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As common a feature as welding machines are in most factories, fabrication shops, and garages, you’d be hard pressed to find a private auto enthusiast, metal sculptor, or DIYer who hasn’t considered buying a welder.
Tradies, lawn care experts, and professional fence builders fall squarely in between industrial and hobby welders, and they too know the value that a welding machine can bring to a business. The truth is, anyone who works with metal eventually finds themselves in need of welding services; and after a certain point, it just makes sense for them to invest in their own welding equipment.
Suffice it to say, if you or your business have been on the fence about buying your own welding equipment, now’s the time to give it some serious consideration. Innovations have been made in welding that wouldn’t have been imaginable only a few years ago. And depending on the type of welder you select, you’re going to reap advantages that you never would have expected.
Continuous Workflow with a MIG Welder
If you already know a little about welding, then you know that there are several different types, and that each type has its own set of benefits depending on the base metal and the desired aesthetic. When it comes to getting the best balance of all traits though, not only will a new gasless or multi-process MIG weld machine give you the most options for your money, but it’s also going to give you and your team the quickest route towards becoming expert welders.
MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding has been the leading choice of businesses and individuals for decades because of how quick and efficient the process is. Unlike the other two most-frequently used welding methods, TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) and SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) stick welding, MIG welding is a continuous, reel-fed process that lets welders maintain an uninterrupted focus on their project without the need to constantly stop and restart.
The majority of MIG welding’s benefits are, in fact, rooted in this level of continuous workflow. Where time and cost are critical, MIG welders are the leaders in productivity; and as the quality of MIG welding machines has continued to improve, that lead has become even more obvious.
New MIG Welder Advantages
Although MIG welding has always had its core of advantages, investing in a new MIG welder for sale is going to let you take those advantages even further, including:
· Improved weld quality. MIG welding is known for its cleanliness, precision, and strength. Improvements in wire compositions and coatings are now contributing to even smoother, more consistent beads with less spatter and better bonds than ever.
· Greater welding flexibility. MIG welding has always been ideal for thinner aluminium, steel, and copper bases. With modern MIG welders for sale typically rated above 200 Amps though, you can reliably weld mild steel as thick as ½” if it’s been sufficiently cleaned and preheated.
· Ease of operation. With minimal equipment to manage, MIG welding is already the easiest type of welding to engage in. However, with the growth in processes like gasless welding that required less equipment, setting up and maintaining welding equipment has become even simpler.
· Quicker learning process. The reason so many businesses and individuals choose to buy MIG welder equipment is because of the rapid learning curve. The evolution of intuitive electronics on the latest generation of MIG weld machine now makes learning how to set one up practically effortless.
· Increased Cost effectiveness. Ordinarily, MIG welding equipment is less expensive than TIG and more expensive than stick welding; however, the immense savings in consumables, ease of use, and rapid throughput gives MIG welding a verifiable cost advantage.
In short, new MIG welding machines are continuing to build on the attributes that have made them longtime favourites of the automotive (e.g. welding of car battery trays), fabrication, and construction industries. They’re also not limited to strictly indoor activities anymore. New MIG welders can now be used outdoors for jobs that earlier models couldn’t do, and that adds an extra layer of versatility to their qualifications.
Gas and Gasless MIG Welders
Where even a slight breeze can be problematic for the shielding gas coming from the torch nozzle, outdoor welding has never been a strong suit for MIG. Contaminated welds, weakening defects, and heavy spatter are all likely to happen when the shielding gas fails to sufficiently “protect” the weld zone.
For outdoor MIG welders Australia presents a particularly complex environment, as a combination of wind and dust can instantly create an atmosphere that’s nothing short of hostile to MIG welding. Fortunately though, gasless MIG welding eliminates that problem.
Instead of relying entirely on the compressed CO2/Ar mixtures that are ordinarily used to melt MIG welding wire, modern gas and gasless welders are able to also use hollow, flux-cored wire that provides its own shielded gas source. With flux-cored wire’s weld zone protection, you’re able to weld as easily outdoors as you can indoors, with the added advantages of:
· A lighter, more compact gasless MIG welder;
· Deeper weld penetration on thicker metals; and,
· The ability to weld dusty or painted metals like wire of dog enclosures.
And by eliminating the need to always carry and care for a cylinder of shielding gas, the option of going gasless essentially gives you an easily portable MIG welder that can boast a significant reduction on consumable costs.
Multi-Process Welders for all Functions
Cost is an unavoidable factor when you’re contemplating what the right type of welder to have would be, and where the optimal balance of capabilities and performance is going to be. Again, every welding process has its own unique benefits. However, if you’re in need of a full range of welding attributes and can see the benefit of having them all in a single portable package, then you need to consider investing in a multi-process welder.
Multi-process welders are capable of combining two or three unique processes into a single machine, including:
· MIG (both gas and gasless functions);
· TIG (lift-arc current starting); and,
· Stick (shielded metal arc).
With their broad range of functions, multi-process welders are able to work with the widest variety of metals, as well as welding wires and electrodes. You’ll get the best qualities of all types of welding when you buy one, and you can expect it to come complete with all the necessary accessories, including:
· A heavy duty MIG torch;
· Heavy duty stick leads;
· Arc stick electrode holder;
· Shielded gas hose; and,
· A dual or triple-stage gas regulator.
Multi-process welders also have the ability to work from both fixed source and generator power. That makes them equally qualified for indoor and IP-rated outdoor work, and among the best types of welding machines you can buy for either industrial used, of for on-site maintenance or rural fabrication jobs.
The Final Word
The decision to purchase either a new gasless or multi-process MIG weld machine can prove to be one of the most satisfying choices you’ll ever make for yourself or your business. They combine the leading edge advancement of MIG welding evolution with the attributes that have made MIG the preferred process for decades. With a new machine, you’ll not only see just how much has changed, you’ll appreciate how much has stayed the same.
At the end of the day, the search for the right welder is as much about technology that’s available as it is about what you plan on welding. The technology that’s going into making all types of modern welding machines as efficient and as user-capable as possible is incredible, but it still has to be suitable for the jobs that you have.
