General Maintenance & Repairs - Welding advice




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Decadence75
05-16-2012, 02:02 PM
I wasn't sure where else to put this. I am looking for some welding advice. I am not happy with how the exhaust shop welded my tips on my exhaust. So I am just gonna teach myself to weld and then try to put it on straight myself.

So my question is, would it be better to get a MIG or TIG welder to do this with. Any jobs i do in the future will be similar metals joining together.

I appreciate any input, thanks!


2000Hawk#317
05-16-2012, 08:04 PM
Go with MIG man. I have a Miller MIG and love the damn thing....When welding though..just take your time. I learned myself. It's deff. an art though. I would take two pieces of metal about the same size and material.... like the pipe you can get from advanced or autozone for cheap and practice with those. use a vice and tac it to hold then work on blending the metal. you want to be able to see some of the heat marks on the inside of the metal. that way you know it made it all the way through...I am sure someone else will get on here and better help you but hopfully this helps a little.

TheLS1Lover
05-16-2012, 08:06 PM
If your exhaust is stainless TIG, I would go TIG anyway. You can weld anything with it.


mikh338
05-16-2012, 08:21 PM
i went to school and am certified yada yada yada. when i do exhausts i always use my mig. it is a miller 140amp gas. i have done countless numbers of exhaust on all diff cars, trucks. my technique that i like the most is once you have it tacked up and have your heat right, go around the pipe almost like doing tack after tack after tack, so it looks like a nice "tig" weld or a roll of dimes. that way your not just heating the holy crap out of it as exhaust tubing is usually not that thick. easiest way to explain is to find your spot, pull trigger, count too 2 andstop and move over a hair and keep going. very good for sealing up holes and previous burn thrus also. i will take a pic for you to show you better if i have some piping left over in my garage. hope this helped!! im actually doing my own custom true dual exahust this weekend which i will be taking lots of pics so i will deff be able to show you better.

88blackiroc
05-16-2012, 08:29 PM
Get a mig dude. Easiest imo to learn and use. Ive welded mig, tig and stick and mig is the way id go for thin steel. Tig is good for aluminum as its the only one to use out of the three. Stick is better for thick metal as it pierces though more.
For learning mig or any type of welding, the key thing is to be patient. The more patient you are, the better your welds will turn out! Any questions feel free to ask :)

TCS OFF
05-18-2012, 10:13 AM
If you're only putting tips on just tig it. Everyone says mig is the easiest way to learn which it is but tig Is better to learn just all around. It may be slightly harder but in the end you can do a lot more with it. We just bought a 6000 dollar Lincoln welder at work with a pulse setting for the tig. Makes it so much easier an the weld comes out beautifully

ShifterLou
05-18-2012, 10:20 AM
Get a good mig...you'll use it a TON.

While a Tig can do nicer welds, it takes a lot of practice. Run .023 wire and you can build some nice exhaust systems.

Jr.Samples
05-18-2012, 02:14 PM
Agree with the mig. Easiest to learn. The good thing about what you are doing is it is tips not something up stream that could be a leak you could hear.

Here is my tip. Don't weld in flip flops! :nono:

Decadence75
05-19-2012, 08:34 AM
Thanks for all the input everyone to confirm what I was thinking. It's not just for the tips but for here on out anytime I need a weld. I would rather invest a few hundred now then so much more everytime I need work done.

cdenu95z28
05-19-2012, 11:52 AM
Keep in mind if Ur tips are stainless u have to use stainless wire with a MIG and also use tri mix gas Ur local air gas will get u set up good luck and take Ur time I weld for a living also with the MIG u will have better heat control a lot easier to learn