Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello, I’m hoping for a little direction on selecting the right type of welder. I’m an artist and currently work with small pieces and have relied on soldering and brazing. But as I’m inclined to go to larger work I find I need to get a better hold on the work and looking at purchasing a welder. A hardware store is pointing me to the Forney 130FI MIG/Flux Cored Wire Welder. That way I have the option to use gas for a cleaner weld, which I think is a must.

My question are
What would be your suggestions to do a clean weld on pieces 18-24 gauge work?
Is the forney to large of a machine to work on thin metals of 20-24 gauge as well as a fit for thicker metals?
What should I be looking for?

My experience with welding is practical repairs, growing up on a farm I did very little welding (my Dad preferred to do it himself, he loved welding - it was an arch welder) So i'm not total new but would at this point years later consider myself starting over, relearning and jogging my memory.

If it helps for ideas, my work can be spotted at facebook at Creation by Amy
http://www.facebook.com/creationbyamy
or some at my website at amynormandin.com

Welcome!

Even for art, I think I'd "buy up" a bit.

The Hobart Handler 140 gets good reviews. It's sold under the "Miller" parent company, so has reliable support for problems.

I'm sure you'll get some comments on the Forney, and alternatives, soon.

Steve S

Well,
Forney machines are cheep.

My opinion is a Red, White, or Blue 135-140 amp machine.

Cant go wrong there.

I've used every color of 115 mig, and Hobart wins....

~John

I hope be upgrading from my Hobart Handler 135 to a Hobart Handler 210mvp, which runs on 115 and 230.

Just right for me.

Let us know what you like, or ask about certain ones.

BTW,
What part of Kansas you in???

Amy, nice artwork. I think that the Forney Mig will work fine for what you are doing.
It's a general purpose hobby welder and for an artist, it should serve you well.

Check with your local welding supplier for renting a gas bottle to get cleaner welds.
Mig is easy to learn and I think that you will enjoy it very much. Check out Jody's videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Qb9I03FCk

If you don't need AC would a cheap inverter Tig not be better - the control & neat welds are more suited to artist type work - see Kevin Caron's stuff - he likes Tig for most of his work.

Welcome to the forum Amy.

Welcome to the forum.

I also do art work and I started out with a Hobart Handler 140 and love the thing. It does great on thick and thin. I am running .030 wire in it and am welding 22 gauge at times with it. If you drop down a wire size then it would weld 18-20 gauge easily. It is relatively affordable and easy to use. I recently bought a little inverter tig machine and have been using it for the sheet metal work now. I don't know much about the Forney brand welders but I would suggest running their wire in what ever machine you get. I run Forney wire through my Hobart and love the stuff. It is a lot better wire than the Hobart flux core. If you want to hook it to gas, you have two options. !. If you are going to do a lot of welding and plan on welding for a few years but not later on down the road, I would probably rent a bottle. 2. usaweld.com sells a 55 cu ft inert gas bottle for $100 with free shipping. Airgas will exchange them no questions ask for $50 (at least here it is $50). You would own that bottle for a lifetime and just exchange the empty with a full whenever you need to. That is what I did for both of my machines since I can only weld on the weekends I didn't see the point in renting a bottle and paying for time I wasn't using.
https://www.facebook.com/JustHorsinAroundHorseshoeArt
https://www.facebook.com/BackwoodsMetalArt
Matt

normb4 wrote:Hello, I’m hoping for a little direction on selecting the right type of welder. I’m an artist and currently work with small pieces and have relied on soldering and brazing. But as I’m inclined to go to larger work I find I need to get a better hold on the work and looking at purchasing a welder. A hardware store is pointing me to the Forney 130FI MIG/Flux Cored Wire Welder. That way I have the option to use gas for a cleaner weld, which I think is a must.

My question are
What would be your suggestions to do a clean weld on pieces 18-24 gauge work?
Is the forney to large of a machine to work on thin metals of 20-24 gauge as well as a fit for thicker metals?
What should I be looking for?

My experience with welding is practical repairs, growing up on a farm I did very little welding (my Dad preferred to do it himself, he loved welding - it was an arch welder) So i'm not total new but would at this point years later consider myself starting over, relearning and jogging my memory.

If it helps for ideas, my work can be spotted at facebook at Creation by Amy
http://www.facebook.com/creationbyamy
or some at my website at amynormandin.com

TIG. No spatter (unless you're really doing something wrong). Great control. Cleaner/tighter welds (when you get a little experience). More aesthetically pleasing, with a little experience. You can buy a cheap chinese thing from Horrible Freight and experiment. Same with the wire welders. Find what you like on the cheap then buy a good piece of equipment from Miller.

--HC