What is this type of welding called? If I want to put a pin on a stainless steel shaft for loading a band. I drill a hole for the pin, insert the pin in the hole, then I want to put a small weld there so the pin will never come out. The weld also needs to be stainless steel, and I need to be able to file it down/smooth it out.
What is the cheapest and most compact setup I can buy, to do occasional small jobs like this at home?
It's the same welding I had done with this
and this
For Stainless I would use a TIG welder. You can probably find one on craigslist, but a decent one isn't cheap. If you haven't TIG'd before it may take some practice to make a good bead. For occasional use it might be better to find someone that works for beer 
For Stainless I would use a TIG welder. You can probably find one on craigslist, but a decent one isn't cheap. If you haven't TIG'd before it may take some practice to make a good bead. For occasional use it might be better to find someone that works for beer
x2
Dan, an ac, dc ,arc welder will due fine. known as a stick welder.when welding stainless use stainless 1/8 rod or 3/32 rod.
Could you braze SS? That would be most cost effective for you Dan, just get a torch. SMAW (stick) would be tough for such precision work, if slag gets into the bead, it will sacrifice the integrity of the weld drastically. MIG or TIG are your best bets.
Dan, for what you are doing you need to....
1.. Find a kid that can TIG weld ( tungsten Inert Gas) like a pro for gear swap...or...
2. Take a a advanced welding course at a vocational school, than invest a lot of time to get very good.
3.Invest way too much time in becoming a very proficient welder with TIG...a art in itself for the quality you will be happy with.
4. Do what you do best.. pay someone to do the rest.
5.Do not pass go...no brazing, no shot gun,( MIG) no gas.
6. Buddy up with that Ray guy.
7. Move to Cali....;):D
Cheers, Don Palo
Dan. I have limited experience with these machines but I have enough to know that I am terrible at using them. A buddy of mine in college was a plumber and I used to do repipes on the weekend to make beer money. The plasma torch, the TIG and the acetylene torch all had "no Judah" written on them. Jahahah. Like soldering it takes practice and touch to do well and it might be better to find a local than attempt to master it yourself.
I don't have knowledge of those units but I have purchased a lot of tools from harbor freight. As long as you don't expect it to be a workhorse You should be fine. They also stand by returns on most things if the unit is just not up too snuff
TIG is much more complex and hard than it looks. Trust me. I spent 6 months learning stick and SMAW, kicked ass at both, and still produced shitty TIG welds. The last thing you would want is to not penetrate the metal deep enough and have a fish swim off with a shaft.
My local community college offers welding classes, check into some local colleges near you. Much cheaper than vocational school.
Thanks
135 AC/105 DC Amp Tri-Mode Arc Welder with Wheels
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this is a stick welder,with a little practice and help from someone who knows how to weld stainless you should be able to do it.buy a hand grinder to.A good one,there about 105.00 dollars.I wouldn't buy any welders from harbor freight,Id get a red Lincoln ac/dc arc welder.
Papaa I am curious about this too. I know that insufficient voltage would produce inconsistency in the welds but I would have thought that for a weld here and there a "light use" model would suffice.
nothing will go wrong with the Red Lincoln welders,the ac/dc ones.but another thought is they run on 220 volts,I don't know if your garage is set up for 220,that's another expense.
I dont know how good the cheap welders are from harbor freight,if there anything like there grinders they wont last long.
35 yrs from today,when your dead,your wife will be giving your red Lincoln welder away to (SANCHO):)
I know for MIG welders, the internal parts are all the same, minus the motor for the wire feed. More expensive welders have higher quality motors.
I only know a little bit about a little bit so here it goes. My dad just bought a lincoln mig welder and it does a great job at what it does its not as precise but is much easier. TIG is amazing IF it's done properly, I however can't do anything other than curse at the machine. Dan, rather than getting a new cheap machine I would scour craigslist for a quality used machine. I got a Miller stick welder for free from there, we got our lincoln mig unit for less than half price and it was still in the original unopened box. We also sold a miller mig/stick/tig/generator on there. Good deals can be found but like welding just takes patience.
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