I have hardly ever welded in my life, now I want to start. I need to do body repair on my 37 Ford Truck project. I am thinking a 110 wire feed. I am not going to do real heavy welding mostly sheet metal and maybe some frame fabrication, 1/8" max. What are some great recommendations on a good all around welder? Thanks....
Here is the mandatory..."Do A Search, It's Been Covered A Million Times". I'd go Lincoln or Miller. Lincoln 175 MIG. Whatever Miller has in an equivalent. Buy quality as you won't be a beginner forever.
looking for a good one myself and from what i've found is that you REALLY need to get a 220 machine and not a 110. I'm looking for one in the 175 amp range. A 110v machine CAN do most of what you want, but at a reduced speed, reduced duty cycle, and an increase in pain in the assedness..
for sure! I have to say I don't think I would use mine for more than sheet metal. Beenthinking about this one... http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_211_autoset/
I think you should take a welding class at the CC. If you haven't done it much, at least to me, it's all about practice. It's hard to jump in at the beginning and buy an awesome welder, generally as a newb you don't know what you are looking for. Then after you do buy the "small & affordable welder" and learn to weld, you out grow the welder you purchased....at least that is what happened to me. I started to learn in High school. Played with it off and on over the last 8 years. Now that I have my own, I play with it and practice building junk all the time.
Thank you, people, some good advice. About the 220 volt thing, I just do not have a garage wired for 220, so I was thinking about the 110.....
I would hate to make the step into 220 if it wasn't TIG though. Just my preferance. I know there is a bit of a price difference but maybe something will fall into your lap. We found a practically new Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG for $500. We thought it might have fallen off a truck somewhere but we know have a friend in the welding biz that ran the serial and it wasn't registered as "lost" so to speak. Deals are out there, especially with some businesses shutting down. Shop around at local auctions and such.
I've gone the 110v route, cheaper brand, campbell hausfeld. Was a bit harder to learn since it wasn't as great, but for sheet metal it worked fine. Now i've moved on to a 220v. Another cheaper unit, forget the brand, but it has interchangeable parts with lincoln. Dirt cheap since company went bankrupt last year. Quality is excelent, and i have never welded better.
Didn't see the other post before i replied, but i wired a 220v outlet just for the welder, took 20min and was worth every second.
For a 110 I'd stick with either a Miller, Lincoln or Hobart. All three have something in the 140 series for about the same price. You can walk into almost any welding supply store in the country and get parts and service for one of those three. And they all need parts and or service and repairs sooner or later if you use them. You might spend a few more bucks to start but you will be a lot happier to start and then if you decide to step up to a bigger unit you won't have trouble selling that unit. I have a Lincoln 175 220 V that I picked up off Craigslist for 450 and you couldn't tell it from new when I brought it home.
The miller 140 with auto set is about the easiest machine i have ever used and can make even a novice welder look like a pro................
I learned on a Lincoln SP-135T MIG if I remember correctly. It was a 110. Nice little machine. I've used Lincoln and Miller and I have no complaints about either.
As was said, lots of good choices. Generally speaking, the more the equipment costs, the nicer it can potentially weld, and more reliable and durable it will be. That said, a good welder can do good work with pretty much any machine. Most find wire/MIG to be the easiest to learn, and with wire welding it's easier for a beginner to make a passable weld. TIG is more versatile and has the potential to produce better welds, but for most things is slower. If I was restricted to one welder it would be a TIG, but that's me. Most people can do most of what they want to do with a MIG.
I used a 100 pack Lincoln welder for years but then I moved up to the Lincoln 175 and its way better as I do some structural and the 100 pack just doesnt get the penetration. The 175 will weld 1/4" without any problems and will melt into the metal bigtime. The 100 is just collecting dust now. As far as not having 220 in your garage, its very simple to wire a circuit in.
Miller 140 with gas for a beginnng machine. Very versatile and easily resold if you decide to move up to a larger unit.
I use a 110 V Lincoln. Very portable and you can find 110V all over. It will weld 1/4. Homie Depot has then but go to a welding supply for the wire, Largs spools last forever. You dont need to buy the large spool adapter,just guy the center out of a small coil it comes with.
miller autosets are the way to go flick the switch and start burning shit in, its so easy a caveman could do it.
miller 211 all the way , its a 220 machine but if it was a woman i would marry it !!!! best beginner welder , also tig is great but its a whole diffrent world of welding and you will have to learn all over again
taking a welding course would be a real good investment as i remember i was allowed to bring in projects to work on since thats how you learn. mig welding "so easy a caveman can do it"!
Well OK you want beginner? ... I built the rod in my avatar 30 years ago -- did the frame from 4X2 tube, did the sheet metal patches etc -- all with a 220V stick arc welder ! Pretty? Maybe not, but I made it and drove it. You use what you got.... edit - it was a 220V arc welder...
That would be a good idea, but I assume he can't torch weld either and while buying a used setup can pay off, some folks will sell junk. Then you stand the chance of having to put money into rebuilding it all and getting new tanks. You could buy the small outfit's from places like TSC but I think it's severely over-priced in most cases. I do prefer torch over MIG, though. Especially the Henrob/Cobra torch. Remember that MIG gives the hardest weld and grinding MIG welds gets to be a pain. For me it's (1) TIG, (2) Oxy/Ace, (3) MIG.
I can't remember exactly what I paid for my torch, but it was probably comparable to what he'll pay for a decent mig. I'd agree that a new setup would be the way to go. I think Victor has a startup kit with small tanks..00 tips are cheap. Wish I had a Henrob
a beginner should get a mig. it is the easiest process to learn. stay away from tig. tig is much more expensive to get into. much harder to learn. thats not for the beginner. migs are fine for sheet metal to structural stuff. gas welding is good for sheet metal stuff plus you get the ability to cut, and heat. you can weld structural stuff with a torch but i have never done that. i dont think thats very pratical. you can also weld aluminum by just using the right rod and flux. get what you can afford. the brand name units will be easier to sell down the line. i used cheep hf 110 machines and they worked fine for the right application. you can learn what a good weld looks like. then replicate on your own. the net gives all the help you will ever need. if 220 is pratical go with that. you can buy a 220 hobart 175 for under 700 plus your tank and regs. you can get a 110 unit for much cheeper than than. tom
I beat out an Amish guy to a good torch setup from a body man who was retiring and decided to have a yard sale. $100 for the whole setup complete with half full tanks of the 4 foot variety and new O rings in everything. You just have to sniff em out. The Henrob is magical. An all around better designed torch!
I bought a Lincoln-125 110v about 20 years ago and I LOVE it. Get the real shielding gas kit. And a self-darkening helmet. Fiddle around with the knobs and see what it will do. Don't ask for too much advice; if I had, I never would have welded half of what others later told me I would not be able to weld!
crazy score I have both a torch and a little Lincoln 110. hardly ever use the Lincoln. I've heard that learning to use a gas welder will help in learning to use a tig too (although I don’t yet tig weld so I cant confirm that). I think either setup (gas or mig) is good for a beginner, nothing terribly difficult about running a good oxy/act bead.
Millermatic 211 auto-set with MVP. It can be used as 110 or 220 and takes 1 second to switch. Try www.weldfabulous.com they have smoking prices and great service. The 211 is my first welder, I just started to weld, and that thing makes me look like I have been doing welding for some time now. The machine is about a grand but worth every single penny. Trust me on that one. I would buy this welder over again a hindred times if I had to it's that good. Once you get a MIG and get it together pick up an O/A set up, they are super useful and will teach you so many more lessons on metal working. I've been borrowing my neighbors torch and screwing around with it learning something new every single time. I'm gonna buy my own soon as well.
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