Hello All

[tommysb]

Hi,

I'm Tom, 22 years old.

I've decided to try and learn about welding, mostly for automotive stuff.

-To keep costs of car repairs to a minimum.
-To eventually fabricate interesting exhaust manifolds for turbo conversions

Hopefully I'll be learning a lot here! I need to get a welder, and I guess it's just a skill that you get better at with practise?

I can solder pretty well, welding's just the same....right?

Anyway..... HI!

 

[NTwoO]

Soldering/brazing with acetylene or propane resembles the TIG process. MIG is more like a metal equivalent of a silicone gun.

A good welder simplifies the learning curve, since it has a more consistent operation. This makes it easier to learn, seeing that you don't have to anticipate the erratic behaviour of the poor machinery. A reasonable automatic helmet also makes learning easier, since you can concentrate more on welding.

 

[tommysb]

Are you suggesting that an oxyacetylene setup would be the way to go for what I intend to progress to NTwoO?

Any advise appreciated!

 

[NTwoO]

For car bodywork TIG, MIG or oxyacetylene could work. People often go for MIG because it is quick and easier to work out of position. It is not completely clear what you mean by soldering. Do you refer to silver solder or electronic soldering or some other process?

 

[tommysb]

Electronic soldering, it was a bit of a joke! (Things easily get misconstrued on the internet!)

 

[NTwoO]

There was no smiley, so I took you seriously. If the emotions are removed, then half the message disappears. I guess you have some idea how much the soldering is useful in this case. It is a bit like using your holiday to spain with Easyjet as a basis for your pilots license.

 

[tommysb]

Nice analogy!

SO going the MIG route, I should still be able to do what I want to do? It's a bit of a catch 22, and I guess a lot of beginners are in the same boat...

I'm reluctant to outlay a lot on a GOOD welder, since I'm a beginner. It'll be easier to get proficient with a GOOD welder.

I guess I'll keep an eye out for s/h bargains!

 

[runnach]

Oxy-Acety is in my opinion far better process for motor repairs, no probs with earthing, or wire painfully trying to burn through rust before getting a decent fused blob, however for say chassis work mig can be the better process (Dependant on rust) Problem with O&A is: initial cost and bottle rental, storage, insurance will be another issue, hence the reason most people will go the mig route, less hassle, except trying to fuse rust together

 

[chunkolini]

Tommy, welcome aboard.
Welding is a funny one.
I started off with oxy/acetylene, difficult to do but easy to see what you are doing wrong. moved onto Mig which I use most. and ocasionaly Tig, more accurate but slower and more fiddly.
Do a night class that lets you try them all. I did a 12 week gas/arc welding course and taught myself the rest. Learn to gas weld (ie oxy/acetylene) first if you want my opinion, if you can do that you can Tig weld. Why? this will teach you how to control a pool of molten metal and make it do what you want it to. Note my boy could mig weld when he was 8 so much easier to learn. Still drove me mad when I bought my first Mig welder though, then one day it clicked.

NtwoO says 'There was no smiley, so I took you seriously' these Europeans dont do irony.

Chunko'.

 

[NTwoO]

I guess if it was face to face, I would've picked it up. There are, however a number of soldering processes with a flame which start to look a little like oxyacelylene and could be of help. My brother gained much of his TIG welding skills from jewellery soldering techniques.