What thickness steel can gas welder handle?

Sorry for such a basic question. Can a gas welder be used to weld 1/4-3/8 inch steel? Most weldors recommend that if you only have one welder, make it a gas welder. I am playing with the idea of getting a torch welder. I hope to create and repair farm implements. Is a torch an adequate tool for the job? I suspect a large 220 V stick welder is more appropriate, but electricity access will be limited. Thanks for any guidance the experts in this group can offer.

Douglas Stockman
Rochester, NY
dstockman@pol.net

I like to spend other people's money and giving advice in forums like this is a great way to do it.

In most welding shops today, you do not see any gas welding or brazing going on at all. The wire welders available now are so good they have made gas work obsolete. The only thing gas is used for is cutting.

Gas welding supplies are expensive and production is slow. Unless you have a second set of tanks you always run the risk of running out in the middle of a job.

You indicate your resistance to arc is because you have limited electrical service available. If you have any service at all you should be able to upgrade. The cost should not be too bad. I recommend you look into this option before you rule out an arc welder.

A good arc welder requires a dedicated 50 amp 220 circuit, the same as a kitchen stove. This may be more than you have in your shop right now but in the world of electricity it is not much. I strongly suggest you upgrade your shop's service now so you can use the right tools in your equipment fabrication and other hobby work.

Most "experts" recommend 200 amp service for a fully equipped "dream" shop. Assuming your shop is in an out building, I think you can get by just fine with a 100 amp panel, the same as most houses built in the 50s and 60s. Your actual draw will be much less most of the time. However, a 100 amp panel will give you a lot of breaker space, handle "peak" requirements, and they are available used if you look around (I purchased one for my cabin at a yard sale for $12.00 and a friend gave me the one I am going to use in my new shop for free). In addition to a circuit for your welder, you are going to need circuits for drill presses, grinders, general duty outlets, and don't forget an air compressor. You may not have all of these tools now but you will acquire them if you keep fabricating. With a capable panel in place you can run circuits when you need them.

You will need to connect to your power provider. If your house has 200 amp service you should be able to run to your panel. If you do not have 200 amp service it may be necessary to run a new service from you power provider or to connect in at your meter base. Due to variables, I am not going to discuss options here but please feel free to e-mail me if you like. I am not an electrician but I have some experience in this area and none of this is very exotic.

Douglas Stockman
Rochester, NY

An example would be to take a piece of electronic solder that is about 1/16" in diameter and melt it with a match (easy if it's 60% tin and 40% lead). Now try the same thing with the match and a block of the same type solder that is 6" square.

That's just to give you some perspective as to the size limitations you'll run into with the gas rig.

The acr welder will concentrate a very high amount of energy into a smaller area for faster welding due to the energy not being able to disipate in the time involved, where the gas torch has to be able to heat the entire "Thing" in some cases.

There are people that swear by both...

If you can scrape the money together, you might want to consider a portable engine driven welder which also can provide standby power for the house or barn in addition to a small gas outfit for cutting. If not, I'd personally go for a larger gas setup (that's what I actually did many years ago).