Essential Welding Supplies

[just_hillbilly]

Could you guys tell me what you like to have on hand for spare welding supplies and what anti-spatter or tip dip you guys recommend?

Thanks for all the great knowledge I’ve gained from this forum… You guys rock!

 

[Ign]

Wire, tips, couple of nozzles. MIG pliers. I bought the house brand Weldmark tip dip years ago, seems fine. Anti-spatter I use generic canola oil cooking spray. Works awesome and dirt cheap. Just don't blow up the can.

 

[kf4zht]

I use whatever tip gel HD/Lowes/Northern. Works fine, even better if the gun is a little warm when you dip it. Dollar store pam knock-off for anti-spatter

I keep tips in all sizes that I use, 1 spare nozzle, spare liner. Switched from the miller gun to brenard a few months back and my consumable usage dropped like a rock. I also keep a small spool of each size wire in case the big one runs out on a weekend, I can at least finish the job.

TIG i keep 2-3 of each size of cup I use, 3 pieces of tungsten of each size and a spare collet of each size.

A few random size wire brushes

 

[Thumper68]

On top of what the others have said I also keep a spool of fluxcore wire incase I run out of shielding gas or I have to weld out side on a windy day, I also have a small bottle of shielding gas 100% argon.

A couple of welding blankets also come in handy and so does a cheap backup mask.

 

[just_hillbilly]

The Pam or Canola oil doesn't give you any problems when welding over the top of it?

Thanks again guys

 

[Iron Cat]

The Pam or Canola oil doesn't give you any problems when welding over the top of it?

Thanks again guys

Pam/Canola oil works great, no issues. As for nozzle dip, A lot of guys I welded with swore by using vasoline. I've personally never used it but have seen it used a lot with no issues. Along with what everyone else has suggested, the most important supply to have when welding is a fire extinguisher and/or some means to put a fire quickly. when I weld my main supplies are, Gloves, Pam spray, Roloc disc pads on the right angle die grinder for cleaning metal or a decent grinder, chalk/grease pencils for layout, a good scraper for removing spatter on the table and wire brushes.

 

[kf4zht]

In addition to a real fire extinguisher I keep a spray bottle full of water handy. You can knock down a rag or random fire easily before it gets to needing a something real.

Silver sharpies are great for marks that can be read with goggles on. Fire blankets are handy, and a couple pairs of gloves of varying thickness and length. Wire wheels, flap discs, some acetone and rag for grease cleaning. Backup mask for helper or in case the battery dies. Roll of flux core is great if you only have 1 tank. Spare regulator if its cheap (if you have several welders this is easy). If you have a stick welder I would always keep some 7018 and 6011 on hand for when the mig can't cut it.

I hit up dollar general every now and then. The cheap Pam is great for welding spray, the DG brand oven cleaner is great for degreasing/paint removal from engines, transmissions, rear ends, etc.

 

[zkling]

What type of welding are you doing? Mig or flux cored I take it based on the anti spatter goop. I have never needed or seen a use for anti spatter stuff. Usually if a lot of spatter is happening volts or WS needs to be tweaked. At lest in my experience.

 

[bcradio]

What type of welding are you doing? Mig or flux cored I take it based on the anti spatter goop. I have never needed or seen a use for anti spatter stuff. Usually if a lot of spatter is happening volts or WS needs to be tweaked. At lest in my experience.

This is what I would have thought as well. I am fairly new to welding, but I've never seen people busting out the Pam to weld.

Do you guys just spray down your whole garage and set the welder to 450 degrees before you start?

I definitely recommend the fire extinguisher... it only takes one accident.

 

[Ign]

What type of welding are you doing? Mig or flux cored I take it based on the anti spatter goop. I have never needed or seen a use for anti spatter stuff. Usually if a lot of spatter is happening volts or WS needs to be tweaked. At lest in my experience.

Not at all. Sometimes the base metal is just "dirty" and will pop or spatter. In many cases it's not worth the time to try to clean it sufficiently, and you can't always do that if it's "in" the metal.

I built some roller stands today for my band saw and used rotors as bases. I knew they'd weld poorly as they're cast. Actually welded better than expected, no visible cracking in the welds, but spattered all over the place. Also if you're welding around threaded pieces that are difficult to protect (like long vertical lengths of acme thread for support stands) a coating of Pam will keep your ************* off the threads.

 

[ZRX61]

I use whatever tip gel HD/Lowes/Northern. Works fine, even better if the gun is a little warm when you dip it.

One of the last things I do when I'm done welding is dip the tip one last time

 

[kc-steve]

This is what I would have thought as well. I am fairly new to welding, but I've never seen people busting out the Pam to weld.

Do you guys just spray down your whole garage and set the welder to 450 degrees before you start?

I definitely recommend the fire extinguisher... it only takes one accident.

Pam is good for arc or stick welding. That's why I wouldn't offer advice about supplies, unless you know what type of welding is being performed.

Steve

 

[3oheight]

Fire ext, first aid kit with lots of burn stuff, From experience.