New User Group: DIY Welding

Well, FWITW, Andy, I joined this blog as a total ignoramus when it comes to welding, because I figured I'd learn a lot about the subject by reading what you, and others, have to say about the subject. And I have. I still have not bought my welding gear, but that is in large part thanks to all of you. I thought I knew what I needed, and wanted, but reading what you all had to say kept me from making sad, stupid, and expensive mistakes. Thank you. And I'll still keep this one subscribed to, even if it "dies", because, thanks to you (you personally, that is, because YOU started the blog) I have a ready reference that beats any number of textbooks, being, as it is, the eye-witness testimony of willing and enthusiastic teachers.

So, let me expand on this. Thanks to ALL OF YOU. But Most Thanks, to ANDY.

Dear micahd02,

what a great post to read first thing this morning, I thank you most kindly Sir!!

Deciding on a welder is not an easy task, if I may just pass a few comments to you in that first you must decide what area of welding you want to cover as no single welder can do it all.....mine was bought to do general repairs around house, garage and garden in both stainless and normal steel.

I also used it to fabricate some small parts in stainless steel that would have cost me the price of a welder, had I had them made......!!!

Mine has proved not only able to fabricate the stainless steel pieces I needed then, but also manages to keep all my neighbours gardening equipment repaired! Some of it is 1/4" thick steel, or even slightly more.....

Its a MIG outfit and I use 75:25 gas bottle of Argon/CO2 for everything!! If you are very well off you can buy a range of different gases for different situations. I was persuaded by the Haynes welding manual (if I remember correctly) that for the home welder, this is a good "middle of the road" gas for almost any job. This has proved to be completely true...... The Author of the book refutes much of the "ideology" of different gases for different jobs....

My welder is a 220 volt one and can also be used without gas with wire that has the flux in the wire, though I have never actually tried it, simply never had a need....I cannot tell you the ampage, but I run it on a 16 amp socket and it has never blown the fuses, so it probably never takes more than about 3KWatts....a Baby machine, but strong enough for many jobs.....

I personally cannot imagine using a 110VAC machine as reading online suggests that for many jobs they are simply just not powerful enough.....for anyone living in a 110VAC zone......be warned.....I doubt that price difference plays much of a role......unless you only need a very low ampage for tiny objects.

But then in such cases, I do believe a TIG machine might be even better for that, even though I have never tried TIG, it would be my next machine if I ever win the Lottery!!.....

I am planning to buy a wire feed gun eventually as I want to try welding aluminium with it. Aluminium wire does not like feeding all the way along the cable from the welder to the gun....I am told!! I have the wire, but not yet the gun!!

if you have the money, you need to get welding asap as its not only a money saver, but great fun too. Also MIG has the advantage that its a relatively simple method to learn, even by yourself.......my first welds were plain "Butt-Ugly", but have dramatically improved since then.......you get the idea quite quickly I find.....

So "Pucker up" and get working......best of luck.

Thank you, Andy (For the advice. The kind words help, but, here, I was trying to encourage you, and you hand it right back. Well, thanks for that, too!)

I had pretty much come to the same conclusion re: the type of welder I needed, though I'm afraid that the option of 220V isn't available to me, unless I ALSO want to buy a fairly powerful portable generator to drive it. Though we don't have 110V "zones" here, my home isn't wired for 220V, and I just don't see the need (So far. Maybe I'll change my mind, after trying it!) to install a 220V line. I can do the work myself, but I am loathe to get inside the service panel beyond installing a new breaker, or changing out a failed breaker. (Too many regulatory folks with their hands out, who aren't qualified to pass on the work, but, nonetheless will, in order to make a few bucks!)

But one thing you answered which I have never been able to find an answer to, is which gas(es) and at what mix. Thanks so much for that!

Perhaps you can also answer this. If I am using a cutting TORCH (as in Oxy/Acetylene, or even Oxy/MAPP gas, for really light work) what pressures/flow rates would I want for what purposes? How do I get the cleanest cut (other than skill, which, though I don't have it, I CAN learn)(though some might think not )? I have the ability, skills and knowledge to design/build a cutting jig that could carry the torch nozzle at the right rates, correct distances, etc., but I think it would be much more useful to learn the manual methods before doing that. Then, too, I would have a much better ability to judge my own quality when/if I did build the jig.

Sorry this is so long. But maybe it will reinvigorate the blog, also. One can hope! I find the reading extremely valuable.

Thanks again for starting it.

Sadly I have not done gas welding for so long, I cannot advise. Last time was 1973!!!

Hopefully there is someone else here who can help....?

I have not used the torches for many years also, but I seem to remember that the pressures were very low. 5 pounds for acetylene and 12 for oxygen. just a faint memory now. The gauges were always marked, but one would only look to see that the needles were in the correct area of the gauge face.

The use of a TIG welder is most like brazing or soldering, at least to my senses. (better act quickly before they are all gone) I found it very easy to learn. One simply uses the tungsten to create heat. Once the 2 parts are hot enough to become plastic, just bring the filler rod close enough to melt into the 2 parts and flow nicely. Again not unlike soldering.

One additional thought if the Po does not access to higher voltage might be to look for a used engine powered welder. It would allow more versatility, higher mobility, and would serve as a back up power supply for the next wave of power outages.

That thought about an engine powered welder would work for me, except that a) I live in a town house, with access to my tools and workspace being outside in the back yard, THROUGH my wife's and my bedroom., and b) I don't have a truck to mount it on (I just knew someone would suggest that, if I didn't mention it now. Ya'll are SOOO helpful!).

So, while 220 is available IF I wire it in to the house myself (have to dig out the books on that one, since I don't have any 220 circuits wired in yet, and I'd have to make sure I did it legally), it is not too likely I'll be able to do a 220V welder. Mig? Yep. Thought that would be a need. Happily I DO have 20A circuits everywhere, including (soon. Have the parts, haven't installed it) a home run to my backyard. Nothing else on it except the intended quad-box. And since I don't need to do any heavy stuff at home (how would I move it after I did it, with no more access than I have?), I can always go to a friend's house, and have him help me with it anything too heavy, or requiring too much runtime for the duty cycle available in a 110V rig.

But I'll keep my eyes open. I plan to retire in about 5 years, and move to a farm. I'll CERTAINLY be back here a lot before that, and I'll certainly be looking for a "mo' bigger, mo' better" welder, either engine driven ( my choice, by that time) or 220V.

Thanks for all your help. And you guys don't go away. As soon as I can get my hands on a rig, I'll be back to ask questions.

Peek behind the stove, dryer or even water heater, depending on the location you may be able to do a cord drop out of the service panel, you probably have 220, just have to figure how to get at it

that being said a 110 mig machine will do quite a bit of work. you have to make sure you are plugging in as close to the panel as you can.

outlets that have the power wires pushed in instead of wrapped around the screw terminals, will give you problems when drawing full power.

if you must use an extension cord, make sure it is #12 wire, It won't be dangerous to use smaller wire [extension cord] you just won't get enough heat, causing you to slow the welding wire speed way down.

electric welding of all sorts requires you match your hand speed to the machine settings. it is common for beginners try to move their hands too fast, if you aren't making the backside of the metal show the heat, you probably are not applying enough heat

Thanks. All good advise. But, nope on the 220V already being in. All our appliances are gas, except the reefer and freezers, which are standard 110V anyway.

And I don't use the push-ins when I do installs. I hate those things. Don't even like the devices that allow for them, because in my experience, they are a common point of failure after a few years, and they tend, when they break down, to cause a great deal of over-heating. Never had one catch fire, but even the buzzing, arcing they do is enough to give me the creeps. Had one do that while I was stationed in Guam in the Navy, and found it by listening for the buzz between breaker pops. Found it, and also found that the breaker screw terminals had been "drip-welded" (screw heads had melted down to form a puddle, welded to the copper wire. Ugly. Probably not physically a good "weld", either, but they were bonded, no doubt about it. Had to cut the breaker physically out of the wire, then put in a new run to the panel, since the resulting wire was too short. What a pain!!). Guess the breaker terminals were loose, too. But that would be another story, entirely.

Also, when I do installs in my house, I always use at least 12 Gauge, and at least 20 Amp breakers. If the service panel provides for it, by spec., I might "heavy up" the whole circuit, but I'll never, ever, scrimp on the wire gauge to save money, without derating a breaker to protect the entire circuit for its rated use.

And I always use 12 Gauge or better for any extension I use with my shop tools, for pretty much the same reason, but also to ensure the greatest useful voltage and current get where they are going. If any part of the extension circuit can be felt to be warmer than the surrounding air during or after use, I replace it with something bigger, or discontinue that use of that circuit till I can check it completely out.

In case you're wondering why I'm so careful about it, the Navy taught me well. But even as a 5th grade kid I remember waking up one night when my Dad, my sister, and I, were the only ones home, and hearing a buzzing sound under the bed. We didn't have rattler problems, and it was winter anyway. I looked under the bed, and saw the electric blanket power cord merrily arcing away at a nail in the floorboards. Burned right through the insulation. Of course it had to have already been damaged, and I know that, but the thought that it could happen again, while it doesn't possess me, certainly informs my daily use of electricity.

Ah, well. I will be careful, and as ever, I really appreciate your advice. Thanks again, gentlemen, and I will be hanging around to catch any other pearls of wisdom you offer.

I remember growing up in a house that was built in the 30s, ant the house only had 4 screw in fuses, and it had 220 volts available. There were 2- 30 amp lines brought into the house. 110 against the neutral each. If something was wired between each leg, it would be 220 volts.

Check the number of wires coming into your house. If there are 3 wires, there is 220 volts. Or you could check the service disconnect . If 2 breakers, or fuses paired together, again 220 volts.

What is the rating of the main service disconnect? I just can't seen to come to grips with no 220. Good luck.

Yep. And thanks for the good advice. That IS how they are wired here, and I think all houses in our area have the dual bus setup, so that things like dedicated whole-house HVACs can run on 220V. It just isn't wired in anywhere inside the house, where my shop is, nor to an exterior access point, and hasn't been worth doing. If it is, I will, but I did say in an earlier post that I don't like getting inside the box if I don't absolutely have to.

Just prefer to keep my work outside of it. But don't wish to pay an electrician's rates to have it done, either! So, until I decide I absolutely must gotta have it, I will try my hand at 110V welding, instead.

Gotta make a choice. That's my (current) (No pun intended) choice.

Thanks again for the help.

Hey, Andy! Is it getting warmer in here?

I getting it now

I lived in a 2 bedroom town house & used the single car garage as a shop.

I didn't have a welder at the time but I did have a 5hp air compressor that runs on 220 or 110. I ended up rewiring 3 outlets between the garage & panel that had push in connections or the lights in the kitchen would dim everytime the compressor kicked on

Did anyone post the miller link yet?

I have one of these

on small welders the weakest link is the ground clamp, replace it with a good one [$20], you won't be sorry

make a good way to loosely wind up the whip for storage, if you kink it the welding wire won't feed smoothly & give you fits, the most vulnerable spots for damage are right where it comes out of the machine & right by the gun

Funny you should say that, I was not impressed with the quality of the ground clamp when I bought my machine, it was/is the only part that I wasnot/am happy with. A new one was very cheap......it also "hangs on" far better on problem shapes.....

'ain't I good?

GA for a really good informative post. Just the sort of thing we need here.....thanks Garth.

I will think slightly better of 110VAC units after that post......not that I need one on Europe's power.....

I am late here to reply in this thread but my interest, and curiosity for soldering bring me here. I regard your efforts and looking forward to joining this group(For now the mentioned links show an error).