The Rwd 2Az-Fe Thread.

[ke70dave]

Very nice!

 

re welder, you could get an inverter DC stick/tig machine.

 

I have a DC stick/lift tig machine and the stick welding is so smooth compared to the old transformer units, I have quite successfully welded thin exhaust pipe with a 2mm rod.

 

I don't have the Tig accessories to go with it though, but id love to give Tig a go one day.

 

Gas mig does do nice welds and is much easier.

[LittleRedSpirit]

And I managed to buy a bunch more of the bits I need through careful scouring.

 

Ive ordered almost all the trim I'm missing. Ive also got a lot of the smaller nitty gritty bits like pedal pads, grommets, clips and I even ordered a new shifter hole piece as I want to remove mine and move it forward by about 12mm to adapt the w57.

[LittleRedSpirit]

OK, I was looking around for which welder to buy.

 

I have purchased a cigweld transmig 350ec. It comes with remote control and wire feeder, torches and reg for $500. Being a small to medium 3 phase welder it wasnt as desireable as a 200 ish amp single phase as backyarders with no 3 phase power arent keen to buy it. Hence the sweet deal. Its about a 3 grand welder I think, but it was listed and relisted and came down to a very affordable price. I hope it doenst need much in the way of maintenance.

 

 

Now I can get on with all the small things I need to do like welding up some cracks in the body, repairing damaged threads, finishing off the diff mount bushes, rust repairs, you name it. Its on.

[oh what a nissan feeling!]

Great buy, Yeh the 3 phase ones are so cheap like you said. Should be a reliable machine and great for alloy too with the remote wire feed.

[LittleRedSpirit]

Today i didnt do much, but I did remove and paint the exhaust and die grind any burrs away from the unions. I love how Rick made it in two sections, its super easy to remove even with the diff in the car.

 

I also collected a welder. I bought a cigweld 350EC Transmig. It does stick, mig and tig. Can weld stainless, steel and aluminium if need be, its just a matter of the right wire, wheels in the feeder and the right gas and voltage. I need to buy a mask, and some argon and argoshield.

 

I need to fit a 3 phase plug and test it out. I might even buy a rusty ke70 to practice doing rust repairs on. Then move on to the ae86 afterwards.

 

I also had my bigger compressor wired up. Its a sweet unit. Its good day for machinery. :clover: I still want a hoist. Then I think Ill be right for a while. I'm definitely in the market for a 2 poster to install at my shed. I have ample power, may as well.

[LittleRedSpirit]

Hey matt do you know what the deal is with the disposable bottles of argon and argoshield? I assume you need a fitting to attach them, do you know who sells them, and if its worth using them?

[styler]

Nice buy with the welder, a few things I learnt along the same path might be of some use...

 

The little bottles are good for a one off job but its worth getting the big bottle if you are going to learn as the

gas goes pretty quick... best to use with no wind conditions so you can turn it down as much as possible.

BOC can supply these in an E size which is pretty big for something like $100 a fill but you have to rent the bottle

as well for around $100 a year or so. Don't go gasless, the wire is 4x the price and its not great to use...

 

Grab a good automatic mask, they are really worth it and a pair of mig pliers. Other handy bits are a 4 inch grinder

with cut/flap/grind/wire discs and long welding gloves/shirt/pants/boots/sunscreen etc A few clamps and magnetic squares

can also prove useful when tacking the piece if needed. Tig for sheet metal, mig for thicker steel/aluminum and arc

using stainless rods is one way of doing things that works well. Best advice is to practice on scrap long before you weld

the actual piece and get those settings and technique down first... Distortion is a bitch... tacking, preheating and stitch

welding can reduce this for less hammer and grinding afterwards. Most thicker stuff can be welded by cutting a V into

the joint to increase heat penetration. Make sure you get a good ground clamp on the piece as well to avoid problems,

clean the weld area with the grinder so its clean and anti spatter spray is good stuff for easy spatter cleanup.

You have to practice the motion of the weld path first before you pull the trigger, it can take a while to suss it through...

 

Good luck, welds go from birdshit, shit, pretty shit, looks like a weld, I think its welded, average, half decent and proper :P

[ke70dave]

My auto helmet has revolutionized my welding. It's so good.

[oh what a nissan feeling!]

All good advice. I have seen some bit larger disposable bottles at the bulk tool shops in Bris, only good for small stuff probably though. A tig can weld alloy and steel with pure argon. Mig can only do alloy with pure argon, needs a different gas for steel. Feel free to pm for any help at all, there are plenty of things I wish I knew sooner, happy to pass on what I can.

[indelible]

if there is a gasweld store near you they can sell you a gas bottle , you will actually own it with no rent and just pay for refills

its a much better alternative to boc rent ect and if you don't use it for a whiles its not costing you money

[LittleRedSpirit]

Hey thanks guys. i intend to do all kinds of welding eventually. Id like to be able to make exhausts and headers, weld panel steel, fabricate averagesteel stuff like frames and benches for work, and to also learn how to weld aluminium eventually. It would be awesome to not have to rent a bottle but I'm fairly sure they changed the law in qld about it and now they cannot fill bottles they don't own or some other such business lobbied bs that forces up the cost of everything.

 

I thought it would come with the reg but it didnt. It did come with a couple of bags of tips. I need to buy a few things.

 

Regulator and gas.

Earth clamp, as the welder has a bar bolted to the earth lead as old mate just used it to build a trailer and had his earth bar welded in.

A rusty car to practice on.

Welding helmet

 

 

I'm not totally new to this but Ive done more stick than mig welding.

 

Ive also got to find some air hoses and lines to run as Ive just had a compressor installed too.

Edited August 25, 2014 by LittleRedSpirit

[ke70dave]

If you end up getting a bottle of gas, can I come and use it and throw you some cash for the gas:P

 

I think the issue with owning a bottle is keeping it in certification, everything i have heard suggests you can have a bottle but then the owner is responsible for keeping the bottle in certification. (and they wont refill it when its out of certification)

 

This mob seems to suggest you can still buy a bottle.

 

http://www.speedgas.com.au/product/gas-cylinders-valves/

[LittleRedSpirit]

Just rang around and found a company called CB Jensen and Co that delivers D or E sized cylinders full on a swap and go delivery program.

 

The D holds 1700L of argon or argoshield. It costs $365 to get the first bottle and it costs 124 thereafter.

The E holds 4000L of gas. It costs $485 to get the first bottle, then it costs $173 thereafter.

The intital startup is expensive but the ongoing is as low cost as it can be being that you only pay for the gas you are using. These prices are delivered too. all inc gst.

 

Weighing that against BOC service which means you have to collect it and it costs:

D: $140.76 per fill plus an extra 15.74 per month for the bottle. You can rent the bottle by the year and save a poultry $10.69. lol

E: $155.71 per fill plus an extra 18.23 per month bottle rental. You can rent the bottle by the year and save a poultry $11.95. again lol.

all inc gst

 

 

Agas is a company thats run closely with Air Liquide, which is a super expensive medical gas company:

E cylinder only or larger:

$220.94 including gst to rent the bottle for a year.

plus $103.68 inc gst for each fill.

Its a delivery service, so you pay air liquide to rent the cylinder but you pay Agas for the gas delivery.

[LittleRedSpirit]

I just spoke to Stargas. Far and away cheaper than other companies for the gas and rental. They kind of encourage you to go nuts and use a lot of product I think.

 

The E cylinder with just over 4 cubes of gas is 13.75 per month bottle rental and Argoshiled 5 will cost $49.50 inc gst to have filled and incluses delivery! The argon is 62.70 per fill delivered.

 

The G cylinder with over 10 cubes of gas is 15.13 per month bottle rental plus 62.70 delivered argoshiled 5 per fill or 92.40 delivered per fill of argon.

 

Far and away cheaper than any of the others. These prices were given by a sales rep as I have a manufacturing business anyhow so they seem to offer decent rates on things when I talk to them.

 

Still waiting to hear from the other rep from Supagas, but Stargas seems to be the best so far. They do a 12 month contract. WHich is good because it can offer some stability in pricing usually.

[LittleRedSpirit]

Supagas called and they are a bit more expensive to deal with than the stargas mob.

 

The bottles are:

E $16.5/mth

G $18.15/mth

 

AS5: 66.48/fill E 99.82/fill G

Argon pure: 99.88/fill E 160.55/fill G\

 

all prices including gst and delivery

 

I spoke to the rep about the price differences, he may call back with a match of prices or he may not.

Edited August 26, 2014 by LittleRedSpirit