Welding equipment

[Jowlz]

Its been mentioned before and I am a huge advocate of 220 welders...but I have a few friends that have full on paint and body shops. They all have Miller 110V welders.

I also agree with the auto-darkening helmet...in addition to that a large screen helmet is another huge step. My father-in-law is in his 60's and his eyes arent as good as they used to be. He was having a very hard time welding his rail. It was frustrating because he is a fantastic welder, but he couldnt see what he was doing with his Lincoln auto darkening helmet. He literally was ready to hang up the helmet. We went to a race industry show and saw the latest and greatest large screen helmets. He bought a Vision large screen helmet, and neither him or I could believe the difference. He is back to welding, and my welding improved tremendously, as I could see much better also..
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The honey-do list put my project on hold.......

[stancey53]

I don't know how welding is even possible without an auto-dark helmet. I know tons of guys do it but the auto-dark sure makes life easy. I am not a big fan of Harbor Freight's welding supplies but I did get their beater auto-dark helmet for $50 at one of their retail stores. It is real flimsy and cheap but damn if it doesn't do the trick. Not for the pro but if you are the occasional welder like me, its $50 well spent.

[marklaken]

while on the topic of helpful tools - a plugweld plier is very nice to have - especially for inexperienced welders (like myself) - harbor freight sell them for $10 and eastwood has them for $20

a link:
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=10856&itemType=PRODUCT

my plug welds are much cleaner and stronger because of this little tool
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Wish List:
1967 Wesfalia SO-42 Parts Needed: Kitchenette, Cot Poles

'65 rear left beetle fender

15" Bus Wheels in fair condition

Mark Laken
Fort Collins, CO

[twinwindows]

Anyone here ever use a 115V Spot welder compare to a 220V one? Is the weld on a 115 strong enough for sheet metal thin stuff?
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CRG
My builds
BAD TEMPER 11
CHRISTINE
GFK LIFER!

[keifernet]

Yes a 110V will do fine on the thin body sheet metal.

Which model spot welder is it?

[twinwindows]

[keifernet]

[John Miller]

Well it's decision time. Within the next 30 days I've got to make up my mind and order a welder. I have decided on buying a Lincoln, but which one?
The three choices are:
Handy mig 88A $349
Weld-Pak 100A $475
SP-135 Plus $600
I will be replacing the front and rear clip on my '62 and patching some rust through using 20ga steel. I have no need right now to weld anything thicker, but if it ever comes up my next door neighbor has a Lincoln 215 that is available to me.
So which one will do what I need as economically as possible?
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The 68 Ghia
The 62 Beetle

[stancey53]

I would go with the cheap. It'll do the 20 gauge without a problem. Why spend more if you don't need to? Especially if your neighbor has a bigger unit should you need bigger.

[rickee]

Which technique should I use to patch up my bus? edge to edge or overlap?

If its overlap should I plug weld and then just fill it or run a weld along the whole edge?

Never done practical welding before but the aim is to have the outside of the bus perfectly smooth as we're gonna paint it in pearl.

Pretty sure I have to do a couple of outriggers too.
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What are you supposed to do with the other two wheels then? (My other car is a bike)

[stancey53]

Most folks overlap (lap weld) the new body panels. It is much easier than edge to edge (butt weld). As well, most people "spot weld" the new panels in place rather than running a bead down the entire lap. Either way, the weld is going to need ground down with a grinder and filled with a body filler. Bondo is a dirty word here in the forum but used sparingly it will work. However, most people use All-Metal or Dynabond for their filler as they are better quality.

Don't be intimidated, there is nothing to it.

[harryset]

[John Miller]

[58Flat4]

I dont have a lot of money and i have not done any welding in almost 15 years. I was looking at the Lincoln Electric Handy Mig Welder. It's in my budget and I will pick it up tomorrow if it would be good for sheet metal on my beloved bug. http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBV...;ihtoken=1
Tell me what you think.
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[cheeseman252]

I picked up a Clarke 130EN for less than $250 at Welders Depot its a gas, no gas welder. Works great.

[Evil Box]

A 220 mig is nice to have but not necessary for autobody work. There are two basic differences with using a 110v vs. 220v mig welder. The first is the thickness of the steel you can weld. I think my 110 Miller machine will weld up to 1/4 inch steel, a 220v unit will weld thicker steel than this, but there really isn't anything on a car that's thicker than 1/4 inch steel, and on a VW Bug there's nothing that thick so you don't need it. The other difference has to do with DUTY CYCLE. "Duty Cycle" has to do with how long you can continuously weld with the machine without overheating it. Being that most autobody welds are spotwelds, this isn't really an issue. So a 110v machine is fine for this. If you were working in an industrial setting and stitch welding long continuous welds in thick steel then you would probably need a 220v unit. Most autobody shops, muffler shops and the like, use 110v machines because they really don't need the extra capacity.

If you can find a 220v machine for a cheap price, that's great, but it's really overkill for what you'll be doing in the autobody world. If you're welding on the Golden Gate Bridge, well... then you probably need a 220v machine... lol!

As far as which machine is best goes... the technology is all the same. Lincoln, Hobart, Miller, it really doesn't matter. Although I've found the Miller machines to very well supported in the field and parts are readily availiable from most autobody supplies and welding companies. I've had my Miller 110v Mig for 10 years and it's never failed me. My buddy has a Lincoln 220v machine and it's never failed either. Any brand name machine you buy is probably going to be a good machine.

[young5o]

[Major Woody]

Yes it will do ok. Important to get good penetration, so use the correct thickness wire. The flux core wire that probably came with the machine is ok for the adjuster, so you don't have to buy an entire spool of thicker mig wire just for this one application.

[young5o]

Thanks. Thats good news.

[perrib]

Gas welding or tig is the best way to go, mig is okay but it is harder to metal finish.