I see these setups at Home Depot for about $50. All I am looking for is
something to weld wrought iron fences or railings. As in making minor
repairs when painting. Sometimes I just need one weld to make a repair and I
am done with the job. This would be very occasional as anything I find ahead
of time I usually call a welder in. Last job I used some JB Weld and got by
but I would like to doa better repair. Thanks

For $50 you are probably describing a torch with small tanks of either
MAPP or propane. The issue with these units is the amount of weld time
available until the gas is exhausted. I recommend that you consider a
110-volt MIG using flux-cored 0.030 wire for this application. For a
cordless solution, consider one of the "kangaroo" OA outfits that
holds two bottles in a green plastic container.

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:59:50 GMT, wrote:

I see these setups at Home Depot for about $50. All I am looking for is
something to weld wrought iron fences or railings. As in making minor
repairs when painting. Sometimes I just need one weld to make a repair and I
am done with the job. This would be very occasional as anything I find ahead
of time I usually call a welder in. Last job I used some JB Weld and got by
but I would like to doa better repair. Thanks

Thomas Kendrick wrote:
For $50 you are probably describing a torch with small tanks of either
MAPP or propane. The issue with these units is the amount of weld time
available until the gas is exhausted. I recommend that you consider a
110-volt MIG using flux-cored 0.030 wire for this application. For a
cordless solution, consider one of the "kangaroo" OA outfits that
holds two bottles in a green plastic container.

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:59:50 GMT, wrote:

I see these setups at Home Depot for about $50. All I am looking for is
something to weld wrought iron fences or railings. As in making minor
repairs when painting. Sometimes I just need one weld to make a repair and I
am done with the job. This would be very occasional as anything I find ahead
of time I usually call a welder in. Last job I used some JB Weld and got by
but I would like to doa better repair. Thanks

I've got a couple of those small bottles like are used in those
portable kangaroo outfits, they last about a half hour with my #2
Victor tip while welding and cost about as much to fill as the large
bottles. They do last a long time with the Little Torch, which is what
I got them for, but I just wanted to see how long a person could do
some actual welding with them one time.

As for the O.P., the oxygen cylinders with that disposable rig run
about half the cost of a full-sized tank fill and run maybe a tenth as
long or less. It's a real expensive way to get oxygen and the outfit
can't do real work. If you can't afford the purchase/rental on a
full-sized O/A rig, I'd keep calling the welder in. I'm afraid that
Bernzomatic outfit would be $50 flushed for what you want to do with
it.

Stan

Had a feeling if it was cheap it was not going to work. Speaking of mig how
about this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...keTra ck=true

Sounds good to someone who does not knowME.

BTW, thanks everyone for their help. I was just looking for a way to save
myself a lot of time and trouble.

I don't think you will find it very practical as the wire feed speed is
critical and it would be pretty tough to get the drill going at just the
right speed. The speed required is going to change as the battery drains
down so it will be a constant battle to get any kind of consistancy.
A small stick welder similar to this one
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55060 might
be a better option. It is not industrial strength by any stretch but it
would do ok for small non critical welds and runs on 115 or 220VAC.
The best advise I can think of though would be to hook up with someone that
has some welding experience and try a few different systems out (or go to
the welding supply house and tell them what you need and try a few demos)
Then look around for a unit and price that suits your needs.
Glenn
wrote in message
news:jb%ve.8664$Q27.7707@trndny02...
Had a feeling if it was cheap it was not going to work. Speaking of mig
how
about this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...keTra ck=true

Sounds good to someone who does not knowME.

BTW, thanks everyone for their help. I was just looking for a way to save
myself a lot of time and trouble.

wrote:
Had a feeling if it was cheap it was not going to work. Speaking of mig how
about this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...keTra ck=true

Sounds good to someone who does not knowME.

BTW, thanks everyone for their help. I was just looking for a way to save
myself a lot of time and trouble.

I think you could probably save some more time, trouble and money by
staying away from that drill-powered device. Even if it works perfectly,
the posture and grip that it requires are very different from that which
works best with MIG welding. Plus, he says in the ad that you can get
new gears for the thing for $2- I don't know that I want a spoolgun that
uses gears that are only worth two bucks, if you know what I mean..

If you're planning on working on other people's stuff you want good
tools- especially if you're doing it at their house. Stopping work on a
job to repair a tool makes you look bad, unless it's obviously a quality
tool but you still look less-than-good even then. Plus, you owe it to
your customer to have tools adequate to the job.

If you're working on-site, look around a see if you can pick up a good
used portable stick welder. I've seen the little Hobarts with the
Wisconsin twin sell pretty reasonable- and they have AC aux. power on
them too. Good machines, worth having and using.

John

I see these setups at Home Depot for about $50. All I am looking for is
something to weld wrought iron fences or railings. As in making minor
repairs when painting. Sometimes I just need one weld to make a repair and I
am done with the job. This would be very occasional as anything I find ahead
of time I usually call a welder in. Last job I used some JB Weld and got by
but I would like to doa better repair. Thanks
Jumping in here kinda late, but I know someone (maybe Sears) used to
have a nice small little 110v buzzbox stick welder (like maybe 50 amp)
that would work great with small electrodes. My nephew has one and
it is really pretty slick for small jobs like you are doing. There is
no fan, no switch that I can recall, and it just looks like a battery
charger, only a bit bigger but not much. Might suit your needs
perfectly.
HTH
Ken.