Can you weld thin sheet steel with those cheap inverter TIG welders?

[HamonRye]

Just curious. Thinking about possibly getting one just for one job and then i'll never use it again as i'm off travelling so i'll have to give it away.

 

I've done alot of arc welding, oxy/acet etc, but never TIG.

 

Is the amperage on them controllable enough to be able to TIG thin sheet steel? 

 

Cheers

[Crossy]

How thin?

 

I would be looking at MIG for thin sheet steel, but regular stick can go down to 1mm even in my ham fists.

 

TIG is more aimed at stainless, aluminium and the like.

 

I've seen oxy/LPG kits here which may be to your taste / skill.

 

[weegee]

Turn the amps down on the stick welder and do the run downhill real quick....you can do it.

[finnishmen]

i not has newer before weld TIG but i buy cheap TIG machine and try and now i has doing all my new house parts what have metal whit new tig welding machine, wery easy weld and i has use only steel sheet,rod,tubes and no newer proplem, proplem has only thai metal guality not have uniform some place hard and some melt, and tig have good can use stainless steel too ,etc, fences, bathroom,kitchen parts. wery easy cheap and good sheet metal can weld about 200Ampere welding machine thin and about max 10mm but more can weld if make many seam same rail. same than MMa rod welding. tig have same procedure weld than gas welding, burn metal hot and add addiniotal rod sometime, MIG easy but no have lot in thailand and lot expensive, argon gas pottle cost 4000 B about own pottle and change empty to new 450 B for me, i no know how much other city. TIG best many place, build motorbike frame,house,furniture,etc, but big metal house roof frame etc better use MMA = rod welding.

[HamonRye]

Cheers people.

 

Yeah, i've thought about a oxy/propane torch aswell as most of us already have the propane part. How much are the torch and gauges?

 

Been looking into buying a used Tandem bicycle and importing it in but the sheer size of bringing it in makes it ridiculous unless i sea freight it i guess, so i'm just considering building one which is probably even more ridiculous, but just thinking about it, as my girlfriend is nervous of the roads.

 

Is it easy to get ChroMoly tubing here? 

[Russell17au]

50 minutes ago, HamonRye said:

Cheers people.

 

Yeah, i've thought about a oxy/propane torch aswell as most of us already have the propane part. How much are the torch and gauges?

 

Been looking into buying a used Tandem bicycle and importing it in but the sheer size of bringing it in makes it ridiculous unless i sea freight it i guess, so i'm just considering building one which is probably even more ridiculous, but just thinking about it, as my girlfriend is nervous of the roads.

 

Is it easy to get ChroMoly tubing here? 

Try this mob, they are the international distributors for KHS bikes who make 3 different tandems

Amorn Electronic.

17/18-19 Moo 6 Rd. Tambon Bang Krathuk, Amphoe Sam Phran, Chang Wat Nakhon Pathom 73120

โทรศัพท์ : 02-4821325 ต่อ 2255

แฟกซ์ : 02- 482-1337

อีเมล์ : [email protected]

Line ID : @amornonline

You may need your g/f to translate for you

[Damrongsak]

Oxy/propane is OK for cutting and brazing/braze welding with brass or bronze filler.  Propane is not suitable for welding steel using steel filler.  Propane has a lower flame temp and unsuitable flame characteristics. Acetylene has a very hot zone close to the tip and also provides a gas shield to prevent oxidation and other nastiness.

 

TIG welders vary with respect to the minimum amperage available for thin stuff.  Cheap welders may not go low enough or be stable at the low end.  Decent TIG welders will have a foot or hand amperage control so you can adjust on the fly as the work piece heats up.

[vogie]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

How thin?

 

I would be looking at MIG for thin sheet steel, but regular stick can go down to 1mm even in my ham fists.

 

TIG is more aimed at stainless, aluminium and the like.

 

I've seen oxy/LPG kits here which may be to your taste / skill.

 

Crossy the rule of thumb used to be use an electrode the same size as the metal you are welding. The smallest electrodes I've seen in Thailand is about 1.7mm, so anybody who is not a proficient welder would struggle to weld 1mm metal with 1.7mm rods. IMHO of course.

[HamonRye]

Thanks again.

 

I get the impression there might be full time welders among you? I haven't done alot of brazing, but a fair bit of oxy/acet. How do the two compare in difficulty?

If it came to it i could get a local to do the welding, but worry about alignment.

 

I'm interested in whether one of those bernzomatic disposable bottles would be up to the job on fillet brazing IF i reflected and insulated the heat with steel and bricks? Maybe the hotter flame from the MAPP gas would be better than my cooking gas? 

 

This guy seems to have fillet brazed a whole frame using a MAPP gas bottle.

https://www.bikeforums.net/framebuilders/161263-re-cycle.html

 

"I fillet brazed in a new top tube that was made from a 531 down tube on a wrecked Trek . I cut down the seatstay wishbone. I replaced the MTB dropouts with a pair of horizontals salvaged from a Puch. I borrowed the chain guard from a 72 Raleigh and brazed on mounts and tabs for the chain guard. All brazing was done with a Benzomatic mapp gas torch''

 

Considering doing a frankenstein build out of 2 bikes - her size for the rear, mine for the front - rear triangle + front triangle with struts in between. That would only be about 4 or 5 bronze brazed fillet joints, or more if i changed the head tube, and put some gussets near the chain-stays i guess.

The problem here in Cambodia is actually finding decent enough donor frames like the old high and long college kid 90's MTB's. 

 

Thanks

Edited April 5, 2018 by HamonRye