Anything welding

So I think one of the things that really opened my eyes on my last project was how much wire size can really improve the look of my welds. I do almost all my welding with .025 because it gives me the most versatility for what I do (most fabrication with 1/8" or below, with the occasional 3/16" material. But goddddamn was .035 so forgiving when I did my buddies diff. So easy to get a nice thick even bead in corners or tee's. My 12lb spool of .025 is hella low so I might run the .035 as my main wire for a bit and save the .025 in case I do some sheet metal stuff again. I think learning to be good with the thin wire on thicker metals is just as important as trying to learn thicker wire on thinner metals just to keep me on my toes. /randomthoughtoftheday

 

I've never tried a different size. Been using 035 for 25 years. I've wanted to try different sizes, but I never do. I guess I stick with what I know.

 

Have you tried 030? I found that to be my favorite. I've gone as thin as 20 gauge and as thick as 1/4" and it's served me well for everything. Most of my welding is 1/8" and it's perfect for that IMO.

 

Not yet, I was thinking of grabbing it as my next wire to try.

 

Morning y'all,

So my fiance can't keep a secret to save her life and let it slip my parents are buying me the little HF Titanium 125 flux welder for christmas I happen to also have an uncle who works for harbor freight that got me a 25% off everything (quite literally entire purchase, best day of the year when that comes around) coupon that's good through the next two weeks and I figured I should take advantage of that to grab anything I might need.

My questions:

Are their welding helmets any good? Or good enough? I was looking at this one: I think the last couple posts answered my questions on wire size, so thats perfect timing hah.

For just playing around and practicing in my garage on smaller parts, reccomendations on gloves vs jacket vs sleeves vs whatever? I already got my safety crocs

Other random things I should pick up? Those magnet holder things?

 

I think wire size is one of the most overlooked parameters when setting up to weld. I bounce between .025 and .030 depending what I’m doing.

.025 is like cheater mode for mig on really thin stuff. I used it building my wedge camper out of 16ga tube. Way easier than .030. After using thin wire on thin material you don’t want to go back.

but then for beefier stuff like shock relocations I switch over to .030.

 

Clamps, lots of clamps. A grinder or 3. Depending on what you're planning on welding, HF has a decent little folding weld table that's good for small projects.

 

I have their vulcan welding helmet and I really like it. @y=mx+b has the exact welder you're getting and he lays down some nice beads with it, so for an entry level welder, you'll be doing alright. And if you ever want to get into something bigger, you don't have too much money invested.

 

Think about using those savings to upgrade to a MIG version.

Flux core has its use, but welding using gas as shielding is a huge advantage.

I hope to never use flux core again in my life.

 

Clamps are a good call. I'll take a look at the little table. My work bench is pretty small and wood, so yeah, probably not the best welding area, another good call. Grinder, discs, flap wheels, and wire brushes I already have taken care of.

Nice, glad to hear they aren't complete shite. Pretty sure it'll mostly be random parts for the motorcycles, and I don't see myself ever doing a full bumper or anything, so I'm hoping it'll be enough for what I need.

For free, I'm not going to complain about it being flux, but I get what you mean. I figure it I ever need to do larger things, I could probably sell this one pretty easily locally and go MIG. Thanks for the input

 

Yep I have that welder and like it. Flux has its ups and downs, but I've been happy with what I can do with it. Best part of it being a small inverter is you can drag it anywhere without having to worry about dragging around a clunky unit or a bottle, which is helpful for welding stuff underneath the truck. If you have a 20amp outlet to use, its a world of difference over a 15amp outlet. Welded up a 3/16" skid thats taken some abuse from stock suspension offroading and just assembled some 4x innovations sliders (which might have been a questionable decision) that I still need to weld to the frame but we'll see lol

For extra things to get, some little metal table to weld on like the HF one is nice to have, a good pair of gloves, and an apron/coat. The a cheapo $9 HF grinder is also nice to have on something not super precise like a wire wheel

 

Man I had that little titanium 125 and it’s a great start for sure! Let’s you really learn welding and is a lot less forgiving than gass so you really have to perfect your skills to weld pretty with it. My welds were pretty good with it before I stepped up to the migmax. That being said I’ll never go back to flux unless the situation calls for it. Here’s some of my most recent welds with gas after only using the machine a handful of times.

 

I'm only 3 days into learning stick and man it's tough because we're doing 5G on pipe; 6010 root and 7018 hot/fill.

Since it looks horrible, I'll post up my last MIG welds

 

The only way to know is to use the grinder !!

A have had a bunch over the years used one time pawned off to helpers or given away at job sites,

Since I only ever use one hand the size is critical to me.

Between air and electric I must have 10 or 12 floating around.

My problems is losing the tools to change the discs.

I have never used a cordless grinder so no input.

 

Anymore I use .025 hard wire for everything. If i need to do some serious welding like a 5 yard bucket simple to swap drive rolls and guns and go to .045 hard wire .

For vehicle welding I use the smallest gun I can for better access.

 

@BuzzardsGottaEat

Sorry I'm late replying but I only saw your post cause it was just quoted.

I went through this myself just over the last 4 weeks; I'm in school for welding and rather than use the supplied grinders I bought my own.



My Milwaukee Fuel M18 had a nice feel, but was a little heavier than I'd like.



My real complaint came from the loudness of it, like a shriek almost as it would make my tinnitus want to act up even. It also felt really numbing after using it for a short bit so I really disliked it.

Thinking a corded would work better, not to mention the simple fact that it'd be convenient to own multiple grinders, I bought a Milwaukee corded grinder.



I didn't buy the cheap one either, as I'm a buy once cry once type of guy.

The corded grinder was slightly quieter, and a tad less numbing, but not where I'd like it to be.

I did forget to mention, I was comparing these 2 to an old, class-owned DeWalt XR that has seen better days. That thing is so smooth and quiet, you can easily grind away too much metal that's how smooth it was.



Fast forward 3 weeks and I told my wife I'm just going to get a cheap Metabo HPT (Hitachi rebrand). Granted it's what...4A less than the other 2, it's so much quieter and smoother that I returned the 2 Milwaukees 2 days later.



Think it's pretty awesome that my wife insisted on paying for it; was only $40 at Lowes with hard case and 5 grinding wheels.

 

This is all great info, thank you! I have killer tinnitus as well

I already ordered two small Makitas to test out and will give feedback if they’re better or worse than the tiny little Milwaukee I own.

I’m interested in Makita’s $180 model with the SJS II clutch/spring in it. It’s specifically advertised as helping with hand fatigue and vibration a lot, but haven’t read much on it outside of marking. If it truly helps I’ll get one, but it is pretty big/heavy so if the tech is a gimmick I’d send it back. We shall see!

 

I know for my home shop, once we move, I'll fork the money for a real Metabo or two.

I would've bought the DeWalt 2 battery+grinder deal but they're out of stock everywhere, even online.

Tag me when you run those Makita's!

I'm only 36, but have been through a lot and would prefer to treat my hands well after hours of holding a MIG gun.

 

I hear you. I’m 33 and was told I’d likely be in a wheel chair a long time ago haha. I’m the opposite though, I tig a lot and stick a bit when need be, but I just applied for a part time gig doing nothing but MIG work to help supplement the income while I put the wife and brothers through school. I did my weld test to get in about an hour ago and all the guy said was, “I’ll talk to the boss” before I left haha no clue if that’s good or bad!

 

Well shit goodluck to you!

This is my 3rd career choice; wish it would've been my 1st long ago