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  1. #1
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    Default Beginner questions , opinions on first welder.....

    Hi All,

    Just dipping my toes with metal working, I have a few newbie questions.

    My initial projects are a large portable cat run, some basic shelves in the shed, brackets and a mount for a large fan in the workshop. Might even upgrade the dust collection in the workshop one day.

    I have been trawling through this website for the last few days and I am a little overwhelmed lol.

    First issue is buying a welder, I have found this unit which looks good all around (to me anyway) and I have 15A right near the outdoor area I'll be using for my work. I am looking for something that will last me years and I wont grow out of . What do people think about this: https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W181

    The first project is the cat run (need to keep the mrs happy), I want to use modular panels (roughly 450 x 1600mm) so i can put it up for a few days at a time and put it away over winter etc. I obviously want to keep it as light as possible. A local supplier has 19x19mm square tube with a wall thickness of 1.6mm I was thinking of using that as the wire mesh will add a lot of strength.

    Is 1.6mm on the thinner side? Will it pose any issues for the beginner using the welder listed? Would the MIG function be best in this situation?

    Hope this makes sense...Thanks

    Joez

  2. #2
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    I reckon anything thin and tubular is a very tough ask for for beginners and is likely to be super frustrating.

    It's not just the welding itself, it needs accurate cutting, and setting it up and keeping it square.

    Rather than tubular I would be looking at starting with 2.5 mm angle, being thicker its not as challenging to weld and not tubular so its a bit easier to put together.
    You can also weld both sides if you want to.

    If you want something tubular, modular and light I wouldn't be using steel but 1mm Al , and either pop rivet, or qubelock it together. As well as being lighter it also has far fewer corrosion probs.

    What have you got to cut it with? Al tubing can be cut with woodworking gear e.g. a Table saw or a drop/sliding compound mitre saw.

  3. #3
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    Hi Bobl,

    I had a feeling 1.6mm would be a challenge, 2.5mm angle sounds like a better option in my situation. I really want to work on my welding skills

    i was going to get a cut off saw to do all my cuts probably something like https://sydneytools.com.au/makita-lw...FROVvQodoBwEwQ


    Thanks

    Joez

  4. #4
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    Given it's MIG, 1.6mm is not that much of a challenge, provided the fitup is tight - if there's a gap or an edge, it'll melt away very quickly. If you get into that situation, you can change to a kind of manual pulse MIG where you pull the trigger briefly to deposit some weld, wait a second for it to cool and repeat - it's slow going, but allows you to deal with thin or otherwise challenging spots.

    That UniMIG is an older-generation unit, probably why it's on sale, but it should do perfectly well.

  5. #5
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Quote Originally Posted by joez View Post
    Hi Bobl,

    I had a feeling 1.6mm would be a challenge, 2.5mm angle sounds like a better option in my situation. I really want to work on my welding skills

    i was going to get a cut off saw to do all my cuts probably something like https://sydneytools.com.au/makita-lw...FROVvQodoBwEwQ
    I would avoid those types of "cut off saws" like the plague.
    Noisy, fire hazard, wheel grit and metal chips flying around all over the place - horrible things.
    For the same money you can get one of these B002 | BS-4A Metal Cutting Band Saw | For Sale Sydney Brisbane Melbourne Perth | Buy Workshop Equipment & Machinery online at machineryhouse.com.au
    Quite, no fire risk, and contained swarf.
    Yes they are slow but you can let them cut on their own and go do something else in the meantime.

    It sounds like you should mot make any decisions about materials for your cat run project and just get yourself some angle and tube and practice welding and after you have done that for a while.

  6. #6
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    The specs list it as a DC Tig, just be aware that you can weld ali with a DC Mig but for Tig you need AC.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    I would avoid those types of "cut off saws" like the plague.
    Noisy, fire hazard, wheel grit and metal chips flying around all over the place - horrible things.
    For the same money you can get one of these B002 | BS-4A Metal Cutting Band Saw | For Sale Sydney Brisbane Melbourne Perth | Buy Workshop Equipment & Machinery online at machineryhouse.com.au
    Quite, no fire risk, and contained swarf.
    Yes they are slow but you can let them cut on their own and go do something else in the meantime.

    It sounds like you should mot make any decisions about materials for your cat run project and just get yourself some angle and tube and practice welding and after you have done that for a while.


    Thanks BobL, yes plenty of practice. I am surprised how cheap those bandsaws are!

  8. #8
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    You have a few options, one would be use the mig for steel, two use the tig for thin walled steel, or three go all out and purchase the spool gun for that machine and build a aluminium cat run

    i found welding aluminium for me with a mig/spool gun or by AC tig was very easy i feel most comfortable tig welding

    i can't stick weld at all and i can barely mig weld steel lol, i like the slow pace of tig it gives my eyes enough time to focus on the arc from normal room brightness

    the smoothness of wire feed using a spool gun to weld aluminium is handy but not necessary the weight of the spool gun can cause fatigue over holding a mig gun all day

    also compare the duty cycles on the machines you are looking at, i have a fantastic machine but my duty cycle is poor it leaves me twittling my thumbs

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2009au View Post
    ... i like the slow pace of tig ...
    Turn up the heat, gaz. The hotter and faster the better, to a point.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Legion View Post
    Turn up the heat, gaz. The hotter and faster the better, to a point.
    I tried this on steel and actually found it was a lot easier to strike the arc but on aluminium without a foot peddle i lose control of the puddle

  11. #11
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    Joez have u looked at smaller portable units like the one below, WIA i think is a good upper class brand in the market there are a few others around your budget price, just thinking if u can't get the hang of welding or decide it's not for you the portable machines are easier to sell than the big heavy machines

    i have sold just cheap welders some small some big and the bigger ones are harder to move due to size

    Inverter mig welder 200i | eBay

  12. #12
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    Turns out my next door neighbor has square tube and angle steel and a band saw , hes going to give me some material to practice on

    Token tools seem to get a big wrap on this forum, How does this Token tools unit https://weldingstore.tokentools.com....rocess-mig210s compare to the Unimig: https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W181 I mentioned in post 1?

    Duty cycle seems about the same, Synergic and a longer warranty on the token tools unit....


    What other items should I also include, gloves, helmut, rods and steel Mig wire? Might hold off on TIG initially.

    Thanks
    Joez

  13. #13
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    Always wear your PPE or you'll get burnt or hurt. Treat gloves like a consumable. If you're tigging, for example, you'll go through several pairs a year even recreationally.

    Get rods if you really want to stick weld and the material is thicker than 2mm. Or if you like a challenge.

    Get an angle grinder and flap discs. Possibly the most useful tool I have for welding. Besides of other things are useful but the $ add up.

    A good helmet is a good idea. Again the sky's the limit.

    Depends how hooked you get really.

    Retail metal stores often have offcut buckets you can take from for free for practising.

    Tig's awesome.

  14. #14
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    I made a cat run 10 years ago, maybe it's of interest. Its survived with remarkably little maintenance
    I used some plastic bins cable tied together as a tunnel over to the existing cat flat so we didn't need to modify the door. We don't use that door, but the bins are easily removed if we wanted to. The bin is sort of jammed between the door and the step rails so it can't move unless the door is opened.
    20161117_163848.jpg

    The back door is about 8 steps up and the ground falls away at the back so I made an overhead tunnel to some kind of wood gazebo thing that was there already
    20161117_163905.jpg

    The steel was just lightweight stuff that was lying around. I think it would be about 19mm. I covered the frame with heavy duty shade cloth. The cat loves to lie on the tunnel looking out, its like a big hammock. I wondered if he would scratch it and tear it apart, but he never has - the shade cloth is all ten years old now.
    20161117_163448.jpg

    The top of it is just some 3mm wire mesh sheets cable tied onto the metal frame in a triangle. The cable ties need replacing every 5 years because of the sun. Our cat is quite a vicious one and used to go out at night and fight with the possums who sat on top of the triangular mesh tunnel. I can only imagine the possums came off worse, because they had to hang on while poking their hands into the tunnel - something i wouldn't do. Anyway, that is why the plastic sheet is on the top part of the tunnel, so they can't get at each other. Actually, they still could at the bottom, but the cat has all the advantage now and the possums aren't daft enough to try it on.

    Life's tough for everyone and the cats shed has been dual purposed as a woodshed when a big tree fell down recently.
    20161117_163921.jpg
    The mesh on the front of the wooden thing has quite narrow holes. The previous owner kept chickens and I re-purposed some of his cages. You need a small mesh or the wild animals will try to fight your cat. You can hear them still calling each other names and egging themselves on, but there's no-one getting hurt now.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2009au View Post
    Joez have u looked at smaller portable units like the one below, WIA i think is a good upper class brand in the market there are a few others around your budget price, just thinking if u can't get the hang of welding or decide it's not for you the portable machines are easier to sell than the big heavy machines

    i have sold just cheap welders some small some big and the bigger ones are harder to move due to size

    Inverter mig welder 200i | eBay
    Portable units look good but the duty cycle is a lot lower 15% @ 200A vs 35% @ 200AMPS on the unimig.

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