blueta89

I have no knowledge or experience with welding except what see on TV and movies.

What is a Mig welder ?
How does it work?
Is this different than from arc welding ?

How much does a cheap low cost mig welder cost?

Is it easy to learn and do right to weld in sheet metal to fix your car and do basic body work?

I saw an ad for a job to do mig welding on awnings and place "willing to train" - is that a good deal to just learn and get job experience and get paid for it too ?

Isn't welding a smelly dangerous (sorta) job?

Why do ya have to wear dark goggles or mask?
Can the bright lite hurt damage your eyes?

What about welding anywhere near fuel lines or engine or fuel tank? Ain't it mighty dangerous?
How do body shops do it to deal with the fire hazard?

Any good basic books ya know of which explains or answer lots of my questions?
Thanks

Supercharged84Z

blue ta,
1. a MIG welder is a welder that uses a shielding gas to "shield" the weld and ensure a good weld that isnt corrupt by bad air getting in the weld. MIG stands for METAL INERT GAS.
An electrical current is passed through a wire that goes through the tip of the gun, and when touched to another metal that is grounded by the welder, the metal melts because of the heat created by the electricity.

Im not too sure about arc welding because im in an auto body class and all we cover in welding is MIG and brazing with the torch.

You could find a cheap used welder anywhere from 100-300 bucks, and a new one will probably run ya about 400 bones.

Its fairly easy to learn, you just have to PRACTICE YOUR @$$ off to get really good at it. However, if your welding aluminum awnings, youre goin to have to learn how to TIG weld, which is such a great thing to know how to do. If they are willing to teach you how to MIG and TIG weld, id say go for it. Even if it is just to MIG weld, its a win win situation, youre getting paid for learning.

Welding is dangerous, of course. If youre not careful youre probably going to get hurt. You just have to know what to do and what not to do. Use common sense like, hmmm where should and shouldnt i put burning hot metal? Welding isnt that smelly, and i kinda like it.

The dark goggles are so you can see what youre doing. If you look into the light when someone is welding all you see is bright light. The dark goggles make the light not as severe and allow you to see the metal youre welding. And yes, the light can damage your eyes really really bad.

And as for the fuel tank thing, you either have to take the panel off to weld, or drop the fuel tank. there really is no other way around it, and i dont know many people (there are some crazy people in the world) who would take the change of setting themselves on fire when they could take a little time aside and do the job right.

If you want to learn more about welding, im sure there are things on the internet youre destined to find.

and just a side note, you might want to start reading about how to do metal work on cars if thats what youre learning welding for. youll have to learn how to use a hammer and dolly properly, among other things.

1MEAN92RS

I never have been a fan of the Haynes car manuals... but they do have a welding manual that covers all the basics pretty good. It covers Oxy-acetylene, arc, MIG, TIG, and plasma. You certainly won't become a pro from reading this book, but it will give you a good overveiw of everything and give you the gumption to start practicing on your own, which is really what it's gonna take.

Later,
Harry

blueta89

Thanks for all info...

Just as I thought... welding is a real involved art/skill and costly
(over $200-300) just to get the tool...
Ohhh yehhhh ... and where to store it safely (without others complaining) (you knoww).

I guess I'll just stick to masking/duct tape and maybe get some of that metal epoxy glue stuff (3M, Fusor, JBWeld etc).

I'll leave the welding thing to the paid & trained people...
I hate to get burned tooo
THANKS!

Timz2882

iTrader: (1)

Welding isnt hard, expectally MIG. you could learn it in about 2-3 days if u really want to learn, hell i learned it in 1 after noon and well i awesome at MIG, TIG, stick, plasma, oxyfuel, arc gouging.

as Supercharged84z said before about MIG welding is right on the dime, also you DO NOT WEAR GOGGLES while MIG,TIG, or stick welding for no reason should you use goggles. you must use a proper welding helmet with a shade 10 lens, cheap helmets can go for like $35 on up. Also for MIG welding you have either regular wir or flux core wire. Flux core wire is a hollow wire that has a flux agent in the middle of it and when its burnt it creates the shielding gas and but after welding you have to chip and wire brush the flux off. Also for regualr mig wire you can use different gases to get better welds, theres a ARGON gas, a 75/25 mix of Argon and Co2 and then theres a Tri gas which is Argon, Co2 and something else i forgot.

Arc Welding consists of a welding electrod (metal rod covered with a Flux). Arc welding doesnt use any gases but uses alot more power to weld. Basiclly the electrod holder, the thing you would hold the electrod in to weld has either a positive or negative charge and when the work piece (whatever your working on) is grounded out with the work lead (basiclly a ground clamp) and you touch the work piece to get started it will arc and you can start to weld. it takes a bit more skill to do Arc and even more to learn in all different positions.

Mig welders can be bought at ur local HomeDepot or Lowes or Sears even. Sears sells theres for like $200 and it comes with a welding Shield also.

Also for welding alumin awnings you can use MIG for that also. all you have to do is change the wire spool from the regualr alloy mig wire to a alumin spool wire. you can also weld stainless steel with mig welding. with the mig welding alumin. sometimes depending on the thickness of the metal you might have to pre heat the metal, basiclly use a regualr propane tourch and most welding supply places will sell this stick that after you heat the metal up you can just run like a line accross the metal and if the mark your trying to make starts to melt then the metal is hot enuff to weld.

For as saying welding is dangerous, yes it can be but you have to fear the what your doing to do the job right. just like this one huge bench grinder/wire wheel. while using the wire wheel if your not paying attention and not consitrating on what your doing and not fearing that wheel it will **** you up. it will just grab what you were working on and suck it in and be lucky it doesnt get stuck. basiclly the same things go for welding, dont goof off with it, its something not to mess with if your not sure of.

welding around a gas tank isnt that bad. ive welded around mine before and just make sure your in a well ventilated area and make sure no gas is running down the side or anything and watch where you sparks go or just take something and block the area your working on so the sparks dont fly that way.

Also when storing a welder dont store it in a place where you know water will get too or it will ruin your nice welder. and most home size welders are no bigger then a 5 to 10 gallon fish tank and dont requier alot of space. so moving it out of the way so peope can get thru or some thing shouldnt be a problem.

also you wont get burned enless you have the proper safe equipment. basiclly a high boot, no cuffed pants, no fread pant legs, no shorts, no white cloths becuz it will reflect the light up thru your helmet, a leather aprin will do wonders, a leather welding jacket is great, it might be heavy but it will keep you from getting burned. also safty glasses are good too, a welding cap will work to keep from burning ur hair (dont worry i havent seen anyones head go up in flames from a small spark, ull just get a little burn), and basiclly nothing that has grease or oil or gasoline on it. most prefurd is denem jeans or something, no nylon pants.

sorry if this has taken a long time but im used to writing alot more then this on welding. had to write 2 term papers a yr for 3 yrs and had to be 6 pages long on welding. hope this helped a bit more.

LI Tommy

Don't Worry about MIG, TIG, plasma or anythign else. I've used JB Weld to attach my Alston Sub Frame Connectors. Almost 6 months and the difference is amazing. :lala:

LI Tommy

I just relized I don't feel like being sued when someone does that so know that using JB Weld to put in SFCs is a REALLY REALLY REALLY bad idea.

SBlackfoot

I just wanted to add that technically MIG, TIG, and stick (shielded metal) are all "arc welding".

JB Weld is different though.

I'm towards the end of a stick welding college course at the moment, where we get to play with MIG, TIG, and oxy-acetelyne brazing and cutting as well.

If you buy a welder you definitely get what you pay for. Low max amperage (or voltage for MIG machines) and low duty cycles are defintely to be avoided for any real work.