Welding Tips and Tricks

I am new to arc welding. I recently purchased a 1966 Bronco and obviously I have a lot of metal work to do. I am very knowledgeable these sort of vehicles. I just need some help with metal working.

1) I started out with a Chicago Electric 110-volt wire feed welder. It had a high and a low heat setting. It had wire-speed settings comparable to my father's Lincoln SP-100. This Chicago Electric welder was very difficult to work with. I don't know if it is the lack of heat control or the fact that I was welding sheet metal on flux.

2) I reverted back to using my father's Lincoln SP-100 mig welder and immediatly made better welds. I was welding with .23" solid core wire on argon/carbon-dioxide mix. I don't know if it is the just a superior machine or that I was welding on gas as oppossed to flux. My welds needed to be ground down flush with the sheet metal and re-welded but I achieved nice penetration and clean work.

3)The 110 volt mig welder did not adequately penetrate .125" thick steel plating of my frame so I used my father's Lincoln AC 225 stick welder. For thicker steel it is a nice machine. I welded 18 gauge sheet metal with it. I could not very well weld the sheet metal on my Bronco's body with it though. I think it is 20-24 guage.

I think that a 220-volt input machine is better but I also think that a mig welder is better than a stick welder. Could I better weld thin sheet metal with a stick welder that runs off 110-volts input? I think that ideally I would get a good mig machine and get good at using it. I practice a lot and think that I have a couple of good Lincoln arc welders to use but I don't see a lot of people using stick welders so I am just checking.

What is it about my buzz box that it is so hard to weld 22 gauge sheet steel? Is it the flux, AC or that thin steel needs to be welded with wire feed rather than stick?

It has been recomended to me that I get a MIllermatic mig welder. I understand that they are more automatic and that I just set a dial for the thickness of the steel I am working with and the machine automatically dials the wire speed and heat in in real time for the metal I am working with.

All I am likely to weld is mild steel. I am not a jeweler or a gun smith so I am not going to be working with any small metal parts, just car body work and chassis work of thicker steels. I ported some cast iron cylinder heads and the intake ports cracked. I had somebody tig weld the cracks for me and I am going to JB weld them as welding cast iorn leaves tiny cracks. I don't have anything to loose in the cylinder heads so they don't hardly matter. I just find myslef working cast iron. I have some dana truck axles with nodular cast iron differential housings and mild steel tubes. The two are welded together.


I want to weld up some trailers and want to weld some cast iron. Lincoln technicians told me that I should get some nickel-rod and stick weld cast iron.

I don't expect to work with anything other than mild steel and occassionally some cast iron. I would prefer getting just one welder but that is not always realistic.


Do I want a stick/tig welder or do I want a MIg welder?

I also wanted to know about:

Lincoln vs. Miller vs. Hobart

I am frequently cutting out steel peices and need more accurate cuts. The angle grinder is great for cutting out rusted out reject sections but when cutting from new steel the angle grinder leaves much to be desired in cuts. I have some air powered shears but they run for a few seconds then the air compressor re-cycles and I have curles of sharp steel hanging off to cut my self on. Not that I have a problem with cutting my self but the shears are not working well. I think I would benefit from a plasma cutter.

If I am cutting abracket off a frame and don't want to burn holes in the frame can I turn the plasma cutter down low and cut away the bracket rather than burning into the frame beneath?

Here is the side of my frame. I cut off some brackets for long travel suspension and restored my suspension back to stock. With my torch I burned some dime sized holes in my frame. I resorted to cutting the bad section out and welding in some new 1/8" thick mild steel plate.

Is a plasma cutter more accurate than an oxy-acetaline torch?

Here is most of my work. I have been flamed for my welding but It can certainly improve.

http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j36 ... 2QQtppZZ16

You might be a candidate for one of the multi-machines that can do MIG, stick, and comes with a plasma cutter all built in.

Everlast and others sell them. Here is a link to Everlast just because it is easy for me to find. Their prices are reasonable as well.

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/multiprocess.php

I looked at all their welders. If I had a 200 amp mig welder why would I want a built in stick welder? Their migs were mig + stick. I liked thier multi process welders. I liked the Power Ultra 205. IT will stick weld 3/8" thick steel, tig in DC only and plasma cut 5/8" thick steel.

Now from a value standpoint I much liked the idea of buying a DC stock welder of 200 amps for $350. Will this machine weld 24 to 18 gauge sheet steel better than my Lincoln AC225?

Actually I can weld 18 gauge with that AC 225 no problem but the thinner 20 or 22 gauge steel the body is made of does not stick weld well at all. I don't honestly need a mig welder for 18 gauge or larger. Now mig welding is not very good for cast iron. Tig is the best for that but stick welding with nickle rod is a fair way to weld it.

I wanted to know about converting the DC stick welder to Tig. Do I just need an air cooled Tig-torch and regulator for my argon? I don't want a water-cooled torch as I am not going to tig weld something that can be stick welded just fine.

For $550 for an Everlast plasma cutter I might as well get the Power Ultra which has plasma cutting built in. How much variance is there in quality between cheap Chicago Electric plasma cutters and Lincolns and Millers.

Will a Ultralast arc welder do the work of a Lincoln/Miller or is like a Chicago Electric machine?

Ok I have done a lot of reading on arc-welders in the last few days. Multi-process welders don't have good reviews. I don't rightly understand but conventional wisdom seems to be that I should have individual process welders.

Everlast has good reviews. Their welders work well when they work but It comes down to transformers vs. inverters. Lincolns, Millers and Hobarts apparantly have transformers while Everlast arc welders use inverters. The transformers are expensive, heavy, very resistant to dust and outdoor use and often outlast the owner. The inverters are cheaper, lighter, smoother but are more fragile to dust contamination and simply wear out in a matter of years. The inverter type arc welders are a good value.

As for mig welders, Gas-Metal-Arc-Welding, I save hundreds of dollars by getting an Everlast instead of a Millermatic. The Lincolns and Hobarts cost roughly the same as the Millermatic. With a Mig welder I can weld 24-ga to 1/2" thick steel. With a stick welder I can weld 18 ga and up. The flux is hotter than shielding gas so If I were welding pipelines, bridges or sky-scrapers then the stick welder is the choice hands down. I won't be doing anything like that. So rather than having a stable of arc welders I could get by with one. I work primarily with mild steel and a tiny bit of cast iron. I won't be working with anything thinner than sheet metal, 24-ga, and might possibly weld a 1/2" thick axle tube but I doubt it. Ford 9" rear ends came with .188" and .250" thick axle tubes and they are very strong. I have a dana 44 front end with 1/2" thick tubes but I am re-tubing it with 3/8" tubes. 3/8" thick is very generous strength. My frame is of 1/8" thick mild steel plating. My roll cage is going to be of 1/8" thick mild steel. So I want one welder to weld mild steel of 24-ga to 3/8" thick.

"If you can only afford one welder it needs to be a mig.", Stacy David.

Everlast:
Power-I Mig 160 $700 160 amps 5/16" 35%
Power-I Mig 200 $800 200 amps 3/8" 35%
Power-I Mig 205 $1,000 200 apms 1/2" 35%
Power-I Mig 205P $1,200 200 apms 1/2" 35%
Power-I Mig 250P $1,500 250 apms 1/2" 35%

Miller:
Millermatic 140 $879 140 amps 3/16" 20%
Millermatic 180 $1,060 180 amps 5/16" 30%
Millermatic 211 $1,317 210 amps 3/8" 30%
Millermatic 212 $2,134 210 apms 3/8" 60%
MIllermatic 252 $2,764 300 amps 1/2" 60%