Removing Rust

[Pieman]

Yeah but how much is a mig? And what else would you need to finish the job? Paint, etc.? The other thing is that I probably will never use a mig again... can you rent them? I'm willing to do it don't get me wrong... after I fixed my heater I feel a lot more confident to do things myself... but I don't want to spend weeks trying to get it right and end up paying too much or having it come out crap.

 

I think coates hire has them just ask for 100-200 amp machine. You might need to hire a mask and gloves too.

[zilli]

i did the quick, aguably dodgy way for this precise are of my KE70 just yesterday, but then i didnt have much rust at all... a wirte brush, rusk killer, BIT of bog, primer then topcoat... i got rid of all the rust, i reckon it should be good for a fair few years now

[PatW]

100-200 amp machine would probably burn holes on thin sheet metal. If no holes made, it'll warp the panel.

 

Something below 50amp if fine.

[philbey]

Check out the Kemppi 180 machine, absolute gold machine.

 

A boilermaker I know recommended it to me. Portable as, user (read - stupid person) friendly and its TINY. Can do gas as well.

 

He's seen ticketed welders doing structural work with one of these running gasless. Crazy.

 

~1600 bucks. Cool.

 

LINK

Edited June 23, 2008 by philbey

[Gspec]

Yeah but how much is a mig? And what else would you need to finish the job? Paint, etc.? The other thing is that I probably will never use a mig again... can you rent them? I'm willing to do it don't get me wrong... after I fixed my heater I feel a lot more confident to do things myself... but I don't want to spend weeks trying to get it right and end up paying too much or having it come out crap.

 

You can pick up a good little mig for around the $700 BRAND NEW, even cheaper if you go second hand, I've seen them as low as $300.

If you're working on cars regular, or other crazy shit, you'll always have a use for a mig. And if your mates have rusty bricks too then you'll be very busy :(

 

You can get gasless wire so you don't require a gas bottle. Gasless also produces less heat and is less likely to warp your panel... BUT it slags all over the place, so it requires a little more cleaning up.

 

MIG ampage is adjustable, mine goes from 30 - 250 amps.

 

Not sure about hiring, I imagine of you hired a mig it would not come with gas as they are not aloued to used gas from returned bottles incase someone refills it with flamable gas.

 

Once you've welded it up, you will need to skim a little love on there, some high fill primer, then paint.... all of which you wil l have to pay for regardless of wether you do it or the pane; beater does it. They'll probaly charge you for a full tine of bog and primer and paint PLUS a mark up!

 

If you're worried about mucking it up... EASY... pracice on shit first.

The key is to get your tin fitting snug, preping for the weld and setting your machine up right.

 

:)

 

or just pay a panel beater to do it.... just don't bog it!

[Gspec]

Check out the Kemppi 180 machine, absolute gold machine.

 

A boilermaker I know recommended it to me. Portable as, user (read - stupid person) friendly and its TINY. Can do gas as well.

 

He's seen ticketed welders doing structural work with one of these running gasless. Crazy.

 

~1600 bucks. Cool.

 

LINK

 

The UNIMIG 172 is half the price, quite easy to use, 33kgs, 27 to 150 amps, Gas?Gasless and, although its probably not as swanky as the Kemppi, for an odd jobs welder is a better choice.

 

:(

[philbey]

33kgs vs the kemppis 9.4! And it has a screen for welding retards that you just dial in the material thickness!

 

Maybe I have too much money to burn but I'll take the kemppi! haha.

 

But yeh, you can get heaps cheaper welders with more grunt. But is it a COOL welder?

[Gspec]

33kgs vs the kemppis 9.4! And it has a screen for welding retards that you just dial in the material thickness!

 

Maybe I have too much money to burn but I'll take the kemppi! haha.

 

But yeh, you can get heaps cheaper welders with more grunt. But is it a COOL welder?

 

Don't get wrong, the Kemppi looks like a serious machine, but in context, for Mybowlcut who probably wont use it often ( or lug it around much) paying twice as much for easier to use features and crazy light weight isn't really practical.

 

Personally i believe it is better to learn to weld on a universally labelled machine and not on a machine that relabels amps with steal thinkness. Firstly if its a good feature for "dummies" chances are the "dummies" will too "dum" to realise its still just a guide line. Secondly they will not become firmilia with standard labels and therefore will have difficulties using other machines.

 

:(

[Pieman]

The more adjustable the better. Especially a tunable knob rather than a hi/lo switch for the voltage. I went down this path and bought a portaweld 100 about 2 years ago. While it's been good for doing sheet metal, I kinda wished I bought something more fine tunable like the sweet machines we have at tafe. The main drama with the less fancy machines is that they can't sustain a perfect arc at their higher settings and spray transfer (a long continuous slug) is nigh impossible because the wire burns back and spatters like crazy.

 

I really like that kemppei!

[Gspec]

Once again,

 

 

we're not talking about what we would get for our purposes, we're talking about what Mybowlcut requires to fix the rust him self.

we're not talking about getting the greatest machine on earth, we're talking about getting a good ENTRY level machine.

You don't recomend a Bugatti Veyron for someone that MIGHT want to try some Go-karting. :(

 

HOWEVER, if you want a machine with all the features you just stated, UNIMIG have machines meet those requirements quite easily AND is still way cheaper than the Kemppi.

 

;)