Welder question...

[WoodDuck]

I purchased a Hobart Handler 190 a few years ago. Its a 190 amp 230V unit. The Handler 190 kit comes with a gas regulator to hook up a tank, or you can use flux core wire if you wish. It also comes with a spoolgun for doing aluminum or stainless if you ever wanted to. Mine is set up with a tank of 75/25 for normal steel. For doing much aluminum or stainless though, you would want to get the appropriate gas for them. I run Hobart or Lincoln wire in it, and it welds everything I have ever needed to do, from thin stuff up to 3/8" or so. (I've never needed to weld anything thicker yet.) The whole setup comes in ~$700-$800 new, less if you can find a used one. It seemed like a lot of bang for the buck; I wanted a 230V gas-ready MIG welder from a brand name company that I had heard good things about. The 480v Miller MIG and TIG units we use at my work are awesome, but those are big $ units that would be overkill for my garage use a few times a year. I think you'd be basically safe with any Miller/Lincoln/Hobart product, and I'd definitely suggest getting a 230V unit over a 120V unit if you can swing it. The 230V unit will do anything a 120V MIG will do, and have more power available for use on thicker stuff if needed.

 

[Jaylegger]

If you can stretch for a dual voltage mig, that would be my recommendation. You'll be able to use it for small jobs outside of the garage. If Looking for a dedicated unit for the garage go with 220v.

 

[Reb954]

I had similar needs for a welder quite a few years ago. Occasional use around the property on a variety of thicknesses of steel. I shopped the used market for a portable welder, ended up with a Lincoln 200 amp which has done everything I needed and provides backup power when needed. I have welded 1/16 to 5/8 material and ran my plasma cutter with it. It doesn稚 have Mig or Tig which is just fine for me as I can do all I need with stick. Keep it simple and cost effective for the intended use.

 

[PILOON]

My first welder was a converted stepdown transformer that I re wound to desired output voltage.
My then problem was current control so I used different rods.
Burn thru was a frequent problem but things stuck together.
Today I use a nice Hobart but always a stick fan.
Never took any courses and it is very rare that I need to repair a weld.

My tractor cab is DIY as is my front snow plow.

Choice size and quality of rods is one secret as some forgive more than others.

Heck, just for the fun of it, I recuperated a big shop battery charger and made it into a light duty AC stick welder.
Next project is a light duty spot welder using a microwave transformer, should be fun.

And I never leave an old steel bed frame out for pick up, do carry tools to dismantle on site.
(Bedframe angle is just great for making power tool bases.)

 

[John_Mc]

Spoke with local trade school one day. I don't recall exactly what I was told but my memory is I could take a class and learn there......but, I'd first have to sign a waiver form that I'm learning to learn and NOT for a job afterwards (they don't want to damage their placement percentages which I fully understand) AND, the class would cost right around $5,000.

WOW! I took an evening welding class taught by the high school shop teacher 15 or so years ago. It cost couple hundred $. It was very basic: 6 weeks of meeting one night a week for 2 hours a night.

I also took an evening Adult Education class at the local career center/vocational school. $500 for 6 weeks, two evenings a week, 2.5 hours per session (30 hours instruction, total). I just checked, they are up to $600 now. Their first class is mainly stick welding, with a very brief into to MIG at the end. The intermediate class deals mainly with MIG / TIG - similar hours & similar costs. They cost includes supplies used during the class. I thought these were a very good deal, and a good way to jump start my welding. I took the first one 5 or 6 years ago. Would like to get in to the second one, but have not been able to fit it in to my schedule.

It sounds as though the class your trade school is talking about is to become a certified welder. I doubt you need that.

 

[k0ua]

This is my welder. Everlast PA160. It cost me $265 bought thru Mark here on this forum. It is a stick welder. It was the second machine I have owned. My first was a Lincoln 225 AC only so called "buzzbox". They are called buzzboxes because they buzz when you weld with them. They do OK, but the quality of my welds improved 100 percent when I went to a DC machine like my little Everlast. It weighs about 20 pounds or so. The Lincoln buzzbox weighs well over a hundred. My trusty buzzbox got sold as soon as I made a few welds with the little inverter DC machine.
Below is an example of the kind of welds it can make with some 7018 rod. Yes stick welding takes longer to learn. I taught my self totally. No one around to help me or show me anything. My first welds were NOT very good. But I did put the AC machine to work pretty quick gluing my old mower back together many times. The mower was totally outmatched to the job I was asking of it. Rough ground and lots of it.

Stick vs. Mig (and its cousin flux core) . yeah, kinda like the perpetual arguments about .45acp vs. 9x19. AG vs R4, Chevy vs. Ford. And on and on. There is room in the world for both processes.

Which is cheaper to buy? Stick (except for a few Harbor freight things) . Which is cheaper to operate? Stick. Which is quicker to set up? Stick. Which has less mechanical complexity? Stick. Which will give good penetration EVEN in novice hands every time? Stick.

Which is harder to learn on? Stick. Not many people will argue these truisms. Although you could write a book about the advantages and disadvantages of each process, and many such books have been written. Welding is not a simple subject, and many men and not just a few women have spent a lifetime perfecting their skills on the various processes. It can't always be boiled down to a "which is best" and "what should I buy/" type of question. It is complicated. Like most things in life.

Good luck on your welding journey.

 

[coxhaus]

Stick welding is the cheapest for welding plate. And there are always used Lincolns on craigslist for a little over $100 all the time. You just don't use stick for sheet metal. A stick welder 220v is going to weld 1/4 inch plate better than any MIG 110v and will be cheaper to buy.

Don't worry about 7018 rods as you need to store those rods in a rod oven. You can not leave 7018 rods out in the air. If you are running an AC stick welder you need to buy AC rods. There are AC and DC rods. You need to match your welder.

 

[Jim Nelson]

My 1st welder was the Lincoln 230 AMP "Buzzbox" that I used for 30+ yrs. then I bought a H.F. Mig unit for light work. Lincoln makes the tombstone in both AC & AC/DC models, last I looked the AC/DC was +- $500 while the AC was +- 300. I found a used AC/DC for $250 on C.L. and grabbed it up. I got $250 for the old AC unit. I used the Lincoln for heavier stuff and thought of the H.F. as a glue gun which was very useful for light work.

I have since lost the vision in my right eye which resulted in the loss of depth perception so no more stick welding,I still use the little H.F glue gun to stick stuff together and get by.

 

[rangerfredbob]

I've used the heck out of a HFT 90A flux welder, not a great welder but if treated reasonably (IE never running .030" wire, always .035 and using the wire speed to fine tune the heat and change speeds accordingly...) it could surprise you. I think it is too hot for .030" wire, high or low doesn't matter .030 just flat doesn't work... I've tried name brand and cheapie wire and it's more based on wire size... My Titanium 200 and 175 welders on 110V or 220V following the suggestions on the lid is a whole different story, they weld great with flux core... I abuse the heck out of the 175 since I got it for $125 on an open box sidewalk sale thing...

If you can, go name brand though like said which sounds like you are going to anyway, but flux core is easy, messy but cheap and forgiving... it's like stick welding but more in a glue gun...

 

[k0ua]

Those 7018 rods I welded that hook on my Kioti have never seen the inside of a rod oven. Yes, they are stored in a gasketed plastic rod holder in the basement. Not a rod oven by any means. And they seem to weld pretty good to me. I am not going to leave them out in the rain, but for the kind of welding we do around the place, the plastic rod holder seems to be just fine.