# Forum Home Renovation Metalwork & Welding  Welding

## Marc

Wow, bargain!
So how do we start?
May be tell what you weld with to start?
This days I have an old stick welder (transformer) I hardly ever use, then a Cigweld 250 Transmig (not electronic)  single phase MIG with Argon/co2 and 0.9 wire, a spare core wire coil for when I weld outside, and a 3 phase 280 amp vintage (meaning old) Lincoln bullet welder that goes like a rocket.

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## PlatypusGardens

Cigweld 175i here.
MIG, TIG stick combo. 
Have only used it for MIG so far but will probably move on to TIG at some stage.
But that means getting a TIG gun, rods, another gas bottle etc...  
Am loving the MIG though.
Been using 0.8mm wire so far and that seems to do the trick for what I do.   
I used to fumble around with a cheap little stick welder for years.
Actually that was a Cigweld too come to think of it, $200 special from Bunnings about 5 years back.
I got pretty good at the stick in the end, but MIG is just so much easier.
Especially for fiddly stuff.   :Smilie:   
Still have lots to learn though.    :Smilie:

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## SilentButDeadly

I like my little stick welder (a Gasweld cheapie from a few years back).  Ever since I came across the small 2.5mm diameter rods instead of the typical 3.2mm rods I've tended to do a better weld.  But it really can be frustrating... 
...especially when your steel is dirty and your welding mask is a piece of glass glued into a hole in a dustpan. 
And upcoming program of gates and garden sculptures from scrap might see (finally) a decent welding helmet and a small Cigweld MIG enter the fray.  I still entertain the dream of a plasma cutter.....

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## PlatypusGardens

Oh yes, when I was stick welding I actually found the thin SS rods easier to use than the mild steel ones.
Even when welding mild steel.  
They usually left a nice "slag" crust that popped off in one go, sometimes it would just fly off by itself.    :Smilie:

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## Marc

> I like my little stick welder (a Gasweld cheapie from a few years back).  Ever since I came across the small 2.5mm diameter rods instead of the typical 3.2mm rods I've tended to do a better weld.  But it really can be frustrating... 
>  ...especially when your steel is dirty and your welding mask is a piece of glass glued into a hole in a dustpan. 
>  And upcoming program of gates and garden sculptures from scrap might see (finally) a decent welding helmet and a small Cigweld MIG enter the fray.  I still entertain the dream of a plasma cutter.....

   Stick welding actually performs better than MIG when it comes to dirty steel. You just need the amps behind it. Or like you did, a thinner rod. 
I haven't used fixed helmets for a long time. Landed a self darkening helmet once, courtesy of Cigweld who sent me their top helmet as as gift to shut me up because I was complaining about their welder being supplied with 2.5mm lead when it actually needs 6mm ,ad a little note in their instructions "In order to perform at full power, the lead and plug needs to be changed to 6mm". 
 Their reasoning was that if a customer was confronted by a machine with a 32 amp round pin plug, it would be a deterrent for the purchase. So they wire it with a 15 amp plug and tell you to change it yourself if you want to ... Mm ... this would go down well in the electric forum hu hu 
 After many years of using that helmet, I lost the plot one day. Pulled the lens to clean it and forgot to put it back. Nothing like seeing what you are doing I thought, but it did not last. The spatter from welding landed on the unprotected glass and left permanent spots on it. 
 A visit to the welders supply gave me the bad news, there are no more spare parts for that model.
 Oh well, it was free for years so now I can buy the best possible helmet, it is already depreciated by half or more  :Smilie:  The current model plays background music and tells me "well done" from time to time  (not true) 
I still have the old one with the marks on it. It works normal only has this marks. If you want it you are welcome to it. I gather it would be better than the dust pan ha ha 
 Plasma cutter, had a Lincoln pc210 once with on board compressor. It was a disappointment. Good for thin stuff but comes nowhere near the 10 mm advertised not even with the help of a proper compressor.  Blew the circuit board once whilst still in warranty, compressor gave up too. Lincoln repaired everything but I ended up selling it. Next plasmacutter will be a Hyperterm or bust..

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## ringtail

Lincoln 170 for fluxcore site welding and smaller workshop jobs with .8 & gas
transmig 250 running .8 for larger jobs. I switched to .8 for everything and it's sooooo much nicer than .9. 
500 year old 130 amp stick welder. Ugly, huge and heavy but will run a 4 mm rod at 100% duty cycle. Good for when I feel like going old school. 
I must admit, I'm loving the fluxcore ATM. So much hotter than solid and turns a small welder into a decent welder. Nice high deposotion rate and the slag comes off easily. Best of both worlds I reckon. Convenience of a mig with the penno of a stick and no gas to worry about or pay for.

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## PlatypusGardens

Hey Marc, what's the imperial equivalent of 0.9mm wire?    :Haha:

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## ringtail

.035 ?

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## PlatypusGardens

Went to a local plastic/perspex shop and priced a sheet of 1.5mm plastic to make my own throw-away helmet lens covers.
$80 for a 2400x1200mm sheet. 
Seems a better option than buying the Cigweld ones for $5 a pop or whatever they are.
the front one is about 100x100mm and the internal one about 100x50 or something, so a full  sheet's worth should last me a while..... 
(I lean in a lot when welding due to being short sighted on one eye so I go through quite a few covers.)    :Smilie:

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## ringtail

The ones for my speedglass helmet are ok pricewise if one buys them in bulk. Pack of 20 was $30 last time I bought them.

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## ringtail

Eweld â Speedglas 9002 outside cover lenses 426000 
these suit my speedglas helmet. Pretty cheap

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## Marc

Hi ringtail, you have a Transmig 250 like me. I had a little amps and voltage meter fitted on mine yet it does not keep the reading. In order to see it you have to weld and look at it at the same time or as soon as you lift the torch it goes to zero. I wonder if there is a way to keep the values on the display. The modern electronic welders all keep the reading for you to see. It is a Cigweld meter, installed by a "technician". Probably needs some little $0.50 gadget added to the circuit.

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## Marc

> I must admit, I'm loving the fluxcore ATM. So much hotter than solid and turns a small welder into a decent welder. Nice high deposotion rate and the slag comes off easily. Best of both worlds I reckon. Convenience of a mig with the penno of a stick and no gas to worry about or pay for.

  I have a structural job coming up, extending two I beams (250x100x ~10) by about 600mm long. One of the extension will cantilever a bit but not at the weld, supported half way at the extension and also at the weld, if that makes sense, so not too much of a worry yet still needs to be done properly. Since it is outside I was thinking to use the bullet welder and stick weld it yet I could also use the fluxed wire. Which one do you think I should go for?

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## Marc

> Hey Marc, what's the imperial equivalent of 0.9mm wire?

  That's easy, it's "Royal 0.9mm"

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## Marc

> Went to a local plastic/perspex shop and priced a sheet of 1.5mm plastic to make my own throw-away helmet lens covers.
> $80 for a 2400x1200mm sheet. 
> Seems a better option than buying the Cigweld ones for $5 a pop or whatever they are.
> the front one is about 100x100mm and the internal one about 100x50 or something, so a full  sheet's worth should last me a while..... 
> (I lean in a lot when welding due to being short sighted on one eye so I go through quite a few covers.)

  I suppose it can be done. My old helmet, the one I used without the cover, has spherical shields so you couldn't make them but I saw on youtube one guy who polishes them with some kind of polishing paste and a drill, back to clear.
As far as leaning in the weld, I too need to be rather close, but on my new super duper helmet I have +2 lenses behind the plastic cover. That makes a difference!

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## PlatypusGardens

Yeh, mine has the square "click in" type.  
like this   
It'll work out around 50c per lens if I do it that way.
I think...  
We'll see....might be easier to just buy a box online   :Cool:

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## ringtail

> I have a structural job coming up, extending two I beams (250x100x ~10) by about 600mm long. One of the extension will cantilever a bit but not at the weld, supported half way at the extension and also at the weld, if that makes sense, so not too much of a worry yet still needs to be done properly. Since it is outside I was thinking to use the bullet welder and stick weld it yet I could also use the fluxed wire. Which one do you think I should go for?

  
oh fluxcore all day. Very very easy to use. As easy as solid wire but remembering the principles of stick. If it has slag, you must drag. The only reason I can see for the site welding guys running sticks is the little inverters weigh nothing and have no moving parts. However, look at the quality of most site welding and it's rubbish. Sticks have their place and that's simple downhand on heavy plate IMO

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## Marc

> oh fluxcore all day. Very very easy to use. As easy as solid wire but remembering the principles of stick. If it has slag, you must drag. The only reason I can see for the site welding guys running sticks is the little inverters weigh nothing and have no moving parts. However, look at the quality of most site welding and it's rubbish. Sticks have their place and that's simple downhand on heavy plate IMO

   Ok Fluxcore it is. However about stick weld on site, the pipe welders using diesel powered generators would disagree with your assessment of their welds ...  :Smilie:

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## ringtail

> Ok Fluxcore it is. However about stick weld on site, the pipe welders using diesel powered generators would disagree with your assessment of their welds ...

  Bwahahaha. True but how many site welders are pipe certified ? The house raisers normally do the welding of PFC's etc... up here when lifting a house. Not pretty. Some of the steel supplies have their own welders that they send out. Again, not pretty. 
with the fluxcore, make sure you practice a bit first to get dialled in ( if you haven't used it before). The settings are much, much lower than solid. And watch out for undercut too. It gouges like a stick welder so you need to watch gun angle and give the puddle time to fill in the roots of the weld.

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## PlatypusGardens

So I talked to the chap at BSJ today about setting my welder up for TIG. 
About $140 for the gun, same as MIG for bottle hire and refill ($250/year hire and $99 refill) plus rods etc etc.
More or less the same "running cost" as mig weld for weld give or take..... 
Sigh.  
Might have to put that off for a while.

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## OBBob

This made me laugh ... I was just looking up if Masters happened to have SS rods (noting comments above) ... and these came up.  
How can they be both professional and DIY??  :Smilie:     *Cigweld Professional Castcraft 100 DIY Welding Electrodes* https://www.masters.com.au/product/9...ing-electrodes

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## PlatypusGardens

Yeh it's that thing we were talking about the other day.
Calling things "professional, super, quality" etc to make them seem better...  
Out of curiosity and also relating to somthing we talked about a few months ago, with the "QLD tax" and things being more expensive up here, what's your "Click and collect" price on those rods?
I put in my postcode and got $85.    :Smilie:

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## OBBob

> Y
> I put in my postcode and got $85.

  $85 for me too. It wasn't particular those that I was after, just noticed the heading.  :Smilie:  They must be pretty special rods because there are others that are about ten times cheaper.

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## PlatypusGardens

Fair enuff

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## OBBob

> Fair enuff

  
The stainless ones are $28 ...   *Cigweld DIY Welding Electrodes 2.5 x 10 Pack 3.2mm x 5 Pack*https://www.masters.com.au/product/9...3-2mm-x-5-pack

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## Marc

> How can they be both professional and DIY??

  What do you mean? doesn't the professional do it himself?

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## OBBob

> What do you mean? doesn't the professional do it himself?

  So these are particularly targeted towards the professional welder who likes to do his own welding on the weekends. LOL ... huge market I'm sure.  :Smilie:

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## Marc

Yes ... the labels used by advertising are completely irrelevant. Only used to capture google searches so drop as many words related to the search as possible. I am surprised they did not add cool, wonderful, easy, smooth, environmentally friendly, sustainable ... hehe

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## PlatypusGardens

> What do you mean? doesn't the professional do it himself?

  
Mmm reminds me of when I returned my Ozito masonry drill which turned in to a smokemachine after 15 min use and the half asleep girl behind the counter asked if it had been used for trade. 
I told her it had been used for 15 minutes. 
But was it used for trade? She repeated. 
Again.... 15 minutes..... Does it matter if I was getting paid or not?   
After phone calls to two supervisors she decided it was easier just to give me a new one.
That one lasted a few minutes longer and after that I bought a DeWalt.    :Smilie:

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## lazydays

My Ozito masonary drill lasted about 7 yrs and died half way thru a job the other day and I raced around Bunnings and bought another one. I even think it was cheaper than last time. About $98 I think.
It probably is the only Ozito tool I have though.. Some tools nowadays that you don't use regularly can even be priced into a job and any extra time is a bonus.
My local diamond drill supplier has 115mm cut off blades for $.095 compared to to the better branded ones at $1.65 and they do me OK

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