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Posted by Jim Elbrecht on February 14, 2008, 12:07 pm
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I'm not sure why I picked MIG as the first welder I would buy. Might
have been the illusion that I could get into it for $100 and move up
from there. [I'm over that.]
I've looked into going to classes, which I'm sure would be the best
option if I could do it. But I have a bit of a disability that only
allows me a few hours a day of activity. If I don't overdo those I
get several more hours of 'sit-down' time where I can read and learn.
So I decided to teach myself with the help of the internet and a pile
of books.
Well- a few months later, I learned a little about MIG- decided on a
Lincoln/Miller 140amp setup. . . . found some forums to read. . .
bought a couple books. . .and started shopping for a good price-
Noted an offhand comment on one forum where a newbie was showing off
his new MIG setup and an 'oldie' said 'now you need to get some O/A
torches'.
The first book I'm reading is Finch's "Welder's Handbook". He makes
no bones about it. in his opinion everyone who wants to weld should
start out with O/A. His feeling is that it helps you understand the
process because you are more in touch with the puddle.
So now as I look at O/A setups and think I could get a decent setup
for about the same $550-600 as I'm getting ready to spend on MIG, I
wonder if that isn't the way to go.
O/A has the advantage of being a cutting tool, and 'hot wrench', as
well as heating metals to be formed. [and I just started reading
Finch's chapter on brazing and soldering-- is O/A more flexible in the
'what you can join' department?]
MIG has the [apparent] advantage of being easy to learn. Since
I'm in this as much for 'the journey' as anything else, a steeper
learning curve is fine.
I'm leaning towards O/A now. Any pushes in one direction or the
other?
Jim
[For the googlers and to show off my spell checker; oxy-acetylene,
acetylene ]
Thanks,
Jim
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Posted by Ignoramus21499 on February 14, 2008, 12:46 pm
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O/A has an advantage of also being useful for metal cutting.
However, if I was advising a friend who asked this question, I would
say, "start with stick". With stick welding, you pretty much know that
if you have a half decent looking weld, it will hold. Not the case
with MIG.
For about $600-700, you can buy a great stick welding machine such as
Miller XMT 300. It will weld steel of any thickness.
i
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Posted by RoyJ on February 14, 2008, 12:50 pm
Please log in for more thread options It really depends more on what kind of work you plan to do. I could make
a case for Mig, Tig, Stick, or O/A depending on your projects (which
might explain why you sound confused!). The issue of the 'puddle' is
valid, I find that stick welding is the cheap way to get good experience
there, Tig is the expensive (and better) way.
The 120 volt Mig welders are really nice for moderate projects in steel.
Moderate means not too big (think in terms of 10's of pounds of steel
rather than 100's of pounds of steel) and not much over 3/16" thick.
Easy to learn, nice looking welds. Don't even thin about aluminum.
An O/A has the cutting ability (but so does a 4x6" bandsaw). It does a
nice job of brazing, it works well for tiny jobs. I really don't
recommend it for welding other than exhaust systems. Aluminum is doable
but quite tricky. Tank rental/lease/buy options are expensive and
tricky. There are several options that will wind up costing you several
hundred dollars every 5 years.
Tig is the premium setup, price to match.
My home shop has a couple of 225 amp stick welders, a 120 volt Mig set
up with flux core wire, and an O/A rig. At work I have 2 Mig welders
(one set up for larger work, the other with .023 wire for thin work), a
Miller 180 SD tig welder, and O/A. Depending on what I'm working on, I
use them all.
Jim Elbrecht wrote:
> I'm not sure why I picked MIG as the first welder I would buy. Might
> have been the illusion that I could get into it for $100 and move up
> from there. [I'm over that.]
>
> I've looked into going to classes, which I'm sure would be the best
> option if I could do it. But I have a bit of a disability that only
> allows me a few hours a day of activity. If I don't overdo those I
> get several more hours of 'sit-down' time where I can read and learn.
> So I decided to teach myself with the help of the internet and a pile
> of books.
>
> Well- a few months later, I learned a little about MIG- decided on a
> Lincoln/Miller 140amp setup. . . . found some forums to read. . .
> bought a couple books. . .and started shopping for a good price-
>
> Noted an offhand comment on one forum where a newbie was showing off
> his new MIG setup and an 'oldie' said 'now you need to get some O/A
> torches'.
>
> The first book I'm reading is Finch's "Welder's Handbook". He makes
> no bones about it. in his opinion everyone who wants to weld should
> start out with O/A. His feeling is that it helps you understand the
> process because you are more in touch with the puddle.
>
> So now as I look at O/A setups and think I could get a decent setup
> for about the same $550-600 as I'm getting ready to spend on MIG, I
> wonder if that isn't the way to go.
>
> O/A has the advantage of being a cutting tool, and 'hot wrench', as
> well as heating metals to be formed. [and I just started reading
> Finch's chapter on brazing and soldering-- is O/A more flexible in the
> 'what you can join' department?]
>
> MIG has the [apparent] advantage of being easy to learn. Since
> I'm in this as much for 'the journey' as anything else, a steeper
> learning curve is fine.
>
> I'm leaning towards O/A now. Any pushes in one direction or the
> other?
>
> Jim
> [For the googlers and to show off my spell checker; oxy-acetylene,
> acetylene ]
> Thanks,
> Jim
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Posted by Leo Lichtman on February 14, 2008, 12:51 pm
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"Jim Elbrecht" wrote: clip) O/A has the advantage of being a cutting tool,
and 'hot wrench', as
> well as heating metals to be formed. [and I just started reading
> Finch's chapter on brazing and soldering-- is O/A more flexible in the
> 'what you can join' department?] (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You are looking for the enjoyment of welding, as well as the utility. I
think O/A is the place to begin, for the reasons you have cited. I have
O/A, MIG and stick, and each has its place. A gas torch will afford you
more pleasure, and lead you in more directions than the others. If your
disability controls the length and level of your exertion, you probably
won't be building trailers or wrought iron gates. A gas torch will let you
set at a bench and do small fabrication, including jewelry, small ornamental
iron pieces (like drawer pulls and hinges). I have made jewelry and belt
buckles from steel. I say start with the gas torch.
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Posted by Maxwell on February 14, 2008, 1:16 pm
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>
> "Jim Elbrecht" wrote: clip) O/A has the advantage of being a cutting tool,
> and 'hot wrench', as
>> well as heating metals to be formed. [and I just started reading
>> Finch's chapter on brazing and soldering-- is O/A more flexible in the
>> 'what you can join' department?] (clip)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> You are looking for the enjoyment of welding, as well as the utility. I
> think O/A is the place to begin, for the reasons you have cited. I have
> O/A, MIG and stick, and each has its place. A gas torch will afford you
> more pleasure, and lead you in more directions than the others. If your
> disability controls the length and level of your exertion, you probably
> won't be building trailers or wrought iron gates. A gas torch will let
> you set at a bench and do small fabrication, including jewelry, small
> ornamental iron pieces (like drawer pulls and hinges). I have made
> jewelry and belt buckles from steel. I say start with the gas torch.
>
I think that's a good point I forgot to mention as well Leo. An O/A setup
gives the ability to lead solder, silver solder and braze. Electric welding
is totally useless to many crafts.
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> have been the illusion that I could get into it for $100 and move up
> from there. [I'm over that.]
>
> I've looked into going to classes, which I'm sure would be the best
> option if I could do it. But I have a bit of a disability that only
> allows me a few hours a day of activity. If I don't overdo those I
> get several more hours of 'sit-down' time where I can read and learn.
> So I decided to teach myself with the help of the internet and a pile
> of books.
>
> Well- a few months later, I learned a little about MIG- decided on a
> Lincoln/Miller 140amp setup. . . . found some forums to read. . .
> bought a couple books. . .and started shopping for a good price-
>
> Noted an offhand comment on one forum where a newbie was showing off
> his new MIG setup and an 'oldie' said 'now you need to get some O/A
> torches'.
>
> The first book I'm reading is Finch's "Welder's Handbook". He makes
> no bones about it. in his opinion everyone who wants to weld should
> start out with O/A. His feeling is that it helps you understand the
> process because you are more in touch with the puddle.
>
> So now as I look at O/A setups and think I could get a decent setup
> for about the same $550-600 as I'm getting ready to spend on MIG, I
> wonder if that isn't the way to go.
>
> O/A has the advantage of being a cutting tool, and 'hot wrench', as
> well as heating metals to be formed. [and I just started reading
> Finch's chapter on brazing and soldering-- is O/A more flexible in the
> 'what you can join' department?]
>
> MIG has the [apparent] advantage of being easy to learn. Since
> I'm in this as much for 'the journey' as anything else, a steeper
> learning curve is fine.
>
> I'm leaning towards O/A now. Any pushes in one direction or the
> other?
>
> Jim
> [For the googlers and to show off my spell checker; oxy-acetylene,
> acetylene ]
> Thanks,
> Jim