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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Ademelaide, SA
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Thu, 29 January 2004 10:53
 
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i have a:
ESAB 165amp MIG welder.
runs off 240v, and is a gas MIG, as opposed to a gasless poo.
i use ordinary argoshield gas.
i have no problems welding up things like turbo exhaust manifolds, fabricating engine mounts, etc., with it.
in my opinion, MIG craps all over ARC, as far as penetration goes, and although it is better to ARC weld some things, i have NEVER had any troubles with my MIG.
it's better for things like exhausts, and intercooler piping made from mild/stainless.
not only that, but you can use most with aluminium, so i've heard, though i haven't tried it, but i'd be pretty sure i'd have to change the type of gas i use.
a roll of standard copper .8mm MIG wire, 5KGs, goes for around $15-35 depending where you get it from, $15 from my Snap-On rep, and $35 from Motor Traders/Coventry's.
the most expensive part is the gas. you have to rent the bottle, and pay for the gas. it usually costs me around $80 for a new bottle when i need it, but depends on how much you use it. the longer it takes to empty a bottle, the more you get charged for rent. i usually go through a bottle every 8-9 months.
i do use it a fair bit, though, for a home mechanic/DIY fabricator.
sorry for the long and winded...but hey.
fwiw, i still wouldn't mind getting an oxy setup...
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Thu, 29 January 2004 18:10
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steve, many thanks for your feedback mate.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Northern Beaches
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Thu, 29 January 2004 21:21
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yea id agree with steve, mine is a 165 and it gets through most stuff like exhaust manifolds. They are real easy to use, but don't bother with gasless stuff it sux, we thought we were shit and couldn't work out how to do it properly, as soon as we got gas into it, boom instant good welds with the right settings 
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Thu, 29 January 2004 21:55
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ta ribbo.
looking at a unimig 195 - should be more than enough (200amp)
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Location:
NSW Engadine
Registered:
June 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Fri, 30 January 2004 04:56
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I use a 120Sip Transmig goes good.
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Club Member
Location:
sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Fri, 30 January 2004 09:11
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mig but i wish id bought a tig now
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Location:
Brisbane, QLD
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Fri, 30 January 2004 09:23
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whats the difference in MIG and TIF welders?
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Northern Beaches
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Fri, 30 January 2004 09:25
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TIG is much harder to weld and much more expensive
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Fri, 30 January 2004 10:38
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mig has a consumable electrode, tig uses a tungsten electrode and welding rods, both use gas sheilding.
(correct me if im wrong)
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
June 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Fri, 30 January 2004 12:43
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i have a 30 year old compak welder. It uses electrode rods and i.e - a stick welder. Works great.
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Registered:
November 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Fri, 30 January 2004 19:26
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I have a Caddy, which is a combination ARC/TIG welder. Most of the time I use it on TIG.
Its an awesome setup but also a very expensive machine. Amps goes from 20 to 140.
In my opnion, TIG is the ultimate and by far the neatest welds if you know what you're doing.
TIG stands for Tungsten inert gas, you use a filler wire compared to MIG where it has a consumable wire.
The gas in both cases is usually Argon.
I think you can buy cheaper MIG/Arc welder machines that don't need gas? Maybe someone else can confirm this?
Cheers,
Simon
http://users.chariot.net.au/~stmezz/celica.htm
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Location:
Finland
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sat, 31 January 2004 01:16
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| Quote: |
I think you can buy cheaper MIG/Arc welder machines that don't need gas
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You can use every MIG/MAG without the gas you just have to use right wire(one with core filling).
How many of you guys actually have MAG welder?
Can you get Kemppi welders in Australia?
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sat, 31 January 2004 13:57
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Gotta have a Gas axe AKA oxy with cutting tip makes short work of car bodys when ya just gota get rid of that parts car
bronze is also a very neat flowing weld
i also have ARC and MIG
ARC is good as far as doing stuff on exotic metals where otherwise you would need special gas/wire for tig/mig, you can just stick a Stainless welding rod in and go for it and the welders are only like $99 from bunnings
you can also soak cheapo rod's in water and you then almost have a plasma cutter rod! great for blowing head of hard to reach bolts
MIG is great for general fab work, consitant, neat and point and shoot easy
Allan
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Location:
Brisbane, QLD
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sat, 31 January 2004 23:27
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i've really gotta learn how to weld one day
i do some pipe bending and brazing(ala oxy acetylene) and cutting metal with the same gear
but nothing like MIG or ARC welding....perhaps i'll do a shortcourse in it one day
or is it easy to self teach?
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sun, 01 February 2004 09:37
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if you can cut whith oxy etc, piss easy, just start on thick stuff and work your way to the thin, get a hold of a whole lot of scrap metal and go crazy,
get a book on welding from your library too
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Location:
cambo
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sun, 01 February 2004 10:08
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i would love a TIG but i think ill go MIG. not just cause a good TIG costs bloody heaps.
so how are ppl with welding stainless with a MIG? what about alloy? i heard you can do alloy but its hard to do. i already can sort of use an oxy (have one at work) but wanna get a MIG. whats a good one to get for basic things like making mounts and manifolds?
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Registered:
November 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sun, 01 February 2004 12:44
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Pretty much anything over 2mm thick is fine for an arc welder (if you know what you're doing). Practice of mild steel first and see how you go.
Panels/exhaust tubing etc which are around 0.6- 1mm and you need a MIG or TIG.
Get some practice on the basics before thinking about welding alloys. Alloy welding takes alot of practice and is not easy.
Not all TIG machines can weld alloy and a different grade of tip is needed, not sure the changes if using MIG.
Cheers,
Simon
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sun, 01 February 2004 13:28
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i actualy prefer stick for doing exhausts BOC satinchrome rods do a REALLY nice job on mild and stainless and the welds dont rust
Allan
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sun, 01 February 2004 19:02
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from what i gather TIG needs hi frequency and alot of amperage (and is AC i think also)
with MIG if you want to weld alloy you have to get the specific wire for the purpose and, you can't use the regular argoshield gas for it - you have to get a different gas to suit. supposed to be quite doable though.
i'm looking at getting a unimig panther 172 - seem to be around the $879 mark - 150amp OR the CIG transmig 165 - 165amp but $915 so a bit more expensive.
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Sun, 01 February 2004 21:33
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I've just picked up a Henrob oxy. I'm still getting used to it, but, it has a lot of potential..
http://www.amweld.com.au/frames.htm
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Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Mon, 02 February 2004 03:42
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Any one tried a twin carbon arc welding on a AC stick welder? Where you create an arc between two carbon electrodes and use a filler material much like TIG, may be a cheaper alternative to TIG don't know how well it works though ?? if it does work well then the ability to weld thin steel and alloys (no need to chenge gas and wire) with an arc welder could be considered an alternative.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Mon, 02 February 2004 18:29
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i ended up getting a SIP170 coppermate, lots of functionality and well priced too.
roger, supposedly you can use an arc welder to TIG, if, you get a TIG torch, with, a seperate gas line and regulator/lockoff.
ben - be interested to know how you go. i've seen these things advertised alot, but, never known anyone who'se had one.
also what gas do folks use?
[Updated on: Mon, 02 February 2004 21:03]
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Tue, 03 February 2004 00:08
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i use plain argon so i can do alloy and steel with the one bottle, not as good for steel but i can live with that
Allan
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Tue, 03 February 2004 00:23
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thanx allan. hey you're a melbournite where do you get your bottle filled.
supagas do a argon 07 which is 93% argon 7% o2 - sposed to be the way to go - $50 to fill and $9 per month rental...
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Tue, 03 February 2004 00:44
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| Grega wrote on Tue, 03 February 2004 05:29 |
ben - be interested to know how you go. i've seen these things advertised alot, but, never known anyone who'se had one.
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I was much the same, in the end, I just bit the bullet and bought it.
I've only had it running a few days, but, it has a lot of potential. I managed to put down a couple of beads on aluminium within an hour of starting...
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Tue, 03 February 2004 19:07
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Ben if you don't mind what was it worth? PM me if you like.
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Tue, 03 February 2004 21:17
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It cost me around $700 or so, I can't remember the exact number. (that was without regs and hoses), not cheap, but, it is a nice thing....
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Tue, 03 February 2004 21:46
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ok. cool dude.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Wed, 04 February 2004 05:02
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Greg,
The TIG is a pulsed DC welder. The ARC is a AC welder if you where to try and convert the arc welder like this I think the weld quality would be fairly poor.
You can by an inverter unit which is what TA22 GT is talking about that does the AC/DC conversion and pulsing. The cheapest I have seen these for is around $800 with arc gear but a measely 80 Amps. Good for car stuff but heaver welding it is a bit average.
You can convert you ARC into a Tig type thing by using two carbon rods and creating an arc between then. How good the weld is? and how thin you can weld? you don't have the gas flux so some type of flux would still be needed. Don't know much about it really just seen it for sale
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Wed, 04 February 2004 06:37
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roger, yep, you're on the money here, just been speaking with my mate who said the almost exact same thing.
if you did this you'd still use the TIG gas as a shield, but, actuate a LPG lockoff valve from the TIG torch so that the gas would flow.
as suggested, i think the weld quality would be quite poor. if i get bored one day, i'll hire a small bottle of the gas required for TIG and try it and see how we go for arguments sake
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Wed, 04 February 2004 10:27
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i've got an old arc welder? arc i think because it uses sticks you put into the handle. I originally blew holes in everthing, then someone told me to use 2mm rods? or was it 2.5? but that helped ALOT. after that, working on the ta22 celica sills i manage still to blow holes in the metal.. it is very difficult and time consuming to do. However with heavy metal it seems good.
Someone a long time ago said they welded mild steel to cast iron by simpily using "stainless rods". Could someone verify this, and what so or thickness stainless rods could i use to attempt this?
How much is the best cheap but functional mig welder go for?
also is this right:
MIG = Gun with gas and a reel of copper that unwinds and melts into weld? (can copper weld??)
TIG = same as above, but use a tunsgten tip to create the current flow/heat, and just melt a filler wire into it?
ARC = Stick welded?
Thanks.
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Thu, 05 February 2004 22:34
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That's pretty much spot on.
Grega - I had a friend around at my place last night who is an experienced welder. He was having a look at some of the stuff I had been doing with the Henrob, his comment was that if I told him I was using a TIG, he would have believed me...
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Location:
sydney
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: What Welder do you have?
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Thu, 05 February 2004 23:33
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I'm looking at getting an inverter at the moment. 140amp. comes with tig/stick attachments and all that.
I had a look at that henrob oxy.......Interesting
I like the fact it can do aluminum. That would come in handy!
I guess i will probably stick to the inverter though, I'm just used to it.
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