I am considering buying a welder and was wondering what would be some things to look for? I was thinking possibly harbor freight? Garage sales, or craigslist would work too. I just was thinking like is a mig a must or what to look for. Some guidelines would help a lot so please let me know. Thanks guys

 

i have never heard anything good about a harbor freight welder, i have worked with lincoln and miller and both worked excellent mig and tig,

1. What are you going to be welding?

2. How often are you going to use the welder?
it could be cheaper to have someone do it, or borrow/rent one

3. Do you absolutely need/want a mig welder?

stick welders are cheaper and easier to come by, they weld thicker materials in price comparison to a mig machine. I have seen some really nice welds dont by a stick welder as well it just takes practice.

 

Garage sale, Craigslist, and pawn shops are great places to look for a welder. Stick to the name brands - Miller and Lincoln. I think Hobart welders are built by Miller.

I would really recommend getting a 220V 180A or bigger welder for the kind of fabrication we do for our trucks.

 

Type WELDER in here

Lots of varying opinions on welders, but stick with a name brand.

 

I also moved the thread to the Tool Time sub-forum.

Fink

 

if the welder is just ment for fab work on your rig 110v with high amp output will do you just fine, just remember the thicker the material you may have to prep your steel a little differently rather than just tacking and burning wire. If your mind is set on heavier fab work a 220v machine is what you want. Lincoln, Miller, or Hobart, cant go wrong with either one of those three.

 

Hobart 187 mig Welder. Anyone have one or used one? I ordered one from TSC. Was tired of trying to fool with upside down stick welding.

 

lol try to use a mig without gas.

 

I don't have a problem with flux core.

I ended up buying a lincoln 140c and i really love that little welder.

 

look on craigslist. Because of the economy, tons of people are selling their non-essentials. I guess welders are not essential to most people, since I've seen a bunch of them on craigslist lately.

 

Not knowing your age and economic status I don`t know if you have an account with any of the tool truck people. Long time ago I bought my first welder from Matco tools it was built by Century and still going strong. 25 plus years later.

I would say get the biggest output wise you can afford. You can cry about how hard it is to stick weld but they are so flexible you can go from 3/32 electrode for steel to a cast iron electrode to a stainless steel electrode. while you are still changing out that first spool of wire.

 

The hobart is a good welder (140 or 187) but I went with the lincoln 180 because the spool gun for aluminum was a lot cheaper. Miller makes a good welder that a fab buddy of mine uses and its just a plain 180 self set. It just comes down to what you will use it for. I have been doing more and more tubing lately and all I can say is if you can get the 180 mig then do it but if not just make do with the 140 because I can rarely find tubing that I need more juice then a 140 would do. Get gas for whatever you buy... Better looking welds will leave a positive note on the project and make you feel more professional.

 

call me dumb, but can that seriously be done? Im looking into buying a welder too, but mig, tig, flux, im so lost with it all

 

Yes you can run a self shielded wire. I have heard that it has gotten a lot better since it first came out. i just am not a big fan of it.

 

Like I said go mig, get some gas and learn to weld and never look back. Stick is ok for thick stuff, but weld quality just wont look as good in most situations. If you look on ebay you can grab a lincoln 180 pretty cheap if you can handle the 220v230v?) in your shop. If not go for a lincoln 140 or even a comparble hobart unit. For a beginner mig is easy and simple to learn.

 

Here is a link to a buddies build. Most all the welding was done with a miller 180... Nothing special but it just works good. It all comes down to skill and the mig has the versatility to make anyone a jack of "most" trades when it comes to welding.

http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54157

 

Get a mig, tig is for aluminum, flux is basically mig just without the gas, the gas is the shielding gas, and in flux core wire its integrated into the wire..
It produces a much more messy, I would strongly advise getting a gas setup welder.


I am not a big fan of it either, my welder came with it so im just using it up..
after that ill spend the money on a gas setup..

 

me too im using the flux cored sire cause my lincoln mig pak has it in it but once its up ill get the stuff for gas.. it works good worknig on body work.. i have a sand blaster and a grinder to clean welds

 

Wow, for a kid still welding his first project, you became an "expert" awful fast ...

CORRECTIONS
This is absolutely not true. Aluminum can be welded with either TIG or MIG. TIG provides much more accurate control over the heat, and when done properly, a better weld. It is also MUCH more difficult to learn, MUCH slower, and the machines are MUCH more expensive (like, try and find one for <$2k).

You can weld ANYTHING with TIG.

MIG stands for Metal Inert Gas. So flux is NOT MIG. "Flux core" and welding are both technically SMAW (Submerged Metal Arc Welding). Flux uses a slag material to protect the molten weld pool, where MIG uses an inert gas. Flux is essentially the same as stick welding.

Note: TIG is more properly named GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding)

Agreed, but flux DOES have its advantages - better penetration, better tolerance for dirty surfaces, etc

 

I wasnt trying to sounds like an expert, I was simply stating as much as i knew..

And my kart is not my first project.
Also I just finished my second project old man.