Welding?

[hopeful]

Today while walking home from school I started thinkin... im never gonna get a car till I get to uni and when im there and i have a car i will be too busy with uni to bother with a car. So I just want to do somethign to help me waste time... I want to know the basics of welding like how to weld... i've seen it done and even done it once but i didnt set up the stick in the holding thing and just didnt ask enough questions. I heard of the different types of welders or welding methods? TIG, MIG, Wig? What are they? and what i plan on doing is just makin a go kart... but if its legal (i doubt it) what i was thinkin before was taking a car engine and mounting it up the frame that would be serious fun on a closed course... something small like 1600cc's RWD... man that thing would fly. I live in ontario if anyone knows about the laws. I dont know about those either!

[fatredcircle]

many different welding types: TIG, MIG, ARC, Gas, SPOT, are a few.

remeber when welding, ALWAYS use the propper safety equipment and percautions. The brightness of the welders can often cause retinal damage not only to the user but to surrounding people who may look briefly. Furthermore, to get good welds, always tac weld first. Then start your beads.

TIG: by far the best welder in my mind. Its best for accurate and strong welds. High control over welds in both size and heat and is very versatile as there is setting for aluminium, steel, copper, titanium and so forth. COns: well lets say they are more setbacks than cons. first, unless your good firends with hydro one or have your own powerplant, you're not having a tig welder in your house any time soon. You need a 240v outlet (like your stove) to opperate this baby....and don't think you can just swap in one....its very likely you will blow your fuse if you do. these babies suck energy! Secondly, TIGS are VERY expensive....from the actual welder to the argon gas, to the tungstens and rods you will have to buy. Thirdly, just like any welders, TIGS take time to master. However, all the practice time you need to get solid, clean welds will definately rack those bills up. IMO...best welder to learn and master...but not at your own expense.

MIG: if you don't have a 240v outlet, nor the propper fuse box or access to Argon or don't have an unlimited budget, you can easily obtain MIG paks from CT, Home Depot and other fine welding and hardware stores. They are wire fed and by far the easiest to use. simply feed the wire and control the rate of feed and the currency. good for home use and for begginers (although i use the term loosely). Very good for body work! The cons are that MIGS often give cold welds....meaning they don't penetrate the surface very well or they leave excess feed causing mounds and bubbles. I think you can get gas fed migs also.

ARC: ehhhh...i don't know why anyone would want to use an ARC welder, but some do. ITs the hardest out of the bunch to control and get clean welds....IMO, stay the fuck away from these things.

GAS: aka Oxy Acetylene torches. gas welders/torches are often just used for cutting. it will give you really nasty welds (probably cold too) and it tends to warp your metal because of the heat distribution. The other thing about gas welders is they are highly dangerous...i mean all welders are highly dangerous....but the mixture of Oxygen and Acetylene is highly volatile. I doubt local bylaws would allow this in a residence...but in any case....remember A before O or up you go.

Spot Welders: ummmmm.....you aint never gonna get your hands on this so ferget it...

hope this helps

Nick

[fatredcircle]

a 1600cc engine on a go kart wouldn't be practical. sure it would be kool to say you did it, but that'd still be a very big go kart to harness the engine, tranny and all the other crap.

go karts are fast because of the power to weight ratio, not because they have massive engines. if you wanna do something crazy or whatnot, find a small bike engine and mount that on, imo, that'd do a lot better. It's lighter, smaller and has more pep than a car engine does.

[88 LE]

Tig = Tungsten Inert Gas. Back in day it was called Heli-Arc cos they use Helium as the shielding gas. Now everyone uses Argon.

With tig you have a foot pedal which controls the amperage and a tig torch which you weld with. Inside the tig torch is a piece of tungsten which provides the arc.

You then have the shielding gas (usually argon) and rod. Rod comes in many different types of metals and sizes (depends on what your welding).

You can weld pretty much anything with tig. Steel, aluminum, chromoly, stainless steel, etc.. Its the shit when it comes to welding, but its also the hardest to do.


Mig = Metallic Inert Gas. Some ppl call it a wire feed welder which it pretty much is, but mig is the proper name.

Migs are DC welders with constant voltage. You have a gun which the wire and shielding gas feeds out of (if the machine is setup for gas).

It can use 2 types of wire, innershield or solid. Innershield has flux built into the wire which releases its own shielding gas when it burns. Its messy though and leaves splatter all over the place.

Other option is solid wire, but you have to use shielding gas (C02, argon, or C25 (75% argon and 25% C02 mix)).

C25 gives the best results, but its expensive (2 - 3 times the price of C02). Most ppl use C02 cos its cheaper then C25, but the welds don't come out quite as clean as with C25. You can also use argon, but you don't get good penatration with it and its not used very often unless you weld aluminum with a mig welder.


SMAW = Semi Metallic Arc Welding. Basicly stick welding.

You weld with a rod / stick. The rod goes in a stinger (big ol clamp).

To weld you strike the rod against whatever your welding till you get a arc going then you weld. The rod melts and provides the weld bead.

Rods come in different sizes and with different coatings depending on what your going to weld.

Stick welding gives nice strong welds with deep penatration. The downside is that you have slag which needs to chipped away and cleaned up.


FCAW = Flux Core Arc Welding.

Its kinda like mig welding except that it uses a much bigger wire. The wire is innershield, no gas setup with FCAW.

Its more like stick welding except that your using a gun and you use the same technique as with stick welding (stick it and drag it).


Spray Arc. I've never used this, but I think its like mig welding. The wire spool it alot smaller then the ones on a mig machine and the spool is on the gun itself.

[88 LE]

Originally Posted by hopeful

I want to know the basics of welding like how to weld... i've seen it done and even done it once but i didnt set up the stick in the holding thing and just didnt ask enough questions.

The only way to learn how to weld is by doing it.

If your serious about it I suggest that you take a welding class. Some colleges offer it.

I took welding in college and learned lots of cool stuff about it. Now all my friends want me to weld stuff for them. haha..