Shoua

I'm taking a TIG welding class at my local community college. I want to know: what kind of welding do you do? Why do you choose that style? And lastly, can you post pictures up of what you do? Thanks.

4RunnerKid

i use MIG because it's cheaper, easier, and i never need to use TIG with the materials i work with. i would love to get good at TIG someday though. MIG is just a little more practical IMO.

everything done on my 4Runner was done with MIG... https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f88/...uild-up-82675/

drguitarum2005

i took a class that was stick and mig. we spent the first two weeks cutting with oxyacetylene then we moved on to stick welding for a few weeks and once we perfected that we went to MIG. MIG was MUCH easier IMO, but im glad I learned stick first. TIG isn't practical for me because everything i need to do doesnt require precision and just needs brute-force strength, which stick and usually MIG can give me.

amgraham

I do mostly MIG also. I would like to learn TIG sometime but MIG works well for the general purpose welding I do. Here's a bumper and tire carrier I made for an Xterra this past weekend:








Lots more pics of the build here: http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ire%20Carrier/

Blizzard

I learnt to weld with a cheap stick welder at home. Then a friend left me practice with a +4000$ TIG welder and now I want one hahaha

It's so nice to weld things without adding material... And if you need to add metal it's something like wire soldering, you've liquid metal drops that you can move and let them where you want, very nice.

I've used also MIG and it's way easier than stick, but as David says, it's a very useful learning method.

David

V8pickup

I use a mig too because it is cheaper. Very little stick unless I need to weld something very thick. I would love to have a tig but not in budget.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

I took stick, gas, TIG and MIG welding in about 2 years of classes at my local adult ed center. We learned in that order to gradually work into TIG. With stick you learn the arc control w/ one hand along with the various welding positions. With gas you pick up using both hands, one for the torch and one for the filler. Then TIG, you combine stick and gas and add the foot control as well. Makes for great welds on alum. and stainless steel for sure. I found it took me ~30 minutes of practice each night after work to get into the swing of TIG every class. After that, MIG was a piece of cake.

I started with a stick welder at home, then picked up a wire feeder and also a TIG machine and finally a MIG for production use since it is faster. I do want to get back into TIG, as I have some aluminum welding projects planned.

But did a lot of stick welding, which I find more "satisfying" than MIG., since it takes more finess than "pointing and shooting" with the MIG gun:

Hydralic-assist ram mount:


Sliders:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...it_HowTo.shtml

Shoua

I was told that I could TIG weld more different metals than MIG welding. I also have heard that MIG is easier to learn. So is MIG stronger than TIG? I want to hopefully create some parts for my pickup in this class. Will TIG hold up to 4-wheeling?

By the way, those are some nice welds on that tire carrier, amgraham.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

TIG is probably the most flexible welding process, you can weld most anything with it, l like steel alloys, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, etc. MIG can do a pretty good job on steel and alum. Given a good weld/penetration, all processes can yield an equally strong weld, basically as strong as the base metal. TIG will probably give the cleanest welds (and it is also the most sensitive to outside contamination in the weld area) and probably has the best heat control. That could make it a little "stronger" in that you can minimize heating of the surrounding metal. If you can make a good looking TIG weld, it'll likely be a good weld. With MIG, it is like my instructor said the first night of MIG class: With MIG, you can lay down a nice looking bead but have a poor weld joint.

95SASMudRunner

yea i mainly do mig because of its cost, i just picked up a stick welder and am in the process of learning i would kill to be able to take a class i just cant find any locally

seanz0rz

Metal Inert Gas

i am learing with a mig welder that i bought years ago and just finally got hooked up.

you can weld with flux core wire, but its horrible. dont do it. go get a gas cylinder and weld with a co2/Ar mix.

i dont have pictures of actual welds with it. but this is my first project for the truck, besides lots and lots of scrap material that i practiced on.

amgraham

Thanks! I still haven't gotten around to taking classes yet but knock on wood, I haven't broken a weld yet

deserttoy84

I just started my welding class monday. It covers mig,tig,arc,plasma. Im hoping to learn alot from this class. Ive heard tig is great to learn and if you get good at it then you got some job security.

Shoua

4Crawler, those are some nice welds too.

The class I'm taking only covers TIG. There are other classes at different times though, that cover MIG and ARC. I just chose begin with TIG. Next semester if I don't take another welding class, I just might take machine shop. Then, if I'm good at both, I could make anything I want.

2KTacoma

The ultimate TIG setup would be an airtight chamber you can fill with argon and have the parts in it, that would result in 100% clean welds.

alot of people use argon jets when welding Ti they just have a nozzle aimed at the area they are welding.

Anubiscougar

anyone know of any classes around/in the orlando florida area??