welder

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xtiaan2000

10 Year 15 Year
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Hey guys,

See so much welding. Have been wanting to be able to do my own thing. I have done some ocy/act welding, but I was thinking of getting a mig, gas no gas, used or new...?

What kind of welder should I get? I have asked a bunch of people and I have gotten from habor frieght to miller.

I want to be able to do things from sheet metal to engine mounts. I am no mechanic and I won't be making a living from it. I will be working out of my garage to make that "perfect 55".:rolleyes:
 
A good name brand (for product back up) Like lincoln or miller in a 175 or 200 flavor should be right for everything from sheetmetal to motor mounts. This would be a metal inert gas (mig) welder that would require an inert gas bottle as well and would operate on 240 volts. I have a 125 volt lincoln, and with some work, it can handle the heavier stuff to a point. If I had held out for the 240 volt unit, I would not be feeling at all limited with material up to 1/2" thick. HTH
 
I started welding a few years ago for the same reason and after much research I came up with a couple of conclusions:

- MIG seemed to be the best combination of ease of use and strong/good looking welds. My welder does both gas/no gas and if you what to do any sheet metal work, you'll want gas.
-I like to buy things used, but only when I know what I'm buying (in this case, I didn't have enough experience with welders, so I bough new).

My brother-n-law emailed me this deal from northern tool (free shipping and if you can wait a bit they occasionally will throw in a free welding cart):
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200306073_200306073 (I've owned it for a few years now with no problems - they're a sister/sub company of miller) - no affiliation, just really happy with it!
From what I've been seen, it's perfect for light to medium work, but probably to light for frame/motor mounts (luckily, I have use of my grandfathers stick welder).

I have a lot of harbor freight tools, but I'd steer clear of their MIG welders.

Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.
 
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Go with a Miller 211 auto set $1200.00 runs off of 230 or 110 and you can use gas or fluxcore wire it will do up to 3/8" thick Aluminum or steel or stainless steel (thicker material in multi-pass) If you dont have experiance you just set the machine for the material thickness and type it sets the voltage automatically.

Real nice machine, I have 35+ years welding experiance and bought one for home.

Thanks Bob.
 
I have a lincoln 180 mig with gas bottle and I run an argon mix.

I chose the 180 cause it runs on 240v which allows me to do 3/8 inch thick in a single pass using flux wire and no gas.

That being said however, gas is the way to go. Far less splatter as well.

You can even do a 120v unit. If the edges of the material you want to join together are cambered, you can get very decent penetration on thicker stock. Plug welding where needed is another option as are multiple passes.


I chose to buy my own bottle rather than lease. This is more cost effective than renting and bottles are usually on sale somewhere.

I've done body work repairs and welded up my armour so its a capable unit.

The other reason I chose the Lincoln brand is that I can buy an optional spool gun for aluminum welding. Lincoln's gun is under $200 while Millers is almost the cost for the welder.

The thickest steel I've usedd for armour is 3/8 inch and there's no issues with the 180 running gas.

Cheers,

John
 
I was in the same boat. I'd need something small welded but had issues getting someone to do it, so I bought a little 175 amp Lincoln mig. I never welded before that, and now I'm pretty comfortable with it. It does frame welding to sheet metal. Toyota structural metal is super easy to weld for learning too. It was about $700 5 years back.
 
I'll ditto the major welder brand name and don't bother with only 110. I had a Campbell haussfield 110 that wouldnt spool out smoothly no matter how I adjusted it, then I won a Lincoln 110 that would t create a spark unless I used the outlet right next to the fuse box (most house wiring isn't setup for the pull of a welder). Finally splurged and got a good millermatic 175 230volt welder and it makes an idiot like me look almost like a pro.
 
I agree on the major welder brands thing... That makes me third I think! Anyway I had a hobart handler 140 that worked for most things but really just got me interested in welding. When I took a course on mig at my local community college I soon learned you get what you pay for with welders. The bigger welders make welding so much easier. I bought a Lincoln 210 just last year and will never look back. It gives you so much better of a range and with a lincoln you can buy the consumables just about anywhere.

My dad has a off brand harbor freight model and its always giving him trouble. He had a short and had to get it replaced and trying to get the consumables has been a real pain. Definitely go with the big name guys, they have been around to long to not know what they are doing. I normally don't play that card but now that I have been welding for something like 3 years I know they are worth it.

Hope that helps.
 
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Always make sure that the consumables for the welder / Tig / Mig / Plasma torches and tips are available and cheap.

Ive seen some guns that require special tips and bits that make the welding very expensive.

I run Lincoln , only because of I buy from a true welding shop / gas supplier . If they sell part time stuff or hard to get parts their business will hear it.
There is different grades of welders for sale within the 3 big north american ones.
home depot / lowes / crap tube all sell the base ones , the next step is pro welding suppliers , they have very similar small models with quality features and replacement parts that fit many of the same brand models .. One main difference is if the gun feed tube has a liner in the feed .

This lets the filler wire flow without jerking , plus many more and other features .

Not just make and price.

VT
 
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