jruz

One other thing to keep in mind...if your welder can't do a thick metal in one pass (1/4" or whatever)...you can do it in multiple passes with the right technique.

Do yourself a favor and find a night class at the local technical college. You'll learn a bit about technique, and metal chemistry...all in all, how to weld some sturdy stuff.

Jim

ravencr

I'm planning on doing it as soon as possible! Thanks!

Chris

Shane

Visit a local welding shop for your consumables (wire, gas, tips, etc...) and check out what they have. You can get away with a $20 hood with a lense around shade 9-11 and $10-20 or so for some gloves. I usually just wear my mechanix gloves when welding unless the heat gets to be too much, don't really like the typical welding gloves. All told you'll probably be in for about $750-800 depending on what you get. A cylinder is going to cost you if you purchase, but most places will rent them too. Refills are trivial, ~$15-30 depending on size. An 80cf cylinder of C25 (co2 argon mix) should be sufficient for a starter if you can't afford a bigger one.

Wait for a few months if you can, there's usually sales during the holiday season and that 175 will drop $100 or so. Shop around for prices and barter as they're quite flexible, and buying online can help you get away from state sales taxes if the company is out of state.

ravencr

Cool, do you recommend any other online places other than cyberweld to check for prices in the next couple of months?

Chris

PhxTRDRunner

Just thought I'd throw this out real quick..I JUST bought a welder, two days ago, my first actually. Good for me, a friend of mine is an excellent welder, and I did what he told me as far as what to buy. I ended up with a 135 Lincoln Mig unit with the gas attachment, which I also bought. I can tell you already, this thing will do ANYTHING I will try to tackle in my garage. We did some stuff this weekend, basically to teach me the do's and don'ts of welding and it did fantastic. I did try it without the gas, using a flux wire, and WOW, does that suck. Make sure if you go Mig, also get the mix gas to go with it. Makes a HUGE difference!! My welds already look professional, and I've been doing it for two days!! LOL! You also need to remember your going to need a bit of safety gear, some anti splatter, and the gas (which I paid $130 including tank/fill up) and I opted for a auto darkening helmet,but still I was just over $750 after everything.

..I've already built my own panhard bar drop bracket wOOt!!

midiwall

One thing that I would recommend to anyone wanting to get into welding is to take a class. Check your local community college, most offer structural welding classes where you can get hands-on experience with different types of welders and methods.

The fall semester has already started in most places of the country, but with a bit of talking I'd bet that you could still get into a class.

In most cases, you can take the course stand-alone and not have to be locked into a curriculum.


*edit* I see that Jim already mentioned this. So make that two votes to do this, and then lemme add that you should do this before buying.

ravencr

Sweet man! I 'may go that route because I don't have a 220V connection anywhere, but I'm really wanting a bigger one if possible.

Chris

Shane

http://welders-direct.com
http://www.weldingmart.com

Just search on Google, you'll find lots...

Like others have said, take this time to enroll in a class and try it out. Once you get the hang of it you'll have a better idea of what your needs are.

Shane

Got an electric clothes dryer? That's 220v, usually at least a 30amp circuit. You'll probably have to buy or make an extension cable depending on how far it is though, that's what I use with no problems at all. Speaking of extension cables, you have to make sure you use a good heavy guage wire. Especially with those little 110v units.

ravencr

Will either the Miller 135 or the Lincoln 135 plus weld 1/4" stuff? If so, I'm may just go that route, because that's the thickest stuff I'll ever use anyway. Plus I can hook it virtually anywhere.

Chris

ravencr

Could I run a split off of it or would I just plug in an extension cord to the same jack?

Chris

Shane

Yes, they can, but you won't be able to do anything thicker than that. You'll learn what penetration is as soon as you try a 220v welder though.

Shane

unplug dryer, plug in cable. Remember this is only a temporary setup though, better solution is to have the garage or wherever wired properly.

ravencr

Actually, the lincoln 135 plus say it can weld up to 5/16" thick mild steel, and the Miller 135 says it can only go up to 3/16" thick mild steel, so it seems the Lincoln is by far the way to go if I decide to purchase a 115V unit over a 220V, right?

Chris

ravencr

So penetration I'm assuming makes the welds stronger? 5/16" is probably thicker than anything I'll ever weld, so wouldn't the lincoln do a good job penetrating a 1/4" piece?

Chris

Shane

Marketing fluff, don't trust the specs they advertise as there's no standard for rating them.

Shane

With proper technique, yes. But that takes training and practice. But do you want to limit yourself to that? Also on the specs look at duty cycle, a welder that can do 5/16" at 20% means for every 2 minutes of welding you have to let it sit and cool for 8 minutes.

ravencr

So are you saying that the lincoln could no more weld 5/16" than the Miller could?

Chris

P.S. Actually the lincoln 135 standar one can only weld up to 1/4" mild steel, while the plus model can weld up to 5/16" mild steel.

Shane

Look at the duty cycle ratings at a specific amperage output and max output amperage, ignore the thickness ratings. That will tell you more accurately which has more oomph.

ps you post too damned fast

ravencr

I don't see how I'm limiting myself when both the 175 units from Lincoln and Miller weld the same thickness steel that the smaller 115V 135's can weld: 1/4" (Miller) & 5/16" (Lincoln)

Chris