MIG welder.. Should I get one ?

[Paddy]

I make a lot of small steel frames for Weavers etc. They are made from either 16mm round or square, 1.2/1.6mm ERW tube.

Currently use oxy welding for most of the joints and braze 1/2 w threaded rod, into the end of the tubes , if required.

Have been thinking of switching to MIG, as gas is getting expensive and clean up after brazing, takes time.

Would MIG be good for this sort of work and what would be the minimum spec for a suitable welder.

paddy

[Bodgy]

I was also considering MIG, but did not proceed after advice from others here. Suggest search on 'MIG' for pro's and con's.

[Paddy]

Thanks for the reference,.... looks like I will stick with the gas and trusty old Abel Mk 1b Arc welder.

Paddy

[glock40sw]

G'day Paddy.

I only ever used a stick welder for years.
In Feb. I bought a CIG transmig 165.
Bloody great bit of gear. Perfect for 1.2 wall thickness tube.
I started with gasless wire and was not happy with it.

I invested in Liquidair Migshield gas.
I now use gas all the time for every type of welding job.
The gasless only gets used for outdoor (weldmesh fenceing) jobs.
I also use straight argon for Aluminium welding. I make ali frames to attach chrissie lights to for the missus.
Since I got the MIG. The stick welder is now redundant.

Go MIG.
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor
Grafton

[Grahame Collins]

Paddy,
Basically it is an economic question. Consider how many units do you make a a year ..Consider the profit you may make , then get on the phone and enquire about 1 years rental of a cylinder and the cost of refilling that cylinder.

When you picked yerself up off the floor, place the cost of the purchase price ,wire ,gas,rental and the consumable fiddly bits like liners , nozzles and contact tips that you undoubtly require against anticipated profit. Are you still in profit?

Shocked yet?

On the other hand if this a semi commercial venture and the volume of work warrants it,you may find the Mig enables you to work quicker and produce more units.this will increase your profits.

If you are still interested at this point consider purchasing a good second hand brand name Lincoln BOC ,Cigweld. These guys all have good spares. Most others are not real good in that regard.

Research mate ! research
I am most happy to answer your questions if you have some.
best of luck
Grahame

[Stompa]

Paddy

Just the fact that you won't be chipping the slag off and putting dents into the metal would be enough reason for getting a MIG. The only cleaning would be the splatter and you can get a spray for that which does a reasonable job

Been in the trade 40+ years and mostly used stick and TIG............for home and out of the wind (there is a gasless type) I would use a MIG.

[Edd]

Mig for speed, Tig for strength, Oxy for portability, Stick for cost. If you get mig, make sure you go for the gas type, the gasless is pointless imo, the welds aren't great and you're better off with stick instead of that. A good gas mixture is 93/5/2 (Or similar) Argon, CO2, Oxygen, which can do stainless steel as well, otherwise there is 75/25 or 80/20 Argon and CO2.

[bsrlee]

If you are doing batch production - making several dozen units & then selling them off over a period of time until stock is depleted, then doing another batch, some gas suppliers such as Linde or AirLiquide will rent you a cylinder by the month, or will sell you the cylinder & arrange for the periodic testing (for a fee :rolleyes: ).

BOC will not sell, they only rent cylinders & will try to talk you into an annual rental, but if you dig your heels in you will find that you can return the cylinder & only pay for the gas & the proportion of a year's rental you had it for - a week, month etc.

If you can Oxy weld, TIG will seem most familiar, while MIG is more like 'stick' arc welding. Tell the supplier what you are welding & they -should- advise what machine to get & what gas mix to use.

[dazzler]

Hi

Go MIG and Go Gasless.:D I race off road race buggies and use gasless MIG and its fine. For what you are talking about doing it is perfect:D :D :D .

Building space shuttles? No.:p
Baskets for weavers? Yes.:)

have fun

dazzler

[Bodgy]

What stops me buying a gasless MIG is the 'rumour' that the wire will soon cease to be available as it is a toxic risk to health.

Can anyone confirm or deny?

[dazzler]

Hi Bodgy

Should add get a CIG Duo Mig or similar. Not gasless only. that way you can have a small bottle of gas at home if you want and gasless for outside where it is needed.

With a small mig it is difficult on a windy day to use well on gas.

cheers

dazzler

[Edd]

What stops me buying a gasless MIG is the 'rumour' that the wire will soon cease to be available as it is a toxic risk to health.

Can anyone confirm or deny?
#1. If you don't intend on buying a mig with gas (some flux wires require it anyway) and you still have slag on the welds, you may-as-well go stick for cheaper welder, better quality welds, more convenience and the ability to upgrade to TIG later with some machines.
#2. If you go for a Mig Welder, start with something like a Lincoln Electric SP170T
#3. If you go for a Stick/Tig welder, I recommend a fronius transpocket or similar for between $1000-$2000
#4. If just Stick, there are plenty of brands, spend at least $400-$600, they will be really small units with anti-stick and some other good functions.

That's of course just my opinion, but from what I've mostly heard, flux cored mig wire isn't good.

[Bodgy]

Thanks for that, only want MIG for thin plate welds (Graeme recommended a heat sink for this) and to weld other metals like stainless etc.

I'll be buggered before I pay CIG or someone yearly rental for something I may use a total of 10 hours.

Maybe rental's the go