THOUGHTS ON WELDER (1 Viewer)

[the gimpey one]

Looking at learning how to weld. Hope to eventually be able to do bodywork. Cruiser needs it bad. Thoughts on this model. Trying to stay in the price range if possible.

Eastwood MIG 135 Industrial 110V Welder – Eastwood

Add the best MIG welder to your shop at an affordable price by ordering the Eastwood MIG 135. Use it for solid-core or flux-core welding and Do the Job Right.

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[wapitimud]

Don't go Eastwood. stick to a welding name like Lincoln, Hobart, Miller, ESAB.

I've been all over this one, as i've been looking at this for myself too. Modern welders are small inverter units, and you'll want to start there, rather than a massive older unit. Limited to ARC welding only, one of those units will do.

The primary question is what kind of welding will you be doing? I assume you'll primarily be doing MIG welding on your Toyota bodywork. It would be nice to think you'll do TIG as well, but I assume you don't have the experience there, nor do I.

If your scope is limited to the sheetmetal bodywork only, then there are very many models of MIG welder that will do the job affordably. I assume you don't need an industrial mig welding machine, with its better duty cycles and higher pricetag.

I expect something like the Lincoln MIG Pak 180 would work well, there is a competitive Hobart welder that might be a better unit. Hobart is owned by Miller.

Its tempting to get a mega monster welder for your sheetmetal bodywork. It is likely unneeded.

They have a multiprocess welder at Harbour Freight, the Vulcan OmniPro 220. It can do stick, MIG, TIG. The unit, when it goes on sale with all coupons, isn't wildly less money than the comparable Lincoln Power MIG 210 Multiprocess, which the Vulcan is mostly a copy of. Not saving reasonable money there. Perhaps the cheaper Vulcan consumables might fit with the Lincoln unit for rough jobs, I don't know. The Lincoln was available at both Home Depot and NAPA, last I checked.

Then we get into serious units for serious welders. Miller's larger multiprocess units are likely better, they will cost you more. Miller XMT350 MPA will allow you to Weld 1 inch steel plate. I don't think you have any of that on an LC. Many of ESAB's multiprocess units will allow you to TIG weld aluminum. I don't think that's in your scope of work either.


My 2c.

 

[the gimpey one]

i have absolutely no welding experience whatsoever. Looking to work on a camping trailer and bodywork for my fj60. Rear quarters are shot. Will keep looking and see what is out there.

 

[PAToyota]

I started with a small 110V Century MIG decades ago. Moving up to Miller / Lincoln machines really did make a difference. However, my girlfriend won an Eastwood Elite MP140i Multi Process Welder (MIG, TIG, Stick) at last summer's (2019) Eastwood Summer Classic show in Pottstown and I have to say that I've been impressed with the little machine.

All my machines are 220V and over the years I've kicked myself for not keeping the Century for those odd jobs where it would be nice to take a welder up to the house (or over to my parents' house or a friend's house) to do a little job instead of hauling the item out to the shop.

She's a fine artist - working in everything from painting and pen/pencil work to sculpture and wood carving. She's been having a lot of fun trying her hand at metal work.

 

[ff347]

Thinking about this one.

Amazon product ASIN B07CP9CDVQ

 

[gnob]

Watch Craigslist or fb for a 175/185A miller or lincoln MIG. If you plan on staying in lighter fab, you can get by with a 110v. Just make sure you can add gas.

 

[workingdog]

Miller 215 - hands down. We had a little Harbor Freight (220v) one we lived with for a long time. When we were finally going to do enough welding to justify the upgrade, we went with the Miller 215 for the automated control and the ability to run 110v or 220v by simply changing out the plug on the end. It is INFINITELY easier to set up. We no longer have to spend anytime searching for the right power and wire speed, just select metal type thickness, adjust as needed, and off you go. We get much much better beads right off the bad than we ever did.