Welder?

[idaho]

I'm thinking of buying a small 110v welder to start doing my own chassis work, I'm thinking wire feed will be a better choice for tubing and what not but I only have stick experience. Would it be feasible to use a small cheapish stick welder?

[TacoCrawler]

tig

[Bogncrawl]

I got a small Eastwood tig. Haven't had it very long but it was very well priced and came with a few extras, and I'm pleased with its performance.

[idaho]

I really don't want to spend $1000+ on a welder plus I only have 110v power available

[Szczerba]

I use a Hobart 140 Handler MIG. ~$475 for the welder. Been working good for me the last two years. I am self taught but getting better with each project. After it was all said and done, I had about $750 in the setup. Welder, bottle, helmet, wire, wire brushes, etc.

Knowing what I know now, I should have gotten a smaller 110v TIG setup. About the same price and way more ideal for this small r/c fabrication.

[Bogncrawl]

I think I've got right around $800 into my set up. That's welder, mask, tank, filler rod, spare thungsten, gloves.

TIG200 DC Welder | TIG Welder | TIG Welders | Eastwood

[onebullet]

I have never welded anything for a small RC application but i have done my fair share of welding. For the small pin point accuracy that it would require a fluxcore or mig would be almost useless unless you enjoy lots and lots of frustration and having a big mess. With stick, again its almost useless. If you really feel you can not afford a tig or have the place for it a small oxy fuel set up would be ideal or ,even more compact, a jewlers torch. You would mostly be doing soldering and brazing but some materials you would be able to actually coalesce (melt metals together).

Tigs have come WAY down in price and form factor (they have ones marketed to hobby welders) so compared to a few years ago, now is the time to get one, Eastwood is without a doubt the way to go if you are on a budget. You say you have stick welding experience, do you know about polarity and how/why to use them? If not, pick up a book about welding or just check out some forums. For the small materiels you would be working with a small machine that can make very small changes is imperative, along with a small tungsten/cup and possibly a see through cup. If you intend to weld very small things you might even want to look into getting a magnifying lense for your hood.

It all sounds like alot of money but think of it this way, would you rather save some money up front for something you won't be able to do everything with and might work for your application if you are patient enough and then spend more time getting it to work rather than building OR would you want to save for another month or two and have almost unlimited possibilities of what you could stick together and build?

a mig could work for what you have in mind, Szczerba says he uses one and it works so clearly it has some use, my vote is the best tool you can find to get the best results.

so in short, save your money from the mig and get a small tig. Just my 2/100


EDIT: just found this thread while poking around. TONS of good info here and some good examples of why a tig is ideal, the welder he has is on amazon for less than 450
STANG KILLA SS learns to weld.....Thermal Arc 95S

[idaho]

I'm thinking I might just have to go tig, to bad it's almost double the cost to get one that will also do aluminum, that was one thing making me lean towards mig as I could just get a spool gun

[JohnRobHolmes]

If you are planning to do chassis work, a jewelers torch or tig is really the best options if you don't want to buy twice. You could do wire fed more easily with gas, but it will be hell to properly fuse tube without blowing through constantly. With a mig you will basically be making a bunch of little tacks which is very tough to make consistent.

[onebullet]

Originally Posted by idaho

I'm thinking I might just have to go tig, to bad it's almost double the cost to get one that will also do aluminum, that was one thing making me lean towards mig as I could just get a spool gun

This quote alone lets me know you never used a spool gun haha.

I love welding and i love fabrication BUT i would rather use a magnifying glass under the sun than try to make clean welds with a spool gun

I found this video today and if you start at the 8 minute mark he goes over the options for this kind of application and the pros and cons of each.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_PSU4Swok


I just had a thought, depending on the stick welder you have you might be able to kind of add the stuff to make a down and dirty scratch start tig.

[Eric0424]

Originally Posted by onebullet

I love welding and i love fabrication BUT i would rather use a magnifying glass under the sun than try to make clean welds with a spool gun

Spool guns are fine, some people just can't seem to get used to them.

[idaho]

Originally Posted by onebullet

This quote alone lets me know you never used a spool gun haha.

I love welding and i love fabrication BUT i would rather use a magnifying glass under the sun than try to make clean welds with a spool gun

I found this video today and if you start at the 8 minute mark he goes over the options for this kind of application and the pros and cons of each.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_PSU4Swok


I just had a thought, depending on the stick welder you have you might be able to kind of add the stuff to make a down and dirty scratch start tig.

You'd be correct I have never used one, nor have I used a tig which is exactly why I asked for advise, but thanks for the dick head reply

[idaho]

Looks like a tig it will be and I'll just stick to steel

[onebullet]

Originally Posted by idaho

You'd be correct I have never used one, nor have I used a tig which is exactly why I asked for advise, but thanks for the dick head reply

its unfortuneate that you took it that way, at least you got it figured out

hope to see some cool cages and bumpers soon!

[GraniteBandit]

I build my roll cages, truggy cages and custom pull pals with the Smith Jewelers torch and silver brazing alloy. It's not difficult to do.

[navyeoseabee]

i have a Lincoln 180 hd blah..blah.. it is good for small stuff but i use it on other stuff around the ranch.

i would suggest the smaller welder from lincoln attached is the link, if the only use your doing is r/c. but i would never suggest a harbor frieght junker..

Lincoln Electric Weld Pack HD Feed Welder-K2188-1 - The Home Depot

[allanon1965]

Originally Posted by Bogncrawl

I think I've got right around $800 into my set up. That's welder, mask, tank, filler rod, spare thungsten, gloves.

TIG200 DC Welder | TIG Welder | TIG Welders | Eastwood

how are you liking this setup so far?