To Tig Or To Mig?

[Margwar]

Hello,

Being a bit of a handy man and loving just giving things a go, I was wanting to expand my All Grain kit and weld some valves and things to my boiler and make a mash tun and HLT out of old Kegs. Also I would like to make a stand for all my gear out of angle or box steel.

I have Arc welded in the past, but realize this may be to hard on the thin kegs. I have looked around on eBay and that for a Gas-less Mig welder and see that I can get one quite cheap. As I have never done this before I was wondering am I going to wreck my kegs or is it fairly easy to do?

Can you share your welding knowledge with me please or point me in a direction that could assist...

Many thanks,

Dietz

 

[glaab]

you should be able to stick weld a keg ok, theyre not that thin. gassless mig usually turn out loike cocky shit but i've never used gassless stainless wire, dunno if you even get it. but stainless welds very easily with a mig and argoshield light. if you can pick up a tig somewhere that is the yer best option , Cheers

 

[raven19]

My understanding is you want gas for any stainless welding so you can purge the welding zone, and a TIG is the way to go.

(I have a MIG welder at home but would not dare try stainless welding with it).

 

[amiddler]

Welding stainless with a MIG as fine but it requires allot of cleaning and polishing. MIG welds also use allot of heat and may warp the keg or sockets. TIG is the duck's nut's if you can get hold of one. Polishing usually just a rub with a dish washing scourer to remove the heat mark and it comes up looking fantastic. If you have never TIG welded before it will pay to grab some off cuts and have a practise. After all practise makes perfect.

Drew

 

[Superoo]

TIG is the go,
but to tig it you will need the handpiece and gas, s/s tig wire and obviously a tig capable welder.

for just a few fittings, i would use the local boilie shop...

 

[glaab]

My understanding is you want gas for any stainless welding so you can purge the welding zone, and a TIG is the way to go.

(I have a MIG welder at home but would not dare try stainless welding with it).

have a go Raven, it's very easy to mig, seems easier to weld than mild steel, maybe because its cleaner.
it even welds nice using normal wire if you wanna try it before you spring for a spool of ss wire.
I've welded a few kegs, piece o piss

 

[jwsparkes]

Definately don't buy a gasless mig. They're cheap for a reason. Gasless wire is expensive compared to solid wire and the weld quality is sub standard to what is acheived using sheilded welding methods.

I've used my gasless mig to build stuff in mild steel where I didn't mind about the appearance. For anything else, I'm still saving for a tig set up.

 

[outbreak]

Gasless Mig is crap!! +1 for Tig.... Its not as easy as mig though..... well for me anyway.

 

[rob2263]

+ 1 for the Tig, I purchased a 3 in model from Token Tools on ebay (no affiliation) has the tig, plasma cutter and stick welder. Great machine but did cost a few pennies around $600 for memory maybe more or less is the inverter model so no alloy welding. Great for welding stainless and all other metal, even silver soldered copper.

 

[myles_3000]

Gas-less MIG is comprable to using sucrose in a brew...Just DON'T do it!

TIG is the way...but not really feasable for home....Try a proper MIG set up with the correct wire. Just watch which gas you use...We have different gases for stainless, alluminium and steel.

 

[peaky]

I spend all day welding, mostly MIG but some TIG and stick. Haven't got a welder at home at the moment as I'm able to do my small jobs at work. I'll be buying a TIG for home soon though. Your chance of getting porosity with TIG is much lower, and you get great penetration with a much smaller heat effected zone. TIG is the way to go for welding stainless fittings and getting a perfect weld that looks good and won't leak.

EDIT: I should add, if you are a beginner TIG welder, practice on some scrap first. Or you are guaranteed to ruin the first fitting you attempt to weld!

 

[yardy]

Your chance of getting porosity with TIG is much lower

you get the same coverage from both processes, keep the torch square to the job and there's no difference in either.



in reply to the op, avoid gasless wire like the plague, if you've done any welding with gas, using a filler wire, then maybe try T.I.G but my advice is to start with M.I.G. and get into a TAFE course and you'll get your moneys worth out of the welder you buy.

Dave

 

[Zizzle]

You may have ruled it out already, but consider silver soldering.

It's pretty easy, very low heat. Just get some good quality silver solder (with a MSDS page) and flux (with hydrochloric acid in it) and a propane gas torch will do.

There is a good thread on it on AHB:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...30182&st=40

Check out this thread for some good advice.

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic....hilit=soldering

 

[STEVENALI]

hi guys I welded for a living for 50 years and have a good collection of machinery dept welding certificates including no7 which is for TIG I have TIG MIG AND STICK WELDERS at home and if I could only keep one it would be my TIG,I reckon I could teach a monkey to tig weld in a day,the only setback is the cost of the gas and cylinder rentals,the gas companies in Australia have us by the nuts and they dont mind squeezing.one other thing is the arc flash is very bright as there is very little smoke in the arc so protect yourself wear gloves and cover your neck line,get yourself the best welder you can afford if you dont really want to weld aluminium just get a DC the chinesse machines have kept the prices of the aussie ones down and go for it mate,the miller site is very useful for any info you need

 

[Margwar]

Thanks heaps everyone... Looks like I might be saving for a bit then or I might even give the silver solder a go!! Thanks again....