Welder

[bigaaron]

I'm a kid then. :rofl:

:biglaugh: You were 100% correct that the actual brand of welder is not as important as using the correct settings for what you are welding, cleaning the parts of rust/paint/oil before welding, using the correct gas, and the skill of the person doing the welding.

With Lincoln, the "plus" models have a higher duty cycle. The ones at Home Depot are the basic models, but they will do the job just fine for most people. I have not had my Lincoln shut down even when doing a project using it for 30-45 minutes and only stopping for a few minutes at a time.

 

[corylee316]

I've got a lower model Miller and as long as everything is set right and you don't go to thick of metal you are all right. I have put on more than one exaust on my truck (off road incidents) and I haven't had one issue with the welder or it's welds yet. I've had if for about 3 years now.

 

[supra90turbo]

I've got the Lincoln sp135 plus.
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentdatasheet.asp?p=7082

It is the biggest 120vac model, but if you want to weld lots of thick stuff go with the 220vac sp175 plus. I know people who have built entire race trucks with the sp175, including the rear axle, 4-link, custom spindles, a-arms, roll cage, etc...

I tried a cheap welder like the one you posted on ebay and I ended up selling it and getting the Lincoln. I have gone throught about 6 2lb spools of mig wire with it now and it's working great with all the origional parts. I have changed the tips a few times and that is it. The welds look SO much better with argon/co2 gas. No slag and no cleanup. YOU WILL WANT GAS!

I tried it on aluminum and gave up though. I think I bought the wrong type of wire but I couldn't lay down a bead on aluminum to save my life. I bought a big used Linde tig welder and I will learn how to use it for aluminum soon.

If you use an extension cord it needs to be minimum 12awg, 10awg is better.
Plug in at the closest outlet to the electrical box.

I couldn't agree more with the Lincoln SP135T. For an "entry level" MIG setup, I don't think there is a better choice. They're on Ebay constantly for less than $450 shipped brand new... Not to mention you're buying a brand name welder that is serviceable. Sure you save a little now buying a no-name MIG for $175, but when it breaks, good luck finding parts for it.
Lincoln is well supported and you'll be able to get whatever you need for it.

The SP135T is powerful enough to weld a roll cage btw.

 

[hottscennessey]

how hard is it to weld aluminum with MIG anyways?

 

[gixxer750]

not easy.... I've spent several weeks practicing, and I still can't make pretty welds....haha

 

[Facime]

I bought a Miller MIG from Home depot and Im quite pleased with it. Ive fabbed body panels, exhaust and intercooler pipes and misc other light duty stuff and I think its great.

I almost went Ebay MIG but I took others advice from SM and went Miller. I had a problem with the gun almost right off the bat, and I took just the gun back to Home Depot, and they swapped it out for me. No probs since, and Im glad I bought from HD.

My recommendation is get a name brand from a reputable store and you cant go wrong with a low priced MIG.

 

[s383mmber1]

So you guys think something along these lines?

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDU...ID=cccfaddjhgjdllkcgelceffdfgidgim.0&MID=9876

 

[tissimo]

ebay/harbor freight tig works fine for steel, but you need an AC TIG for alluminum.. I think you can do Aluminum if you use 100% helium or something with DC, but its not that good i've heard.. I'm planning on picking up one (harbor freight Tig) just to practice on and save money for a nice miller unit or something..

 

[MK3Brent]

It's difficult to get into this hobby since it's so expensive. Fortunately most community colleges offer courses, where you can get some lessons. I believe you have to go through stages, or prerequisites before you can TIG. (STICK *ARC?*, MIG, then TIG.)

If that cheap TIG on e-bay can do steel, then I'd definitely give it a try... it's cheap enough to practice with.

One day, I may just pick one up and play with it.

 

[tissimo]

If that cheap TIG on e-bay can do steel, then I'd definitely give it a try... it's cheap enough to practice with.

One day, I may just pick one up and play with it.

yea, theres a thread on honda-tech fab section about it.. couple people have used it and says it works pretty good.

 

[hottscennessey]

Link, tissimo?

 

[91SupraTurbo]

how hard is it to weld aluminum with MIG anyways?

You need to have the right gun first of all then your should be allset. THe gun you use for mig/fluxcore welding is not the same gun you use to weld Aluminum. My personal opinion ( I think everyone elses is to) is go woth the Miller, Hobart, Lincoln. type welders. My neighbor has a little 110 Hobart and He's built 3 racecars with it and a fair share of hotrods and the beads come out excellent. If your gonna go with Tig welding then go Miller all the way and get a AC/DC one so you can weld Steel, Aluminum, Stainless Steel, etc, etc. Good luck.

 

[thesandymancan]

You need to have the right gun first of all then your should be allset. THe gun you use for mig/fluxcore welding is not the same gun you use to weld Aluminum. My personal opinion ( I think everyone elses is to) is go woth the Miller, Hobart, Lincoln. type welders. My neighbor has a little 110 Hobart and He's built 3 racecars with it and a fair share of hotrods and the beads come out excellent. If your gonna go with Tig welding then go Miller all the way and get a AC/DC one so you can weld Steel, Aluminum, Stainless Steel, etc, etc. Good luck.

this is all true. you do need a difrent gun to weld aluminum mig. this gun is also expencive. for the hastle and money you will go through getting your aluminum mig to work, you could have been on your way learning tig.

give us a price range and lets all try to find the best welder for the money.

 

[91SupraTurbo]

As mentioned above me your better off just learning to tig instead of migging aluminum. I know most people dont have have 220 outlets in the house so its hard to get a real nice tig welder. We have an old shop 220 at my neighbors garage and its about 20 years old and it works jsut as good as the day it was new. You can get a decent 110 Tig for around 800 if I recall. Thats the millers that I know of cuase thats what I was looking at. Its kinda pricey but well worth the money and in my opinion tig welding is easier, looks better, and is proven to be stronger than mig welding.

 

[supra90turbo]

My neighbor has a little 110 Hobart and He's built 3 racecars with it and a fair share of hotrods and the beads come out excellent.

You told me that was a 220 mig you darsh. I knew it wasn't.... ::shakes fist::

 

[91SupraTurbo]

My bad Kurt. he had a 110 it is now a 220. Im am still trying to get a 110 for you

 

[tig321]

I've got the Lincoln sp135 plus.
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentdatasheet.asp?p=7082

It is the biggest 120vac model, but if you want to weld lots of thick stuff go with the 220vac sp175 plus. I know people who have built entire race trucks with the sp175, including the rear axle, 4-link, custom spindles, a-arms, roll cage, etc...

I tried a cheap welder like the one you posted on ebay and I ended up selling it and getting the Lincoln. I have gone throught about 6 2lb spools of mig wire with it now and it's working great with all the origional parts. I have changed the tips a few times and that is it. The welds look SO much better with argon/co2 gas. No slag and no cleanup. YOU WILL WANT GAS!

I tried it on aluminum and gave up though. I think I bought the wrong type of wire but I couldn't lay down a bead on aluminum to save my life. I bought a big used Linde tig welder and I will learn how to use it for aluminum soon.

If you use an extension cord it needs to be minimum 12awg, 10awg is better.
Plug in at the closest outlet to the electrical box.

(Sorry,I got a little long winded in the post below :blah: I'm more to the point at the end.)

This advice is bang on. I was also considering getting a sp135 or the millermatic 135. These units are better (for 110-115V) because they much better control of the voltage. The cheaper model wire feed welders offer only tapped controls. If your voltage is set at 4 but your weld bead is just a little cold, you either have to go up to 5 and readjust your wire, or turn you wire speed down. That's annoying. Tapped models are cheaper, they are good enough for the hobbyist, and you'll get used to it.

You can weld aluminium with them (or at least they offer an aluminium welding kit) you do not need a new gun but rather a non-metallic liner and different drive rolls. (a proper Al spool gun costs as much or more than a small wire feed welder.)
Imo the .035 Al wire is kind of big for a a 135 amp welder. .030 would be better but I'm sure it would be next to impossible to feed.
If your going to try to weld Aluminium use %100 argon gas and .035 4043 Al. You push (gun pointing in the direction of travel) when welding Al and try using a higher voltage/ lower wire feed setting than steel.

Welding steel is done in the short circuit mode i.e. the wire comes out of the tip> touches the molten puddle in the base> the circuit closes> the current heats the wire melting it into the puddle. Aluminium is done more in the spray transfer mode. The high voltage melts the wire as it comes and a high voltage cone of motlen Al sprays onto the base material. It's pretty cool. Welding Al get more difficult the thinner it gets and it's not easy to begin with. With thicker tubing and practice you might get the job done well enough, but you'll likely melt big holes in the piping as well.
It would be good enough to tack together your piping and take to a welding shop after you fit it,thats about it. I'm sure you'd like the results better as well. Al is hard to read while welding, by the time you think your going to burn through it just drops out from under you. I'm really getting carried away with this post. lol

Don't expect to get a machine that does it all. Carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium mig welding all require different gases. you could probably get away with argon for all 3 but its a bit more expensive. Do not use Co2 on stainless. I'd look in the local papers/buy and sell and ebay for a lincoln, miller, hobart, or esab with out alot of use. Try to get everything you need at once for the mig. Bottles, hoses, gauges ect. add up quickly. If you have a 220v outlet and plan to do many other projects try to get a 220v machine.

 

[thesandymancan]

^^^ i prefer a good 220 tig welder. you only need argon, one torch for all processes (mild steel, stainless, aluminum, magnesium,titanium, ect.) and it can be used for arc welding as well.

i love tig welding. it takes some practice but once you get the hang of it, you won't want to stop.

have fun with your welding, whichever machine you get. :biglaugh:

 

[tig321]

^^^ i prefer a good 220 tig welder. you only need argon, one torch for all processes (mild steel, stainless, aluminum, magnesium,titanium, ect.) and it can be used for arc welding as well.

i love tig welding. it takes some practice but once you get the hang of it, you won't want to stop.

have fun with your welding, whichever machine you get. :biglaugh:

Me Too!!
I don't think he wants to spend That kinda $$$ though:icon_wink

 

[Suprafan]

I've been a welder for 10+ years.
1 You cant weld aluminum with one of these cheap welders.You have to get the right gases and right wire and mig gun and right current AC.Most all mig is set up just for either steel or aluminum cuz all the coversions you have to do.I was the aluminum welder for my former company.Yes tig welding is a better weld in ANY material but not your average joe can tig weld and it takes awhile to get good at it.Mig is the best way to go for the more inexpericenced welder.Easy to learn and fast with good results.I have a 110 welder I can weld anything steel up to 1/4 inch thick.If I were going to buy a welder I would look locally cuz you can buy em for cheap.I bought mine with a bad mig gun for 60.00 at a pawn shop.Good luck in you search