Whatever you do, don't buy an arc welder. There isn't any material on an MG
thick enough to require an arc welder. Gas welding is still the best for
sheet metal work, but the level of distortion that you will get doing it
will require you to become an expert in body work, panel beating
specifically. Mig welding is the easiest to learn, and if you buy an auto
darkening helmet it will be even easier. A gas shielded rig will give you
the cleanest results but a flux core rig will work fine. You will get more
splatter with flux core but you will want to protect anything worth
protecting in the vicinity either way.
Mig will leave a bead that is too hard to beat smooth, unlike gas which can
be hammer formed while hot. If you shop around you can find a flux core rig
for $200 or less. I would recommend that you find a mig welder that grounds
the tip when you release the trigger. The cheaper welders don't do this so
if you bump metal with the gun while positioning it will make a shower of
sparks. If you learn to weld this way it isn't a problem, but in my case my
mig welder grounds the tip so I always forget this when working on my dad's
welder. I do gas weld my sheet metal, and I use .030 mig welding wire while
gas welding because most available gas welding rods are too thick for sheet
metal work.
Unfortunately you can't cut with a mig welder. Most professionals will tell
you that no matter what kind of welding you do, you still need a set of
torches in your shop, and I would definitely agree. The good news is that
you can walk into any welding store and get a starter oxy acetylene set with
tanks for $300 or less and they will last you the rest of your life.
Pretty much any 110 volt mig welder will be ok, most will weld 3/16" single
pass, some of the better ones will do 1/4". Most of the time you will be
working in the lower 1/3 of the welder's capacity using a .030" wire. For
sheet metal work you will want to use .023 but any welder should be able to
do this. The biggest trick in Mig welding is learning to set the welder for
what you are doing. My dad has a Craftsman flux core welder that uses two
dip switches to set it. This gives you four possible settings, and there is
a chart on it for setting recommendations based on metal thickness. On
higher end welders you will have 4 or more voltage settings and infinite
wire speed adjustment. This gives more control but requires more expertise
to adjust correctly. For occasional use I would recommend a unit that has
dip switches because it will give faster setups with less guesswork.
Lastly, a flux core welder offers one more benefit. It is much more
portable then a gas shielded welder because there is no tank. With a gas
shielded welder you will really need to put it on a welding cart and leave
it there. A flux core welder can also weld outside in windy conditions, a
gas shielded welder needs to work in an environment where there is no wind
or else the gas will blow away, and you won't get useable welds without the
shielding gas.
If you have any more questions feel free to email me.
James Nazarian
71 MGBGT V8
71 MGB Tourer
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of BarrMark262@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 8:09 PM
To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: What type welders please?
Hi List: Like many of you, I seem to be writing checks a lot to body and
paint shops for repair and painting until I am "upside down" on my projects
before
I even start.
I may be a fool, but I really am going to learn how to "weld" and paint.
I picked up a book on welding basics today, and in a quick read it seems
that
oxy/acetyline "gas welding" might be easier for me than arc or mig.
I won't be doing a lot, but it would be nice to have a single system that
did
both cutting and "welding" as needed on our cars.( I hope that is how I
understand the use of tanks and torches.)
Any advice is most welcome as to the best choices given limited use.
Thanks
Dennis Barr
Almost finished CB74 with a 66 waiting in the wings.
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