reading you do the better your odds of coming out ahead of the game. </TD></TR></TABLE>

alright,so i guess i'll just wait till next years birthday/x-mass/work money to buy a good one.one thats worth like 1200,just so i can get it over with.thanx for the advise guys.for now i'll just practice with my friends welder.

 

i dont use this often

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mike_belben@yahoo.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i dont use this often </TD></TR></TABLE>

if it wasnt for you guys,i was ready to buy a "starter" one.i think you saved my ***