Probably not, because I just laid some beads down on scrap and haven't actually bonded two pieces of metal yet. I wanted to post a pic of my first work but my home computer is fried. I fired-up my new Lincoln SP135T welder last night, set up for Mig, mixed gas, and used my new Miller auto darkening helmet. It went very well, probably because of my equipment and months of reading about MIG welding. Getting ready to start welding pieces of my A frame together from 2 x 4 x .125 tubing and factory front and rear crossmembers. I can't wait to start tacking pieces together and see this hot rod foundation come together. Sorry for the selfish babble, but none of my friends weld and my wife probably is not interested. Have a good weekend. Deluxe.
Cool, your on your way. What are the specs on your machine? I'm in the market for a new welder myself. I was looking at a Miller Millermatic with spool gun for around $2,000.
Thats a good machine,and should be able to handle 1/8" very well. Practice a lot. Test your welds,by trying to break them. If the metal tears on each side of the weld, the weld itself is good. If the weld breaks, get more penetration. Practice,practice practice.. Sparky
It's a 120V unit with 135amp max capacity, 90amp at 20% duty cycle. It seems strong to me. That thing was sizzlin and poppin and laying a big fat bead. Very cool. The price was around $480 to my door. Got it off EBay. No freight charge and no sales tax. Brand new. I researched it pretty well and found that this thing will do what I need. It'll be years before I need to upgrade to a larger unit, if ever. Deluxe
congrats on the new welder.you may want to look into a welding class at your local jr.college,to learn some of the "whys" and "hows" of welding. -danny
Yeah. I have looked into that. It's just a little tough right now, time-wise. I think I'll continue to read, practice, and test, then take a class some time down the road. Deluxe
if you can, as i do , try and get an aprenticeship, its truly the only way to truly learn the trade. but if you cant PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE, even if y0ou go to school for it , unless you actually do it , you wont learn shit. when i first started , i was told how it and showed what to do , i thought did understand it , but when i got behind the torch foir the first time i was like none of what he said matterd , it was crap. so just go tot he scrap yard , get random crap , AND GO TO TOWN !!! -dylan
That is the machine I have and it works very well for everything I have had to do. Even some heavy tabs on my frame. When I have folks over for a barbecue or something - I like to get the welder out and let them try it on scrap - guys that have never done it just really never had the chance it ain't hard to run - you just gotta practice
Just bought a welder myself. Got real lucky at a pawn shop where I know some of the guys. Got myself a 3-4 yr old Snap-On 230V Industrial Mig. Got it and a large spool of copper wire for $400. I have a small pile of scrap out back, gonna drag some to the garage and by the time my '55 Belvedere is delivered, I'll be able to weld anything I need on it. Feels great to finally have the equipment I need to do the job right. Jerry
i learned welding from a guy who told me tricks like "don't do this in a REAL shop" and used words like "whage you do"!!!? im a tackin machine!!!
If that isnt the truth i dont know what is..im always worth 20% more than what im making! The best advice i can offer is call your local JC and ask the instructor what books they are teaching from..get one and read it...i mean really read it..lay down 1 bead on scrap lift your lid and reference it from your manual to understand what the molton medal is doing. My A frame is homemade also..biggest mistakes possible is not clamping it good enough before welding.expanding metal moves...mostly everywhere but where you want it.Tacking procedure is crucial too.If you tack the upper left corner quickly tack the lower right corner so when it cools it wont pull itself untrue.There are many variables..If you are interested about learning more from my experience building mine PM me ill be glad to offer any advice i can. You better run that 135 hot and keep your wire stickout pretty close with .035 wire if you are gonna build a frame with it..Oh and push your welds dont pull them... I use a miller 170 for general shop use. Good luck Ea$y -Grinderscarclub.net-
on the 22nd im goin to school for welding and machining so ill be learnin all the ins and outs they find me a job after the yrs up so thats good...but keep it up its actually not to hard to bond to peices together try an angle first i worked the first time for me
I am looking at the Millermatic 175 myself. The 110 machine is a great tool, but just not quite enough for the uses I end up needing. The 175 is supposed to be good to 1/4" steel plate, that should be closer to filling all my needs than the 135 machine. I would not buy anything other than the millermatic though, the infinite heat adjustment is really handy. well now you guys have me babbling! Hotrob
dont forget to try and get an aprenticeship , and icannot stress that enough. schools are semi controlled envoirments , a working shop will let you see what really happens. its like trying to paint , a school will teach you the "real" way , but not the way it is best.
I just got a slightly used Millermatic 175 for $500, and so far it rules! My buddy and I are both beginners, he took an intro class at the jr. college, I could not because of work. He brought all the reading materials to the shop, and we have sticking every piece of steel in sight together. I just made two stands, one for the grinder, and one for the vise. You know, old wheel, piece of tube, and a piece of plate. They turned out great. Welding is kick-ass, sounds like there's a bunch of us cutting our teeth. Good luck to all!
I am still in love with my 135xlt. perfect welder for automotive work. this litle booger will comfortably weld up to 3/8th plate, and I have never once "bumped" the cooldown cycle. killer,killer,killer machine, and they are currently selling for CHEAP! like less than 500 bones cheap!
I'm doing night school for welding, and I can tell you I thought I knew what I was doing before I went, man was I wrong. I wouldn't be trying to weld your chassis for a while. If you are a bigginer the fact is you can't weld (yet), be patient, you'll be good enough to do good welds in no time, and you're welds will show it. We all want to see safe cars being built.
Personally, I think a 110 unit is too light to be thinking about doing chassis work. At 135 amps ( the upper max) you are pushing the machine's capacity. I stepped up to a 210 amp (230 V) Miller for just this reason.
Unless you plan on doing a lot of welding with the spool-gun I wouldn't recomend it. I had a welding shop and I never used the spool-gun. I have a TIG, so I would tend to go that route. It takes aproximately about 45 minutes of set-up time to do about five minutes of welding and thats with me knowing what I am doing. The spool-guns are very tempermentaland take a lot of adjustment. If you want a larger machine go with a Miller-matic 210. I used this machine just about everyday with no problems and you can pick one up for around $1200-1300 Just practice a lot! Mig welding is like fuckin, anyone can do it, just takes practice to get her the right amount of penetration
Just a little helpfulness, please get someone that is well versed in welding to check your welds and learning progress before you go too far on your project. Oh yeah, have fun. I love welding cause I do it when it makes me happy.
The miller is a hundred or so more than the lincoln, but so far I like the lincoln as much as what I used at school.
You'v got the machine, now all you need to do is burn up about five miles of wire with it and then maybe, just maybe, you'll be a welder
The Jalopy Journal
