Noob Question about welding.

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Hello, this is my first post... im looking to get into making metal wall home decor.  I have a great imagination  but lack some knowledge in the field of welding.  I have a cheapo welder i been playing with for a year... but my question is, is a welder the best thing to use when trying to tack small solid rods like you see used in wall decor?    or is there a better method to making a nicer bond?  thanks!
Reply:Depends on the size of the material and the size of the welder and what type of welder. Mig and tig are the best methods to use for that. You could also braze it together with a torch but that takes oxygen acetylene and the torch tips and hose.CERTIFICATIONS:7018M- H.V.O10718M- H.V.O11018M- H.V.O9N10- H.V.O71T-1-HYM- H.O.V100S1 PULSE ARC 0,035- H.O.V100S1 PULSE ARC 0.045- H.O.VER70S-3 PULSE ARC 0.035 H.O.VER70S-3 PULSE ARC 0.045 H.O.VER5554- H.O.V
Reply:Originally Posted by Titan Up but my question is, is a welder the best thing to use when trying to tack small solid rods like you see used in wall decor?    or is there a better method to making a nicer bond?  thanks!
Reply:I've been a mig owner at the house for a few years.  That being said, I think this machine is pure fun!!! It would also suit you for your "wall art" projects....  YES, A STICK WELDER!   Although I've been using a stick welder for a while as well at the shop, I never owned one.  Now, I recently bought one and I'm using it more and more.  I wished  I had one of these at the home garage sooner than now on many occassion.  Especially for all of my wife's "lawn art" projects and some difficult tight (hard to reach) welding joints I had to work.Yeah, I know the argument that learning to weld with a "flux core wire" welder is like working a glue gun, and is without a doubt the easiest to join metal on metal.   However, if you have a bit more patience and a lot less $$$$$ in your pocket, you can't beat a Lincoln tombstone welder like this one..... Attached ImagesLincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:thanks everyone, how clean is the weld  with a ARC welder?  on some projects im gonna be tacking small rod to thin sheet metal and need the smallest and cleanest weld as possible and i cant have the heat warping the sheet metal either. from my research the last couple days, Brazing with a OXY/ACE Torch seems to be simple and less messy. but i'm not sure.
Reply:Originally Posted by Titan Upthanks everyone, how clean is the weld  with a ARC welder?  on some projects im gonna be tacking small rod to thin sheet metal and need the smallest and cleanest weld as possible and i cant have the heat warping the sheet metal either. from my research the last couple days, Brazing with a OXY/ACE Torch seems to be simple and less messy. but i'm not sure.
Reply:If you can afford a combo stick tig machine go for it!  You will have more fun and greatly expand your capabilities!  Take lessons it easier than trying to figure it out youself. Lots of good used machines for sale out there, stay away from the stuff made in China!     Good luck.AEAD 200LE, Lincoln precision tig 185, Millermatic 251, Spectrum 625 extreme, Victor torch , Smithy 1220LTD. and  Do all C-4 band saw ,  Always adding.
Reply:Originally Posted by Titan UpHello, this is my first post... im looking to get into making metal wall home decor.  I have a great imagination  but lack some knowledge in the field of welding.  I have a cheapo welder i been playing with for a year... but my question is, is a welder the best thing to use when trying to tack small solid rods like you see used in wall decor?    or is there a better method to making a nicer bond?  thanks!
Reply:Thanks, does anyone know what the the run time of a 20 cubic ft. oxygen and 10 cubic ft. acetylene tanks would be?  I know Oxygen runs out must faster. need to know if this would be worth it in the long run money wise. There is a Airgas store 5 miles from me what would it cost to have these tanks filled? thanks.
Reply:Originally Posted by Titan UpThanks, does anyone know what the the run time of a 20 cubic ft. oxygen and 10 cubic ft. acetylene tanks would be?  I know Oxygen runs out must faster. need to know if this would be worth it in the long run money wise. There is a Airgas store 5 miles from me what would it cost to have these tanks filled? thanks.
Reply:We just had our tanks filled at airgas. I wanna say we paid about 38 bucks to fill our oxygen tank, and ~90-100 for the acetylene. For the life of me, i cant remember what size bottles they are. Oxy stands about 4 ft tall. Acetylene is about 3 feet.
Reply:The bigger the better. As was said, gas is cheaper the more ya buy. My prices are $12 for a 150cf of oxy and $25 for a acetylene about 3 ft tall....can't remember the size on that tank
Reply:i am a great fan of oxyacetylene..and for what you  are describing id have to say that tigbrazing with silicon bronze is the better method..it will do little spots quicker than oa, less heat input=less warping..you can probly find a dcstick tig machine for simil;ar cost of an oa setup..
Reply:You should take a look at this unit from Thermal Arc. It's a complete stick/tig kit with everything you need to start except for the Ar tank and filler rod/stick rods. The tig torch has the on/off switch with amptrol built in. Used it in stick mode on 110v and it ran 7018 3/32" and 6010 1/8" without a problem. Current price is $649.http://store.cyberweld.com/tharc16tiwep.html
Reply:Originally Posted by Jay OYou should take a look at this unit from Thermal Arc. It's a complete stick/tig kit with everything you need to start except for the Ar tank and filler rod/stick rods. The tig torch has the on/off switch with amptrol built in. Used it in stick mode on 110v and it ran 7018 3/32" and 6010 1/8" without a problem. Current price is $649.http://store.cyberweld.com/tharc16tiwep.html
Reply:Titan,There are so many different issues here, skill level required, cost of equipment, quality of result, and speed of welding.  All the advice given in the above posts is good, but you are going to have to decide many things for yourself in terms of your own personal needs and expectations.If you tell us what part of the World you are from, maybe someone here can demonstrate some different methods, and let you have a go yourself,  before spending a lot of money on welding equipment that may not really suit what you wish to do.Another approach might be to check out a beginners welding course in your City, and get advice from a welding instructor on what kind of course would be most suitable.Many welding techniques require some kind of gas, and both the gas and cylinder rental will be pretty brutal. Large cylinders will be more economic if your gas consumption is going to be high, because the refills will be cheaper.  But for low usage, the much lower rental cost of small cylinder will be very significant.  Until you really get going with this, and experience the costs first hand, it is not really possible to estimate the most economical cylinder size. It is exactly why gas cylinders come in so many different sizes.Cheers,  Tony._________________________________Transmig 310 + Argoshield LightOxy acetyleneOxy propanePrehistoric stick welder_________________________________
Reply:Originally Posted by DSW"Arc welder" covers several processes, Mig, Flux core wire, stick and tig to name the most common ones.
Reply:Originally Posted by Titan UpThanks, does anyone know what the the run time of a 20 cubic ft. oxygen and 10 cubic ft. acetylene tanks would be?  I know Oxygen runs out must faster. need to know if this would be worth it in the long run money wise. There is a Airgas store 5 miles from me what would it cost to have these tanks filled? thanks.
Reply:Originally Posted by Titan UpThanks, does anyone know what the the run time of a 20 cubic ft. oxygen and 10 cubic ft. acetylene tanks would be?  I know Oxygen runs out must faster. need to know if this would be worth it in the long run money wise. There is a Airgas store 5 miles from me what would it cost to have these tanks filled? thanks.
Reply:Thanks for you guys input....  Now when it comes to Mig Welders, Do the more costly ones really make better welds or are they more costly cause of the extra features and name brand?  Cause i've seen the cheapo welders with reviews just as good as the more costly welders and that's whats confusing me.  Thats actually  why i bought the cheap Harbor Freight welder a year ago cause of the reviews.  I dont mind paying more if the results are gonna be greatly better.
Reply:You will get better results with a quality machine. You will have a more consistent wire feed which will make a huge difference in the quality of your welds. Also quality control on the name brand machines is almost always top notch. You won't have issues like with the cheaper units where one guys works great and everyone else's has a variety of issues.On a budget, go with Hobart. A good quality machine at a good price. It won't hold up to day in day out heavy use like a comparable Miller or Lincoln, but for light use you probably will never notice the difference. Go as big as you can afford in a 230v unit. You'll see a noticeable difference at the upper end with a 200 amp class mig vs a 180 amp class mig. That extra duty cycle will make a difference with thicker material or alum. Keep in mind many "reviews" of smaller machines are usually written by people who don't weld. By "don't weld" I mean guys who only do this now and then and really have no knowledge of how a machine is supposed to act and weld. If it lays down metal, they think it's great. Give the same exact machine to someone who welds for a living and they'll tell you real quick what a POS it is. Run a nice top end machine like a MM252 or an XMT with a feeder and then run a cheapy HF unit and you will immediately see the difference..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:It seemed that there are people that believe that the little HF inverter was a good 110v machine. Tried to keep an open mind and looked for vids and found some on YouTube and found them showing the opposite even as the guy was saying how good it was. Just like everything else, quality is going to cost you and yes there is compromise but HF stuff is not it. The newer line from Thermal Arc seems to be that compromise and maybe take a look at their website.
Reply:Don't get me wrong, now.  Having a little HF $80 115v. P.O.S. inverter to do scratch start TIG is better than not having anything at all but I sure would like a pedal to come with it.  When I use this =< 40A I have to raise the torch about 1/2 " to get it a little hotter.  Sometimes too hot.  I would opt for this thing to be from 0-50A range for finer adjustment instead of the 0-80A it comes with.   Maybe someone that has a machine with all the doo-dads and gee-gaws can chime in with regards to the level of heat control?Last edited by 3 weelin geezer; 12-19-2011 at 03:59 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by Titan Up  I have a cheapo welder i been playing with for a year... but my question is, is a welder the best thing to use when trying to tack small solid rods like you see used in wall decor?    or is there a better method to making a nicer bond?  thanks!
Reply:for what you want to do, id say try an  oxyacetylene torch..many joints can be done with no filler . there is an artist/instructor named tom gingras, if you utube his videos it may help..tigging with silicon bronze  is also nice for small rods..low heat so the the ends wont burn off ..also a nice appearance with the gold/black in contrast if you dont paint over it...