inexpensive 220v stick welder

[PineRidge]

<font color="blue"> Life is good until a dingleberry falls under your knee and then burns through your pants, you just can't get that knee off the ground fast enough.
</font>

Or one of those small dots of molten metal falls in the top of your tennis shoe, MAN that makes me move........

 

[MMM]

Highbeam, you're quite the romanticist. I don't think I've ever heard welding spoken so fondly of. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif My choice of words after a day of welding are never so poetic, but they are colorful.

 

[Darellk]

Hi Soundguy, Just a bit of info into cheap 220v Stick welders. I owned a garage for about 15 years and did tons of heavy truck work for a local utility company. This included a lot of welding on trucks and trailers. The only welder I owned was a Sears buzz box. I bet I burned 300 lbs. of rod or more with this welder. The lincoln old fashioned welders are a good in-expensive choice. If I had my ruthers I would spend the money on an AC/DC machine. Much more versitile and gives you a better selection of rods to burn. Ain't to cheap anymore but will have a better resale when you want to get rid of it.

 

[tomrscott]

Soundguy,

Check with any local welding supply company that services equipment or takes trade-ins of used gear and see if they have any rigs they'd like to get rid of. They tend to view the AC/DC stick welders as the "small stuff" these days with the big expensive mig and tig machines, so they don't really have to make a lot of money on these. That was how I got a real good deal on my older but nearly unused Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC, and my Hypertherm Powermax 60 plasma cutter.

I just started welding recently, but I am already getting hooked. I drive around the countryside keeping one eye peeled for scrap metal that might be useful! I look at projects entirely differently now. Things I would have dismissed as impractical, or that would have involved a lot of fabrication effort, can sometimes be slapped together in a few minutes.

I'm still not very good at it, but learning a lot and enjoying it anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I suspect the AC/DC advice is worth heeding. I got that from a lot of people and am not sorry I listened.

 

[FrankenmuthTom]

I have an old Craftsman (don't know the vintage, but at least 40 years old) from a nearby retired farmer and packrat for $50 and it has been the greatest tool on the farm! With a 100% duty cycle, it's a great machine and has saved me a LOT of money.

I guess I can't wax poetic about welding like some of you guys, but I have been involved in some LARGE projects with this old AC buzzbox, including building a tandem axle trailer for a 26' wooden sailboat that I could launch from. That one kept me busy for a couple months of weekend! Sold the boat on that trailer in front of the farm a couple years later and the guy towed it away.

Was just finishing up welding the brackets to hang a snow blade on my old '66 CJ-5 a couple months ago, and went up to the local micro-brewery to fill a growler with beer. The bartender gave me a taste of the new 'Red' while I was waiting. I took a mouthful and it tasted just like WELDING ROD! I started to laugh and got a second mouthful to get the taste. After I finished, the bartender asked me how I liked it. I told him what the first taste was like, and why and we all had a pretty good laugh.

Tom in Frankenmuth

 

[MajMac392]

Soundguy, I have been looking for a welder to putter around with and take on a few projects that sounded interesting. I looked at a few used ones but guys wanted much more than I figured they were worth. One day I was in Walmart and they had a Lincoln AC 225 for $238. I was real surprised they had it, kind of an abused box but I got thinking to see if Home Depot would beat the price. I also found the welders in another Walmart. Home Depot's were $247 and Lowes price for the same welder were something like $257. Sure enough, I showed HD the price and UPC number and they matched it and beat it by 10%. I got tired of looking for a cherry used one and figured I would spend an extra $60 to 70 and buy new. I'm just waiting for the electrician to hook it up. Now if I was real cheap I was going to open up a HD Credit Card and I think they give you 10% off on your first purchase!! I had gift cards so I used them instead. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[arkydog]

A very good friend started working for Emerson Electric Back in the mid 60's in the special products division selling the Sears table saws that they made along with the craftsman welders to farmers and others. He said that the welders at that time were made by Lincoln since Sears actually doesn't make anything of their own. Must be why they were so good!

arkydog

 

[dbelisle]

The first welder I bought was a Lincoln 235 Amp AC. It was sold as a kit with the wheels, helment, and some rod for $88.00 . I ordered it from the Speigel mail order catalog. The welding rod that came with it had colored dots and not numbers so you could tell what rod you where using , so you can see I have had it for some time, a think it was over 35 years ago I bought it. I still use that welder.

Dave in NH

 

[Syncro]

<font color="blue"> "The first welder I bought was a Lincoln 235 Amp AC. It was sold as a kit with the wheels, helment, and some rod for $88.00 " </font>

dbelisle: We must have bought the same welder at about the same time, I got mine in '67 and still use it regularly. See attached pic of the little Lincoln at work in my shop. Its AC only but sure does a good job on the mostly heavy things I weld.

The trick I've found is to keep the rods fresh and dry. I invested in an air tight container for my rods a few years back and have since seen a huge difference in bead quality and appearance. I also only buy small quantities so as not to have em laying around too long.

 

[horseman1]

soundguy,

I plan on going to some auctions. I've had some good luck lately on some older farm equipment. A lof of times I find that the published list of stuff in the paper leaves a lot out. I've seen some old Centurys at some of these farm auctions, but the cables and stuff have been in pretty bad shape. I may just break down and get a Lincoln tombstone if I dont find a good used one. They are pretty cheap if you figure how long they last.

Kurt