Welding 1/4" steel- Mig or stick?

[bota7800]

That Craftsman, doesn't Lincon make these for Craftsman, will weld all that you will do and you will have a whole lot less invested in it than a larger welder. .

Mike

According to a post on the Craftsman website, that MIG unit is a Clarke 130EN. I did not find the manufacture code so I cannot verify. Sounds pretty light.
The Lincoln 225AC tombstone is obviously rebadged for Sears though.

Have you considered renting a more powerful welder when you need it?



You cannot compare an industrial welder to a 120V low amp one just because they both use the same process. That is like saying I can operate a large implement with my B7800 because the farmer up the road does with his $250K tractor.

 

[Mundy]

It depends on how old his Craftsman is. Mine is 5plus years old. It is a 135 Amp Mig/flux machine made by Century. Century is now owned by and custumer supported by Linclon.

 

[plastikosmd]

"your right back UP ( or even exceed) the cost of a wire fed ( MIG) machine..as compared to the much lower costs of a straight AC stick machine"

no doubt! just had an issue with your statement "Stick machines REQUIRE lots more "power"..." as some machines do...but it is not related to the process, rather the machine itself.

in the end, he should be fine if he does his homework

 

[RobJ]

"your right back UP ( or even exceed) the cost of a wire fed ( MIG) machine..as compared to the much lower costs of a straight AC stick machine"

no doubt! just had an issue with your statement "Stick machines REQUIRE lots more "power"..." as some machines do...but it is not related to the process, rather the machine itself.

in the end, he should be fine if he does his homework

And how many people actually crank up the Bizzbox to 225a? I think the highest I've had mine is 110 or 125a. I run it on a 30a breaker and 10g wire.

 

[diyDave]

B Tackett, HMM that sounds like a good welder's nickname!, Anyway, hello again, I sent you a PM about that belly mower for your mitsubishi, just saw this thread, all I can say is that the buzz box, and the mig welder have their places in farm use, I have both, mig is easier to learn, as the directions are written on the lid, but in windy weather, they aint worth a tinker's ****. Welding with a buzzbox is like ridin' a bike, once you figger it out, you never forget! The only way we learn is through experience, the only way you get experience is to do it wrong a few times, and analyze your mistakes. The only entity that doesn't learn from its mistakes is the government, go figure!

 

[gemini5362]

When you say "continious" do you mean that once the arc starts..it doesnt stop AT ALL..for ANY REASON for a full 15 minutes? I cant sit or stand in the same exact spot for 15 minutes...and once you let off the trigger..or stop to change electrodes with a stick machine...the clock starts all over again!!

Whereas you CAN extend the length of cable to the stinger holder..its mucho better to extend the "AC" to the machine itself..i.e. an extension cord.....same deal with a wire fed machine. You cant feed wire thru a 100 ft long torch cable...15 feet is a long way to do it...you use a large extension cord.

I started out with NO welder..of any sort. Tried AC stick welders many times and only accomplished sticking the rods. Had I been given the chance to use a DC stick machine I MAY HAVE bought one of those in the beginning instead of my HH140 (110V machine) that I practiced on.
After going to night school for welding I found it MUCH easier to weld using a larger machine turned DOWN than a smaller machine running "wide open"...hence my purchase of the HH210. But in eaither case I find it LOTS MORE easy to control my electrode when its mere inches from my control hand...than to control the arc when its at the end of a 14" long stick!!!

Lets not forget the AMPERAGE requirements of both machines. I can run ( per Hobarts specifications) a 210 MIG machine wide open..on a circuit controlled by a 30 amp breaker and wired with 12 ga wire ( per their specs now) Try that sort of thing with a 225 amp stick machine and either the breaker would pop on you every few minutes or ( lets hope not) you would smoke the circuit wiring. Stick machines REQUIRE lots more "power"...in fact the Hobart 225 machines require a 50 amp breaker. My little outdoor shop thats 10 x 14, only has 60 amp service to it because thats all I could tap off the main panel!!

Sorry sully, By continuous I mean weld 15 minutes go get the beverage of choice sit and contemplate whether I need another beverage then weld another 15 min. I agree with you about using extension cords I was just trying to make a small point about the difference and was using exagerated lengths for illustration.

 

[keeney]

One question nobody has asked is are you welding the 1/4" because you need that much strength in the joint or just because thats the size metal you had handy? If you are connecting it to 1/8" wall tubing, you really only need a proportionate amount of bead and penetration to match the strength of the tubing.

When I was looking for an inexpensive setup for welding heavy gauge (heavy aluminum to boot), I settled on the ready-welder. It uses two (or even three) 12v car batteries in series to generate 24v at 100's of amps. Its really just a bare spool-gun with wiring setup to connect to a battery. It would be pretty tough to find a 300 amp MIG setup for $459 I paid for the ready-welder. Its perfect for me since I only weld occasionally, but when I do, it usually something heavier than my old toy < $100 mig.

Duty cycle is limited by the batteries being drained. Weld for maybe an hour of arc time and then stop for the day and recharge the batteries (or get a second set of batteries).

Plus its portable - you can take it anywhere you can lug the batteries and gas bottle.

- Rick

 

[Sully2]

And how many people actually crank up the Bizzbox to 225a? I think the highest I've had mine is 110 or 125a. I run it on a 30a breaker and 10g wire.

Exactly! Many buy a 225 or 250 amp stick machine..and then run it at 125 amps out so they have a HUGE duty cycle....yet the same sort of idea about a MIG setup seems "strange" to them ( Buying say a 250-300 amp MIG setup and running it at less for ..again...a L..O..N..G cycle time)

 

[gemini5362]

OK we are talking about duty cycle. How many people that are posting here have had their welder kick off on overtermp and what were you doing when it did that ?

 

[Sully2]

OK we are talking about duty cycle. How many people that are posting here have had their welder kick off on overtermp and what were you doing when it did that ?

Probably mighty few... But I think you see what Im getting at. Many ( most) srick welders are in the 205-225 amp catagory..and yet guys run them at "about" 110-125 amp level. But some get the idea that buying say a 210-250 amp MIG and doing the same thing is ..?..weird or something. Its always nice to have a little extra for those jobs that ..though rarely..might require the extra power.