Splain Me on Welders
 

:D

Im looking for a *cheap* welder that wont break the bank and will let me to do small jobs and learn on at the same time.

Ive been doing some research and Im thinking of going ARC route because they seem alot less $$ but are harder to learn on, but knowing me I will learn that damn thing till I get well enough at it.

For those who have welders what are you running and how do you like them?

All I wana do is some exhaust work and light duty jobs.

thanks.

PM johnny23toronto, he picked up a MIG for that same purpose

thanks B I will

if u plan on doing body work you can't really use an ARC welder.. unless you wanna weld frames together.. trust me.. I welded thru like half inch cast iron like it was paper...

MIG, wire feed is what you need.

I dunno about TO's papers, but in the Windsor Star and in the Triad we have Classifieds where industrial eq't is sold, like when shops go out of business, or if someone is getting out of the trade, used eq't sells for relatively cheap. Maybe watch the papers for deals like that. Also, be sure to get a Miller MIG, not Lincoln welders. I hear the Lincolns are crappy.

i might be getting a tig machine for xmas... but for learning purposes a mig machine is probably the easiest cause you pull the trigger and go... tig is very hard to learn cause you have a petal which gives you variable amp levels, then you have to hold the thing that makes the electic flame (can't remember what the thing is called), then you have to manually add filler rod.... but it makes the cleanest and strongest welds possible.....

arc/stick machines are the cheapest to use... mainly cause you just buy sticks but you dont need a tank of innert gas... like both mig and tig require... but the welds are very dirty... you have to chip the slag off then wire brush then to make them cleaner... and they always have contaminants in them....

oxygen-acetylene torches are another option but they are messy and hard to use.... and its quite dangerous having two very flamable cylinders in your garage also...

but anyways matt if you want to learn how to weld, buy a welder and i'll show you how easy it is :cheers:

the lincolns aren't crappy... humber uses all lincoln machines arc, mig and tig... they put up with the abuse of stupid kids for years before starting to go.... most welding machines comes with a 5 year warrenty on the tranformer which is the main problem anyways....

but how "good" a welding machine is depends more on the skill of the operator and how its set up then the actually quality of the machine... but i've used lincoln arc, mig and tig machines and they aren't crappy....

For used equipment, you could look in something like the buy and sell

http://www.buysellzone.com/search/s....welder&s=&pm=1

thanks alot Rick I might hit you up on the offer for welding lessons :D

Are Arc Welds strong though? Like good enough for exhaust use etc?

i would think so.... like they are weaker then a tig weld but an exhust system isn't really put under stress... just heat... i think thats what exhust shops use... or mig i suppose... but dont think of arc welds as weak.... just not as strong as tig :D.... but tig welding pipe is brutal.... thats what i need to practice a lot for the roll cage thing in the spring though :(

but ya let me know matt.... another thing to remember... if the welder runs off 110volts ie house wattage its no good... you want to get the ones that run of 220 same as your washer or dryer... or both i know at least one of them does....

yeh the one deca from princess auto was 110v, it was uber cheap, i wanted to pick it up to practice with.

haha i saw that one too... its like $80 or $90 isn't it?? for practicing it'll work but you can't weld very thick metal cause i think that one only goes up to 70 amps.... for like 1/4" metal i use like 110-120 amps.... and 1/4" isn't that thick....

whats a minimun amperage you reccomend rick?

well it depends on the thickness of material being welded.... like at humber they had stick welders that went up to 300 amps.... you'll never need that much but the higher the max the less the machine has to work at say 120 amps.... but at the same time those welders at humber are worth a pretty penny....

i've personally never purchased a welder so i dont know how much they are per amps.... if you goto homedepot they have this stick welder that is $350... i think that was a decent one.... actually it may have been at crappy tire.... one of them sells lincoln welders.... you just gotta look at what you'll be welding with it... like if you doing exhust and say body work.... both use fairly thin metal right? so you wouldn't really need that much amps.... now if you wanna make strut bars or frame stiffening stuff you would need a bit more cause of thicker material being used....

but i'm 90% sure that one that was really cheap from princess auto is garbage.... i never looked closely at it i just noticed it in the paper.... but check out home depot and/or crappy tire one sells the lincoln one....

Well here was the one from PA

70 AMP ARC WELDER
" 20 amp 115V AC input " 70A @ 15% duty cycle " Automatic thermal shut-down protection " Variable heat settings " Uses 1/16" or 5/64" welding rods

http://www.princessauto.com/prodimages/CAN/0110094.gif

Ive looked at CT and they seem to start at around the $300-350 range. Im gonna take some look around and see what else there is like at Rona etc.

i got a lincoln arc welder.. I think it's 220+ amps can't remember.. something nuts..

how do you like it man? Does it come in handy for what you use it for?

that one from PA up there seems to only go to 70 amps... which is quite low... you'd find the stick will "stick" to the metal a lot cause it can't create adequite heat to melt both materials....

the one cablerat has is ideal... cause you'll always have enough amps to do anything really.... but if you had one that goes up to say 150 amps that is like the max you'd realistically use....