Total welding newie here

[Carol in CA]

Boy, did I wade into the deep end of the pool!

I do not aspire to be a pro. I am a 70 year old lady who breaks some things and conjurers up others. I am thinking the 120v machine will do just fine. On the rare occasion I would require something beyond the capabilities of my machine or skill level, I'll find a guy with the bigger machine. Budget is very modest as I don't expect to use this all that often.

I will continue to look for a mentor. Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input.

 

[Shield Arc]

Carol if you do go with a 120-volt Mig machine, go with 100% C02 for the gas. It will give you just a tad bit more pop than 75% argon & 25% C02. You will get just a little bit more splatter with 100% C02, but not really a big deal.

If you go with gasless flux core wire, Hobart's Fabshield 21-B is really nice wire.

 

[Sodo]

Years ago when I first moved here I was wiring up my newly built shop. One of my neighbors had a 120-volt Hobart Mig welder. He use to teach welding and machine shop at one of the local Jr high schools. He was welding some 14-GA brackets with his machine. He came and got me to see if I would have better luck with it. I don't have near the experience as some of you guys here, but it was all I could do to get that machine to weld 14-GA lap joints. I had to hold about 3/4-inch stick out to get anywhere near the power to make the welds. I' am sure that was my lack of ability, not the under powered Mig welder.

I don't know if it's lack of ability, but there is a lack of something here. Something's fishy about this story…..14ga? That's about the minimum thickness for a 120v Hobart for a newbie to practice welding. 14 ga (.083) is about the thickness where a newbie is still liable to burn holes and hurt his pride.

The machine can weld fine at 4x that thickness (not all conditions).

 

[Shield Arc]

Maybe it was 12-GA. But very thin. That is the only time I've ever tried to run a 120-volt Mig.
Guess what I won't be buying?

 

[Shield Arc]

Speaking of welding sheet metal. A lot of guys don't believe this can be done. It is a challenge:shocked:, you have to find the sweet spot for stick out real quick, and maintain it.
.045" NR-212 10-GA lap joint, and fillet weld on a CC only engine drive. Some people say it can't be done on CC, you have to have a CV machine to weld something this thin.

 

[Sodo]

Maybe it was 12-GA. But very thin. That is the only time I've ever tried to run a 120-volt Mig.

Arc, as I said before, you're a funny guy. Using a (very good welder) one time is not experience.

Somehow I thought you were experienced, at least more than me but it looks like I have about 20 years on you (when it comes to 120v wire feed welders anyway!:cool2.

 

[Shield Arc]

Somehow I thought you were experienced, at least more than me but it looks like I have about 20 years on you (when it comes to 120v wire feed welders anyway!:cool2.

 

[Reverser]

I like the 120 volt mig's because of the convenience factor, but the down side is their limitations.
I have the Hobart 125 and it's come in pretty handy at times, but I wouldn't trust it on anything thicker than 1/8".

Having said that, I like the concept of that new 120v Everlast inverter mig that Mark was talking about. Being an inverter, it will no doubt better utilize the incoming 120v power and do a better and more efficient job welding than the transformer type. It would probably run circles around my 120v Hobart. I'm thinking about eventually getting one from Mark, myself.

 

[Arc weld]

It is very hard to give a recommendation for a welding machine without having all the info you need to base a recommendation. You want to weld thin gauge only as thin as possible, get 110 volt stick/TIG inverter and with enough practice you could weld razor blades if you wanted to. For about 90% of people looking to do their own welding, most experienced welders/sales people would recommend a machine capable of doing the widest range of possible projects. Thus a 220 volt machine would be the BEST solution for an all around welder. If you go with a machine like Everlast, you could get into a 220 volt MIG welder for less money than a 110 Miller, Lincoln or Hobart.

Now as far as experience, using welders on and off for 40 years does not equate to 40 years working as a welder. I would say that 5 years (or even less) working as a licensed welder will produce more practical experience than 100 years of maintenance welding. If Shield Arc was stuck using 110 volt machines, he would have lost his eye sight years ago... from shoving the sharp stick in is eye repeatedly.ullinghair: You don't need to be a "pro" in order to appreciate the benefits of a better machine. Trying to learn how to weld with a low end or under powered machine can and will frustrate you to no end. Why do think there's so many used buzz boxes for sale? It's not because people don't want to do their own welding. If most of your welding is 1/8" and the occasional 3/16", a 110 volt machine is fine. If you want to do repairs on farm equipment and build your own implements, get a 220 machine.

 

[Sodo]

It is very hard to give a recommendation for a welding machine without having all the info you need to base a recommendation……...Now as far as experience, using welders on and off for 40 years does not equate to 40 years working as a welder. I would say that 5 years (or even less) working as a licensed welder will produce more practical experience than 100 years of maintenance welding.

Agreed ----- almost 100%. You wrote "will produce", I'd say "can produce".

Shield Arc using a machine one time and failing (while in some cases is a good observation) is not useful here. These 120v welders do a great job and anybody with experience knows it. They are great for the OP, who is an admitted newbie, and just wants to get started.

In my opinion Shield should have admitted his extremely limited experience up front rather than dragging all the readers along for a ride. Not that I don't like rides, just was wondering how you might help a newbie telling her about duty cycles, and that someone else tacks all his welds so he never has to stop etc etc etc …... that's useless info to a newbie.