tools?

[LaForte_2oo5]

Hello, I was wondering if you all might be able to offer advice in helping me decide what tools you have discovered with experience as the most effective and commonly used in fabrication and welding?...any good brand names to look for?

Thank You

[JAZ]

Hello, I was wondering if you all might be able to offer advice in helping me decide what tools you have discovered with experience as the most effective and commonly used in fabrication and welding?...any good brand names to look for?

Thank You

I have a Millermatic 185 MIG welder, which I'm very happy with. It also has a spoolgun for aluminum. If you can get a TIG, though, those are nice, depending on what you're doing with it. And I have a Hypertherm Powermax 900 plasma cutter that's worth its weight in gold. And a shopfull of other tools. You should be more specific about what your needs are, if you want more info, though.

[sculptorsam]

Hey, we're weilding (or welding I guess) the same weapon there Joyce. I like the smaller gun on the 185 which makes it nice for more delicate work. But I'd like to be able to make more precise adjustments than it lets me. And it's literally falling apart at the seams after about 7-8 years. But it still works and I'm too poor to upgrade.

[obseq]

Seems I was beaten to the punch...I wanted to post an identical thread but procrastinated.

So ladies and gentlemen--What are the best all-around workhorses for welding and cutting? At this point, price *is* indeed an issue...What is the best "bang for your buck?"

[jwebb]

I'd say an oxy-acetylene cutting and welding unit, which in this area can be had, used, for about $150 - $200 complete with tanks, hoses, regulators and torches. Victor's a good brand. This is basic, versatile, portable, self-contained, works on many but not all metals.

[JAZ]

Hey, we're weilding (or welding I guess) the same weapon there Joyce. I like the smaller gun on the 185 which makes it nice for more delicate work. But I'd like to be able to make more precise adjustments than it lets me. And it's literally falling apart at the seams after about 7-8 years. But it still works and I'm too poor to upgrade.

Get a used TIG! I don't know what I'm doing as far as upkeep on machinery, so I'd be nervous about getting something used, but one of my guy friends got one really cheap and swears by it. (I should explain. I went to parochial school for twelve years and my father was really handy with wood, but didn't fix the car. So, with zero mechanical background and absolutely no intention of ever using any industrial material, when I went to the Museum School to finsih my undergraduate degree in 1996, after my youngest graduated from college, I took Arcs and Sparks just because it was included in the tuition. I was instantly hooked. After I graduated I worked for two years three days a week on steel sculpture in a welding shop owned by two guys who repaired fire apparatus. Now for the past whatever, five years, I've worked alone in my own shop. The bottom line is, I can do anything I want with the material, but I don't know how to fix electrical devices, so I stay away from used.)

[JAZ]

I'd say an oxy-acetylene cutting and welding unit, which in this area can be had, used, for about $150 - $200 complete with tanks, hoses, regulators and torches. Victor's a good brand. This is basic, versatile, portable, self-contained, works on many but not all metals.
This ios definitely the best you can do price-wise, but the biggest disadvantage of the oxy-aceletylene for cutting is that it distorts the metal. If you are doing anything that has parts that are supposed to fit together or with flat planes, it can be tricky. That's the main reason reason I prefer the plasma cutter, if you can get your hands on one you can afford. Try e-Bay, maybe? One disadvangage is that you have to have a 220 line for electrical. I'd have to look at the manual for the specifics, but it's got a big plug. Also you need a compressor.
The "excuse" I have for getting one in the first place is that when I got my studio it had wooden floors. My husband and two sons helped me sheath the whole thing with steel over fire resistant Hardi-Backer and screwed down and seam sealed. The landlord was paranoid about fire so he told me I couldn't use oxy-aceylene. He's happy with the electric box-looking plasma cutter, but only because he's never seen it in action. It generates rivers of sparks.

[obseq]

I'd say an oxy-acetylene cutting and welding unit, which in this area can be had, used, for about $150 - $200 complete with tanks, hoses, regulators and torches. Victor's a good brand. This is basic, versatile, portable, self-contained, works on many but not all metals.



Sounds like a nice and affordable package!

Thanks for the information!

What are the 'other' metals that this unit wont work on? I suppose as long as it would be suitable for the common metals used in sculpting it doesn't matter.

[jwebb]

Well, I am no expert on welding (or much of anything else) but I have used oxy-acetylene for years, taught myself to do it with the help of a few books and by watching others. It works very well for "mild" steel, i.e. carbon steels, when you can grind away the weld beads and blend it all in. Or, once you get skilled, you can produce a nice looking bead and leave it if you want. It can be used to cut almost any metal, but it is difficult to get nice straight clean cuts as mentioned above, unless you practice a lot. It can be used to "braze" bronze and copper and aluminum. Brazing is basically soldering, and it's not as strong as welding and leaves a very visible witness. Copper plumbing is brazed. That look can be incorporated into the character of the work, but it's there to be dealt with, and it's difficult to do. You have to practice and get a feel for it. Those low melting point metals get red hot then quickly puddle and vaporize and you have a larger hole to weld up than you started with. There are special rods to use on various alloys, which create a little balloon of protective atmosphere around the welds. But it's not as easy as MIG welding or TIG. Those both have a steady arc, provide an argon or helium shielding gas, and are much more forgiving. But they're more spendy. Hope this helps.

[JAZ]

Well, I am no expert on welding (or much of anything else) but I have used oxy-acetylene for years, taught myself to do it with the help of a few books and by watching others. It works very well for "mild" steel, i.e. carbon steels, when you can grind away the weld beads and blend it all in. Or, once you get skilled, you can produce a nice looking bead and leave it if you want. It can be used to cut almost any metal, but it is difficult to get nice straight clean cuts as mentioned above, unless you practice a lot. It can be used to "braze" bronze and copper and aluminum. Brazing is basically soldering, and it's not as strong as welding and leaves a very visible witness. Copper plumbing is brazed. That look can be incorporated into the character of the work, but it's there to be dealt with, and it's difficult to do. You have to practice and get a feel for it. Those low melting point metals get red hot then quickly puddle and vaporize and you have a larger hole to weld up than you started with. There are special rods to use on various alloys, which create a little balloon of protective atmosphere around the welds. But it's not as easy as MIG welding or TIG. Those both have a steady arc, provide an argon or helium shielding gas, and are much more forgiving. But they're more spendy. Hope this helps.
One more use for an oxy-acetylene set-up is to bend steel. Very handy.

[sculptorsam]

Don't forget, some of the best tools are the ones you make yourself. Today I made a wonderful little piece of equipment for bending 1/2 inch rod in space. Just a simple little thing, but worked great and has a nice feel to it. I really should take a picture... sometimes it's the little things that give the most pleasure. The pleasure of a problem solved.

Sam

[JAZ]

Don't forget, some of the best tools are the ones you make yourself. Today I made a wonderful little piece of equipment for bending 1/2 inch rod in space. Just a simple little thing, but worked great and has a nice feel to it. I really should take a picture... sometimes it's the little things that give the most pleasure. The pleasure of a problem solved.

Sam
Sam,
I'd be interested in the photo. You are good.
I have do the same thing. For instance, right now (well, not right this second!) I'm working from patterns I made of tree footprints. I'd made one before out of thin sheet steel, which stands upright and turns in the wind. I wanted one of another footprint, but to make it look beefier, I'm trying to fabricate it with 3" sidewalls. These are very curvy and bendy so I made a simple, crude contraption by cutting a piece of 1 inch round tent stake, maybe 14" long, then I cut two short lenghths of pipe with a diameter that just fits over the rod and welded them to my worktable, spaced at the ends of the rod. The thickness of the pipe spaces the rod just enough away from the workbench that I can slip my 11 gauge (1/8") x3" strip in between the table and the rod and easily bend it to any curve I want. One end of the cut pipe is capped, but the other is open so that if I've already put enough bends in a piece so that it won't fit in, I can slide the rod back through the end, put the strip in place, then slide the rod closed again.
When I was building the big pinecone for PierWalk my rolling bender wouldn't do the folds I needed because some of the pieces were like 20 inches long, so I made a contraption to add to the bender. that one was more compicated, including turnscrews to control a thing to hold the steel down, etc.
I'd love to see what you came up with because you can never have too many kinds of benders and I might just steal your idea (unless you're charging a royalty on it.)
It sure is a lot of work, though. I often think that it doesn't make any sense. Everyone else in the world gets paid for their time. We build our own tools, buy or scrounge materials, pay to get pieces to shows. Man, it's crazy. for everyone else time is money. For us time is time.
But in a few minutes my lunch break is over and it's back to bending strips of 11 gauge.

[sculptorsam]

I think I worked out something similar for bending flat pieces of steel, Joyce. I have a piece of tubing welded parallel to the edge of my table with an 1/8 inch gap. To bend steel, place in gap and press (or hammer) down. For bending solid rod of various sizes, I've welded pieces of heavy-walled tubing perpendicular to the table surface.

Here's the little tool I worked up for bending steel rods already attached to a sculpture (so I can't use my table jigs). If the idea will work for you, steal away.

Sam

[warren01]

Nice little tool. But sometimes I miss-use the tools that I have and use them in other ways that they are not to be used. Instead of making a tool like you did I would of grabbed my large cresent wrench and slipped the eyelet of the wrench over the bar and bend away. Works great. Also if you want to make a S curve or whatever you can use two box-end wrenches (or two cresent wrenches eyelets) and use those over a bar, using one as the holder and the other as the bender. A must tool is an 24" cresent wrench.

warren

[JAZ]

Sam and Warren, both really good tools to add to the shop, and I think I will steal those ideas. No such thing as too many, right? I don't have a crescent wrench, but maybe I should. Alan, one of the two big guys I used to work with, used to bend things the other way - brute force. I've incorporated into my work a few of the tools he broke. He was one powerful guy. No danger of that happening in my shop, though. These tools have nothing to worry about.

[ironman]

Hi there, If you're just starting out on this trip I'd just get a used Victor brand oxy-acetylene outfit and maybe a Miller or Lincoln mig welder, again used. plasma cutters (I have a hypertherm max 43, cuts up to 1/2") are pricey but will cut anything that conducts electricity. I love my max 43 and only use my oxy-acet torch for cutting heavy steel or to heat a piece in order to bend it. It all depends on how serious you are and ultimately on your budget. You can't go wrong with Miller, Lincoln, Hobart or Victor welding equipment and there are some off brands (the names escape me) that are supposed to be good also (many are made by the major brands). I also have a 41/2" grinder, 7" grinder, 9" grinder and a die grinder, all Milwaukee tools. Assorted vice grips, hammers, a sizeable heavy steel work table ( bought for $20. at a going out of business sale), a smaller work table and a lot of other stuff. If you're looking for used tools avoid auctions as the prices tend to skyrocket beyond belief.