What can i weld with a Licoln Electric 115v welder?

joshuabardwell · Jun 25, 2013

Shield Arc said:
If your Mig welds don't look something like this, back to the drawing board.

Now come on! That's spray transfer isn't it?

ericher69 · Jun 25, 2013

Arc weld said:
Most inexperienced welders won't take the time to bevel, preheat and do multiple passes. They just want to weld it up. What a lot of extra time and work. If you're going to be doing any amount of welding, do you want to have to do that for every weld? Do you want to spend more time letting the welding machine cool than actually welding? Everyone could be driving a scooter too as it will get you from point A to point B.

Arc Weld;

Of course not but that is what the OP has to work with. Many of the members here cannot justify spending 4-6K on a welder that can produce welds like SA posted. Many of us have a "smallish" MIG for most welding and a AC/DC stick for thicker stock.

Many members here will NEVER hit the duty cycle on any welder as they just don't weld enough to worry about it.

Just saying.

Scooby074 · Jun 25, 2013

Its more than just DC.

As SA (I think) said earlier, Small migs can equal, pretty, but cold, welds. The problem is those who only have that one machine, and either no stick as backup and/or they dont even know their welds suffer from lack of penetration. Think of that next time you see a homebuilt trailer flying down the highway!

PILOON · Jun 25, 2013

I'll make you all laugh.
My first welder was a surplus step up transformer from surplus that cost me $10.00
It was an easy to separate core and had one 110 winding. I scrapped the high side and duplicated the 110 winding (88 turns of #8 wire). For the secondary winding I used 1/4" copper tubing and calculated the # of turns to give me about 60-70 volts open circuit. I soaked all the windings with varathane varnish and proceeded to weld using vice grips (and gloves).
From the rods that I experimented with I figured that I could get some 200 amps out of that box. (yes it was wood)
Later I added ground clamp and decent rod holder. Big problem was that I had no output control so I did most welding with 1/8 rod or bigger. While penetration was no problem burn thru was but I sure learned how to control a rod.
I'll add that nothing I welded ever came apart, but some looked kinda awful. LOL.
I now have a Hobart that because of my earlier 'toy' episodes I can handle with consistent nice results.

Arc weld · Jun 26, 2013

You don't have to spend $4000 to get a good 220 MIG welder. Shield Arc posted a picture of the ultimate MIG weld done with spray arc. I also suspect he was being a little sarcastic.

You can do decent welds with short circuit and globular transfer and the price difference between a good 110 and 220 MIG welder isn't as much as you would think. If all you have is a 110 machine fine but if someone was buying a welder, they would be much smarter to spend a little more and get a 220 machine unless all they were ever doing was sheet metal or auto body. Cold lap is the reason Lincoln took forever to get on the MIG welding bus!