Got welder for my birthday!! Q?'s

[vacca rabite]

Is that a 914 ya got there..Been sooo close to buying one at times...

Yes. 1976. I'll be painting it as soon as that ambient temps get above 70 (about a month from now). Then I get to put it back together and hot rod the motor. :-)

Cool, I understand, really I do.
Do not buy this... (cheap lincoln flux core only welder)

Listen to Tadsal. However, when I got my Mig, I bought it at Loews. The stores in my area all have more welding stuff then what is on the corperate website.

The other thing that I will suggest. Any MIG welder you buy will come with a hand held face shield. Throw it away. Buy yourself an auto-darkening helmet. The difference is night and day. My welding impoved ten fold once I could see what I was doing.

Another trick, when welding sheet metal (which will be most of your rust repairs) is to clamp some copper ( I use a section of flattened copper pipe) to the back of the seam. It acts as a heat sink, and the weld will not stick to it. It makes you less likely to blow holes (but you will anyway, its part of the learning curve).

The only other thing that I will suggest is to make sure you have the metal cleaned on both sides, and make sure that you clean/cut off all the rust before you start welding.

I'll warn you, though. Once you start welding, it gets addictive. You start looking around thinking "I could weld that.... Ohh, and that too."

Zach

[jpcoutts]

The local Lowe's has this one: http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...et.asp?p=38790 $457 It is a Pro-Mig 140, plugs in to 120v and seems to be a complete set up except for the gas.

The info on the lincoln site looks like this one would fit my needs. It is a little confusing when you look at what comes with the unit and what will be an extra expense.

[KaiserMan]

I'd second a Miller welder. All my high school shop had for migs where Millers. I loved the things. They took a lot of abuse and never broke down.
I'd kill for the 350X we had.

I'm using a Snap-On welder at home. A 20+ year old AMW-1000. Good for up to 1/4". If they still make them (I doubt it), I would also reccommend one of those.

[babywag]

I learned to weld using oxy/acetylene...

Miller makes a REALLY nice MIG but I can't justify the $$$ for the one I want.

I'm partial to Hobart migs for body work.

I've owned a couple other small mig welders, and the hobart has been the best bang for the buck so far.

[matt thompson]

I had just gone through a cheap hf chinese flux pos, and decided to never waste money on a cheap welder ever again! And I was lookin at all the 110v 130amp welders like lincoln, hobart, and miller, I decided though, I'm done with 110 welders and convinced myself to get an 180 miller mig. It's nice to not be as limited on thickness as with 110 powered welders. seriously best $700 ever spent. oh and try a 25/75 C02/Argon mix it kicks a**.

oh, and babywag, I took a welding class at our community college when I was in highschool, we never learned oxy acet welding, but i always wanted to... I've always wondered why people dont bring porta torches when offroading, wouldn't it be great to be able to cut and weld anything without the cost of a $1000+ underhood welder? The only reason I could come up with is that if your rig caught on fire you'd have a big bomb on your hands.

[401-J10]

I have one of those AC-225 stick welders and i love the thing! True, it isn't good for body work but when it comes to heavier metal i'd trust it with my life. Besides, once you learn how to stick weld it is so much more fun than mig welding. The only thing i didn't like was having to install the 230V plug for it.

Lincoln has a carbon torch for the 225 that makes it more versatile.

[YellowJeep]

I have the el-cheapo Harbor Freight 110 welder. I bought it on sale for $200 and bought the tank to convert it from flux-core. For $200 it is pretty darned decent. Not as nice as my buddies miller or anything, but it you are cheap (like me) you might consider it.

Regardless of what MIG you buy, I recommend you spring the extra $$ and get rid of the flux core wire. I never got it to flow well when running a bead regardless of how thick the metal was.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=6271

[shimniok]

Mine's a 110V 90A Century MIG with cart with everything but the tank itself that I got at some hardware store (Lowe's or Home Depot or something). Supposedly it'll weld up to 1/4" (multiple pass tho). It was a stretch to spend the ~ $400 so I'm happy with it tho still trying to learn. When it comes time to do bumpers etc I will think about springing for a stick welder, as I doubt I can afford even a used high end MIG. IIWY I'd keep the stick for welding the big stuff and think about a MIG for bodywork as my reading echos the comments here.

Michael

[jpcoutts]

I'm trying to come up with a convincing story to tell the wife about why the welder she bought me isn't everything I need! Don't you just hate it when your really sweet wife does something that you wish you could tweak just a little bit! I'm still waiting to see what everybody thinks about the Lincoln 120v mentioned in my earlier post.

[shimniok]

There are times when it's better to be grateful and keep the pie hole closed.

Michael

[PhilG]

just keep it and add it to the tools . .I am sure it would have its place . .add a MIG later.

[Gadzooks2]

I would get the best welder you can afford, you will have it a long time and use it on projects you never thought of.

Also, If your'e not great welder, you better be a good grinder!!

[Kaiser]

Dont know much about GMAW (MIG), but do know a bit about GTAW (TIG) and SMAW (Stick) welding. Finally stepped up the arsenal to the Miller DyNasty 200DX, and a Miller Spectrum 375 Xtreme (plasma) .
If its strictly auto work you want to be doing then yes GMAW is where you want to invest your $. Fortunately any good one will also have a SMAW capability as well.
Miller makes the best (no biases with that statement at all, honest), and has the most incredible customer service out there. The service you WISH you could get every day 365.
Just realize that there are limitations to each process. Ive heard some good things about the el' cheapo Clarke MIG boxes off of ebay, and the Harbor Freight MIG is okay. Just make sure you get enough Amps (150+).
Another thing to consider is whether you have 110 or 220 capability. Dont want to buy a 220 unit if you only have 110!

[irbob]

It sounds like you didn't drop enough hints to your loved one on what type of welder you would like. Hints are great. It's even better when they give you the money and say, "go buy a welder". It's OK to trade it for a different welder. She is an understanding person, I can tell because she lets you have a FSJ. My wife knows not to buy me anything without consulting me about the purchase first.

It looks like your getting a lot of really great advise. The only thing I can add is the setup I currently have for bonding two pieces of molten steel together. Gets me fired up just thinking about it.

I have a Lincoln AC/DC 225/125 and hardly use it, mostly because the go switch is broke. I use the bajevees outta my Millermatic 175, (The new 180 model starts at $958, WOW) 220v w/gas, up to 1/4". I have a full size oxy/acetylene setup and a bunch of grinders. You tend to use less grinder wheels with the more experience you get.

Comparison Chart

I put an electric dryer plug on the end of a 90 foot extension cord so my MIG will reach anywhere around the property I need it to go. After using gas with my MIG I wouldn't even consider getting one without a built-in gas hookup. The welds are 95% cleaner, which means less cleanup and prettier welds.

[Tad]

The local Lowe's has this one: http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...et.asp?p=38790 $457 It is a Pro-Mig 140, plugs in to 120v and seems to be a complete set up except for the gas.

The info on the lincoln site looks like this one would fit my needs. It is a little confusing when you look at what comes with the unit and what will be an extra expense.

Jim,
Sorry, just got back to this thread.
That's Lincoln's hi-end 110V unit and should serve you well.
You will need the adapter coupling to run CO2 instead of Argon for that regulator (different tank fitting and CO2 is way cheaper that Argon) they probably do not sell the adapter at Lowes, it's about $18 at a welding supply store (you'll be going there for wire anyway).
Our SP-135's are going on 4-5 years of daily use and we have only ever broken one ($12) internal part.