welding

[jermflux]

I am looking into a Chicogo Electric mig-100 welder for general stuff and frame welding mods.  Will it be enough and will it do aluminum?  thanks in advance.

[Dom]

Yes it will be good enough for the frame but I suggest that you buy a more common brand, such as Lincoln, just because if it breaks you will have an easier time getting it repaired.  The Lincolns are fairly inexpensive at Home Depot.  I think the welder itself(wirefeed) is around $325 and the mig attachments are $100 and the owner bottle is around $80(a small bottle to get you started).

I have the Lincoln Weld Pak 100 and it says that it can do aluminium but I bought it used without the manual.  It says on the Harbor Freight website that the Chicago Electric will weld aluminium so...it probably does...  it will probably weld with flux core up to 1/4" and mild steel  up to 3/16", but that is just on one pass...I have welded 3/8" steel with mine using MIG and the welds were fine.

It seems like a good purchase just because it is so damn cheap and you aren't going to be using it 8 hours a day.  Probably fine for small projects.  I suggest that you buy a bunch of scrap steel and practice before you decide to start welding on your frame so you can get a knack for drawing a bead...it could be fatal if your welds snap while riding.

87 amps isn't that hot but you will get good penetration on all of the 1/16" wall tubing on the GS, and it will melt thru if you arent careful.

[Dom]

BTW, I just researched and discovered that the Home Depot Lincoln Weld Pak 100 welder will weld aluminium.  You need to buy the aluminium accessory kit directly from Lincoln.  That's what I'm getting myself for christmas.

[Jared]

You may need to get a spool gun for the aluminum welding... The aluminum wire is usually too soft for the wire to push through the regular gun/feed-line. The spool guns usually hold a 1lb spool if memory serves.....

By the way the GS's frame is made of steel.....If thats the bikes frame you're going to be welding on....

[GRU]

hmmm, uless you need to weld aluminum somewhere else, that's not gonna do you any good if your gonna use it on the GS because the gs has a steel frame not aluminum

[jermflux]

Yes, I understand what the frame is made of, just would be nice to do aluminum if I need to.  I think the '74 ironhead is gonna see more use out of it either way.  thanks

[Dom]

The Lincoln WeldPak 100 aluminium kit comes with a roll of 0.035 aluminium wire and all the bells and whistles required for the swap, but it seems like it would be a PITA to switch it back and forth from steel to aluminium and back...  Kind of pisses me off that I learned this over a year after buying my welder...even the guy at the welding shop told me that it wouldn't be possible... The Lincoln website says that it is in fact possible and I trust them.

[coll0412]

Yeah mot wire feeds can do aluminium with a special kit...

Why not splurge and by a TIG....and the welds are so sexy with it!!!!!

[Dom]

Totally... I agree... if I were to do it all over I would buy tig off the bat, but a $50 aluminium kit aint bad, since I already have the welder.

Nothing beats tig welds in the looks dept.  And not only with aluminium...I've tig welds in steel that soaked my shoes.

[Blueknyt]

if you get a tig torch, you in theory adapt it to a Mig machine, but generaly helps if its an AC/DC machine,  while true, a mig machine doesnt have he High Freq starting Circut, you would have to do a "scratch" start to get the arc cookin, then pretty normal tigin aside from a on/off current load that is. Im lookinig into a 'Ready welder' myself, 100% duty cycle, can run off of a standard welder as powersupply or linkd to 3 deepcycle marine batteries. can use flux core, solid,stainless,or aluminum  with gas.  ready welder runs around 600 if im not mistaken. and regular stick machine can be gotten cheap
OR

a stick/Tig machine, you can do both with it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=46413&item=4346069326&rd=1

[dgyver]

I was looking into setting my mig welder up for aluminum. But at work we have a mig with a spool gun and a tig. I had made a custom rear caliper hanger (for the RGV swingarm) that I needed to have welded. I had it tacked with the mig (it was quicker) so I could test fit it before fully welding it with the tig. The mig tacks seemed brittle, like not enough heat was able to penetrate the aluminum. They said it will make good beads but tacking is difficult.

Instead of buying the setup to weld aluminum with my mig, I will buy a tig.

[davipu]

ok kids, it's time for Daddy to chime in. cheep rigs, are nothing but  problems.  I whouldn't even bother buying one for less than 1,000 used.  this 300 crap that you all are talking about is pretty funny  till one of you tards tries to weld a critical piece on a frame, and it breaks while you are riding and you crash and die.
listen people there is a reason that I make good money doing this.  IT TAKES SKILLS THAT TAKE YEARS TO BUILD.
I am not trying to be a ass here or flame anyone, but you all are playing with fire and are trying to get burned.  take it from a professional. I have been welding since I was 13 (now 23)  I am a avaition certified GTAW weldor, and I started loosing my hair the day I got my certs.  the stress that you have every day knowing that people are depending on your work to live is huge.  and the difference between a good weld and a bad one you can't even see with out a 10x microscope.  I understand that we are not flying airplanes here, but the same principals apply.  and I whould rather die crashing from 30,000 feet than hitting a gaurd rail and being a vegtable.

[Jared]

I have a lincoln 100 and for anything up to just shy of 1/4 inch thick steel  works great with the Mig kit.  I was the shop welder for an awning shop for several years. Not one of My awnings has failed to date and we have had 3 blizzards and a hurricane since  my awnings were installed.

Most all of those jobs were done with that little welder (we finally got a nice Miller...).  

I did some welding in high school (stick and acetylene..). I taught myself how to mig weld.  I trust my welds for me to ride on (I'm 300 pounds).

I love my little lincoln 100....Remember nobody here is talking about welding with it for 8 hours a day..... or has a 1000$ budget for a machine we'll use a handful of times a year maybe...

Your Point is taken....but  " Daddy" relax a little...some of us "tards" are quite capable.


Merry Christmas

[davipu]

ok, I'll relax and won't commet on the subject again. but when one of you "kids" wraps himself around a telephone pole from a broken weld don't say I didn't tell you so.  (mig welds are known for cold starts resulting in subsurface cracks running paralell to the weld in high stress applications.) don't say I didn't warn you.

[Blueknyt]

"kids"

Ok, i dont have any welding certs, never really had any so called Formal training, other then 2 weeks worth while in diesel class and funny part is, i learned more about welding from watching old Timers (and asking questions) who also didnt have any formal training. and by practicing and making mistakes. no i wouldnt recomend a beginer welding up fuel tankers thier 3rd day but thats common sense.  picking up a 110v unit to weld some basic stuff dont mean they are bidding on Nasa outsource.  But lets breakdown that picture alittle, its not just the welding, its also the skill in the fitting, placment, and knowing the tolerences of whats being built along with what its going to be subject to.    Ive welded on a 3" square tubing bumper to my fordwagon using golf cart batteries and mulitple passes.   it hauled plenty of heavy trailers and destroyed another car when it was rearended, but heldup just fine with a mild curvature of the hitch area.  ive watched a guy(lots of pretty papers on the wall)  build a trailer with a 5k lincoln with all the bells and whistles and it buckled when it was half loaded.

this isnt the only place ive seen/heard the rantings of "Proper Training" or "Proper Equipment" flags flown and "damn those fools who do otherwise" schpeal. sure ive had welds crack, but then, im not welding specialized alloy, on stressed designs. none of my failures have ever been harmful, untimely as hell yes.  welding steel?(and the GS frame is) isnt keeping boeing  from falling out of the sky nor is using  a weld pack 100 on less then 1/4 steel on a backyard project.  ive welded on my bikes,cars, trucks, and willing to bet ANY life on it and have, my family and freinds, But one also needs to know the limits of thier skill. there are some Designs/structures i wont weld as im not an engineer, airplane wing being one, but ive got no problem repairing a cracked frame on a truck, car, or bike. Granted my aluminum work is rusty so it would go to somone else. but once setup with Tig, i will be turning out many alum projects.  I would hope someone considering welding on thier own stuff, would have the good sense to know thier skills limits.

Im not trained,Im not certified,  i dont have expensive equipment, but, that doesnt make my work shotty, or my skills less valid to real world. nor would it make anyone elses. everyone starts somewhere, no one can be Flawless outa the gates.

[Jared]

Well said Blue.

Davipu- So when you were 13-til the time you got certified...did all of your welds break? What were you welding then?

Your point is appreciated...really- you do this for a living and I'm sure are very good at it. You're also just trying to (in your own very Tactless way) maybe keep people from getting hurt or worse....

23... I remember knowing everything when I was 23... I've forgotten alot since then.

Your point would be better received if maybe you had said:

"Hey Guys- I do this for a living and have 10 years experience " (can you count from before you were certified??)  " and am GTAW cerified. While the small machines are good for around the house projects- I  don't think they are worth buying because they have (insert the problems you have had with them here).
Any major structural welds you need done on your motorcycle frame really should be welded by a professional Because...."

And maybe explain the differences about the types of welding and suggest which would be the best for what specific application they are doing....(but  that wold be like giving away knowledge that you paid for....). Also you might suggest that they at least take a basic welding course if they haven't had any training.


Happy Holidays.

[davipu]

thanks Jared, yes tact is one of the things I wasn't issued in the military.  I sure could use some at times.  
before I was certified I was welding on farm machinery under my bosses certs, and working in a custom fab shop also under a cartified weldor.  I can't stress the importance of formal training enough for welding.  when I started I was in the back corner of the shop after work running beads with a oxy fuel torch on test plates untill I got it right.  then I graduated to arc and then to mig and finaly to tig, before I ever welded on something that whould go out the door to a customer.   on the wall of the shop was "perfect is the minimum standard"  something I strive to uphold everyday.

[jermflux]

Well, I plan on mostly welding tins and small fabrications, I'll just use that JB weld stuff for the frame, it seems to be pretty strong.

[Dom]

I hope you're kidding about the JB Weld...I really hope you're kidding.  If you are, good 1, and if you aren't, GOOD GOD!!!

[jermflux]