Welcome To The Welding & Metalworking Forum

Maxvision said:
I see death waiting to happen...maybe a good episode for "1000 Ways To Die".
Click to expand...

i looked at those pics an was reminded of a show I found on net flix called Yank tanks about the maintenance an survival of the old 50's cars in cuba since the embargo , well that welder if thats what you want to call it actually looks like the kind they have in cuba .
 
My welding experience is two little zzzttts last week on dropout extensions using a 110V Hobart under the watchful eye of Tinsmith (Dan), so I ain't exactly a welder. This thread is helpful for an old dog trying to learn new tricks, so thanks for the information here. Dan brought some steel scraps from the shop where he works for me to do some practice welding on... maybe by spring time I'll try making a steel gas tank for my Panther. I'm already hooked... welding is like magic.
SB
 
Welcome to the addiction, I mean MAGIC Silverbear!

C.H.

silverbear said:
My welding experience is two little zzzttts last week on dropout extensions using a 110V Hobart under the watchful eye of Tinsmith (Dan), so I ain't exactly a welder. This thread is helpful for an old dog trying to learn new tricks, so thanks for the information here. Dan brought some steel scraps from the shop where he works for me to do some practice welding on... maybe by spring time I'll try making a steel gas tank for my Panther. I'm already hooked... welding is like magic.
SB
Click to expand...
 
I have an old alternator from a Chevette that I think is 60 amp and another not sure the amperage, but from a Ford Ranger which should also have a bit of punch. I suppose I could make a welder from those. Marine Alternators go up to around twice the amperage I saw checking some specs. They usually have large banks of batteries on sail boats so you can run inverters for AC power and still sleep cool at night without a diesel running.

My art motor bike might benefit from 60 amps DC, but the battery for field voltage and the alternator itself would add a bit of weight. The jack shaft has room for another pulley though.

The previous mention of dangerous ways of going about some things, well yea, you have to know what is right for you. Your #1!
I’ve seen where in Cozumel a pickup truck was being unloaded of gasoline for boats at a dock. The tailgate was a few feet off the ground. 55 gallon drums weighed a lot. What did I see happening….. they tipped the drums on their sides and rolled them off the tailgate to an awaiting old truck tire to cushion the fall from the tail gate. Then they rolled them down the dock and I guess they either had the power turned off to these two individual bare wires that carried AC wall outlet power down to the end of the dock. I made it out alive so I’m glad!

The other thing I saw at a hotel there for the course of a week, an outlet was being installed in a stone wall on the exterior to the hotel. A hammer and chisel was doing the job. About an inch and a half of depth was attained and still going on while I left. Power tools anyone? So it goes the guy sweeping the dust constantly along with the guy on the ladder chiseling away. Maybe a month it took, don’t know.

Getting the job done and having people employed is important so only the dangerous aspects are the ones that get me though!

.weldMeasure Twice
 
Last edited:
go to the jeep cj forum and look up junkyardgenius and he'll show you how to wire up a welder from your alternator and still use it to charge your batteries on the cheep
 
I would actually like to try that alternator welder idea just to see if an how it works , then maybe one day stuck in the woods I could do some welding ! , but seriously I may try that .
 
110v Stick vs. 110v Wire Feed Question

Hi everyone.

I have a CH 110v stick welder, and have been thinking about a 110v HF flux core wire feed unit.

Is there any benefit to the wire feed, or would I be better off getting a bigger welder?

I've never done any MIG or TIG welding, only arc and Oxy-Acetylene welding, but I have been considering getting a dual purpose MIG/flux core welder and eventually learning to MIG weld.

I am thinking about the dual purpose welder because a lot of my welding is out in the open, and I would probably have problems with the shielding gas. I just don't know if one of the smaller ones would be enough to be versatile.

Should I consider one of them, or just go for a bigger arc welder?

Thanks in advance for your advice!
 
DRC

The welding with the MIG I was reading today in an instruction guide on welding said that it is harder to see if the is all adhering the two metals because of the gun in the way. It mentions if you look from the side you could tell better. Also it mentioned putting a bright light to shine on the work.

I wondered if the light would interfere with the auto shade helmet I have, but am going to check on that.

I did TIG but I have never welded all that great anyway. When I ground the weld I saw if it was good and if not went at it again.

One thing I can tell you is that with TIG you have to keep grabbing more welding rod and be careful not to go too far with the short piece left as fingers get hot through the glove and you'll be throwing the gloves off as fast as you can. I cut a bunch of pieces a head of time so I would not be tempted to be too frugal.

The 130 MIG I have for both Gas and Flux I have not enough time to get you an idea how well it works for me, but I have heard others using the 110 V welders have homes that the lights flicker and sometime trip the house breaker. Even so they feel happy with the welder they have that is comparable to mine.

Also check on the welder forums for the manufacturers, that is what I did and so went ahead and got one.

I also wanted to mention that per the mfr of the welder I have is that you can do thicker metal weld but only with the flux for some reason. Otherwise with AR CO it is less.

Note: *** check ads that mention MIG Ready *** I found out ahead of time but was OK with the additional options to buy so that Inert Gas Capable not just Flux Wire Weld.

One thing I have now is an extra gas solenoid that was really all was installed in the welder for them to say MIG Ready. That part is cheap compared with regulator, gauges, and hose that was additional to get and also included the same gas solenoid I already had as part of the welder purchase.

Measure Twice
 
Last edited:
Re: 110v Stick vs. 110v Wire Feed Question

Dirt Road Cowboy said:
Hi everyone.

I have a CH 110v stick welder, and have been thinking about a 110v HF flux core wire feed unit.

Is there any benefit to the wire feed, or would I be better off getting a bigger welder?

I've never done any MIG or TIG welding, only arc and Oxy-Acetylene welding, but I have been considering getting a dual purpose MIG/flux core welder and eventually learning to MIG weld.

I am thinking about the dual purpose welder because a lot of my welding is out in the open, and I would probably have problems with the shielding gas. I just don't know if one of the smaller ones would be enough to be versatile.

Should I consider one of them, or just go for a bigger arc welder?

DRC, go with a tig/mig if you can find a quality one. Take a welding class if you havent done so already, you'll probably gain more insight as to which type of welding / welder will be for you. You can find one occasionally on C-list.

Practice practice practice, be safe and have fun! As for the horrible fright mig's they are ok for welding on bicycles but nlt much else, JMO!

Peace Crazy Horse.
Click to expand...
 
I had a 110 flux welder it only had low and high step voltage. It's not very versatile its hard to adjust heat it. I've used a lot of welders and I would never choose a step voltage 110 over anything. If you want to mig and flux weld I would be looking at one of the bigger 150-170 lincoln or hobart or miller units. And wire it to 230 it makes a much more stable arc. You need the higher amp range if you are welding on thicker metal or its not really going to fuse the base metal. You can then dial it down and downsize the wire feed rollers for smaller diameter wire and get it to weld thin metal.

You guys really know your getting what you pay for right? I wouldn't ride a bike with a frame zapped together with a pos welder lol. Better take a class and have somebody show you around some equipment and get you going. If you only need short welds I have better luck running 1/16 size electrodes on my old lincoln buzzbox I pulled out of a field for 25 bucks. These old arc welders are all over the place but you need to wire them 230 on a 50 amp receptacle one size bigger than your dryer. Or you might go to a welding supply and the guy might be able to show you some stuff and explain the differences. One thing about mig welders is you have to be able to get contact tips and possibly drive rollers and nozzles other consumables. Better stick with the name brands you know you can get these parts for.
 
Just for the record my mig is 15 yrs old aside from changing tips I replaced the rollers 1 time an the torch 2 times all you need do is maintain an care for your equipment . a 110 mig may be all some can afford , an with a short class on welding or the help of a welder friend I have seen those 110 migs weld fairly nice, within their capabilities.
Gary
 
A neighbor has one that is also 110 and I think about the same amp like my Hobart 130, theirs is a Miller. The Hobart of mine actually uses parts from Miller as they have some connection on the smaller welders. License to use design or something. I got a bigger spool than what the machine will run unless you get the adapter. I told the guys at AirGas that it was Hobart and the part that came is Miller anyway.

One thing I do when putting it away I cover all the gas connectors so they don't get scratched. I make a large coil around the welder with the hose so as not to kink.

I'm will get guidance from the neighbor watch an see and then use my welder experiment on scrap first. It was about two years ago took the two quick classes on MIG an TIG, then only used the TIG at the shop for about 5 months. I'll get pic when I get something done and post.

MT
 
I have a Lincoln MiG welder that has a 240vac input. I use .035 flux core wire in it and I can weld up to 5/16" thick; I use my Lincoln 230 stick welder for heavier welding. My MiG welder came with a smaller wire cablel; with it installed and a shielding gas cylinder attached, very thin sheet metal can be welded. I weld light gauge sheet metal and I have only used the .035 flux core wire; it is so convenient. If you were to weld 20 and 22 gauge sheet metals, such as in auto body work, you would need the smaller welding wire and shielding gas. Stick with a name brand welder and expect to spend some money and get a good one and you will be a "happy camper"! BMF
 
I wholeheartedly agree with you BMF. I used a machine similar to yours for about 5 months it was a sweet little machine. I was building truck beds with vacuum tanks built onto them. Used it all day everyday. Neat thing is, I can go to most any welding supply and get a set of .023 rollers for it and a few tips and go do bodywork. I don't know if harbor freight does or not they very well might. I've used cheap welders and 3 phase 400 amp mig machines running .052 and 1/16 wires both coreweld and well hobart calls their stuff fabshield 21b. It's the gasless flux wire in the trade its smokerwire cause it soots up like burning tires. The smoke itself is full of CO2 and that is what protects the weld from the air while it is molten. We don't use it in the shop though we use a coreweld wire with argon co2 mix. I guess I've worked on tanks, pipes, all kinds of structural steel.

I didn't mean to sound like I was belittling the idea of a 110 volt welders. I just don't think they are very easy to learn with. And its awful easy to mess up a weld in a big hurry with flux wire if the wire speed and voltage are wrong you will bury slag pockets all the way through. I wouldn't advise a beginner to start welding bike frames. It's too thin to miss with you either burn up the joint or zap a bunch of glop on it. I can run it and did successfully saved myself a bunch of bucks on my old pickup truck frame. I had some upper steering arm bolts rattle on the frame and broke the web of the car channel frame clear out. I beveled it up and welded it back in and never had a problem with it. If I coulda got into it better I would have rather used my arc welder. It did a nice job though the frame was about 1/8 thick at the web maybe 3/16. The little machine I had I think was 90 amps. It would have been way easier to use if it had a good 0-100 voltage control I could have dialed down the wire and still kept a short arc. It only had low which was too cold and hi which was too hot. I actually inherited it from my dad who tried to teach himself to weld with it and it made him so frustrated and mad he made me take it lol. So good luck in your endeavers.

If I had 100 bucks and just wanted to learn to weld with this bicycle type stuff I would buy a small torch set. One with a cutting head for the torch and also different size brazing tips and learn to cut, braze, and weld with the torch. I would feel better about tooling down the road on a nicely brazed bike frame than one that was glopped together with flux core. And I have seen guys that can do a nice job on aluminum with it. Looks really bad when I try it but I can solder and braze copper with one. I have a tig welder I use for aluminum.
 
Here is another reason to watch 110 volt welders. Sounds like a neat idea and handy as **** but not really cause you are gonna be at the max on your circuit breaker. Especially bad with an extension cord even a good one.

I decided I wanted to tig weld cause I push mig wire all day long and its not my idea of fun anymore. So last summer I bought a chinese inverter tig, stick, and plasma cutter. It supposedly can be wired to 110 volt or 220 so with my bad experience with 110 I wired it to 220, I already had the service to another bigger ac arc welder. On a 30 amp breaker it works great for the little stuff I'm working on. I also bought a foot pedal and I think I got about 600 in it. Mine won't weld aluminum though cause its a straight dc invertor. You need ac current to tig aluminum although I have and can with the unit at work called a square wave. It's probably close to 3 grand though and I wasn't gonna drop that much. The kicker for me was the plasma torch. It's not the nicest torch I have used but it will zip apart sheet metal as fast as you can move it. I already had the air compressor to supply the air. Here is the gas tank I made with it I zipped my pieces out of 18 ga carbon steel , match ground the sides and fit it together corner to corner joint and tig welded it. http://motorbicycling.com/attachments/f41/40452d1316830506-my-first-tank-sized_tank2.jpg

I used a flapper disk on my 41/2 angle grinder to finish the edges. Also to clean the metal to a shine along the edges of the joint. I have a second angle grinder set up with a 1/16 thick cutoff wheel. Any light trimming I do with that. I found out I didn't like swapping disks on the grinder so now I have two. I couldn't pass up the 4 1/2 paddle trigger grinder at harbor freight. I paid 29 bucks for it. It's as good as my old black and decker I paid 90 bucks for years ago. The harbor freight grinding and cutting wheels are kind of soft and wear out quick but I like the price a lot better than at my steel supply store. They are great for small hobby type light duty stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top