muddstopper
Veteran Member
I have been thinking about this for a little while so yesterday I stopped by the welding supply to find out if It can be done and what is needed to do it. Man I talked to was a good guy, but the person I needed to talk to wasnt there. Figured I could get the advise I needed here so here goes.
About a year ago I bought a idealarc 250/250 stick/tig machine. Machine is maybe 10years old, but had been used very little. In fact, except just to try it out, I havent used it any. My old ac/dc tombstone and 175miller mig seem to get me by just fine. I am about to start a pretty large project and feel the 175 might be a little undersized for the welding I will be doing. Mostly 1/2 and 3/4 steel. My thoughts are to purchase a wire feed to attach to the ideal arc so I can take advantage of some of the higher amps the machine offers. Problem is, the guy at the welder supply didnt know if it could be done, nor what to tell me to look for even if it could be done. We looked at some of new wirefeeds in the book and all those prices seemed pretty high, so I am thinking maybe to look for something used. I dont know what to look for, or how to hook it up if I find one. Except for seeing a few of the wire feed systems belonging to other folks, I know nothing about how they are supposed to be setup for welding. I need a little advise before I blunder head long into something that could prove to be a large expense. I thought about tradeing in the 175 for a bigger machine, but kind of like it for what it is usually used for.
About a year ago I bought a idealarc 250/250 stick/tig machine. Machine is maybe 10years old, but had been used very little. In fact, except just to try it out, I havent used it any. My old ac/dc tombstone and 175miller mig seem to get me by just fine. I am about to start a pretty large project and feel the 175 might be a little undersized for the welding I will be doing. Mostly 1/2 and 3/4 steel. My thoughts are to purchase a wire feed to attach to the ideal arc so I can take advantage of some of the higher amps the machine offers. Problem is, the guy at the welder supply didnt know if it could be done, nor what to tell me to look for even if it could be done. We looked at some of new wirefeeds in the book and all those prices seemed pretty high, so I am thinking maybe to look for something used. I dont know what to look for, or how to hook it up if I find one. Except for seeing a few of the wire feed systems belonging to other folks, I know nothing about how they are supposed to be setup for welding. I need a little advise before I blunder head long into something that could prove to be a large expense. I thought about tradeing in the 175 for a bigger machine, but kind of like it for what it is usually used for.
