Advice needed: What welder should I buy?

[fabiodriven]

I gotta say, I'm the only guy on here who is for the flux-core.

I'm no wleder by trade, but I can throw a hairy bead given the right circumstances and equipment. I welded custom exhaust for two years on a lincoln mig and that could often be tricky. Welding steel to stainless steel, good metal to rusty metal, all kinds of wierd stuff. I own two welders. A Lincoln "tombstone" 220 volt arc welder for big stuff, and an old "Silver Beauty" 110v mig. I run the flux core for a couple reasons.

First, I can go to the hardware store and buy a roll of flux-core wire, bring it home, and weld. Done.

Second, why pay for gas if you don't need it?

Third, and most important in my opinon, a welder buddy of mine told me with the crappy little welders (like mine) you're better off with flux-core because it gets hotter than regular gas wire and therefore penetrates more. This is important on my crappy little welder because it has no balls. This guy really knows his stuff, too. He welds all day, every day, so I trust his opinion.

Flux-core wire does make a mess, that's a fact. If you're welding something you can't grind, it ain't gonna look pretty.

All in all, I'm happy with flux core.

[Hoosier_Daddy]

You now have a welder. For those that don't have a welder, well they simply don't have a welder and you have a leg up on them.
That welder you picked up is 100 times better then that little buzz box POS I bought for my first welder.
It lasted about 3 hours total run time in 2 days of using it. I spent at least a hour of throwing down hard on my concrete driveway and kicking the dog crap out of it before putting in the scrap pile. Man oh man was I ever tourqed that I had bought that POS.
I still don't understand how that could have been leagly imported anywhere !
HoosierDaddy is coming up Thursday to have a rear shock mounting tab welded on so i thought i had better get my Licoln 3200 blah blah what ever it is switched back over to weld alu. So i also made some practice welds.
I told Hoosier that just because I own a welder, don't expect pretty but it will stick together (God he must be desprate )
First practice, not so good ~ more power.
2nd. practice ~ better.
3rd. practice ~ okay,
Just because Iown a welder, don't mean much. Practice-practice-practice.
And like Sycho says, have somebody over that has been welding awhile if you can and you will be amazed on all the little bits of info you pick up.
I think you can get the gas add on kit for that unit to be able to weld up alu in the future.

john

Can't wait. Well make that 86 T3 swinger work on my 85!

[Daddio]

Here is a little info on mig welding. I first used a mig welder back in 19 and 72. It was a Millermatic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_metal_arc_welding

sorry I forgot the link before.

[edog]

Hows it going with the welder Fox?

Got any pics of some stuff your doing?

I am interested in that welder.

[thefox]

Hows it going with the welder Fox?


Got any pics of some stuff your doing.

I am interested in that welder.

No pictures yet. Joe was busy tonight so I attempted it tonight alone... I will have to wait for Joe because my welds were horrendous (basicaly what I expected).

[edog]

No pictures yet. Joe was busy tonight so I attempted it tonight alone... I will have to wait for Joe because my welds were horrendous (basicaly what I expected).

What kind of welding mask do you have?

[thefox]

What kind of welding mask do you have?

Errr mask?























lol I’m kidding. I am using a cheap mask that Joe brought over last night, I have no idea what brand or anything and it’s not an auto darkening or anything fancy like that.

[edog]

I have used the auto darking one. It's slick...helps alot when you first learning i think.

[300rman]

Well, I cheaped out. I figured that since I am getting a low powered welder I am not going to spend the money on a good brand. That and I found a Farm Hand (Tractor Supply Co. brand) on ebay and I was in the area to pick it up this weekend. For the $136 it should be good enough to start with.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=110298943901

just because its low powered doesnt mean low quality.
my cousin has one of those like you just bought. it SUCKS ASS. i cant get a good bead because it doesnt feed wire at a steady rate, and it seems to power itself up and down because sometimes it will burn right through exhaust pipe, and sometimes it wont even penetrate it, and just build on the surface. flux-core welds look crappy anyways, really dirty and slaggy.......and a 400 dollar low-powered lincoln has MUCH more versatility, as there are more settings to fine tune for specific welding purposes..........

ive used cheap welders, and ive used nice but small welders, and it makes a world of difference.

[300rman]

I have used the auto darking one. It's slick...helps alot when you first learning i think.

I'd prefer to learn without auto darkening. i did, and its nice, because you can still get yourself set up when you cant see out of the auto-darkening lens (like being under a car)
Yes, a bit easier to learn with, but you wont learn as much.

[300rman]

a good auto-darken wont flash you enough to bother you one bit. ive welded on and off for hours with my helmet, and it never irritated my eyes, and my eyes are somewhat light sensitive.

[thefox]

just because its low powered doesnt mean low quality.
my cousin has one of those like you just bought. it SUCKS ASS. i cant get a good bead because it doesnt feed wire at a steady rate, and it seems to power itself up and down because sometimes it will burn right through exhaust pipe, and sometimes it wont even penetrate it, and just build on the surface. flux-core welds look crappy anyways, really dirty and slaggy.......and a 400 dollar low-powered lincoln has MUCH more versatility, as there are more settings to fine tune for specific welding purposes..........

ive used cheap welders, and ive used nice but small welders, and it makes a world of difference.

Way to not mention that before….

Here are some pictures of my first time welding when someone with experience was watching and giving pointers. As you can see I still have plenty to practice but I am pleased so far. I’m sure welding fresh clean metal will be easier then an old bed frame.

The welder worked ok. At first the wire kept jamming up so I made a metal tab to hold the feed housing in place and that fixed it. I need to get more wire tomorrow so I can finish up the press.