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I'm currently in the planning phases for a project to turn a 1990 Econoline Van into a moving sculpture. Part of the plan involves welding onto the frame of the vehicle (after removing most of the body). I am marginally capable with an oxy torch, but I'm curious as to what the best weld process is for this purpose. I will be doing most of the work outside, but semi-enclosed, and the welds need to be fairly strong. |
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What weld process you use is not as important as the geometry of what you intend to make with the welding. Each of the welding processes, while having slight variations, works in basically the same way by generating some heat and melting the metal and then letting it re-cool. Whether you use some form of arc welding or torch welding (or electron beam welding for that matter), matters a lot less than how you treat your weld and how strong the surrounding structure is. What may determine what you use may be the material of the frame. If its a steel frame then an oxy torch will be fine, if its aluminium, you'll first find it almost impossible to weld and you should use a MIG or TIG welder to keep the weld pool covered in inert gases. Keep in mind that the welded patch of metal will be more brittle than the surrounding area because it will harden due to the local heat treatment, try and smooth off the area around the weld afterwards using a grinding wheel or similar to make sure you don't get crack propagating through the weld from any sharp changes in geometry. That's quite a long answer but I would guess an oxy torch would be fine if you know how to use it. |
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Are you looking for the easiest process to use to reach a goal of acceptable results? A properly adjusted MIG welder will act almost like an (electric) caulking gun for metal. Just squeeze and point. Pair this with CO2/argon mix gas for pretty welds. Add a $50 auto-darking helmet so you can see what you are doing and get up to speed the fastest. |
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