begining welder (1 Viewer)

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bonzai

bonzai

Joined
Jun 28, 2005
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Location
Colorado springs
With all of your vast experiences in welding.
What would you recomend for my first welding machine.

I have limited welding experience with stick, mig, and tig
However these have allways been my friends welders.

I am looking for price/quality
brand
should i do combo machines that can mig and tig
and what not to go with

Muchas Gracias
 
If you want a welder for typical fabrication a 220v MIG will be your best bet as far as price and ability go. I have a Lincoln 175 and it has been great for everything that i have needed it for (cage, motor mounts, bumpers, etc...) You could probably get by w/ a 110v welder but it will leave you wishing you had a bigger welder before to long.

If price want an issue I would have bought a 175 TIG because I can make much nicer welds w/ a TIG but $1500 was a little much for me.

Either way once you buy one PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
 
I've used Miller/Lincoln 175 units, and a Hobart handler 180 quite a bit.

I'm in a similar situation, and am going for a miller, a little more pricey than the other two but has infinite voltage adjustment. Any of the three would service my needs fine.
 
look on ebay they have a bucnch of welders. I've been looking at welders, but no money. they had the hobart 180 for like $650.00
 
See the other thread in the section about mig welders.

Take a class at a local community college.

Ask someone with experience to teach you how to gas weld. One you can gas weld, everything else is easy.
 
Steve C said:
If you are looking for price, quality, brand, and you only want to buy one, something like this would be pretty good for almost anything:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MILLER-SYNCROWA...67756716QQcategoryZ113743QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...

That welder will do more and then some.Plus it will go for more than you think.It`s got all the bells,whistles and timers.But hey you never know.If I were in driving distance,and the price was $3,000 buy it now,that welder would be at my place.But that`s just my opinion.We know about those,right?
 
Junk said:
All depends on what you want to do ... thickness, steel, aluminum etc.
Click to expand...
Trust me,that welder will do enough.Then again for me it is a sickness,welding, that is.Get yourself a 220v mig,miller or lincoln with infinate settings.You can`t go wrong,Bonzai.
 
cruiserhead said:
Trust me,that welder will do enough.Then again for me it is a sickness,welding, that is.Get yourself a 220v mig,miller or lincoln with infinate settings.You can`t go wrong,Bonzai.
Click to expand...
LOL, I know for you... My response was to the orig post ;)
 
Miller tigs tend to be a little greedy on power, but I love the machines and their ability. Miller, if you buy new, also has excellent reputation for service. They'll ship "next day" at no cost if a part needs to be replaced. Lincoln sends UPS ground. As suggested, get as much as you can afford and just sit down and practice.
 
Yep, I've had two Lincoln 135s (110V) and I'm wanting bigger. It's great for the price (around $450) to do small things like side steps, front push guards, roof rack, etc... but I'm thinking a 175 or so would be better for nice cage welds and big bumpers and such.

The 110V ones are good to weld anywhere there's a regular outlet which is nice.
 
I have a "pocket" mig (110 volt) with gas that works really well on up to 1/8". Also a Lincoln stick that will do about anything heavy. Between them I get really good results. Stick is tricky, but like riding a bike. With practice you can do it like flicking a bic! It's great for heavy welds without burning gas and wire that migs eat up. The pocket mig can weld on a soup can, which the big migs have trouble with. So I get the best of both worlds. As a bonus, I bought both welders for a lot less than the price of a 220 mig.
 
Junk said:
All depends on what you want to do ... thickness, steel, aluminum etc.
Click to expand...

This is very sound advice, to think of what you want to weld before investing in a welder; however, something like the miller 250 tig I posted a link to above can pretty much weld anything to anything, from very thin aluminum up to thick steel all with about the same setup. And the weld quality will be better than mig (although slow).

That welder sold for about 2100 new (minus torch, tanks, regulator etc), and for the hobbiest offers essentially limitless capability. Used, it could be a steal.

All just my opinions though.
 
buy the best welder you can afford miller or hobart

and practice,practice,practice
 
Thanks for all of the input
Taking a class sounds cool if I can find the time

I saw that Harbor Freight has Hobarts. Would it be wise to buy from them?
 
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