IMHO, "good" and " affordable" are incompatible. An affordable welder is not going to be a good welder. You get what you pay for. That said, I have a Miller 175 that I love. I bought it online from a company that had free shipping (drop shipped). Keep in mind that the welder is only part of the expense. You also need a bottle, gas, wire, hood, pliers, gloves, etc. It adds up, but doing your own welding will pay for the welder quickly. Plus, you get the satisfaction of making something yourself.
The hood is another item where there good and affordable don't mix. My first hood had flames and came from Northern Tool, or some such place. It was not expensive, weighed a ton, and in the log run was junk. I now own a Jackson, which I should have bought in the first place.
I bought this exact set up plus the cart and extra tip and a roll of the smaller wire new for $1000.00 delivered to my house. Actually my wife bough it for me for the holidays about 3 years ago.
I have a Miller 175 that I love. Keep in mind that the welder is only part of the expense.
You also need a bottle, gas, wire, hood, pliers, gloves, etc. It adds up, but doing your own welding will pay for the welder quickly. Plus, you get the satisfaction of making something yourself.
The hood is another item where there good and affordable don't mix. I own a Jackson
I have a 240V 225A Lincoln Stick Welder (AC +-DC 20% Duty Cycle), a 240V 160A Tig (20% Duty Cycle)/160A Plasma Cutter/80 +-DC Stick, 240V 160 Mig (Gas and Flux) (25% Duty Cycle), and a 120V 90A Mig (Flux only).
I love the Stick welder for all steel projects despite the mess and flux burns (head, arms, minor fires on freed jeans….). It gives a real ‘feeling’ of the steel melting and control. Used from a ‘friend’ you can get it for a 200lbs Lincoln welder for ~$200…. Great buy (2000 hours of use)
The tig/plasma/stick welder I got on ebay for a few hundred dollars. It uses high amp transistors (fairly new) rather than coils (weights less than 25lbs). I have pushed it very hard, until I couldn’t grab the wires with bare hands. Works great and the plasma cutter (Slowly) will handle a 7/8 thick brake rotor or a 1/8 piece of steel like butter. (400 hours of use)
Both my 240V and 120V Migs I got from Harbor Freight… I screwed up the 240V Mig right after I got it… Harbor Freight sent me the replacement parts at no cost. (30 hours of use each) I bought the 120V Mig for work in the field. This is your cheapest option
Miller is one of the best welders to buy, they make one for "home use" the runs off of 110 15-20 amp service. One of there new welders has an auto function, you select the steal thickness and it will automatically adjust the heat and wire speed. Last I checked it was about $800.00 and you will still need wire, gas bottle/gas, gloves, and a very good helmet. I bought a very cheep mig welder for $400 and I got what I paid, it is ok at best.
Good luck sorting this out, there is alot of really cool stuff available out there. Here's my 2 cents. I've slowly been accumulating welding equipment, and currently have a Lincoln 225 AC tombstone, a set of torches, a Hobart Handler 140 110v mig, and just bought a Chinese plasma cutter. If I could only keep one it would be the Lincoln hands down. It doesn't do any one thing great, but with practice it can weld just about anything steel from sheet metal to 1/2"+, it was cheap, and is reliable as a doorstop. Dirty, rusty, painted steel is not a problem and no shielding gas to worry about. Also, you can soak rods in water for a bit , crank the amps up and cut with it (not pretty but works) They are like $300 new and often are in Craigslist for around $100-$150. Good luck!
You want a 220v mig welder with shielding gas. You don't want just a stick welder for Cruiser projects. It isn't going to be super cheap, but a used Millermatic 175 would be the minimum welder I would consider. Hobart (I think owned by the same company that owns Miller) makes some 220v welders for a bit less money than a Miller or a Lincoln. That would be a good choice too.
If you can spring for a new welder, a Millermatic 180 would be perfect.
I've welded a ton of projects with my Millermatic 210 (new equivalent model is the 212) and have nothing but good things to say. It's a bit more money than a MM180, but it has more power and more flexibility.
I would stick with either Miller, Lincoln, or Hobart, mainly so you have ready access to the consumables like tips.
Tell us what you budget is and what types of welding you'll be doing we'll be able to recommend a welder for you.
For home/hobby use, Hobart, Miller, or Lincoln is a good choice. If you're like most people who like to buy quality once, you'd be better off not buying a Harbor Freight welder.
I have a Hobart 140. I run it without gas using a flux core wire. I have been VERY happy with it. For sheet metal welding a Mig or Tig welder is the easiest and I think the best. If you are doing really heavy welding then a stick welder is best and I would use a Lincoln. If you are planning to use the welder for the 40 and other small projects I really do think you won't be sorry with the Hobart. You can run it with gas or without provided you run the right wire. It is pretty versatile and not overly expensive to own. It makes a great home unit for casual use and can handle some pretty heavy use on occasion.
I have a Hobart 140. I run it without gas using a flux core wire. I have been VERY happy with it. For sheet metal welding a Mig or Tig welder is the easiest and I think the best. If you are doing really heavy welding then a stick welder is best and I would use a Lincoln. If you are planning to use the welder for the 40 and other small projects I really do think you won't be sorry with the Hobart. You can run it with gas or without provided you run the right wire. It is pretty versatile and not overly expensive to own. It makes a great home unit for casual use and can handle some pretty heavy use on occasion.
You can use a mig welder for welding thick metals. Just be sure to you get a welder with enough amperage for the metal you're welding. Stick welding is really beneficial for welding really dirty and rusty metals in conditions where you can't get sufficient gas shielding.
Any 110v welder is really good for metals up to 1/8" using solid wire. You might be able to do 3/16" with flux core. For metals 1/4" and thicker, you really need a 230v welder
Yep... you are right a wire feed will do thick metal as well, but to get one capable is quite a bit more money... a good Lincoln stick welder is cheaper and then I have two different set ups. My wife loves my logic!
You didn't state your budget, so I'll tell you about my recent buy. I got a Hobart 210 Handler, new, came with a 2lb spool of wire, cover, gloves and a pair of pliers for 625 off ebay. That was the cheapest I could find, but i had to foot the shipping. I continued to look till I found a seller that was closer to me, shipping turned out to be right around 30 bucks or so. I've been pleased for it's performance for the minimal amount of money invested in a new, 220V mig.
x2 for the hobart handler 220V. just spring for a co2 bottle also for sheild gas. I bought mine off of ebay for a good price then found it at
the local weld shop for the same price without shipping
I've got a MM175 also. Hobart (internally) is made mostly with miller products with the exception of the rectifier. MIG is the easiest to learn and make quality welds. IMO
You didn't state your budget, so I'll tell you about my recent buy. I got a Hobart 210 Handler, new, came with a 2lb spool of wire, cover, gloves and a pair of pliers for 625 off ebay. That was the cheapest I could find, but i had to foot the shipping. I continued to look till I found a seller that was closer to me, shipping turned out to be right around 30 bucks or so. I've been pleased for it's performance for the minimal amount of money invested in a new, 220V mig.
That's likely going to be my next welder. Best bang for the buck I can find. Its replacing my thousand year old Miller only because I don't have access to three phase power any more..
Yeah that's an option. $500-$800 for a converter to run a huge old welder or $800 delivered for a tiny new welder and then I can sell my old one. Seems like an easy decision when I don't need 100% duty cycle anymore.
