Welders...
 

Ok so ive decided to possibly weld my IC piping myself. I love to learn new trades especially if it will overall benefit myself and friends.
I am wondering what kind of welder i should get though? MIG, TIG or whatever would work great.
Im not going to be doing this professionally just a good thing to get into i think.
Can someone tell me what the difference is between MIG and TIG, and why i would use one over the other when welding IC piping, Exhaust Piping, or Exhaust Manifolds (possibly future project)
THanks,
Tom

Re: Welders...
 

I'm for MIG, its a lot easier to learn and do well. You can get "suitcase" MIG welders for $250-$350 depending on brand and options. That should do you fine for welding IC pipes/exhausts.

Re: Welders...
 

I bought a wire feed Hobart 140 MIG/gas last year for around 450 and welded/fabbed my entire exhaust for my old gsx last spring. I practiced for a few hours on scrap and then jumped right into it. The welds werent pretty but it worked fine.

TIG is expensive but nicer welds come out.

Re: Welders...
 

yeah i was looking on ebay, they have a couple TIG welders for really cheap, like under $100 including shipping. i was thinking about just getting one of those and working with that.

Re: Welders...
 

You get what you pay for, plus you gotta remember you need gas, tungsten torch tips, etc.

Mig is pretty easy, you need wire, and gas.

Tig, you need gas, torch tips, filler rod, a grinding wheel solely for your tips, so they don't get contaminated.

Also, Mig is a ton easier to learn than TIG is, so I would start with mig, and if you really enjoy fabrication, upgrade to a nicer tig unit.

Re: Welders...
 

I don't know that mig is easier or harder, I actually think MIG would be more difficult because it's less consistant. I've done TIG and MIG and i like tig much better. cleaner, quiter, better looking welds and pretty much faster, since you don't have to sit there and play with wirespeed, and your voltage is controlled by your foot (at least on the model i was using) rather than a knob.

save up 800 bucks and get a sweet TIG.

Re: Welders...
 

I have never seen a $100 TIG welder but I am sure ebay would be the one to have them. I would highly suggest going with a quality brand no matter what type you decide to get. Much easier to find replacement parts if you should need them and higher quality to begin with.

Can you even get a TIG welder that will run off your standard 110v outlet? I know you can get MIG like that and they work great for light duty stuff.

If you do get a MIG welder make sure to get one with gas, the flux core welders dont weld as pretty and a harder to get used to.

If you can afford a nice TIG setup I would get it. They are much easier to use on different types of materials and leave the cleanest work. They are however a little more difficult to learn how to produce good welds, IMO.

Re: Welders...
 

Those $100 TIG's are just a battery charger with leads on them. Total junk. MIG is much easier to learn than TIG. MIG cannot weld aluminum piping, but TIG can.

A good MIG entry level machine is the Hobart 140, ~$450 ready to go.

A nice TIG machine is the Thermal Arc TSW185, ~$1900 ready to go.

Both are about as cheap as you can go and still have a nice machine.

Re: Welders...
 

Mig can weld alumium piping as long as you set everything right, and you have a spool gun or a push-pull setup.

Re: Welders...
 

The ebay one i was looking at was actually a MIG welder, my bad. It was a flux cored wire feed one thats 125 amps. I wouldnt want to spend like 1600 bucks on something that im not looking to do professional work with.

Re: Welders...
 

A MIG setup to do aluminum will cost well over a grand, and doing thin aluminum with them is tricky. Spool guns are really meant for production work and long beads. They also tend to put a ton of heat into the material and warp flanges.

Re: Welders...
 

Just make sure they can do the thickness you want without having to wait 10 minutes in between welds. The cheaper smaller machines you have to wait a while in between 30 seconds of constant welding because of overheating...

The hobart 140 like Jet said is probably the bottom level machine to start with. It does up to 1/4 inch metal and has the gas kit included- minus the tank...

Re: Welders...
 

Yes, flux core wire sucks. You want a welder that uses gas from a tank.