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Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: J_BODY] #2990507
11/30/21 02:40 PM
11/30/21 02:40 PM
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nutso suave Offline
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Originally Posted by J_BODY
After missing a couple “deals” on Craigslist I ended up at a local welding shop and bought a Millermatic 211 as well as a tank of argon. Was way over my “budget” and skill level but it’s certainly come in handy. Various brackets on the racecar. Broken latch on one of our gates into the yard. …. and the biggest task so far was repairing my 28’ enclosed trailer after finding the spring mounts broken. That job required the 220 setting so I bought a 50ft cord and rigged up a power outlet off our main home panel. Saved my butt big time on that one!


I inherited the same welder and it is awesome. The next model up allows you to stick weld as well, which is nice. I agree with previous posters that buying more than you think you need is a good idea.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: nutso suave] #2990523
11/30/21 03:15 PM
11/30/21 03:15 PM
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W. Kentucky
justinp61 Offline
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I have two Millers, a Millermatic 210 with a spool gun and a Syncrowave 250DX and both have been flawless. Welders are like air compressors IMO, buy once cry once.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: nutso suave] #2990543
11/30/21 04:03 PM
11/30/21 04:03 PM
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pittsburghracer Offline
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Here are my other two welders, both Lincoln’s. Like I said my reason for buying the Titanium welder from harbor freight was so I could hook it up to an aluminum spool gun. My Lincoln was a pain in the butt to convert the liner on to run aluminum and aluminum being so soft didn’t run very good. I lucked out on my Tig welder as I bought it from a shop that builds trailers and they wanted to go bigger. When I took night classes for Tig welding I trained on the exact same machine

image.jpgimage.jpg

1970 Duster
Edelbrock headed 408
5.984@112.52
422 Indy headed small block
5.982@112.56 mph
9.42@138.27

Livin and lovin life one day at a time




Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: pittsburghracer] #2990554
11/30/21 04:33 PM
11/30/21 04:33 PM
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Sniper Offline
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Some of the recommendations strike me as being told that you should buy out the contents of the Snap-on catalog if you are planning to put together a Power Wheels for Christmas.

If I weld, and I don't, I am the kind of welder that epitomizes the bigger the blob the better the job type. All these fancy machines would be a gigantic waste of money for me with my skill set. A cheapo HF one that would allow me to glob on more weld, or maybe actually learn to weld with, would be my starting point. This way if it turns out I an congenitally incapable learning to weld, or I actually learn to weld and decide to spend money of a welder my skills are worthy of, I won't have spent much on that cheapo one to begin with.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Sniper] #2990561
11/30/21 04:54 PM
11/30/21 04:54 PM
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jcc Offline
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Two counterpoints, before 2008?, any quality welder could be resold used for what it was purchased new for, and a better welder is easier to learn on and weld with than a cheap piece of junk, especially when operating near its limits. In 35 years I have upgraded 3 times with miller tig welders, and have never regretted upgrading.


Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.
Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Sniper] #2990595
11/30/21 06:44 PM
11/30/21 06:44 PM
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West Plains, MO
DrCharles Offline
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Originally Posted by Sniper
A cheapo HF one that would allow me to glob on more weld, or maybe actually learn to weld with, would be my starting point. This way if it turns out I an congenitally incapable learning to weld, or I actually learn to weld and decide to spend money of a welder my skills are worthy of, I won't have spent much on that cheapo one to begin with.


I used to think that way, and wondered why I couldn't learn to weld... then I bought a decent Hobart Handler 140 MIG and suddenly I could actually make steel stick to other steel weld If you get a cheapo, it won't feed worth a crap, the duty cycle will be very limited, and your welds will always look like hemorrhoids. twocents

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: DrCharles] #2990626
11/30/21 08:09 PM
11/30/21 08:09 PM
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Sniper Offline
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Trust me, I have used good welders and it didn't turn my welds into anything good.

I have an old, got it used from a rental place in 1991, Lincoln stick welder. Nothing magical about it. Tried a good mig welder at work, did nothing magical either.

Now I can solder, I can silver solder, I can braze, but not weld.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Sniper] #2990635
11/30/21 08:41 PM
11/30/21 08:41 PM
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pittsburghracer Offline
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Sometimes it’s like mechanics thinking Snap On tools make them a better mechanic. All it makes you is more broke. Lol


1970 Duster
Edelbrock headed 408
5.984@112.52
422 Indy headed small block
5.982@112.56 mph
9.42@138.27

Livin and lovin life one day at a time




Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Sniper] #2990639
11/30/21 08:51 PM
11/30/21 08:51 PM
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Freeport IL USA
poorboy Offline
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Originally Posted by Sniper
Trust me, I have used good welders and it didn't turn my welds into anything good.

I have an old, got it used from a rental place in 1991, Lincoln stick welder. Nothing magical about it. Tried a good mig welder at work, did nothing magical either.

Now I can solder, I can silver solder, I can braze, but not weld.


Mig and stick welding use a pretty similar process to stick two pieces of metal together. If you don't understand the process, a welder you will never be.

If you can braze good (good is the important word, does the braze hold together every time?) Have you tried to use steel filler rod using the same process you use to braze? If you can braze, you should be able to replace the brass rod with a steel rod and do the same thing. If you can steel weld, you probably would learn to use a tig much easier because both of those use a similar process.

If when your welding what you see is a big blob, you need a better helmet, clean lenses, or better eye glasses. You should be able to see both edges of the metal you are welding together and the weld puddle melting between the two pieces of metal. A blob just tells me you are melting the filler (solder or brazing rod) on top of the metal and not getting the metal hot enough for the filler to bite.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: pittsburghracer] #2990640
11/30/21 08:58 PM
11/30/21 08:58 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Michael Ecks Offline
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Originally Posted by pittsburghracer


I have a stick, Tig, and mig welder but I couldn’t run an aluminum spool gun on anything I owned so I just bought this on. I saved 100.00 joining the harbor freight club and another 10% getting their credit card. You can stick, mig, Tig, and run a spool gun with it.


https://www.harborfreight.com/unlim...ess-welder-with-120240v-input-64806.html


I have the same HF Titanium 200 multi-process dual voltage welder. I took welding classes 20 years ago, and it only took 3 or 4 practice welds to get a decent looking weld trying to relearn how to do it. So far I have only used flux core for some small projects, but I went with the 200 to give myself some room to grow with it and try other processes. It seems to be capable of more than I will ever do with it. Keeping usage in mind (they aren't constant use professional models) I don't think I've seen a single bad review of any of their Titanium welder line.


"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of
your thoughts" ~ Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: pittsburghracer] #2990644
11/30/21 09:05 PM
11/30/21 09:05 PM
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West Plains, MO
DrCharles Offline
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Originally Posted by pittsburghracer
Sometimes it’s like mechanics thinking Snap On tools make them a better mechanic. All it makes you is more broke. Lol

The Cult of Snap-On is a whole different issue. Their tools are nice... but not THAT nice.

My Dayton Electric welder had problems with the feed that I never could completely get rid of with adjustments, feed wheels, lubrication, new gun liners, tips, etc. Without a steady wire feed there is no way to maintain a stable arc and bead. The guy who sold it to me also admitted he'd never learned to weld.

The Handler doesn't have that problem and it "just works". Not that expensive either. Your experience may be different shruggy

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: pittsburghracer] #2990648
11/30/21 09:10 PM
11/30/21 09:10 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,668
North Dakota
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Originally Posted by pittsburghracer



Sometimes it’s like mechanics thinking Snap On tools make them a better mechanic. All it makes you is more broke. Lol


I have to disagree a bit here. A talented person can do good work with crap tools. A hack (like me) needs all the help he can get. grin


"We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended".
Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: poorboy] #2990653
11/30/21 09:20 PM
11/30/21 09:20 PM
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Sniper Offline
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Originally Posted by poorboy
Originally Posted by Sniper
Trust me, I have used good welders and it didn't turn my welds into anything good.

I have an old, got it used from a rental place in 1991, Lincoln stick welder. Nothing magical about it. Tried a good mig welder at work, did nothing magical either.

Now I can solder, I can silver solder, I can braze, but not weld.


Mig and stick welding use a pretty similar process to stick two pieces of metal together. If you don't understand the process, a welder you will never be.

If you can braze good (good is the important word, does the braze hold together every time?) Have you tried to use steel filler rod using the same process you use to braze? If you can braze, you should be able to replace the brass rod with a steel rod and do the same thing. If you can steel weld, you probably would learn to use a tig much easier because both of those use a similar process.

If when your welding what you see is a big blob, you need a better helmet, clean lenses, or better eye glasses. You should be able to see both edges of the metal you are welding together and the weld puddle melting between the two pieces of metal. A blob just tells me you are melting the filler (solder or brazing rod) on top of the metal and not getting the metal hot enough for the filler to bite.


Brazing is more similar to soldering, insomuch as that the filler material melts at a lower temp than the two pieces you are sticking together. When I try using a steel rod instead, I have, I end up with melted blobs of rod and material. I don't have a problem brazing, it flows nicely and doesn't blob up on me, unlike when I weld. Of course I was taught how to solder and those skills transfer to brazing, I was never taught to weld and my soldering/brazing skills don't seem to transfer.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Sniper] #2990660
11/30/21 09:40 PM
11/30/21 09:40 PM
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pittsburghracer Offline
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I loved it in the mill when they said we had to learn how to weld and get certified on one inch plate on both mig and stick. The teachers laughed when instead of grabbing one inch of rods my buddy’s and I each grabbed a whole box of rods. We had a blast.


1970 Duster
Edelbrock headed 408
5.984@112.52
422 Indy headed small block
5.982@112.56 mph
9.42@138.27

Livin and lovin life one day at a time




Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: jcc] #2990674
11/30/21 10:12 PM
11/30/21 10:12 PM
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PhillyRag Offline
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Originally Posted by jcc
IMO, buy the most powerful machine you can afford, I can't see as a hobbyist that duty cycle matters much, and forget anything flux core
I have a hobart 140amp 120V mig (for 20+ years, and exceed the duty cycle all the time)
With the cars, I find myself using the Hobart the most often. eyes


Has it's uses outdoors where maintaining shielding gas could be an issue.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: PhillyRag] #2990700
11/30/21 10:59 PM
11/30/21 10:59 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 11,678
W. Kentucky
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Originally Posted by PhillyRag
Originally Posted by jcc
IMO, buy the most powerful machine you can afford, I can't see as a hobbyist that duty cycle matters much, and forget anything flux core
I have a hobart 140amp 120V mig (for 20+ years, and exceed the duty cycle all the time)
With the cars, I find myself using the Hobart the most often. eyes


Has it's uses outdoors where maintaining shielding gas could be an issue.


Yes flux core has many uses. Some even use flux core with gas, if makes for good penetration and nice looking beads. I have used flux core in my spool gun outside on dirty/rusty steel.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Sniper] #2990724
11/30/21 11:47 PM
11/30/21 11:47 PM
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Ontario, Canada
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Stanton Offline
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Originally Posted by Sniper
I am the kind of welder that epitomizes the bigger the blob the better the job type. All these fancy machines would be a gigantic waste of money for me with my skill set. A cheapo HF one that would allow me to glob on more weld, or maybe actually learn to weld with, would be my starting point.


Total mistake

First of all, "the bigger the blob ... the WEAKER the job" is more like it. In welding, more is only better if each pass is done properly. You need penetration INTO the base metal - anything above the base metal is of little use.

Second, a cheapo welder will have you chasing your tail. A good welder will give you accurate setting recommendations, taking the guesswork out of that. Thus, you can focus on your technique without debating if the settings are at fault.

And there are also some VERY IMPORTANT things to keep in mind to create good welds. In no particular order

Good eyesight within about 18" of what you're welding.
A good mask that fits under your helmet - you won't believe the amount of sh!t welding generates
A mixed gas for mig - straight CO2 is fine but generates a lot of spatter. With a mixed gas (CO2/Argon) you will achieve very clean welds once you develop your technique.
Clean wire - if you don't weld for extended periods, take your wire out of the welder and store it in a baggie. The amount of rust needed to degrade a weld is almost invisible on the wire. Also, the rust will clog the feed rollers as well as the whip liner and degrade the electrical contact.
Weld clean metal - rust, paint and mill scale will contaminate a weld.
Get comfortable before doing your weld. If running a bead, go through the motion first to ensure you'll be comfortable through the entire length.
Use two hands - one operating the gun, the other providing support. One-handed welding takes a LOT of practice - don't waste your time trying one-handed welding until you master welding with two hands.

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Stanton] #2990741
12/01/21 01:08 AM
12/01/21 01:08 AM
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Excellent suggestions, Stanton. You've spent time with your hood down. up

If I may offer another suggestion: Try to not to position yourself, and especially your hands, over what you just welded. You don't want the distraction and discomfort of the heat from your previous welds and the hot metal. I always try to start my welds with those welds that are the furthest away and work toward myself. Did what I said make sense in a sort of convoluted way?

Spend the money for a good hood. I own a 3M Speedglas 9100 which is a pretty expensive hood, but I only have one set of eyes. I used a 3M PAPR unit when I welded at Deere and it was the cat's pajamas. boogie Wish it would have followed me out the door when I retired from that place. whistling

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: Stanton] #2990811
12/01/21 11:35 AM
12/01/21 11:35 AM
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Omaha Ne
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TJP Offline
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The biggest issue I have always had is being able to actually see the tip of the wire / arc and the material being joined through the hood lens. I have a Jackson helmet which is a few years old but fully adjustable tint wise etc. It's almost as though the ambient light is coming through the backside of the hood affecting my ability to see the material. I can see the arc but not the material / puddle. I've tried adjusting lighter and darker on the lens and will say the lighter setting seems to help but I still have trouble seeing the material / puddle. I thought maybe oneof the more experienced welders might have a suggestion other than turning the lights out shruggy beer

Re: Welder Purchase Advice [Re: TJP] #2990816
12/01/21 11:47 AM
12/01/21 11:47 AM
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PA.
pittsburghracer Offline
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Taping a bifocal lens to my helmet was a big help at my age. They are available at your local welding supply shops.


1970 Duster
Edelbrock headed 408
5.984@112.52
422 Indy headed small block
5.982@112.56 mph
9.42@138.27

Livin and lovin life one day at a time




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