Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello,

Please refer to my intro post for some photos of projects I would like to do.

My first question to this group is, how low amperage does my tig welder need to be able to go to do small part welding like that for steel?

I can get a cheaper Lotos 200 AC/DC welder with features like square wave and HF start for less than $500 on craigs list, but those list a minimum amperage of 30 amps. The expensive Miller 150 STL tig welder lists it's minimum as 5 amps, but costs about $1300, and I believe is a touch or scratch start.

How important is the start method and amperage as it relates to small gun part welding? I have seen a youTube of pulse welding for thin aluminum, like a soda can. Is that (pulse) a feature I need for small part steel welding, too?

Thanks. Feel free to simple post links to other posts I should read if that is easier than a long form answer here. I won't cry.

All the features you mentioned will make small work easier. How small will determine if you need less than 30 amps. Do you have a picture or example of what you want to work on. Scratch start takes some practice and if the parts are small or thin enough you might have trouble with the arc wandering were you don't want it until you get practiced.

Newbie here, working mostly on small, delicate parts. Not firearms parts but motorcycle parts, brackets and what have you.

I have done a lot of practise on the really small stuff. In fact I often weld together the remaining stubs of my 1.6mm filler rods just.

My machine is a Metalmaster 215 Elite. It's a cheap inverter machine, some on this forum say it is the equivalent of a particular Everlast model.

I can wind it back to 5 amps DC and 10 amps AC. At those low amps, HF start can be a bit iffy but no real problem. Looking at the parts you plan to work on, I imagine the main challenge you face will be getting the work clean enough to weld! At any amps, but particularly low amps, you'll have a fuzzing mess on your hands if it's not super clean.

Meanwhile I'm with Poland - go for HF start if you can, scratch can be a bitch when you are focusing on a tiny area. And get yourself a good hunk of copper as a welding base and heat sink so your little parts can take the heat.

Have fun and all the best, I hope your venture is a satisfying success.


Kym

Scratch start will significantly increase the risk of stray arc strikes which would be most undesirable on gun parts in terms of metal degradation and visual appeal.
My recommendation is to find an hf start power source with low amp capability in your price range.

Poland308 wrote:All the features you mentioned will make small work easier. How small will determine if you need less than 30 amps. Do you have a picture or example of what you want to work on. Scratch start takes some practice and if the parts are small or thin enough you might have trouble with the arc wandering were you don't want it until you get practiced.

Thanks, the topic had a link in it back to the introductions forum where I had pictures.

MosquitoMoto wrote: I have done a lot of practise on the really small stuff. In fact I often weld together the remaining stubs of my 1.6mm filler rods just.
I can wind it back to 5 amps DC and 10 amps AC. At any amps, but particularly low amps, you'll have a fuzzing mess on your hands if it's not super clean.
Meanwhile I'm with Poland - go for HF start if you can, scratch can be a bitch when you are focusing on a tiny area. And get yourself a good hunk of copper as a welding base and heat sink so your little parts can take the heat.
Kym

Is there a "size" below which 30 amps is too much for steel? The receiver is about 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch.

I think I have seen other welders that go down to 10.

Mate,
I know money is always an issue, but with welding I have found that buying the best and biggest you can afford ends up the better choice than something cheaper you will quickly out grow and then have to replace or upgrade.
Also in some of your photos in your other thread metal identifcation will be an issue, with the age of some of the stuff you want to repair it may well be iron not steel and some may be cast as well. Screws, yep an excellent test of abilities to weld but I'd either buy new ones or make them.
Lots of skills in gunsmithing, have fun with it.

For steel the rule of thumb is 1 amp per .001" and that is usually used for setting your max amps if using a pedal. You need to really be able to weld at ½ that once the part heats up. I would look for a machine for steel that has a minimum of 10-20amps. On aluminum, increasing your frequency and pushing the balance to more cleaning if you have those controls can "cheat" by putting less heat into the part. Arc quality and stability often suffers at the low end with many cheaper machines.

Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

Interesting... 10 Amp units are far more common and less expensive, if I wanted to stay below $600. Now, when I read the specs, and it refers to "pre-flow/post-flow" does this mean the gas is controlled automatically with a solenoid as opposed to a handle valve?

Based on the info you guys have provided along with other research, this Everlast I-Tig 200T seems like it has the features I might want for a "cheap" welder. I particularly like the solid state HF start and Lift-start.

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/produ ... i-tig-200t

Everything else "cheap" seems to mostly floor at 10 Amps, which I suppose may work, but they variously don't include a solenoid, or a pedal, or a regulator, etc.

Does anyone want to chime in on this Everlast, wither with experience or other knowledge?

The Miller 150 STH seems like the most affordable "non-cheap" welder at around $1700, which would be hard to afford. But, if the control and starts for the Miller are excellent the Everlast is just a glitzy POS, I could probably just save up longer. I am worried, though, that the Miller model, being a "base" model has been stripped down to make the price.

Let me know what you guys think. I am thinking I'll need to save up till Feb anyways to even get the Everlast, and the Miller would take an extremely good tax return to afford, so there is no urgency. I am just starting here.

Edit-
Here is a nice Lincoln model on Craigslist that I could not afford new, but I could afford used. The specs also seem adequate. How do you feel about that one? Is a used Lincoln better than a new Everlast?
http://burlington.craigslist.org/tls/5202974088.html

I bought a thermal arc 186 for about 1300$ last summer that will have more features than you will want at first but that you will love later. It's easy to set up.

Poland308 wrote:I bought a thermal arc 186 for about 1300$ last summer that will have more features than you will want at first but that you will love later. It's easy to set up.

I'll check.

Poland308 wrote:I bought a thermal arc 186 for about 1300$ last summer that will have more features than you will want at first but that you will love later. It's easy to set up.

I've been looking at this machine, you bought this new at $1300?? If new let me know where you found this, thanks

Richard

I bought through Indiana oxygen supply

I just checked there site. It has gone up some listed at 1600$ now. I bought it with the torch controls instead of a foot pedal.

http://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/t ... e-w1006301

Poland308 wrote:I just checked there site. It has gone up some listed at 1600$ now. I bought it with the torch controls instead of a foot pedal.

http://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/t ... e-w1006301

Thanks for the link

Richard

I have that torch, not the machine. It's a monster but I swapped the head out for a valve head $13 on eBay and it's a perfect fit. Now I use it with my LM-300 thermal arc and put a 17 pin plug on it.
Makes a good mobile DC TIG setup.

I did it! I bought a used Lincoln Invertec 160 T! $800, not bad!

Fatjackdurham wrote:I did it! I bought a used Lincoln Invertec 160 T! $800, not bad!

Woo-hoo!

Congrats!



Kym

Thanks. It doesn't come with a Stick electrode holder, though. I assume I have to make one?