I want to join the big boys--let's talk about WELDERS

[Turtle Tedd]

on the other hand to much penetration..to much heat in the welded joint is not a good thing..above post is right 38years and still learning..thats why its called practicing the trade..again I say stay away from the gasless mig machines

[KeepOnKeepnOn]

Anybody reading this who does not own a welder should go get one. I bought a "broken" mig on ebay for $50. A little slag had got on the tip so it could not feed wire, I cleaned it and good to go. You need a grinder, glooves and a full face shield (not goggles). It will open up a whole new world. Mine is the flux core type, yeah it smokes and leaves slag but hey I'm welding capable, if it's all you can afford do it. You will not regret it, theres so many things that are fixable now.

[mdross1]

Have learned over the years what works and what doesn't.For a hobbiest a lot of the aftermarket noname stuff works just fine.A lot of the cheap tools I have,people warned they would never last.Some of them will outlive me,it is all in the way they are maintained and used.Getting ready to purchase a tig machine for less than 1/3 the price of name brand.My motovation has always been do it myself and not used everyday,no way to justify the huge expense.

[Turtle Tedd]

mdross1....make sure you can get cups and collets to fit that tourch head

[blime81]

Another vote for a gas mig rig. I think that they have the least sharp learning curve (that doesn't mean you'll be a master anytime soon!).
I would also recommend an oxy/act torch. Always a good tool to have in the shop anyway I think.

If your shop/garage has 220v outlet and you can afford it I would go bigger over buying a 110v wire feed. You can always turn it down.

Whatever you choose, you'll find lots to do with it besides bike frames. If you use it to make your wife something nice (fire place poker set, garden bench, bike frame etc) she'll be much more forgiving when you buy that next "thing".

[Molotov256]

Not sure if I should have started a new thread or continued on this one, but I'm starting to look into a welder, too, so I've been reading over everybody's advice on what direction to go. Another post about welding options had a link to this site here which seems to have a lot of good information for newbies such as myself:

http://www.atomiczombie.com/ct-welding.html

That guide talks about using a stick arc welder on bike frames, but most folks on here seem to be leaning towards a MIG welder instead. It sounds to me like the arc welder is an affordable option, but it may not be the easiest route to take.

Affordability being important to me, I found a wire feed welder on my local craigslist for $50... it's the one harbor freight sells here:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...112&zmap=98871

Would that be suitable for some bike frame work, or would it be too weak?

[blime81]

A wire feed welder with no shielding gas (CO2, Argon etc) is nothing more than an arc welder. The wire is flux cored which means that instead of having the flux on the outside like the arc welder you are used to, it has flux on the inside of that wire that is fed into the weld pool. You'll have the same smoke, slag, etc as a regular stick arc.

I do not think that HF unit is a good choice if you want to work on thin wall tubing common in bike frames. Being "too weak" is not the problem IMO (for this case). It will be plenty strong enough to burn holes in your tube, leave slag in the weld which leads to (possibly life threatening) cracks in the weld.

Save your pennies and buy a Miller, Lincoln or Hobart wire feed that has a gas hookup. Or buy a torch rig and braze the frame like it should be done.

Or enroll in a welding class at your local community college where you'll be able to use all the best welding set ups. Usually they'll let you work on your own junk for your projects. Besides you'll actually learn a bit about welding vice just burning rod in order to stick a couple of pieces of metal together.

Good luck
Jeff