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Good evening
New to here but been lurking for a while. After pouring over the "things you've made" thread the desire to weld has resurfaced.
As 2016 is going to be Chubstr's year of doing stuff (40, midlife crisis and all) I'm going to give welding a go. I've been looking over the net and it would seem that Mig is the easiest to learn, but I like the idea of Tig more, always liked the fishscale welds on my old and long gone Zaskar
So as I clearly don't have a clue what I'm talking about, i thought I'd lay myself before your vast knowledge before I blow up the garage
Howdy!
Have a look at your local college evening class prospectus for a course?
If you really want to go the tig route either get a mate who can tig weld to show you or do a course at a local college. Tig isn't easy similar technique to oxcytalene welding.
Mig welding much easier. Machines cheaper too.
Look at www.weldequip.com they do good machines and advise. Avoid sip welders the current spikes on startup making it difficult to weld thin material
As above find the local tec-College and give it a go on a night course, funny thing is after 20 old years of having my head in a bucket I got to 40 and realised I never wanted to weld ever again
I was going down the local college route, in the prospectus the course was listed as being £170, turned up on the enrolment day to find out the college had had their funding cut and the course was now £700. I didn't sign up.
Nothing to contribute regarding welding , but hello and what size tyres are you riding ?
Nothing to contribute regarding welding , but hello and what size tyres are you riding ?
At the moment, none, 26 inch is in the garage, been off the bike for about 2 years (hence the name), daughter/Achilles tendonopathy has gotten in the way so far and now all these wheel sizes are confusing me a bit too much......so expect a few threads in the near future
I taught myself to MIG weld (came from owning a mini). It's pretty easy with a bit of practice (buy a mini). I learnt to braze at school - that's pretty easy too - just a bit more messy with all the flux.
I suggest you consider why/what you want to weld. Car bodywork for example is suppposed to be easiest with MIG. If you're welding aluminium or titanium then TIG is worth learning. Brazing is good for steel bike frames.
Lots of people do arc wleding. I suspect this is because the welders are cheap. IME you just get lots of pigeon poo welds. Unless you're welding something big I'd avoid arc (that's my suggestion anyway).
I'd start with MIG and go from there.
At the moment, none, 26 inch is in the garage, been off the bike for about 2 years
Immediately fits in...
Welcome 😉
I'm new to welding too. Bought myself a Sealey Mightymig 100 to start out.
It's great and only £100 so not a massive investment until you have a better idea.
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[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-Professional-230V-No-Gas-Welder/dp/B002HMRTV2 ]Mightymig[/url]
I've done arc and mig welding for years and recently started brazing. All great skills to have. I'd say brazing is the most applicable to bikes, if that's what you intend to do. The kit and consumables can be very cheap. I went for a bullfinch propane torch which avoids the need for hiring an oxygen cylinder.
I'd love a tig welder but they are very expensive, and the skill is the hardest to master.
Lots of good how-to videos on YouTube that will get you going.