jonost24 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 As the title says really. During my apprenticeship (over 25 years ago ), I really used to enjoy arc welding and gas welding with oxy-aceteline. I would really like to get back into hobby welding on my landie, you know the odd chassis plate, bulkhead repair etc, but would also like to have a go at fabricating an ally header tank (just for the hell of it ) and maybe for a friend or two, but maybe some stainless exhaust fabrication . I do see theres a lot of MIG suggestions but not a lot of TIG. I scanned youtube for both, is it because MIG is auto wire feed ie one-handed and TIG requires a filler rod ? I dont want to spend ££££'s just to get started, so are the MIG, gas and gasless you see in ALDIs, B&Q etc any good based on what I want to do ? Any advice would be helpful, thanks in advance, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 TIG is a different ball game to MIG, trickier to master but does mean you can do ali/stainless more easily (with practice). MIG is great as it's mostly point-and-squirt with minimal thinking. I wouldn't buy a welder from Aldi or B&Q, a decent 2nd hand unit or a proper set is going to be far nicer - loads of threads on welders in this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I dont want to spend ££££'s just to get started, so are the MIG, gas and gasless you see in ALDIs, B&Q etc any good based on what I want to do ? Any advice would be helpful, thanks in advance, Jon As above, the simple answer is no, they aren't any good at all. The search function is your friend, there are also some good threads in the tech archive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonost24 Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 Thanks for that. I won't waste my money at B&Q or ALDI then. I've seen some of the threads, very interesting. I suppose I can do ally & ss with MIG then, just the the correct gas ? Can one gas do all metals ? I did see on youtube, due to the soft ally wire and feed problems, the guy had a spool gun on the top part of the nozzle ? Would this be worth getting ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 FWIW Ali and SS = Pure Argon Ferrus Steel = argoheild (prob light vs heavy) If you weld steel with pure argon its very 'different' ...........so no 2x gases As fridge says MIG can be learnt quickly and does the job TIG is an art form, FAR slower but if done right can look beautiful By a decent MIG do a search I have recomended 2x people who have bought a great welder - thermal arc long warranty high duty cycle, both love them ALi in a MIG is messy and troublesome, and you have to IMHO be a competant MIG welder to do ALI on a MIG and its a Royal PITFA and a spool gun is big bucks for something decent DO NOT expect to learn TIG quickly....gas is also highly skilled so if you can gas weld your on the way to TIG. There are some fantastic TIG welders on this forum (I am not one of them ) who can help you far better Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonost24 Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 Thanks all, for your straightforward replies. Looks like I need to really consider what I want to do with a welder. Some more time thinking and cost a few things out. Thanks for your answers, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibex94 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Hi, If you can use gas and are used to producing neet welds you will get better penetration from TIG. Before you get too excited about welding Aluminium you need to be able to reverse polarity of the set to get the moltern metal to move to the work piece, it spits and farts and even experts struggle and dislike it. You are likely to have to spend about twice the money on a set capable of ally welding. Check out fleebay recently bought a Rhiemann set from Germany very good came complete with torche leads for Tig and MMA plus a selection of ceramics and tungsten holders. In addition to what you may buy for MIG you will also need a bench grinder for sharpening tungstens. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY ANDREWS Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 think what you should also think about is if your welding old land rovers mig is more forgiving with rust etc and tig likes every thing clean ,i have both and they both have there job but if i was to pick one of them i would have to be the mig as you will use it more if you have both. i would also say if you can gas weld you can tig steel i went straigt into it from gas but alloy is a different game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
integerspin Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 you need to be able to reverse polarity of the set to get the moltern metal to move to the work piece, it spits and farts and even experts struggle and dislike it. Not sure about that. If you can gas weld you will probably pick up a tig and find it really easy. I couldn't believe how easy tig welding aluminium is, I had been gas welding aluminium and getting an acceptable looking weld wasn't easy, so tig was a joy. Almost everthing I weld, if I can get it on the bench, I use the tig. Tig welding blind, with the cup obscuring the view or with no access for the filler rod is hard. So mig is probably the tool for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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