Should I start welding

[vavet]

It’s an opportunity to buy a bunch of new tools, so obviously the answer is yes, but let’s be realistic.

If I go and buy a mig or flux core welder, then I need a mask, grinder, gloves, wire brush, hammer, etc. That gets me started, but then it seems like there are lots of specialty clamps and cutting tools. I don’t really know how I’ll use I it.

Is the welder just the starter kit? Can it be useful without spending a fortune on lots of accessories? Am I just going to dilute my limited shop time with yet another endeavor?

 

[Copymutt]

Once you have a welder and the desire, fixes come out of the woodwork.
Repairs to equipment that otherwise would go in the trash. Artistic creations. Day to day maint. Next to my anvil, its my fav. tool.

 

[ZRX61]

Of course you should, are you new here?


As for clamps, just get Horrible Fright brand Vise Grips.

 

[vavet]

I'd only buy one if you have detected a need for it. I'm professionally trained as a welder, although many years ago. I've had a personal welder regularly for about the past 20 years, actually about 10 welders in that time. Ranging from a Marquette farmer welder, to various better Forney welders, several cheap migs, a suitcase type small stick machine for portability, a huge high amperage Miller, and now a Lincoln multi-process and a professional level mig. A lot of capability, the knowledge to use it, but I use my welders a half dozen to dozen times a year. Some of the things i could do a bolted work-around if I needed; the others I could just run down to a welding shop to do. So, in my case the welder is a nice to have, but by no means a necessity. Overall, I'd bet it would be cheaper to pay for all my welding work, outside of a few big jobs that I take on that really make it pay (made my own guardrails and handrails for my last house, for instance). Saved a couple thousand dollars on that job, for 3 days work. I just bought some salvaged railings for $500 that I will modify myself in a day or two, and save $1500 from the quote I had received for the same work. So, those big jobs make it pay, and having it the rest of the time is just a convenience. Other guys continually fab up stuff and use one as an essential tool. Only you know which it would do for you.

If you just use a flux core mig as a glue gun for steel, it's more or less stand alone investment other than gloves and helmet and grinder. If you decide you want to do fab work, it comes down to having good cutting and grinding and fixturing capability, and your investment will be much more.

I love that you’re calling it a glue gun for steel. My go-to response when people ask me if I can weld is that I can make two pieces of metal stick together, but I have too much respect for the craft to call what I can do welding. Hopefully I can change that with some practice if I decide to take the plunge.

 

[2oolhound]

I bought a decent stick welder for $60 (estate sale), mask about $45 (CL), gloves I buy when cheap ($3 -$5).
My mig was $40 (flux but can use gas too if I add it). Sure you spend on clamps etc but I'm so glad I have the ability. I look a round the shop and see things I've put together by tapping and threading, cheesh.

The worst thing is the fumes. Get a good ventilation system or do what I did and have the welders near the door so you weld outside mostly.

It's like everything else too, like golf, archery etc. the more time you spend at it the better you become. 10 years from now you'll be very pleased with your abilities and in the meantime you'll have tons of completed projects that are good enough to do what they were intended for.

What I like most about welding is if you F' up you just cut it off and reweld another piece in and try again. If you'd been working with wood you'd have been screwed and need to buy another board.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

My uncle said " With a welder and a metal lathe I can make anything."

 

[HMCFab9]

BUY IT!

(unless you'll never have any use for it)
If you are welding outside a lot & on old rusty stuff, a stick welder might be a good choice.
If you plan on welding mostly clean steel inside a building, definitely buy a MIG.
Personally I wouldn't want a flux core wire welder, but it depends on what you are doing with it

 

[unslow1]

It really depends on what you do. I have a Miller MIG , Lincoln tombstone arc and two oxy-act sets and couldn't tell you the last time I used any of them.

 

[bczygan]

It's a super power!

One I always wanted.

And one I now have!!!

Bwaaaahaaahaaa!

Bill

 

[IRQVET]

Of course you should get into welding!

I started on a 110v Chinese buzz box, but quickly grew out of it and made an upgrade to a nice mig machine. All I started with was:

Eastwood Flux Core Welder ($150)
Gloves ($30)
Face shield ($50)
Habor Freight Clamps ($25)
Harbor Freight Hammer ($5)

5 years later, one of the only additions I made was to fab up a welding table which cost me about $80 in materials (steel).

Getting into the hobby can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Lots of good deals out there.

When I upgraded my machine after 1 year or so, I bought a factory reconditioned welder and that ran me about $640'ish. 5 Years later, I'm still happier than a pig in shhh with it. . .

https://www.hobartweldshop.com/reconditioned-welders-plasma-cutters/

Only recently did I acquire a plasma cutter, but that was more of a want than a need. All of my welding activities involve building WW2 Jeeps.

You don't have to go overboard. Spend a little, see how you like it and how often you use it. And if you find you use it alot and you enjoy it, trade up for nicer and more expensive equipment.

 

[sberry]

Get something decent to start with. Doesn't take many repair events to get return on it and they last a long time.

 

[wayne55]

Once your neighbors find out you can weld, be prepared for a lot of their repair projects.

 

[Bill Bowman]

"Grinder and paint, make a welder what he ain't" Go for it.

 

[vavet]

"Grinder and paint, make a welder what he ain't" Go for it.

I heard that before somewhere. I love it.
I also heard grinding your welds into something acceptable makes you a good grinder, not a good welder.

So...more questions if y’all don’t mind.

If I go MIG, then I need gas and I pretty sure harbor freight welding supply doesn’t sell argon, so I have to visit a local welding supply store. The small tanks are about $100 to buy, but I see people mentioning rental. How much is it to rent? Argon is inert, so I should be able to transport in my car with no issues, right? No special safety precautions?

Is it possible to buy a mig welder and run flux core wire through it as a way of future proofing? Not sure I want to invest in an argon bottle yet, but I also don’t want to limit myself to flux core and less attractive looking welds.

How bad are the fumes for either flux core or mig? Is ventilation a concern mostly for production welding? For instance, if I want to weld up a cart to hold my welder and argon tank, would I need a way to extract the fumes from my garage?

Lastly (for now) is it a gas bottle or a tank? It’s metal so it seems like it would be a can or a tank, but I see references to bottles. Semantics?

 

[dnschmidt]

Look buddy, James Hetfield of Metallica has what other possible reason could you need? Just saw this on Google News.