i'm looking to get a welder. i really can't be going over $300 but i would like something that i can atleast weld up exhaust and maybe down the line, do some shaving on my car...can some one please lead me in the right direction? and if i get a gas welder where do i get the gas (refilling)?? when searching i heard that flux core isn't bad and that they've gotten better...so far i was looking at these

The 1st one
The 2nd one
i was told that 110v is pointless...i mean i could have a 220v line put back up. (our old dryer was 220 and they took the line out) so ...HELP!!

 

A 110v is not pointless. It's more for, "around the house." But my lincoln 100pack(i think it was a little under $500) can weld everything from sheetmetal, exaust, to anything less than a 1/4 inch thick. If it were me, I would spend more money for the better name.

 

You would get a tank, and gas refills, from a local welding supply store. Dive into the phone book and look under "welding supply". And Dirtbik3r's right; avoid a cheap welder. Chances are your local welding store won't have parts for that foreign-made Harbor Freight unit. Definately stick with a "real" name, one that's been around for a while- and one that WILL be around for a while.

I also agree, a 110 volt welder isn't pointless. I have the Lincoln Electric Weld-Pak 100, with the GMAW (gas) conversion kit, and I can weld up to 1/4 inch. I'll never weld anything that thick for a car. To a bridge builder (welding thick steel) or a fabrication shop (welding constantly without letting the welder cool down), a 110 volt might be pointless. My welder has a 20% duty capacity, which basically means that for a 10 minute stretch, I can weld continuously for 2 minutes, and then I'd have to let the welder cool down for 8 minutes. I've never laid a continuous bead for more than 20 seconds!

I actually bought the WeldPak-100 (see http://www.eastwoodcompany.com/shopp...ProductID=1182 ) because it comes set up for flux core. When I had more money, that's when I bought the gas conversion kit and a gas bottle. Flux core does good when you're outside since it's very "portable"- but it burns thru thin sheetmetal. MIG might not work too well if you're outside (the wind would blow the gas away), but you can weld any thickness metal- and you can go thinner than for flux core. And I went with Lincoln Electric because they'll always be around- I can always get parts, probably even 20 years from now.

 

i found 2 places around my house and i think i'll check em out mon... but would anyplace sell a welder on a payment plan??? i mean i don't really have 500 bucks to shell out right now

 

One note on the flux-cored MIGs - the welds are messy. Spatter is pretty bad, but can be cleaned up.

Stick with a standard brand, like Lincoln on the bottom end, or Miller, Hobart, etc.

 

call your bank or credit card people 300 dollars won't get you much. buy one with the gas kit installed and buy a gas bottle. 110v is fine for most applications you'll find on a car or home shop.

 

what do u mean..messy. like they look like crap but they r still fairly good welds, right? like even if it's messy i'm sure i could still shave my door handles and antena, i mean u grind the welds down and do the body work on it, right??

well, i only have a $500 limit (i'm 19) and i used it to buy mt coated headers. so that's sorta a big no...

someone else sed they had a craftsman welder and sed it was really good. I'm guessing this was it....sed it was 200 later on i'll save up for a gas welder but for now i'm sure that will do for most jobs done on cars (like exhaust)

 

don't use flux cored wire for body work

 

my brother, the general, has one of the craftsman 110 migs. It works like a champ. We have used it for all kinds of different things.

 

ljnowell, have u ever used it on body work? if so how did it turn out. ede, not that i think u're wrong or don't beleive u, i just don't understand y. after u weld don't u grind down the weld to smooth it out anyway?

 

I have used it to weld on the front "header"panel on my car. Getting ready to use it for subframe connectors. Other than that, we have welded lots of things with it, it makes a decent weld. It does have a tendancy to splatter a little more, but once you get the hang of it, its OK.

 

Before I could get the gas kit for my welder, I practiced welding on thin sheetmetal (1/16th inch)- it always burned thru- even on the lowest amperage setting. I definately wouldn't use it to do body work! Because flux core wire is thicker (to hold the flux), it needs more power to melt- and that extra power will shoot thru the metal you're trying to weld. It'll have more of a cutting action then a joining action!

Eastwood's also selling a new Lincoln Electric that doesn't have the capacity of the 'Pak models (WeldPak 100/MigPak 10/Mig Pak 15/etc), but it's already prepped for gas work. You'll still need to buy or lease a gas bottle tho; check with your local supply stores for leasing options. See http://www.eastwoodcompany.com/shopp...ProductID=1264 for the specs.

A few years ago, Century used to make the Craftsman welders. I believe they still do- you could do a google.com search for "century welder" to see if you can find a match against that Craftsman box. One thing to think about tho... what if, in a few years, you want to go with true MIG (with the gas) welding? You can't upgrade that welder. You'd have to buy another one.

 

a 110v welder is not pointless..

mines a 220. i can use it where ever you have a dryer outlet, or a standard 220v outlet.... but i cant count the number of times i wish it was 110v just because i could bring it with me to help a friend out.



edit:
the most important thing (to me) in a MIG welder is accurate heat and speed controls.

almost every welder has variable speed control, but theres alot out there that dont have good heat controls, or limit you to only a select number of options...
a dial is soooo nice when you want just a lil more power, but you dont want to change the speed you're welding at.

 

I second this statement. Many times it seems that I wish I had a setting in between the ones on my 110 welder. Kinda been looking for one with more choices in the heat settings, but all I have found so far are just too expensive(>$1000).

 

The limitations on thickness are what you can do in a single pass. Otherwise it’s up to the welder (the monkey holding the gun, not the equipment). I’ve welded everything from 24ga to ¾” thick steel, stainless, aluminum, assorted castings… with a 110V welder. Thicker stuff can be done, it just takes more time to get a good weld then it would with a bigger welder. I own a Hobart Handler 135, but have used most of the smaller then 200A major name welders out there, and use a Lincoln SP135 (which I HATE) fairly regularly.

I really don’t get why people bitch so much about flux core, you just need to adjust your technique for it’s specific characteristics, but it works well, and is generally smoother then gas shielded wire. The little bit of flux that is left on the top of the weld is easily chipped off with a chipping hammer or wire brush. The worst part about it is if you have a tendency to get really into your work you’ll find that you have to wipe off the lens in your helmet once in a while so you can see.

This was done with a Lincoln 135 and flux core (in that case, cast to mild steel, the other end that you can’t see in that pic is cast to a cast iron manifold with a ¼” steel patch in it):


Honestly, I like having a choice, normal wire or flux core, depending on the application. There isn’t much that you can do with one and not the other, but there are a lot of things that just work better with one or the other. For example, in a pinch flux core will work fine on really thin body metal, but if I was going to do a lot of it I’d run some .023” gas shielded “easy grind.”

As far as “settings in between” don’t waste your time. Once you get going you’ll find that you probably set the welder about 2/3-3/4 of the way up and adjust your technique for the material you’re welding. When doing something like a roll cage/bar, subframe connectors… you’ll be welding everything from 24ga to 3/16” with some .120 or .095” wall tube thrown in to add to the fun. It’s not uncommon for it to change as you move down the same bead, like when you’re welding a reinforcing plate to the floor pan, you might have 3 layers thick in one spot, and 1 in another, if you can’t adjust your technique to get different heat into the weld then you’ll have to stop every time the thickness changes, reset the welder, test your settings and start up again. If you have to crawl out of the trunk, from under the car… every time you move onto a new spot you’ll get tired of it very quickly.