Guest Anonymous Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I want to get a MIG welder and be able to weld things like frame rails, battery boxes, etc. I will definately not want a flux only setup because I want to weld aluminum too. Can you tell me how much power I would need to do typical home shop type work, and what features I should look for? What brands have readily available and cheaper parts as well? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I gotta tell ya to do a search on this one. There's at least 2 very long, in depth threads on welders. As to your aluminum requirement - forget it. To Mig weld Al, you have to have a special gun that has the wirefeed spool directly on it - and it's pretty expensive. Al wire is very soft and kinks instantly so you can't use it in a regular wiredeef setup. You can hook up the special gun to most any welder though (at least I know there's one that works with the Lincoln weldpaks). You also gotta have Argon for Al, whereas for steel you typical want either straight CO2 or an Argon CO2 mix. It is very uncommon to have one setup for both Al and steel, unless you have carloads of dollars to put into a Tig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Jeromio, My manual for my Harbor Freight 'special' claims that with the correct tip (larger ID because Al expands more/quicker than steel wire) and a pure argon shielding gas, aluminum welding is possible. I have't tried to do it, but that's what it claims, also pure argon shielding gas can be used with steel welding, it's just more expensive. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Does anyone know a good place to get a spool gun? I`m planning on gettting a bottle of pure argon to use with the tig torch for my welder. so the pure argon would be dual purpose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I tried using a spool of Al in my Lincoln. The spool was $7 and I figured it was worth a shot. It would work for about 30 seconds max, usually half a second. I tried different tips and even a larger bore liner. It's just not really feasible to push that soft wire thru. I've only ever bought welding stuff from the local shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 My recommendation is to contact Jamie T. (Member name here) off line because he does this for a living and his experience in aluminum (And I've seen his work, which is the reason he makes the rear arms for my ZF Racing kits) would really lend well to your quesations here. All of the aluminum furniture he makes at the company he works at is $1000 or more. The quality is seriously high end. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 If you're going to weld aluminum and steel, start right off with a TIG welder. You'll need to wire 220 in your garage somewhere but its so much easier using a TIG. For home use an HTP Invertig 200 or a Miller Syncrowave 180 SD are good choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I already have a snap on ya212, 230 amp mig welder with a tig torch. I have used the tig on stainless with minimal success. I`m sure it will work better with 100% argon vs, 80/20. So what your saying is, I don`t need a spool gun and, that the tig will work better for aluminium? Sounds good to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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