MIG at home garage legality

In my town what you're proposing would be considered a home occupation, as long as the activity doesn't occupy more than 25% of your residence or more than 900 sq feet in an accessory structure. Home occupations are allowed anyplace in town, and no notification or permit is required. Clearly, as others have mentioned, there are plenty of places with more restrictive regs. The only way to know for sure is to look into your local ordinances. If you're inclined to go ahead despite what you find, read the ordinances yourself rather than tipping off your codes officer by asking questions.

A bigger problem can be restrictive covenants in your deed, so look there as well.

On Fri, 9 Apr 2010 13:15:46 -0700 (PDT), the infamous unix scrawled the following:

Check with your city and state business offices about costs and requirements for starting a business. Then check with your insurance agent about insuring such a business in your home. You'll probably need commercial coverage and have to install fire prevention measures. (Tubafores and drywall _will_ catch fire without too much fuss. Your plastic gas tank will melt and flame up if a piece of flaming metal welding wire hits it, etc.)

What city/country/continent/island is this we're talking about? ;)

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

On Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:59:15 -0500, the infamous Ignoramus21954 scrawled the following:

Not recommended. (Arc Welding 101 was taught on Apollo 1)

RIP, guys.

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

On Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:22:49 -0400, the infamous "Steve B" scrawled the following:

With the city, probably. What about the insurance agent who covers the fire? ("I was welding a project" would probably fly, getting your damage paid for. "I was welding a product I sell" would probably get you in trouble.)

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

If you are running a business out of your garage, without the correct insurance, the learning experience will be expen$ive.

Wes

Two words I hate: should and probably. I think that the claim would be denied either way.

Steve

Bloody Hell Ron - dont be a wimp, just do it - if the authorities get upset, they will tell you...saves time if you dont ask permission... Andrew VK3BFA.

I think that surface tension will keep the weld puddle in place.

Joe Gwinn

The arc would be through the metal vapor cloud caused by arc heating.

A stick welder would have no problem scratch-starting in vacuum. Likewise a MIG welder.

TIG might have a problem, unless one can scratch-start it, or the start voltage is high enough (which I doubt for ordinary TIG units). Or, use a puff of argon for starting only.

NASA has to have thought about this and written a now-forgotten report.

Joe Gwinn

Can you weld upside down with a given process?

If welding steel just put a magnet on the part - not much magnetic flux required to keep the metal attached with no gravity to make it flow

Except that you are past the Curie point in the "puddle" aren't you?

jk

Maybe -- what are the forces created by the arc (assuming that you can strike an arc in vacuum)?

Would the puddle not be above the curie point? No magnetic response to help you.

Enjoy, DoN.

True you can weld upside down. But you may have faster cooling from the convection and maybe more surface pressure. If any gas generated in the welding, it would have a tendency to blow the metal all directions.

As many have noted, the weld puddle metal will be well above the Curie point, and so will not be magnetic. Loss of magnetism is a classic way to tell that a piece of steel is hot enough to be quenched during hardening.

Joe Gwinn

What's that Lassie? You say that Wes fell down the old rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue by Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:37:47 -0400:

of splatter

Naw. If you can weld overhead, where gravity is working against you, welding without gravity shouldn't be a problem.

O.K. So you can start an arc in a near vacuum (1-100 uMeters of mercury is pretty small), but this says nothing about what happens in zero gravity with the earth's magnetic field (in near space) applying forces to the current and the metal.

Enjoy, DoN.

While looking I saw several abstracts of articles on microgravity welding experiments, subscription required to read the full text.

jsw