Welding, what are you using?

6th June 2016, 20:15

Hello

I am getting ready to start doing some welding on the saxo and wanted to know what setup you guys are using regarding wire and gas etc and what techniques you use to weld the tin can steel that the saxo is made from?

I'm pretty new to welding so just want to get as much info as possible before I start with it.

Also any opinions on disposable gas bottles are they any good or should I just go straight for a refillable ?

6th June 2016, 21:09

I use a smart mig with 0.8 wire and using pub gas.

Its pretty good the welder, its got a chart on it so you use that as a base setting for wire, material thickness and wire feed. Then just adjust till your happy.

Tips, dont try welding rusty metal, take it right back untilits clean fresh metal

6th June 2016, 22:12

For cars I use flux cored wire, I personally find gas shield a waste of co2. Remember, you don't have to be a good welder, just a good grinder

7th June 2016, 02:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ollyc90

For cars I use flux cored wire, I personally find gas shield a waste of co2. Remember, you don't have to be a good welder, just a good grinder

I have tried flux core and I really can't see how anyone can get a decent weld on sheet metal from it even after its been ground back, would like to see photos if you can do a decent job with it lol

7th June 2016, 07:45

Have a look on the mig-welding forum.. theres LOTS of good advice on there...

Gasless MIG?? Behave yourself.. terrible idea
CO2 (pubgas) tends to weld a lot cooler than the correct argon/co2 mig back in the day it was an easy way to get a shielding gas without paying £££ to BOC etc etc for monthly rental but with places like hobbyweld doing rent free cylinders just get the proper stuff.. even my rented pure argon bottle is only £6 a month for a big 'un from GasDirect

7th June 2016, 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by slammed106

Have a look on the mig-welding forum.. theres LOTS of good advice on there...

Gasless MIG?? Behave yourself.. terrible idea
CO2 (pubgas) tends to weld a lot cooler than the correct argon/co2 mig back in the day it was an easy way to get a shielding gas without paying £££ to BOC etc etc for monthly rental but with places like hobbyweld doing rent free cylinders just get the proper stuff.. even my rented pure argon bottle is only £6 a month for a big 'un from GasDirect

Cheers, I have checked out MIG welding forum and it's very helpful, I just thought I'd ask here for experience specifically with saxos

7th June 2016, 19:23

A lot of it depends on what youre doing... 0.8mm wire was mentioned earlier.. imo thats too big for the flimsy tin on saxos/106s

7th June 2016, 19:32

If you can weld then go for co2 if you can't weld then go for argon, gives a nicer weld pool and makes it easier to learn what to look for. Gas less is wank and too hot for cars and thin metal. Boc are doing some decent welders at the min in the jasic range for very little money. I always use a 0.8 wire for patching. Also invest in a wire brush for the grinder and a good shield, the eBay ones are cheap but you only have one set of eyes is it really worth it?

7th June 2016, 19:51

I will only be welding underneath the car/wheel arches etc so doesn't need to be the best looking welding in the world and aslong as its smooth when grinded back and makes a good repair I'm not too bothered. I will probably go for the Co2/argon mix for gas so just need to sort out a good wire to get really, I already have a welder and mask and grinder with discs / wire wheels etc

8th June 2016, 19:59

Standard boc/ hobby mild steel 0.8 wire will do you fine just remember to do a series of spots and not a seam.

8th June 2016, 20:13

Thanks for the help, better get the stuff together and start practicing

8th June 2016, 23:43

Use 0.6 wire, 0.8 is too heavy duty for bodywork tin. 0.6 is good enough for chassis sections too if your welder has a decent feed speed available.

Most welders the current setting is usually on 2 or 3. Practice on some scrap tin of similar gauge to get the hang of it.

If you're welding upside down you need to increase the wire feed a bit. Wear a leather jacket and 'spats' over any openings, especially your boots. A blob of weld spatter between your toes is somewhat less than funny.

Do short bursts of one or two seconds to allow the weld to cool so your weld pool doesn't get too big and drop out. This is more of an issue with Argoshield (Argon with 5% CO2) than it is with CO2 (Pub gas) because Argon has very little cooling effect.

If you're welding outside make sure you protect your weld area from the wind/breeze, otherwise you'll not get the gas shied you need. If you can't, you have to crank the gas feed right up until you do have a good shield, but you'll go through loads of gas doing that.

Don't use a cheap shit welder, or cheap shit wire, or old rusty wire.

If a weld looks shit, it is shit. If you grind it so it looks good all you then have is ground shit. The point of a weld is to hold two bits together strongly, not to just look like it does.

If in doubt, get someone else to do it who can do it properly, or spend some time with someone who can do it properly and learn a new skill. :-)

9th June 2016, 13:33

Thanks for the advice, keep getting different opinions on the wire size but I think I'll go with the 0.6 seems to make sense being thinner metal, I will make sure I get alot of practice in before welding the car as I want to make a good job, not in a rush to get it done anyway as it's a project and I'm not running it daily

12th June 2016, 23:16

I use TIG mate, manually feed 1.5mm wire

straight argon welding

20th June 2016, 02:27

I use 0.6mm wire on my clark 150 se,along with large size argon mixs bottle.
Ive found air products to be cheaper on refills than BOC..