It's been a while since I have posted. I have moved to a retirement home and had to give up a lot of hobbies (sawmilling, wood heat, welding). I am thinking about resuming my welding with a 120 VAC arc welder because I think I can do small tasks with a smaller unit whereas the 240 vac 50 amp I sold can't be plugged in at my garage and the need to do the large projects I once did are no longer needed. I think I can use a smaller unit occasionally without upsetting neighbors. I want to stick with a stick welder because I have 50+ years experience with it. Any recommendations?
small arc welder recommendation
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Roadworthy
Elite Member
There are two types of 120 volt outlets. Most are fifteen amp outlets. A few are twenty amp which require heavier wire. Check your breaker panel to see which you have. That will limit your choice of welders. Although you want a stick welder you may be limited to a wire feed if you're limited to 120 volts. Some wire has a flux core and some requires a cover gas. Flux core units are more like a stick welder.
JohnP3616
Bronze Member
I had a 120V Eastwood that I fried on one of its first tasks which was making a hog trap. I upgraded to a 240V Hobart which had served me well. I know some people have had good experiences with a 120V, but mine was disappointing. If you can swing it at all, I would recommend wiring in 240V. Sorry, but that is my experience.
California
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I see you're living somewhere with only 125 volt service available.
There are several cheap 125 volt stick welders on Amazon, with a third-party 3 year warranty offered alongside it for some $20.
Stick, so long as it is DC not AC, will be the simplest to set up, store, and (with your experience) use. Avoid the heavier transformer-based units if you will need to put it away between uses. A semiconductor-based unit is far smaller and lighter.
'Project Farm' on YouTube has reviews of relevant units.
I think the next step up would be HF's Titanium Easy-Flux 125 Welder. It is DC. Avoid HF's cheapest AC-only transformer based (much heaver) flux welder.
You can step up from hobby-grade gear to more expensive, and better quality and features. Dual voltage, MIG gas, digital settings, lots more.
Best choice depends on how much workshop space you have, cost, complexity of projects. I'm assuming here you want simplest that can do the job if this just retirement hobby work.
The pros will be along shortly to recommend pro-grade gear if you need to impress the neighbors or you just want to spend more on this hobby.
There are several cheap 125 volt stick welders on Amazon, with a third-party 3 year warranty offered alongside it for some $20.
Stick, so long as it is DC not AC, will be the simplest to set up, store, and (with your experience) use. Avoid the heavier transformer-based units if you will need to put it away between uses. A semiconductor-based unit is far smaller and lighter.
'Project Farm' on YouTube has reviews of relevant units.
I think the next step up would be HF's Titanium Easy-Flux 125 Welder. It is DC. Avoid HF's cheapest AC-only transformer based (much heaver) flux welder.
You can step up from hobby-grade gear to more expensive, and better quality and features. Dual voltage, MIG gas, digital settings, lots more.
Best choice depends on how much workshop space you have, cost, complexity of projects. I'm assuming here you want simplest that can do the job if this just retirement hobby work.
The pros will be along shortly to recommend pro-grade gear if you need to impress the neighbors or you just want to spend more on this hobby.
Harbor Freight has a Titanium Stick 225 for $299. It's a 110/220v inverter, so DC. It'll probably give you 100A or so on 110v.
I do have a 240 vac 20 amp receptacle that I asked the maintenance people install for my compressor. I didn't intend on using it for anything else but I could share it with a welder. From the comments it sounds like I will have more options with this. Since I asked for this receptacle I assume nothing else is operated by it but the labeling in the breaker slot says KIT GFI and Bath heater; I'll bet it is an old label and they didn't update it. (In any event I won't weld while I'm taking a shower.) Thanks for all the comments. I've seen ads as low as 69$ for small welders but I don't want something that can't maintain the arc.
Jrasband
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Titanium Stick 225 from Harbor Freight is a excellent welder to start out with I highly recommend, and its only $300.
California
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Great! In this case don't consider anything that is 120-only.
CliffordK
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Does your house have all electric appliances, or natural gas appliances? Almost all current wiring in the USA has 220V ... somewhere.
I haven't been happy with 120v welding, but perhaps there are times when it is good. Frankly, most of my welding is less than 100 Amps.
What type of welding do you like?
I love my TIG welder. Not so fast, but a unique way to weld. A little finesse. Think oxy-acetylene with electricity.
I haven't done a lot of wire feed with gas (MIG) but if you get it going, you can get a sweet weld.
I ignored flux core wire for quite some time, but tried it a bit, and really isn't that bad, and you don't have to drag a bottle around.
I also got into stick welding a little late in the game. If you need LOTS OF POWER (thick metal) then stick is the way to go.
Oh, that reminds me, oxy-acetylene shouldn't be ignored, especially if you wish to use brazing, or are interested in certain types of art.
There is, of course, also plasma cutting.
I haven't been happy with 120v welding, but perhaps there are times when it is good. Frankly, most of my welding is less than 100 Amps.
What type of welding do you like?
I love my TIG welder. Not so fast, but a unique way to weld. A little finesse. Think oxy-acetylene with electricity.
I haven't done a lot of wire feed with gas (MIG) but if you get it going, you can get a sweet weld.
I ignored flux core wire for quite some time, but tried it a bit, and really isn't that bad, and you don't have to drag a bottle around.
I also got into stick welding a little late in the game. If you need LOTS OF POWER (thick metal) then stick is the way to go.
Oh, that reminds me, oxy-acetylene shouldn't be ignored, especially if you wish to use brazing, or are interested in certain types of art.
There is, of course, also plasma cutting.
