Which Welder Do I Need?

I am a REAL newbie. I have a hot rod I need to do some patchwork on. It is an old 48 Chevy Sedan Delivery. There are a couple small (2X3 inch) cancer spots on it. I need to cut them out and weld in some patch panels. I also have to fabricate a plate to protect the oil pan and trans pan. It will be

1/8 or 1/4 steel. Question: Do I need to buy a MIG, TIG, or an O.A. welder. I live very close to the University of Riverside in California. I'm sure they have a course I can take. Please help this newbie get a start. I am on a limited budget (retired Air Force) so please don't recommend a professional size/style/cost welder, as this is not achievable.

Thanks Mike

Reply to
Mike
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You're going bass-ackwards. FIRST take the class, THEN buy the welder. - GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Mike,

See if the V.A. will cover the class ( A lot of mine were covered, even the ones I took for fun.) Take a peek at the curriculum offered, sounds like a bodyshop and welding class are what would keep you interested. Also, some classes may allow you the chance for student discounts on the gear you need. Ernie L. is a instructor out of WA. He may have a lot of information on that type of issue or point you in the right direction- as well as other guys on this forum. The Marines got me a lot of education under my belt after I got out and if I was able to get the benefits here in IL. you should be set in CA, especially if you retired as a lifer (an assumption on my end, but you did mention retired). I bet all your stuff can fall into place really quick and with little financial impact since we have the benefits afforded to veterans. You paid your dues, let Uncle Sam foot the bill for as much of this as possible. The 48 Chevy's are a favorite of mine, Don't hack it. Enjoy it. There is a lot of good gear out there but as Grant mentioned, get the skills before you wind up hating your project out of frustration or wind up with a bad purchase or wind up getting hurt on accident.

Respects,

Rob Fraser

Fraser Competition Engines Chicago, IL. Long Beach, CA.

Reply to
RDF

Reply to
Robert Ball

You might also find out if your state lets seniors take courses at almost no cost. In Washington State if you are over 60 you can take courses for very little cost. It is similar in Virginia.

At most courses you can do projects after some introductory instruction.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

I'm also a newbie. I started welding to work on car bodies, like you want to do, but in my case, it's to keep my Volvo 240s alive. I started with OA, and taught myself with lots of practice while I was unemployed in 2002. Someday, when I have time, I'll take a course at the local technical high school. They concentrate on stick welding, which I don't really need for my hobbies.

OA works on older cars, but takes a lot of practice to master. I'm still a long way from "master", but I can make OK welds when conditions are right. An OA set can also cut and braze, and is a good source of heat for bending or anything else. The downside is it is slow and it causes a lot of distortion in sheet metal due to the large heat affected zone.

Earlier this year, I bought a MIG, and quickly found out that it is perfect for automotive sheet metal (solid wire with Argon/CO2) and plate up to 1/4" (with flux core). It is fast, distortion is minimal, and it can be used on newer cars with high-strength alloy bodies. But, I can't braze or heat things with it.

For cost, one of the portable OA kits with small bottles can be had for under $300 on web and at the big box stores. The 10CF acetylene bottle doesn't last long, refills are about $20. My MIG (Lincoln ProMIG 135) was purchased at Lowes for $457, and my 60CF bottle of C25 (Argon/CO2 mix) cost $116.

For strictly automotive use, I would go with a MIG. I keep telling myself I should have bought that first. But, the OA torch is a very versatile tool. Using the OA torch, I learned a lot about how a the puddle of molten metal should look and behave, and that helped a lot in learning MIG.

I have a stick welder ($35 yard sale special), but I've never used it.

Hope this helps.

Reply to
Ron DeBlock

If I could only have one it'd be an O/A rig. If two, an O/A and a small Miller inverter welder. That'll give you DC TIG (very precise) and DC stick.

I have a Millermatic 250X I've had for at least 8 years. In that time it's literally got less than two hours on it. And probably less than one.

While it's true that MIG is an excellent choice for automotive work you can't do much with it except weld. While stick is less than ideal for auto work it is doable. You can get 6013 rod in 1/16" thickness that'll do a decent job on thin sheet metal. Or, if you have a Miller Maxstar 140 or 150, you can also use it to do precision TIG work. Nothing is better than TIG for thin metal. Not even MIG.

Stick welding has emerged as my favorite process. My welds look like shit. But they hold.

V
Reply to
Vernon

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