newbie ??

admin

Long time no post.........  what's up guys. I'm finally gonna buy a welder after years of wanting to. I have some quick questions from a newbie, never welded a inch of metal....1) where do you get your supply of metal, if you want to do small projects around the garage? Say you want make some brackets for you car or truck, or shelves? I know you may have some scrap around, but eventually you'll run out.2) where can you get Argon? do you need a permit to have it in your garage. Home depot sells the mapp gas, but where do you get the Argon.3) Choice of 2 wire fed welders...  one just uses flux core wire gasless, the other has that and the hook ups for CO2 and argon. What would be the difference in the weld quality?Keep in mind, this is for personal use only, around the house and garage. Maybe some welds on my car, truck, lawn mowers, etc.thanks
Reply:This is a pic of the gasless flux welder....... Attached Images
Reply:Since you look to have wandered over here from Lawnsite, welcome to the nuthouse.First thing you need to understand is weldors need an established relationship with a welding supply house, and Hopme Peepshow ain't a welding supplier.Material is laying all over the place lookin for you to find it, just keep yer eyes open as you haul them mowers from dollar a mionute job to job.As far as MIG machines, for what you want to do, a 1230 volt machine with fluxcore simply won't get the job done right.  You need to step up to a 175 class machine, with gas right off, or you'll wish you had within a couple months.  The big machines can be turned down, but the little ones can't be turned up far enough.Gas, well, being in the Big Rottin Apple, you just may need permits,  but then, there's a lot to be said about keeping your mouth shut, and as I recall, Staten Island only has a handfull of firemen and a couple wore out trucks cause the rest of the City don't like spendin money on you guys out there.  Check the yellow pages for welding suppliers, and visit a couple till you find a place you like.As time goes on, you'll understand the value of a real supplier.Appreciation Gains You Recognition-
Reply:And Mapp gas would be a pretty bad shielding gas....
Reply:FGA,Definitely go for the whole GMAW setup.  You can always run flux-core if you need to work in an environment where you can't run with shielding gas, but the reverse just ain't true if you buy a gasless wire feeder.You can use plain old CO2 for shielding gas on mild steel welds.  It's actuially a little hotter than C25 (75% Argon, 25% CO2).  I can't imagine that you'd need a permit, even in NY.I have a Millermatic 135, but I'll be ugrading to a 210 this summer.  The 135 works great, but it just takes too long to multi-pass weld the thicker stuff.  Go as big as you can afford.  If you're like me at all, the "hobby weldor" thing will get out of hand real quick!!Be well.hankj