jttheclockman
Member
Is there such a thing as a small portable tack welder used for like craft projects and if so do you have a suggestion?? Thanks. Not looking for a solder gun. Something to stick steel parts.
The speedway bike was all mig welded. The drag bike was mig, tig, and gas brazed. I've got a home shop with all the welders as well as saws, presses, glass bead cabinets, drill presses and just about any hand tool one could need. The welding wire is filler wire for my TIG welder.
Well now that throws more fuel on the fire. May have to look at that type welding too. I need to study this more and I thank everyone for their inputs. That is what makes this a great place. Any topic or question there is people out there that have been there seen it or know how to get the answers. It is a well rounded group here and that is what makes this place my #1 visit. No matter how off the wall the question it gets attention here. Thanks again. I am sure when the time comes I will be able to post some of my work from this adventure.FWIW, I bought a 110v welder to make a battery box for an old bike. It came with a 20 amp plug so watch out for that. Had to do some rewiring in the garage to keep it to code.
I still have that welder and have used it for small jobs that need strength like repairing a broken hinge on the car trunk, repairing a frame for the neighbour, but nothing big.
But there were times when brazing was the only option such as fixing the wife's favourite espresso maker or a bronze statue for a friend.
The thing about welding is without getting into gas and the gauges and regulators you can't get a nice weld.
Brazing took some time to learn to do nicely but it's a lot less expensive and for me it works better than welding.
Mart
I second the comments that metal sculpture of that sort often employs brazing rather than welding. It also involves a fair amount of cutting, so you may be interested in an oxy-acetylene rig. It is portable, and capable of brazing, welding, and cutting. Small setups are available at the big box stores. I have a set with larger tanks and a wheeled cart. The important part is to find a local gas supplier and see what tanks they will fill....interested in making metal whirligigs of various types. They require the ability to weld parts such as nuts and rods and things of that nature in various shapes ... Also other metal art objects.