The welder selection decisions?

[7milesup]

Tempering expectations.

Thinking about welding, we all want to do this:

But we're planning to buy a 10% duty cycle welder that is made for this:

Any questions?

DUDE! That is hilarious.

 

[General Zod]

Just buy a few of each and you will be very happy.

 

[graham-xrf]

Tempering expectations.

Thinking about welding, we all want to do this:

But we're planning to buy a 10% duty cycle welder that is made for this:

Any questions?

Wow! It makes one want to try for TIG from the get-go. The welds are awesome beautiful, even without the colours!

Being the way I am, I am thinking the first picture has some indications it was either a robotic weld, or at least had the benefit of machine mounted rotation while it was being done. The colours, of course, are from chroma wavelength interference in the thickness of the transparent surface oxide that forms as soon as the weld clears the argon-protected region. Like in soap bubbles, the thinnest first cancel blue/violet, so leave yellow.
The stainless flue on my wood-burner forms these, which steadily march upward, going through the colours until violet, when it starts over again on the next multiple of quarter-wave thicknesses, making colour spectrum rings up the flue.

In the second weld, it goes all the way around the vertical pipe. All I can think is the pipe was maybe first tied on with wire, or a couple of U-bolts, and blob-weld ace dude welded over the whole lot!

[Edit: TIG was an assumption. Can any other weld type look like that?]

 

[graham-xrf]

Just buy a few of each and you will be very happy.

Lots of devoted brand-loyalty in evidence, but also, given three of them appear to be identical, this stash of welders are likely the tools of a whole site crew.

 

[Lo-Fi]

Though those welds in the post above are done with the "walking the cup" method without a rotary positioner.

 

[pontiac428]

Lots of devoted brand-loyalty in evidence, but also, given three of them appear to be identical, this stash of welders are likely the tools of a whole site crew.

Nah, @General Zod just doesn't like changing wire spools in his MIG welders, so he bought one for each type of wire.

 

[Lo-Fi]

Nah, @General Zod just doesn't like changing wire spools in his MIG welders, so he bought one for each type of wire.

I sympathize with that approach!

 

[graham-xrf]

I sympathize with that approach!

OK - for us beginners, I take it that means changing the wire spools is a right Royal pain!
Sufficient to motivate buying a whole other welder!
Thus perhaps suggest the generally most useful size. I get it that if you want to weld car body sheet metal together in a butt joint stitched weld, you will likely need the thinnest.
What suits 2mm wall angle or box?
What about 3mm thick 40mmx 40mm angle?
What goes with 6mm (or 1/4 inch) 2"x 2"

Suppose you have a "thick" weld to make, say approx 10mm (0.4"), and you have it beveled, and a root butt, and you want to do a multi-pass
What spool size?

Also, while we are at it, how to stop it curling up together as if to close the joint.
Is this kind better done as a stick weld?

 

[graham-xrf]

Other than lugging the gas bottle around, does TIG have such advantages that one would consider using it for everything, and not have MIG at all?

I think I did read that MIG is more forgiving, while with TIG, everything has to be hyper-clean, wiped with alcohol, etc.

 

[pontiac428]

It's really a matter of materials. For handy work, I wouldn't be without a MIG. That's the welder to own if you only want one. TIG can do more than people realize. You can apply almost any flux coated special application rod with TIG with beautiful results. You can weld non-ferrous with TIG. If you want versatility, then TIG is the machine you want. A couple of non-trivial things with TIG are it costs more in gas and time to run, and it's slower to clean and set up. That's where having more than one capability comes in. Plus, if you're really cool, you can get a big cryogenic Argon tank installed in your side yard for a bottomless hard-plumbed gas supply. All the commercial guys are doing it.