Greetings, dear guests!
If you read my blog, then you probably know that in addition to construction, I am fond of working with metal - I do various things from seemingly unusable necessary junk, this direction is usually called Recycle Art (Recycle Art) or technoart, many people call it Art metal… but the essence is the same, metal products.
Not so long ago, I plunged into this sphere with my head and do things like this one to order ...
...or maybe this one:
In general, the problem is that with the help of manual arc welding, such things are given to me with great difficulty... I spend a lot of time to clean up the weld after each seam. Either the metal will melt strongly, or the joint will not boil, or a bunch of slag and many other things that take a lot of time to refine and bring the welded parts to normal ...
To weld parts with a thickness of 1.5-2 mm to each other, I need to use a thin electrode, "play" with the current settings on the device, and then clean the seams with an engraver and a file for half an hour ...
But you want everything quickly, and moreover, also with high quality ...
And only a few months after the beginning of my hobby, I realized that let my old faithful friend under the name "manual arc welding" will rest, but now I badly need another machine, and finally this happened.
Since I am a complete “zero” in matters related to the operation of a semiautomatic device, a colleague helped me with the choice - Yuri, who is the author of a blog about professional welders and welding on Ya.Zen - a link to his channel: "Euro Welder". I wrote him a message asking for help in choosing, and we met.He helped me pick out a "workhorse" for my needs...
I purchased a Solaris Multimig 227 (not an ad). I had to pay 25,000 for a semiautomatic device, 7,000 for a carbon dioxide cylinder and about 4,000 rubles for components (gear + wire).
Despite the fact that the unit weighs 20 kg, it's worth it! I love this weld...
On the very first day of purchase, I set about setting up the device, and I confess that everything was done with great difficulty. After RDS is very unusual. It's not just about adjusting the current and wire feed speed, it's also important to get the gas flow and voltage right... that was completely new to me! And for each thickness of the metal, the settings are different ...
I "killed" an hour and a half to set up and, in general, to understand the principles of operation of semiautomatic devices in general, practiced with seams, tried to weld bicycle spokes to metal, which were welded with an electrode unreal...
During training, I also managed to make a stand for the "pistol".
I work with workpieces of various thicknesses, from washers 0.5 mm thick to automotive gears, where the thickness steel reaches 5-7 cm and, if the latter can be welded with an electrode, then the washer burns out completely and will only help here semi-automatic
Here is part of my workshop:
I am very pleased with the device! Unfortunately, there is no other experience with semi-automatic devices and there is nothing to compare with, but comparing with RDS - this is heaven and earth, there is no slag here at all and one of the main advantages for my work is that I can not wear a mask when welding and still not miss the weld pool. The trick is that without a mask I see the place where I lean the tip of the wire and where the weld will be, and only after pressing the button the arc is ignited: I leaned the tip of the wire to the place of welding, closed the place of ignition of the arc with his free hand from his eyes, closed his eyes, pressed the button, if necessary, ran a seam with his hand, opened his eyes - all! And I'm confident in the quality of the future seam...
They also cook bodywork on cars, 90% of bodybuilders cook without masks! But this is not the case with electrodes. If you cook without an RDS mask, then firstly, how not to cover all the sparks fly in your face, and secondly, you most often miss - one weak twitching of the hand and the seam shifts by 5-7 mm, especially when you put a new electrode in the holder, it is long and it is not very convenient to weld two blanks.
In general, now I weld parts in ordinary transparent glasses and only sometimes put on a mask when a long seam is required or the workpiece needs to be held firmly with the other hand.
Here is my latest work:
I never focused on this, and only in the process of work did I realize that the semiautomatic device saved me from the procedure for replacing the electrode, which freed up a lot of time - and this is +1 in the treasury of advantages!
In general, I am very satisfied and have no regrets!
Of course, the use of the type of welding depends on the tasks, if you are making gates, doors, fences, then there is no point in overpaying, but working with thin metal is already a semi-automatic! Moreover, by changing the gas, you can work with "capricious" metals, for example - aluminum, copper, cast iron or stainless steel, which is sometimes necessary!
And that's all, Roman was with you, the author of the channel "I'm building for myself"!
Thank you for your attention, good luck and good luck!