What welder to buy with my b-day money?

[sharkey]

i got a lincon mig pack 100 when i did my headers and exaust. its a 110v welder comes with flux core, but i upgraded to gas sheilding right off the bat. its a very nice welder and was under $900 canadian after i got a helmet and carts and stuff. it welds very nice, im very happy with it. it will weld up to 5/16 plate

110v welders arent always a waste of time. more often than not, i see guys doing body work and exaust work with a 110v welder. if you dont need to weld real thick stuff (over 1/4") a 220v welder may be overkill.

[RacerX11]

I agree. My 110v Miller135 does MORE than enough for automotive welding projects. My headers and all of my custom brackets and mounts don't seem like a waste of time to me. I have done 1/4" steel with 0.023" wire and the temp only turned up ~65%. Show me anything on a car that needs to be welded that is thicker than 1/4". For anything thicker, I would prefer a stick welder anyway, which can be had cheap.

Marty

[geoffinbc]

Why would you prefer a stick welder for thicker stuff? That is not an intelligent statement. Name a reason you would choose stick over wire feed?

Besides cost and portability wire feed has far more beneficial advantages over stick.

[eliteweapons]

Oh come on now. Insulting my intelligence? Large steel and pipework uses stick weld for the higher amperage and larger filler materials. All of the large jobs that we do that have to be x-rayed are done using a stick welder. Its not economical for a mig in time or materials because of the number of passes it would take to get the same results and the torch leads are way too short. Can't hardly take a mig 30 feet in the ceiling or move within 100 foot radius of your welder too easily as with a stick its simple just 1 stinger and a box of rods, plant you ground on a nearby beam and go. I have a mig for quick small stuff but the heavy guages need a stick for propler penetration and faster fill. Example a .030 wire versus a 1/8 rod. the .030 wire cannot melt at a high enough temp for full penetration on 1/2" to 1" steel. and a mig that will do up to 1/2 inch in a single pass like the millermatic 251 is gonna run ya about $2000. The lincon ac/dc 255 only goes for $389 delivered so what one is more economical for my needs right now? a stick. I want the syncrowave 250 but am not willing to throw away $3400 on the full running gear unit.

[RacerX11]

Why would you prefer a stick welder for thicker stuff? That is not an intelligent statement. Name a reason you would choose stick over wire feed?

Why would you bring my intelligence into this discussion? Have you ever even used a stick welder? I am guessing NO, based on your ignorant response. Or, maybe you tried once, but stick requires skill to weld properly, so you gave up and went back to the easier MIG method?

I prefer stick for thick stuff because it works better for me. I think eliteweapons covered it pretty good. I like stick beacuase you can work upside down (unlike MIG). Stick is not affected by air movement (ever tried to MIG outside on a windy day?). Stick can weld really thick material with one pass, instead of the several it takes with a MIG (even a larger 220V MIG). Like flux-cored wire welding, stick is much more tolerant of welding dirty metal. There, 4 reasons for you.

Don't discount stick for thicker stuff just becasue you either don't understand it or don't posess the skill to do it properly. I love my MIG for small stuff, but stick still has its advanatges.

Marty

[bud36light]

I love a good welding discussion/disagreement. If you take ten people who are "welders" most likely there is one welder in the bunch. Just read the previous posts. Staying on topic the guy says he needs an all around burner. Doesnt want to spend a whole bunch of money(who does). If your only going to be using it on vehicles and "thin stuff" and dont really have the experience the light duty wire feeds will probably do. If your looking into the future then maybe you might want to upgrade a little. If you just want cheap then buy you a little AC buzzbox and grab some 7018AC rods and go to work. I came across one way back for 50 bucks. Sheet metal gets tricky but this is in my opinion the elcheapo way to go. Hell if you know the right guy he will convert the 225 Link into a DC welder which gives better results and is more forgiving than AC. BTW I like the comment about MIGs and the wind. WOW. Ive had some interesting deals outside with the MIG/TIG ball and chain thing. Give me the stick outside!

[bszopi]

I picked up my stick welder for $75 I think and although its not the easiest way to weld, it is a cheap way to learn. If you've never welded before, I wouldn't suggest spending $800+ on a welder. Gotta learn the basics somewhere, so stick is the cheapest way to go.

[geoffinbc]

Why would you prefer a stick welder for thicker stuff? That is not an intelligent statement. Name a reason you would choose stick over wire feed?

Why would you bring my intelligence into this discussion? Have you ever even used a stick welder? I am guessing NO, based on your ignorant response. Or, maybe you tried once, but stick requires skill to weld properly, so you gave up and went back to the easier MIG method?

I prefer stick for thick stuff because it works better for me. I think eliteweapons covered it pretty good. I like stick beacuase you can work upside down (unlike MIG). Stick is not affected by air movement (ever tried to MIG outside on a windy day?). Stick can weld really thick material with one pass, instead of the several it takes with a MIG (even a larger 220V MIG). Like flux-cored wire welding, stick is much more tolerant of welding dirty metal. There, 4 reasons for you.

Don't discount stick for thicker stuff just becasue you either don't understand it or don't posess the skill to do it properly. I love my MIG for small stuff, but stick still has its advanatges.

Marty

Have I ever tried stick I am a welder I use it all the time. Fillet welds, groove welds, hardsurfacing and cast iron. Saying that stick allows for more amperage and the ability to weld thicker metal is the stupidest thing I have ever herd. This is why I questioned intelligence. I knew someone was going to say "stick is better for thick stuff." I run 3/32" metal core in spray transfer and can weld 1/2" in 1 (very fast) pass or 1" in about 3, were talking about 300A here. You could never do this with stick in the time it takes to do it in wire. Why do you think every good shop uses wire? It costs more to begin with and equip but production far exceeds stick. With stick you have to start and stop every time your rod is spent. Every tie in you do you have to clean before you start up again. Ever pass you lay over the previous you must chip and clean.
Yes things like wind or drafts will affect your sheilding gas but you just brought up the miracle of self sheilding wire at the end of your paragraph.

Stick IS NOT much more tolerant of dirty metal. It all depends on the rod you are using just like with wire feed (solid, flux or self sheilding flux core) depends on the wire and/or the gas you are using.

Tell me why you cannot run wire feed upside down? I do it every day in solid core (pulse spray) flux core and flux core self shield. So yea I don't get that. I find wire feed far easier to weld overhead. The only thing easier about welding stick overhead is that your stinger is lighter than a wire feed gun so you can hold your arms up longer.

Like I said besides cost and portability (portability means being able to extend 30' in the air, without lugging a wire feeder or weld on a moving pipeline) wire feed has far more advantages over stick.

[geoffinbc]

I picked up my stick welder for $75 I think and although its not the easiest way to weld, it is a cheap way to learn. If you've never welded before, I wouldn't suggest spending $800+ on a welder. Gotta learn the basics somewhere, so stick is the cheapest way to go.

Brad what rod are you running? Go pick up some 6013, 7024 or 7018 (7018 must stay in a sealed dry container or an oven above 100*C) they run really smooth and provide high tensil strength. With a 1/8" or 3/32" rod you could do exhaust work.

[eliteweapons]

I just added a lincoln ac/dc 225 to my garage and am going to add a tig torch to it. The mig is ok for smaller stuff but also wanted a tig option. A really good tig was $2800 with the basics (miller syncrowave 250). A little more than I need right now. The stick welder can hit up to 1 inch plate with a root pass and 2 finals. Always nice to add some extra reinforcement to the skid plates on the truck for rocks. It all depends on what you are going to be welding and what type of welders you have used. Oh home depot has the best deal I could find on the 225 ac/dc for $389.00 delivered!!! Good hunting.

Oh come on now. Insulting my intelligence? Large steel and pipework uses stick weld for the higher amperage and larger filler materials. All of the large jobs that we do that have to be x-rayed are done using a stick welder. Its not economical for a mig in time or materials because of the number of passes it would take to get the same results and the torch leads are way too short. Can't hardly take a mig 30 feet in the ceiling or move within 100 foot radius of your welder too easily as with a stick its simple just 1 stinger and a box of rods, plant you ground on a nearby beam and go. I have a mig for quick small stuff but the heavy guages need a stick for propler penetration and faster fill. Example a .030 wire versus a 1/8 rod. the .030 wire cannot melt at a high enough temp for full penetration on 1/2" to 1" steel. and a mig that will do up to 1/2 inch in a single pass like the millermatic 251 is gonna run ya about $2000. The lincon ac/dc 255 only goes for $389 delivered so what one is more economical for my needs right now? a stick. I want the syncrowave 250 but am not willing to throw away $3400 on the full running gear unit.


I thought I covered it pretty good here as to why I bought the stick but to clarify its the cost of what I wanted versus what I need. Oh and by the way I am a welder too and we do fabrication and pipework on site. So why would you question my intelligence if you can't comprehend what I am saying here?

[geoffinbc]

I never quoted you. I quoted racer.

Your right stick has the advantage of cost and portability. I said that in the begining. I am agreeing with you. However it is not intelligent to say "stick is good for the big stuff" when wire feed (not .035 or .045) is very capable of anything "big." No one would ever use .035 wire if you are trying to penetrate into 1", obviously you are going to be using heavy metal core and running 300+ amps in spray transfer.

[eliteweapons]

I never quoted you. I quoted racer.

Your right stick has the advantage of cost and portability. I said that in the begining. I am agreeing with you. However it is not intelligent to say "stick is good for the big stuff" when wire feed (not .035 or .045) is very capable of anything "big." No one would ever use .035 wire if you are trying to penetrate into 1", obviously you are going to be using heavy metal core and running 300+ amps in spray transfer.

Sorry I thought you were talking to me. I prefer the stick on larger stuff because its a cheaper route for my garage.

[bud36light]

as I said, a good welding discussion....

[bud36light]

The topic asks for opinions on a welder. Not Your ability. Read my previous post. People who say they "weld" are comparable to assholes, everyones got one. Not dissing anyone but hell, why argue your ability? Start with a 225 ac stick and go from there. Go with what works best for you. Heard plenty and seen plenty of "welders" but witnessed very few who weld. For 6/60 stuff grab a cheap wire feed and if you need any heavy stuff done have an experienced fabricator do it for you and look over his/her shoulder. Like I said if cheap is what you want sap up a 225 lincoln. Good solid box. Good learning too. Any one who defends their welding must think there is something wrong with it. Guess you never had one Xrayed to see if your good enough huh?

[geoffinbc]

LOL Trying to heat things up hey?

You know how topics go man. They always stray. Besides no one quoted ability we were just stating how on process is advantageous over another and arguing points to defend our statement. No one ever tried to claim they have never failed an x-ray or never once had a weld break on a bend test.