Would this be a good welder to:

[C-10 simplex]

1) Basically, short-term i'm planning on wanting to weld spring perches onto a rear axle assembly. i may also want to weld a ladder bar crossmember to the stock frame rails(most likely an s-10's frame rails), weld the coilover shock crossmember also to the framerails and weld ladder bar brackets to the rear axle.

Would a welder such as this be good for the job?
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...t.aspx?p=61028


a) i don't want to mess with the gas for now; Would the wire-only welding be sufficient?

b) Is this wire-feed welding acceptable to most sanctioning bodies---i.e., nhra, scca etc.?

2) Longer term i will want to weld tabs to a chromoly tube chassis. Not do-able with this kind of welder?

3) i don't know jack S about welding as you can probably tell. i am very serious about attending a nearby night welding school(they start you off with stick which i hear nhra does not accept) but my stupid job has wacky unpredictable hours so i can't yet commit to attending.

[Mike Bradbury]

Let me just start by saying that I am a welding instructor at a community college and they are usually good programs to learn the theory of welding. Stick is a good place to start because it teaches you control of the weld puddle and heat. Mig is very easy to learn, some say too easy because the beginner welder has not learned the concept of what metal does in its molten state and cannot tell what a cold lap weld or lack of fusion looks like and it can be dangerous for the rookie to be welding on suspension that if it lets loose could kill someone.

Now that I got that out of the way, I would not recommend that welder for what you are planning. At the heart of any welder is the duty cycle. Think of it this way If you can run a mile in 7 minutes and that is a good fast time for you, could you then estimate your time in a marathon would be three hours. Probably not, why? Because your body has a duty cycle too, your muscles start to overheat if pushed too hard and you cannot maintain the level of exertion that you had at the start of the race. Duty cycle in welders is the ability of the welder to maintain the set amperage (heat) in a given time period (usually ten minutes) and cool itself adequately, when it is pushed too far it cannot cool down enough to keep working at that level.

That welder has a 20% duty cycle at 90 amps and 19 volts. So two minutes out of ten, break it down even further and it is 12 seconds out of a minute. When the duty cycle is reached the machine will struggle to keep up and will not be able to provide the correct amount of penetration. It gets even worse; In order to get enough penetration on 1/4 inch you need to be in the 120 to 130 amp range. At that rate you will reach the limit around 2 or 3 seconds. Look for a 220v machine, much higher duty cycle and able to penetrate at the rate you will need for suspension.

Chromoly is generally TIG welded and it is pretty expensive to learn on. Those welders are 2 or 3 grand for a mid range one

I am not sure you will like the results of the flux core wire, it has a lot of spatter and is messier than gas shielded. Better penetration but a little harder to make look nice.

[C-10 simplex]

Hmmmm.......looks like i should get a good shop to do the work---then go to school.

Shops just take so long though...........

[Mike Bradbury]

That would be my sugestion. Take the class, learn the process and build the next one.

Anyway when you weld on an axle it is a good idea to have it all apart so that you can have it straightened after welding, because it will warp.

[vin63]

Originally Posted by C-10 simplex

1) Basically, short-term i'm planning on wanting to weld spring perches onto a rear axle assembly. i may also want to weld a ladder bar crossmember to the stock frame rails(most likely an s-10's frame rails), weld the coilover shock crossmember also to the framerails and weld ladder bar brackets to the rear axle.

Would a welder such as this be good for the job?
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...t.aspx?p=61028


a) i don't want to mess with the gas for now; Would the wire-only welding be sufficient?

b) Is this wire-feed welding acceptable to most sanctioning bodies---i.e., nhra, scca etc.?

2) Longer term i will want to weld tabs to a chromoly tube chassis. Not do-able with this kind of welder?

3) i don't know jack S about welding as you can probably tell. i am very serious about attending a nearby night welding school(they start you off with stick which i hear nhra does not accept) but my stupid job has wacky unpredictable hours so i can't yet commit to attending.

As a beginner, no. I use my 140 amp MIG welder for my sheetmetal projects. I use my TIG welder for my structural projects, such as suspension, frame, chassis, etc. As Mike mentioned, if you are going to be doing the welding, take classes because there is a lot to learn and understand about the process, including mettalurgy. As a rule, I only TIG weld 4130. As far as sactioning bodies and organizations, invest in those rulebooks...usually around $10, or accessible online.

[Marv D]

Let me bring this to an abrupt end by saying,, err by quoting the NHRA rule book in talking about welding a cage / chassis

All 4130 chromoly tube welding must be done by approved TIG heliarc process; mild steel tube welding must be approved MIG wirefeed or TIG heliarc process

Do NOT read anything into that other than for CAGE and TUBE CHASSIS. They are not saying 'any' mild steel, just mild steel roll bar/cage and chassis welding. If you want to stick weld on your rear leaf perches,,,, you can. You 'can' stick , wire-feed weld parts together and stick weld them to the chassis. They are only real adamant about roll bars / cages.

WITH THAT SAID,, listen closely to Mike. You sure don't want to go out and find out you cut the corner on welding the brackets or housing and have it fail. Not at the launch and not down track. Trust me, a drag race is a 'weak link' expedition. If there is a weak weld, a weak part or a weak design, you WILL find it. And it usually isn't pretty when you do. Even the BEST of the super heavy duty extreme aftermarket parts fail. Don't chance it. And if you do,, please let the guy in the lane next to you know so he can decide if he wants to run next to you.

[C-10 simplex]

Thanks for all the advice so far; i'm not planning on doing any frame/suspension or other fabrication unless and until i'm capable. It appears that a window will be opening up so i'll be able to go to school soon.

With that in mind, can you recommend a good helmet? i'm looking at Miller, specifically Elite, and 3M's speedglas. i'm also leaning towards the accustrike:

http://www.accustrike.com/

[ProStreet68SB]

miller doesnt even make their own helmets, I looked into buying one and was told by a welder of (30+year and in charge of the welding dept for a very large company (25+ welders he's in charge of)), to look into the Jackson NexGen helmets. Well I ended buying one and its a very very nice helmet to use!

[shortbed70]

Speedglas helmets are nice and compact and light but pricey, i bought a miller performance series helmet and have had no problems with it. I have used it every day for two year almost 6 hours a day. I have self tought myself how to weld and learned from everybody I work with so I think doing it is the best training in my opinion. In school youll get more in depth welding instruction. If I were to do that I would take a tig class because that is involved...Good luck