Tools for a MIG Welding Hobby Shop
A while back I said I was gonna' list tools needed for a Mig welding hobby shop in Tips for the Hobby Welders
I got sidetracked, but here it is. I'm sure I'll leave something out here, but it's a good general list of what you'll need.
Mig Machine
Just like buying a car, this should be a well thought out decision. You can check the internet, and you can also check your local welding supply store to see ‘em up close.
There's pro's and con's to buying off the net, or from your local supplier. Buying off the net may save money with no tax if it comes from a state other than your own, and a lot of the companies will deliver free.
Buy new on the net and you can still get it serviced at the welding supply store, but make sure you're buying from a reputable site. Some people will want the personal touch that comes with a local supply store.
I've gotten five different prices from five different places with over a hundred bucks difference, so it pays to shop around!
Also, make sure it comes with leads (Mig Gun / Work Clamp) and a power chord.
Shielding Gas Bottle
If you use Flux Core you won't need a bottle but if you're gonna' Mig you need a bottle of shielding gas. The cheapest is pure Carbon Dioxide.
It produces a lot of spatter, deep penetration into the steel, and a decent looking bead.
For your Mig welding hobby shop though, I'd recommend 75/25. (75%Argon / 25% Carbon Dioxide)
75/25 though more expensive, has less penetration but makes a better looking weld bead and produces way less spatter which is perfect for hobbyist.
I'd HIGHLY recommend an 80 Cubic Feet bottle because it has plenty of gas and is easy to handle. If you're doing a lot of welding, you might want to go up in size, but any lower like 40 or 20 cf and I think you'll wish you would've gone bigger when you're constantly filling them.
I think I paid about $170 for a full 80 CF bottle of 75/25 a couple of years ago. But with the crazy gas prices now I imagine that will go up. Buying it will save you rental fees. To heck with paying rent on a danged bottle.
Make SURE it is always SECURE and remember that it is under about 2000 pounds of pressure! LEARN how to handle cylinders before using one!!!
Mig Pliars
Good for cutting the wire, removing spatter out of the nozzle and even has a dad gummed little hammer on ‘em! That's good so the welder will use it and NOT the Mig nozzle to hammer with!
You don't have to have ‘em, you can get by with needle nose pliers, but they sure are nice.
Gloves
You can get a pair of gloves for anywhere from $3 to $30. You danged sure don't need a $30 pair of gloves for hobby work! On the other hand, a $3 pair ain't gonna' cut it either. They're usually stiff, shoddy, and don't last long at all.
You want a pair that is comfortable. Even the comfortable ones feel like boxing gloves when you first get them and try to pick up something small. But with use they'll break in and get to feeling pretty good.
You can use a pair of work gloves for small stuff but if they aren't all leather they'll catch on fire.
There are special Mig gloves that are really thin with no insulation that are fantastic EXCEPT…you gotta' remember they have no insulation. Grab something hot with ‘em and it's just like you have no gloves on at all!
Even with good insulated gloves it's not a good idea to grab hot stuff. (I've done it and it didn't take long for me to set it back down!) Besides burning your hand, the leather will become real stiff if it gets hot so use pliers, that's what they're made for.
Wire Brush
Cleanliness is godliness in all welding, but especially in Mig. It does not tolerate paint, dirt, rust or oil. A good hand brush is good for all but the oil so it's good to keep one on your machine.
If you are going to work on aluminum or stainless you will need a separate stainless steel brush for each one.
If you use a mild steel brush on stainless or aluminum you will contaminate them.
If you use a stainless steel brush on mild steel it will then contaminate the stainless or aluminum when you use it on them.
So get one for mild steel, one for aluminum and one for stainless.
Anti Spatter
You can get this in an aerosol can, or more of a gunky form in a container. The aerosol you spray into the Mig nozzle, the gunk you dip the nozzle into after you've warmed it up by running a couple of beads. This keeps the spatter that is kicked up out of the weld pool from sticking in the inside of your nozzle. Too much spatter and it will obstruct your shielding gas which will mess your weld pool ALL up!
It also works well on art projects if you want to keep the spatter off by rubbing it on, or spraying it onto the surface around your weld before you start. A good chisel will work also, but may scratch and scar the surface.
It's a good idea to clean the inside of the mig nozzle and gas ports regularly.
Chipping Hammer for Flux-core
If you plan on doing flux-core along with Mig you're gonna' need a chipping hammer to chip the slag with.
If you're not sure the difference between Mig and flux-core check out this link to Lincoln Electric
Hood
You can spend a LOT of money on a hood but it is not necessary. For that matter, you can get by with a $25 hood if you have to. Your basic hood is pitch black until you strike the arc. This makes it really hard when you are tacking something together and when you are starting each bead.
No big deal if you are a seasoned craftsman, but if you're new, a quick-change hood will be WAY better to learn on and use in your Mig hobby shop.
With a quick-change you can see what you are doing and it will instantly go dark when you strike the arc. They change in thousandths of a second so as not to burn your eyes. (At least that's what they say!)
I was real leery of quick-changes because I'm old school, but when I first started using a quick-change I realized I'd been missing out BIG time. Makes tacking a breeze and is so easy for starting new beads and doing re-starts.
My hood adjusts clear for grinding, #5 for cutting, and all the way to #13 for heavy gouging. All those bells and whistles ain't cheap! My hood was over $300 and the only reason I have it is it helps when I'm teaching.
If I was just gonna' get one for a hobby shop I would get more of a basic model. You can get one of the name brand quick changes from $90 to $300. You can get one of the online tool store hoods for about $50. Not near as nice, but will get you by.
Chisels and Punches
A good assortment of chisels and punches will cost you $30 on up and will be well worth the purchase. You'll be using them all the time to take off burrs, mark holes, punch for holes to drill, etc.
Vice and Anvil
A good vice and anvil are worth their weight in gold. I made a great anvil/vice combination by taking a piece of railroad rail and mounting it on a ¾” flat plate. Burned a couple of holes in the plate to hang tools and make bends on round bar with.
For a mount I welded a three foot piece of angle into an old truck wheel. I had the angle coming out of the lug-nut hole side. (In other words as you would be looking at the wheel if you were going to change it when it was on the truck.
I then turned that upside down and welded some re-bar on the inside and poured concrete into it. After it hardened I turned it hole side up and welded the plate with anvil and vice onto the angle post.
Makes for a great work bench with the bottom heavy concrete and I can move it all over my garage by just tilting it and rolling it where ever I want to go.
Soapstone
NOT chalk! Chalk is what little kids play hopscotch on the sidewalk with. Soapstone is for marking a line on steel. Keeping a sharp edge on your soapstone makes for a thin line when you need to make a cut, which will insure your measurement is accurate.
Permanent Marker
Sometimes a permanent marker will work better than soapstone. It won't get rubbed off like soapstone will. For the fine line you'll want to get a marker with a fairly narrow tip.
Scribe
A scribe is like a punch but with a sharp tip. This works great for steel that is rusted, painted or has mill scale. When you cut steel that is rusty or painted, especially with an oxy/acetylene torch, the top layer will burn off leaving no line to follow.
If you can't clean the paint or rust off completely, a scribe will penetrate to the next layer and leave a mark you can follow.
(Mill Scale is the top layer sometimes left from impurities formed on steel that hardens from molten to solid form.)
Ball Peen Hammer, Beater and Rubber Mallet
You'll want to get an 8oz, 16oz, and 32oz ball peen hammer.
In the Iron Workers Union we call sledge hammer “beaters.” Can you guess why? That's right we beat the hell out of all kinds of beams, columns, joists etc. I've seen them as heavy as 30 lbs. Once on a tower crane I had to knock big cotter pins out with a big 20 pounder. You talk about nerve racking! Thirty floors up and scared as heck that you would drop the hammer, pin, or yourself!
You only need you a 4 pounder for you hobby shop, maybe 8lbs if you are really gonna' get serious.
A good rubber mallet is great for not scarrin' and marrin' copper, aluminum or the other more exotic softer metals.
Grinding
You can buy different sizes of grinders. Out in the field as a structural hand I usually used 9inch grinders and occasionally the smaller 4 inch ones.
For a Mig welding hobby shop a four or four and a half inch grinder should be plenty. I've seen them for as low as fifteen bucks on sale at tool stores. A grinder like that would last about a day on a construction job, but for your hobby shop they'd be good for quite a while.
If you want to buy a decent grinder it'll be from forty to ninety bucks for one of the name brand ones.
You can use a grinder for grinding obviously. But you can also put a cup or flat wire brush on it for cleaning up steel, different size cutting discs for cutting steel, a disc for sanding, and even a polishing disc.
It's not that hard changing the different discs, but is kind of a pain in the neck. It is real nice to be able to grab the grinder with the disc already on it. With the cheap grinders you can buy one for each disc.