A while back I posted on which welder to buy, and with everyones help I didnt buy either of my final two choices. I ended up with a Hobart 187. It fit my smallish budget and is a 230v. I welded for the first time today, period. Not the first time with this welder, the very first time. Im not gonna post any pics of the s**** I stuck together, some of its a little rough, but I figure you got to start some where right. Im going to practice a bunch more and then build a metal fab table for the garage. The only problem is you guys didnt tell me that welding is fun and now my head is full of ideas of **** I need to make. Thanks alot!
Cool! I remeber getting my welder and welding for the first time. It was like wow! Keep practicing and have fun Man
I've had my HH187 for a little over a year now and every time I use it, I love it that much more and I'm sure you will too - it's a great machine !
I too am a beginning welder. I have the same Hobart machine, and I feel the same way about it. I have been quite pleased with it. If you aren't running gas with it, you should be. It makes a big difference. Pretty soon you'll be hoarding s**** metal from your neighbors' trash, and dreaming up uses for it. Slonaker
be glad that your learning to weld with a wire feed and probably a self-darkening helmet. the equipment has improved greatly over the years. i struggled through the learning proccess with a lincoln "torpedo" welder. wear a respirator and make sure you have plenty of ventilation,welding smoke is bad stuff.
i just upgraded to an auto darkening mask this weekend. What a world of difference. If you don't have one, get one.
wear a respirator and make sure you have plenty of ventilation,welding smoke is bad stuff.[/quote] http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=223581 I agree with the fun part also
Congrats on the purchase. I too learned on a small 220 Hobart. In fact still have it after 12 yrs., still works great. It's one of those things that you don't know how you lived without once using it.
I did set it up for gas, and am using a cheaper auto dark helmet for now. It works well, but the screen is small. I gonna take the s**** creation I made to the welding shop after work for a little feedback. A few spots I turned the heat down to see what it looked like, and another spot where I didnt clean the metal to see what would happen. I also want to know if it burned through ok. I way stoked on the response of the threads, any other info is appreciated.
Glad to hear you are having fun with your new welder. I can't wait to get my Lincoln Invertec 205 in mid December. My project list is longer than my hot rod job list. I can't believe the list of idea's I put together once I ordered my welder.
the best thing you can do before sticking anything together with a mig is hit it with a twisted wire wheel on a 4.5" grinder. so if you dont have one of them, get one. i dont use an auto darkening shield as they were kind fo new when i started weldin and was leary so im just hooked on the 4x5 lens, you can see everything. one day i might get an auto darkening lense, but it wont be a cheap one, ive held out this long. ive got the invertec 205v, its nice, but sometimes i do wish i spent a little more and went with the dynasty. it was a great deal so...
I consider myself a beginning welder, and I got a Hobart 187, I like it lots, but if you weld sheet metal, like patch panels, the .030 wire will work OK, if it's all NEW sheet metal, go down to the .023 if it's going to be old to new, makes a big difference, less holes to fix. Use anti-spatter. BUY EXTRA TIPS!! Destroying your last one on Sunday afternoon with 3" of welding left is no fun.
Extra tips ,and perhaps a can of anti-splatter, just don't use too much as it can cause more problems then it prevents. It's kinda like "PAM" for mig welding, makes it tough/impossible for welding splatter to stick.
There is one thing I see happens way too often ,It's the "I'm just going to tack it so I'll just close my eyes" Don't start it ,don't ever do it . Best of luck!
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