self teach yourself. It would be great if I could weld simple bungs for sensors, cut and splice intake or exhaust piping, weld on flanges to manifolds to accept different turbos, etc, etc...so how hard is it to do? Can you self teach yourself? What resources do you need to start? Would arc welding be the route to go?

It would be a great skill to add to my hobby...can it be done, or do extensive welding courses need to be taken? How often do you say to yourself, "if I only knew how to weld"...

let's hear from you fabricators out there...

 

easiest would be wire feed MIG

 

can it be done in ones own garage, could you actually construct a whole manifold w/ using your above noted method. Or is it only for small projects like sensor bungs?

How much for cheap welding systems?
Do you need to take courses or is there a good "welding for dummies" book out there?

A little more info please if you are experienced in the matter...

thanks

 

search the net.tonnes of info..you COULD use mig welding to make a mani(doesnt revhard?)? but TIG is better.

 

MIG can be done in the garage, so can TIG....

both can be used to make manifolds...

 

it wouldnt be worth your time to MIG weld anything that has to do with a manifold.............

 

I learned to weld making a cut out for my car. The second time I welded i made my manifold. Its not pretty, but it works. Its hard to make it look pretty. It took alot of grinding and rewelding, but it doesnt leak. I also did my ic piping, which took me alot of grinding and rewelding. Once again, ugly but effective.

 

I've been wanting to do the same. I've searched a bit and decieded that mig was the way to go. For one thing a nice tig setup can cost quite a bit, over $1k atleast. A mig can be had for $400 or so. That might be a thing to consider

 

I just bought a millermatic econotig. I've never welded before, but I thought I'd give it a try. Today I started a storage rack made out of 1" steel stock. I used the stick welding function and my welds looked fair. I also bought 2 3" exhaust pipes and tried to tig weld them. Its definately going to take practice. I think a MIG would be good for your situation and its the easiest to use.

 

Tig is definitely the way to go if your going to be welding steel and aluminum. If your only welding steel and don't want to spend alot Mig would work. More Affordable and easier to learn. It's nice to have both.

 

One of the guys on my cobra forum is a fabricator and he recommended these systems. Check them out...even comes w/ a how-to video...It looks like MIG welding is the way to go for home usage...

http://www.weldingmart.com/Qstore/p001645.htm

http://www.weldingmart.com/Qstore/p001633.htm

 

Please explain...

 

welding is one of the best things you can learn i been welding for about 4 years and i make custom turbo kits for just about any car out their I make manifolds,down pipes, intercoolers, and i am doing some think weird right now. Learn if you can, you will never regreat it.

 

I'd go with teh first one...FLux cored wires are shitty as ****...Welds come out like cottage cheese.

As for manifolds and MIG, SFP uses MIG and they've been proven to hold up more than fine

 

First of all if anybody thinks that a mig weld is not as strong as a tig you have no idea what your talking about. Tig is good for delicate jobs and jobs that require the weld to look good and be clean. My steel mig looks almost good as my steel tig. Tig is the best way to weld aluminum. I also have a wire feed aluminum mig gun on my millermatic but it is only good for heavy material. People who can tig aluminum well are very talanted in my books. my aluminum tig sucks. Its very hard.

 

for those MIG welder's out there, what would be the one piece of advice you would tell a novice about the procedure?

 

definatly. There really isnt any way to explain it until you actually try it yourself.

Personally i like arc welding better, since thats what i learned on. but i definatly wouldnt recommend any first time welders go that route. Its extremely hard to get good looking and/or strong welds at first, and its much harder to control. In other words,
First time welder = MIG

 

What? No one uses JB Weld no more?

I'm thinking of taking a welding class at the local tech college. Might learn something.

 

D16A6turbo;

Buying and learning how to use a welder is well worth the effort!! It opens up a whole new avenue of things that you can do!

I've got a Miller MM130 Mig welder (and also a gas set-up). It's not hard to learn how to weld but at the least, I'd recommend that you get a friend to come by and spend a couple hours with you to start out. If you can, check out what "tech" schools are in the area.

Wes

 

The advice I would give a novice is play around with the wire feed and power, pay close attention to how it sounds when you change the settings. Sounds is the key for me. I don't even look at my scrap welds when I'm setting up my mig. Practice this on a thick peice of steel, not galvanized steel.

 

ive been welding for 3 years and still havent figured out everything there is to know about it. I learned from other people who are good and expierienced and with a lot of practice. I do stick, mig, and i have done tig. I would definetly go mig for ur first time. But definetly try it if ur serious about it b/c it can open tons of opertunities. Its a great thing to know.

 

yah, aluminum is harder than most people think. It's high heat application. I used to think aluminum as soft and low heat when welding ..man was I wrong

 

all the aluminum I touch with our tig melts away before my eyes it either melts holes or doesn't want to pool at all

 

OK, i might be pretty retarded...but my dad has a welder...it is a wire feed welder and i believe it is an ARC welder. what is the difference between them? tig mig..arc...etc...

 

try a local community college for welding classes. they are usually cheap and offered at night or on the weekends. TIG is the hardest to perfect, get good at it and everything else is a lot easier