Got welder for my birthday!! Q?'s

[jpcoutts]

My wonderful, FSJ tolerant wife bought me a new welder for my birthday. It's a Lincoln AC 225 stick welder. What a great wife I have! I was actually looking at a mig welder and I'm curious about whether or not I should risk seeming ingrateful by trading the stick welder in on the mig? I plan to use it to do body work as well as heavier stuff like bumpers etc.

Any advice from the welders on the board would be greatly appreciated. Plus I could then spread the blame around a little!

Thanks

[Tad]

Trade it.
You will have no fun trying body work with AC stick, probably not much luch either. AC is a pretty intolerant learning curve.

[nsanebiker]

If you do that, let me know how it works out for you.

You can use a stick for body work, but you have to have patience and practice on something you don't mind blowing holes through. The easiest way to do body metal is a lot of little welds. Kinda like spot welding, but you have to be careful not to get the metal too hot or it will warp/bow. (actually I do the same thing with a mig)

On the other issue, you know your wife better than we do, so that is your decision on that.

[KaiserMan]

I agree with Tad. A mig is easier to learn and use then an arc welder.
Body work is sooo much nicer to do with a mig.

I myself, would just buy a mig welder. Will make the wife feel better, and sometimes it's nice to have an arc welder around.

[fullsizejohn]

I am with you kaiserman, migs are wonderful tools but when i really want to put the man on something i pull out the big stick.

I say keep it and wiggle yourself into a mig soon for your body work and such.

Just my 2 cents

[jpcoutts]

Thanks for the input Tad and Kaiserman. What is the thickest steel a small mig will be good for? I know that the store(Lowe's) where she bought it has two migs, a 110v and a 220v. Will the 110v weld the 3/16 or 1/4 stock I'm plannig to use for the flat bed for my '67?

[fullsizejohn]

My lincoln mig(110 power) is rated up to 5/16" thickness. I use it up to 1/4 and put my complete trust in every bead i pull.

[OBX-AUTOMOTIVE]

HEY! THAT 225 LINCOLIN IS A GOOD WELDER..BEATS THE HELL OUT OF THEM LITTLE AC JUNK $99.00 ONES...I'VE HAD ONE OR TWO I THINK .WELL ANYWAY, THEY ONLY COST $75.00 BUCKS NEW, BACK THEN.I BUILT QUITE A FEW STOCK CARS WITH THEM! YOU COULD FORGET THE DUTY CYCLE,YOU COULD KEEP BURNING ONE ROD RIGHT AFTER AN OTHER GOOD MACHINE ....DON'T KNOCK YOUR WIFE,SHE DID BUY YOU A GOOD WELDER,BUT NOT FOR WHAT, YOU WANT USE IT FOR....LOL.. YOU WOULD BE BURNING MORE HOLES THAN YOU WOULD BE TRYING TO REPAIR IN SHEET METAL

[Tad]

Originally Posted by jpcoutts

Thanks for the input Tad and Kaiserman. What is the thickest steel a small mig will be good for? I know that the store(Lowe's) where she bought it has two migs, a 110v and a 220v. Will the 110v weld the 3/16 or 1/4 stock I'm plannig to use for the flat bed for my '67?

I have put this setup a few times.
http://millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_dvi/
I know that's pricey, but I have let friends weld on my hood with that and did my entire rear suspension with it in 110V mode on a dedicated 20amp circuit.
My students pass 1/4" face and root bends with it in 110V mode.
I'm not a Miller person overall, buy mostly Lincoln products, but that is one darn fine machine.
I'm not saying you should wait.
There are some darn fine machines out there for 110V use.
Lincoln, Miller, Hobart and ESAB.
My students can also pass 3/16" face and root bends (flux cored) on Lincoln SP135's, which can be setup for gas in a matter of $100 and a few minutes.

[vacca rabite]

Unless you are doing a job with steel thicker then 1/4 inch, go with the Lincoln or Miller 110 V Mig.

For doing body work, you are going to want to get a bottle of sheilding gas, as flux core is much harder to use on thin sheet metal.

Everything on this car, from the sheet metal body, to the rotisserie that I made to restore it on, were welded together with a Lincoln 140 (110V) welder.



You are going to blow holes all over the place with a stick welder, though they are great for thicker metal jobs.
Zach

[jpcoutts]

The knowledge base with this bunch is truly amazing. Thanks to all of you. Is it safe to say it looks like there is a general agreement that I should be thinking about the Lincoln 110v mig at Lowe's. I read somewhere that you can make multiple passes with a smaller welder to work on heavier pieces, but actually from the looks of Zach's work maybe thats not an issue.

[jpcoutts]

Tad, I looked at the Miller machine in your post. Wow, wish I had a good reason to spring for that, but it would take a little more than I have on hand! I'll have to check on the Lincoln model that Lowe's has on the shelf. I bet it is the entry level machine and it appears that the SP 135 is a step up. Experience tells me to get the best I can afford and that looks like a good option. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.(To you and everyone!)

[tas7107]

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

[Tad]

Cool, I understand, really I do.
Do not buy this.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...8-1&lpage=none
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...eet.asp?p=8958
It is not setup to be able to run GMAW, just flux cored.
That's all I could find on the lowes site.
Do you have a Home Depot in your area?
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...m.0& MID=9876
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...eet.asp?p=7112
That one is.
Make sure you research anything you buy so it fits your needs.
http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...textsearch.asp
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/
http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/mig/
http://www.esabna.com/products/mig-welders.cfm
(I do not think ESAB offers a 110V consumer product anymore)

[jaber]

Is there a kit that would make an arc welder into a mig? Thought I'd seen a convertion somewhere.....

[vacca rabite]

Originally Posted by tas7107

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. :-)

Originally Posted by tadsal

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.