It sounds like there are a lot of folks here with good advice for you. I just want to expand a little on what rew said about welding. I bought a craftsman 110 used about 5 years ago because it was what I could afford ($100). I intended on replacing it, but have never done so. With that said, here is what I have learned. First, It Is No 220 Welder!!! It Is No MIG!!! But it does the job just fine. I only use 6013 rod in two sizes, 1/16, and 3/32. I set the welder to about 40 amps for body work using the 1/16. Just like any welder, you have to weld slow or you burn the sheetmetal. For all other welding, I use the 3/32 set about 90-100 amps. I have even welded truck hitches (multipass) but then again these are about class III, and the hitch design plays into effect here. My point in all this is that it can be done, even with an arc welder, but you will need patience, and practice. Whatever you choose, good luck with your projects! Ted

 

Tahks Ted. One of the boxes of rods I have is 6013, but I bought 3/32 size, maybe I should have gotten 1/16 eh?

 

might as well jump in here with a question...i wanna do my own exhaust welding, nothing fancy just whats neccesary. what kind of welding should i be doing in this application? and then the following question would be how hard is it for an inexperienced (read no experience) welder? plan on gettin on of them welding for idiots books, so ill be educating myself...thanks and sorry for the hijack

 

54guy. Another piece of advice about the 1/16 rod. It is so flimsy that it is hard to control when working the body. I have started cutting mine into 4" sections to make them more manageable. You will have to strip some of the cover off one end on the subsequent sections to put it in the handle. Also, they go fast. On my gallery I have pics of filling holes. I used nail heads for plugs, but even still I probably use 1 to 1 1/2 rods per hole. It is slow going, with a little welding, careful grinding, more welding...
Vanhecht, You can do it, but I would buy a mig if you can. If you have (or can afford) an arc, go with the 1/16 6013 and crank the heat down. probably 40 amps or so. You will just have to see. Anybody can weld, but the mig is like drawing with a big crayon. Whatever you get, practice before you start your exhaust. Good Luck! Ted

 

Thanks, Teds74Ford!

So...you welded the nail heads on the outside? Or shoved 'em through from the back? Or what? I'd like to know how that worked. My welder can go down to 25 amps, do you think I should try it there first?

Also, when grinding weld material off of bodywork, is there a "best" grit to use? 40 grit, or 60 or 80 grit? What works best? What might cause damage?

I have heard you can use a damp sponge to cool down areas of bodywork being welded so they won't warp. But doesn't that make it rather unsafe, if you stand in some moisture and get grounded? I've got a million questions...

Hey, that tip about cutting the rod into short sections is probably worth its weight in gold! Thanks again!

 

Hi Vanhecht, I would get a oxy/act rig for exhaust work. Before I got my mig welder, I used oxy/act for every thing under about 1/8" thick. Over that thickness I used the arc welder. When I got my tig setup going I was able to weld .020" aluminum. Tig is my preference for body work. You only add as much filler metal as you actually need and you have good control over the heat input. Very little risk of burn through.

 

54Guy, an arc welder gas an open circuit voltage of 50 to 80 volts. When you draw an arc, it drops to around 18 volts. Unless you are welding in a swimming pool, you shouldn't get shocked.

 

thansk mike, though i think gas would be over my head...went to barnes and noble today to do some welding research, and this is what i have come up with...tig is the easiest but not extremely fast, mig is the fastest but not the strongest, and gasi am not so sure about...do all three types use gas for welding? also seeing as how i cannot buy a welder right now, i can rent one from somewhere, is there any idiot proof enough for a halfway intelliegent guy to use without killing himself?

 

http://millerwelds.com/education/etraining.html
Heres some helpful education. Miller electric has a basic Mig welding course. From not knowing anything about welding I came away knowing something. I know its not ARC or TIG but the principles should be the same. Correct me if im wrong.
I got this site from the March 2003 edition of 4 Wheel Off Road

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=34099

here ya go

 

Mig or wire feed welding can use a solid wire with gas or a flux core wire w/o gas. I don't like flux core. Mig is the easiest to learn. 98% of my welding is with mig. I use CO2 gas.

Tig is the hardest to do. You have the torch in one hand, the rod in the other, and your foot on the pedal to control the amps. I use argon for aluminum and steel. You can weld a razor blade to an anchor with Tig,

A oxy/act torch is very handy. You can cut steel with it. Weld thin and thick metal. You also can silver solder and braze weld. Plus you can heat metal and bend it.

Arc is good for thick metal and outdoors where wing would blow away the shielding gas used with mig.

 

So...you welded the nail heads on the outside? Or shoved 'em through from the back? Or what? I'd like to know how that worked. My welder can go down to 25 amps, do you think I should try it there first?

Also, when grinding weld material off of bodywork, is there a "best" grit to use? 40 grit, or 60 or 80 grit? What works best? What might cause damage?

To answer your questions, I carefully filed the heads to the same diameter as the hole. Really tight works good. Then insert it with the shaft sticking out of the body. I use a magnet to hold it while I tack it. This way you can easily grind off the nail shaft. It is somewhat tricky to get it to stay with the head flush with the sheetmetal surface. Patience As far as the amps, I had trouble with it sticking when it was set too low. Now for grinding. I used a regular 4.5" angle grinder (10000 rpm) cheapy from harbor freight. You can get these anywhere for 10-30 dollars. Any more than that and you are getting ripped off. Anyway, the grinding wheels will do the trick. I have two, and the other one has a 80 grit flap disc for the final smoothing. I am not good enough to get my metal perfectly smooth, so even with all this, I will be putting a SLIGHT skim of bondo on to make it level. Any more questions, please feel free to ask, and check the bodywork forum for more info. I am no expert, and some of the people there are by far more knowledgable than I. Ted

 

Welding is like a lot of other skills in that an expert makes it look easy when it's not. Years ago I had a summer job at a fence company and was being taught to arc weld posts. My teacher flipped his helmet down and laid a beautiful bead around the pipe in about 30 seconds. I flipped my helmet down and could see NOTHING. I finally was able to strike an arc and connect the parts with a very ragged bead. I raised my helmet and beamed with pride until my teacher picked up the pipe and struck it on the welding table and it fell apart. He smiled and said, "Practice" - still good advise. Good luck.
Dono

 

I do lot of welding in are shop, and we have 4 welder, what I have found works pretty good is the miller 130 for body parts on gas 25/75 mix. It's small and works well good for around the house stuff. You can fix it for flux in two min. for thicker stuff up to 3/8. Just need 30 amps or higher. The Miller 250 is good for 3/8 and up. But you need 220 amps. Check at the welding supply shops they may have demos you can get cheap.

 

that was real handy kevin, only thing is i went to look at the price of one of their smallest units...was $670! can i rent a mig welder? and i noticed it said it runs on phase 1 power...is that not the same as wall current? more like the current for a dryer?