Welder Choices

[Zoombah]

I don't have a welder but do have a birthday coming up and a wife asking what I want...

My need for a welder will be occasional at best. I might sometimes stick some used oilfeild tubing together for a pen or tack a livestock panel to some pipe or maybe do things like weld hooks on a FEL bucket. Might also weld some < 1/4" plate a few times. And of course will repair a few things here and there. In no case will I be in a hurry or be overly concerned about appearances. In most cases everything I might weld will be dirty and/or rusty.

Can I do all these things with a smaller AC only welder or do I need to be looking at an AC/DC stick welder?

 

[CharlieTR]

My $0.02 say to try a wire welder first. They have made tons of advances in welding technology. You can get 230V units that will handle thicker metals or the basic 110V units that will do 1/4 in or more. With the wire welders you have a choice of innershield (flux core) wire with no gas bottle required, or MIG, there is usually an optional aluminum kit available if you want to weld aluminum. The best thing about the wire welders are that they are very easy. You can be welding like a pro 1 hour after you get it home. Even weld round pipes.

For the AC/DC question, the newer AC units claim that they are able to use 7018 rods now, so welding a sucker rod on a fence may be OK with AC, but I have not done it.

 

[TractorDale]

I agree with the idea of MIG welder-very easy to use, although price higher. I've used mine ( lincoln, 240) for many projects around the garage and property and it is a ton of fun. (wish I could justify a plasma cutter)

Good luck.

Dale

 

[knute_m]

Your question is a lot like sticking your finger in hornet's nest.

You might enjoy reading this thread:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/81644-i-need-welder.html

BTW, I really enjoy my little 115 VAC Lincoln Weldpac 3200 wire welder, and it gets a lot of use around the homestead.

 

[bx23barry]

I think any good (lincon, miller, hobart) 110v core flux unit will do most anything a home tinker guy needs. A tank kit will make it more useful for other metals but for sticking 1/4" and under iron/steel together the flux does pretty good. If you need more duty cycle or heavier metal I'd go with a ac/dc stick welder in the 230+amp range (cheap and very useful). If you do alot of fab/repair work, care about pretty welds and/or have the $ go with a nice 220 mig unit. They will do most any general welding on any metals and very easy to use. I've had my miller 230amp ac/dc buzzbox and small victor torch kit for over 25 years without justifying getting a mig for what I do in the garage (sure would be nice though). if i was doing it today I would get a 110 flux unit along with the victor torch kit. It's a tossup which I use more. The two most useful major tools I have (that includes the drill press, air compessor, and air tools). But ya know a tig would be great. Xmas is coming!

 

[Zoombah]

Thanks for the responses. I followed the link left by knute and found everything I need to know for now....I think.

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Zoombah,

go to the Lincoln Electric (I think that is it) web site, they have a big Q&A section on what type of welder you need for the things you will be doing.

Even though they are more money I would look at a MIG welder. One thing I found out was going from a 175 amp welder to a 210 or so, depending on brand. Was a big price increase, but if you are ever going to weld aluminum the price of the guns for each welder then almost made up for the initial cost of the machine. It was less than $200 difference.

Also read the fine print, many say weld 1/4", or 1/2" but in how many passes?

steve

 

[Sully2]

Your question is a lot like sticking your finger in hornet's nest.
You might enjoy reading this thread:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/81644-i-need-welder.html
BTW, I really enjoy my little 115 VAC Lincoln Weldpac 3200 wire welder, and it gets a lot of use around the homestead.

LOL. Glad to see THAT linked...LOL Seems like the wind is blowing a different direction for this thread.

Was hoping to get a setup in Oct...but have to drag the MoHo into Cummins for 3 "ride height control valves"..?? ( $125 each) and 3 hrs labor charges ( $90 an hour) so that shoots the "bank account" for October!

Maybe Santa will be nice to me??...*sigh*

 

[Zoombah]

Ended up with a Hobart Stickmate 235AC/160DC.

 

[horseman1]

Congrats! It's hard to go wrong with one of those!

Regards,