Michael P. Ohleger wrote:
>
> Good information, but I'm also about to buy a welder and wonder which is best
>: Arc,
> MIG or flux (wire feed) I've heard that arc really takes some skill while MIG
> doesn't require much. Which is best?
For welding sheet metal, I would say that saying ARC welding
takes skill, the same as knitting with boxing gloves on takes
skill.
I suppose if you were Arc welding master of the world, you could
use it, but it's pretty much the wrong tool for the job. Not only
is it very hard to weld without burning through, but the
welds are very messy because of the flux and require a lot
of grinding after to clean them up enough to paint.
MIG welding is very effective and very quick to learn and
easy to do. Be sure to use a bottled-gas rig and not a
flux cored wire rig, and the welds are clean and ready to
paint as soon as they cool down. For visible bodywork, MIG
grinds easily, and you can even get extra-grindable MIG
wire if speed of work is essential.
I wouldn't recommend anything else but MIG unless you
already owned another system and money was EXTREMELY tight. If
you have a lot of money and a lot of skill a TIG rig can be
very effective, but a MIG will do the job faster, with
a lot less money, and a lot less time spent practicing before
you are ready to work on your car.
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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