I am in the market for a new welder. I have the funds and was shopping around at the various brands of mig welders. I currently have a 110 Lincoln Weldpak set up for mig. I then sorta had a revelation: All I do is sheet metal, So why don't I just learn to gas weld? A buddy of mine gave me a nice old Smith torch with a bunch of tips. 0, 00, 000, ect. I need to get regulators and tanks which is not a big deal. I have never gas welded before but don't mind doing alot of practice and I have plenty of patience. Am I on the right track here? I know gas welds a softer and if done right their is not alot of heat distoriton. Everyone seems to use mig these days. Thanks as always, Todd
I like gas welds, they look cool. Hard to hold thing and tack it at the same time. Grinds easier, too. Its all about controlling the heat.
I do on occasion for small stuff, but then I got a TIG. If you can gas weld it be will an easy study for TIG.
I still have my little 110 mig. I could always fit the part and tack it in with the mig and weld it in with the torch (I guess) Todd
I like to use both. Old Wire hangers (not the crappy new ones) are great for cheap welding rod. For being a "traditional" site, I'm shocked more people don't use gas....
A top quality gas welding outfit is far far cheaper than a poor quality tig welder. If you learn gas welding, you will be able to transition to tig easily later. Mig welds on sheet metal are almost impossible to pick out so you don't need any bondo or lead. You can teach yourself to weld but you will pick it up much faster in a welding course. When you get to where you can chop a top and use no filler material of any kind for a perfect factory look job, you will have more business than you can handle. After that you can let things slide and use gallons of goop like they do on TV....lol
Gas welding is slower, so you have more control. When doing exhaust work, the weld looks smaller, but the control can give better penetration for a better weld. The mig goes so fast, often you end up with a gob and not good penetration. The Smiths you have will allow very nice work on sheet metal. Buy good quality gauges, learn the old ways. You wont be sorry.
I stick,mig,and gas weld. There is a time and a place for each.You can always use the gas setup for bending and shaping steel if you get a mig afterwards.
I love to gas weld but don't get as much opportunity as I used to. Each type of welding has it's own use. The Home Shop Machinist did an excellent series on this called "17 Reasons to love The Oxy-Acetelene Torch (or How to Use Pyrotechnics to Your Best Advantage), in the Oct-December 2009 issues. I believe you can retrieve these online. Awesome stuff there. I just did these headers for my Sporty and they have the look I want.... No artist, but OK.
I have both a mig welder and Oxy/act torch. I tried the mig welder on 80 year old body steel and most of the time I burnt through the body,or had pin holes or ground through the adjacent steel because the weld was so hard. I had a cheapo HF gas rig and I could not seem to do good with that either. So I spent big money on the Henrob/Dillon/Cobra torch set up with the regulators/gages about 2 years ago. I used it off and on and now I am really welding pretty good with it now. Self taught with no lessons. I really like the gas welding and I can see with my old eyes what I could not see with the mig welder. Some one mentioned using the coat hangers as welding rod. I tried that and that was better then the welding rod you buy. I recently found another source for rod that is better then the coat hangers. I recomend for those that gas weld try using the fiberglass insulation rods for holding up fiberglass batts between floor joists. I get mine at Home Depot in 16 " or 24" lengths.
I use the torch on anything that needs metalfinishing. Sure you get distortion, but you get it with mig and tig too. Just not as bad. Once you get good at gas welding, and finishing weld and distortion, torch shrinking comes easy. I built 3 pairs of 36 ford fenders from scratch and welded them together with the torch. Here is the last one I did about a year ago. This car was a 36 Ford Cabrio from the Glasser Coachworks in Germany. They used a 36 4dr sedan cowl forward, the rest is coachbuilt. Guess what they used to weld? The rear fenders were rusted and beat, but the old welds held up just fine!!
I have them all. I learned gas then stick then MIG and now tig. Gas is good. I took a class at the collage for tig welding and the first thing they do is hand you a gas torch. When you master it they let you start tig.
Yep I say go for it, as said before, easier to work welds, as well as a sence of craftsmanship. It's not really that tough to pick up, and then tig is easy to learn after.
I studied gas welding in Junior College. Got very good at it. Then, got certified in stick the same year. Gas welded quarter panels, etc. Then recently learned to mig weld. No more gas welding for me, unless there is no power around.
That sounds like a plan. I'd have to say learn the gas welding the same way I did. take some scrap pieces of sheet metal and start welding them together. It usually doesn't take that long to get the hang of it. Just like mig or tig. Weld small welds and move around to let them cool so you don't distort the metal with the heat. And not everyone thinks that using a torch is obsolete. Bill Hines would argue with you a bit on that one. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=664168&highlight=bill+hines
I learned how to gas weld first, then stick, then mig. I don't use gas welding very often anymore. I probably should. Never had the chance to tig weld yet.
Use them all, gas has a nice way of keeping you sharp for tig work. The experimental aircraft guys primarily use gas for chromoly as it has a tendency to stress relieve the weld.
I still gas weld on stuff where I know I need more control over the weld pool, in some things it's easier than tig.
Hey, Welcome to the gas welding club, friend Once you finish your first bead on a patch panel you'll wonder why anyone would use a squirt gun welder on steel Late model collision repair requires mig welding because of the high strength low alloy steels used in todays' vehicles, these steels would be ruined by gas welding. Be sure to get the backflow preventers for the gauges where the hoses attach, these could well save your life if you get a backfire in the torch that makes its' way back to the regulator & tank Today, I just love grinding out ''repairs'' made by puttyflingers, using squirtgun welds on floorboards, you know the ones with more pinholes in them than a watering can, and covered with "kitty hair'' & resin All in a attempt to make them watertight Rebar tie wire makes a good welding rod for small bead welds. After you master adding filler rod to your welds, shoot for fusion welds without any filler rod added " Life ain't no Disney movie "
Cool thread. I'd gas weld if i was any damn good at it....I have a couple MIG welders, a TIG and the basics of a gas set up. I do plan to get at it though, and learn the art. Tony
I have a small jewelers torch that makes really nice little OAW welds using MIG wire as the filler metal. A really small heat affected zone and easy metal finishing afterwards.
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