What welder do you have in the garage

I am searching the market for a welder. I want to be able to weld not only sheet metal on our classic cars, but also be able to weld tube steel and or aluminum for old bicycles etc.

I know that a Mig is best for sheet metal and also from my understanding easier to do. Ive read that Tig welding is a form of Arc welding but easier than your standard Arc welder.

Do you own a Mig, Tig or Arc? Or all three. I do not have deep pockets and would like to purchase one welder to tackle my projects. Car, bikes and any other hobbies. This is for a hobby so I do not see spending a fortune but id like to own something decent that can tackle my projects. From welding in a new floor panel to putting together a bike frame or art project. Any advice or recommendations welcome.

Ray in Texas

Ray,

I have a lincoln mig that uses regular household current. it works pretty well. I also have a big 220v arc but haven’t used it in years. have yet to tig.. I think my lincoln is a 135. you will also have to count on the gas, you can either buy a gas tank or rent.

we built the railing for the house w/ that little welder. my welding supply place has a mig they sell for around $300 that comes with a good warranty. or get a small hobart or miller.

link to $299 welder they tried to sell me at my local welder’s supply. have not used this welder, but it comes w/ a warranty and is about as cheap as you can find. they also sell a $699 miller

http://www.praxairdirect.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PXItemDisplay?storeId=10152&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&itemID=65670&categoryId=11626&top_category=11503&parent_category_rn=11625

Thanks for the info. Ive been told before that Miller and Hobart are the way to go which im pretty sure it will be Hobart I will buy. Northern tools has them at a decent price.

My confusion is- can a Mig welder weld together a Bicycle frame well, or a steel stand for a aquarium filled with water at 2000lbs or would I be better of with a Tig welder. Then again is the Tig welder suitable to weld new sheet metal on a Auto body. That is where i'm at. I want one well rounded machine that can tackle what ever it is that I may need to do. Sounds like a decent mig should be able to do so.

Im thinking the Hobart 140 FluxWire/Mig is the one I might purchase.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200306073_200306073

I’m sure the mig can weld up an aquarium stand. as long as it’s engineered well. as for the bike… I’m not sure. I think my mig can do stainless, and aluminum… but I’m not sure. there is a wire to be switched over so it operates DC for the alloys,

I’m certain a tig will work for auto body but may have a steeper learning curve.

I have a MIG and an Oxy/Acet setup. I can weld steel up to about 1/4 with the MIG. It is not pretty, but effective (flux core wire). The Oxy/Acet let's you do "prettier" work, plus you can braze and use it as a cutter. The MIG is what I use for body work, as you want to keep the heat to a minimum (warping). The TIG is the best for bodywork, nice solid seams less warping. But it is pricier. I think I will want to get one eventually. But I'm just a garage hack. Short answer is you can do just about anything with a $120 Harbor Freight MIG with a little practice.

[i]Lincoln stick welder= heavy stuff- mig welder 110V for light stuff & body panels & such.Tig is great yet much more to learn and somewhat difficult to master @ beginning.tig will weld alu & stainless woth correct wires.Best one is one that alsouses a gas bottle attachment to aid in any no-flux wire - had that also. My latest mig was bought from harbor freight & was under $100.00 bukx -works great.

Ac/dc tig would be the most versatile way to go, you could weld all types and thicknesses of metal. I would probably not recommend tig as your first welder though. You would do great with a mig setup, they weld fine for most of what you are looking for, but for welding aluminum bike frames, tig would be the way to go. If I could only use one welder, it would be a tig welder. (+ you can arc weld with a tig machine).

Thanks guys, this info helped a lot! Going to go with a Mig. All though I could get a Harbor Freight i still prefer something a little better so I will see what I will end up with.

I will wait and get a Tig later.

I use a lincoln mig for the light duty, and a lincoln arc welder for the heavy stuff. the mig is a SP-100, and real easy to use, and is 110 volt. It can weld 1/4 inch with a couple of passes. The arc is a 225 amp and will melt just about anything with the right rod. I use the gas for the mig and found it to be less toxic for me over the flux core wire (more smoke with flux core wire). Also found that flux core wire would gum up my buddies miller mig liner. Also have oxy/cet unit as well which comes in real handy.

Lincoln MIG HD100 110V, flux core, use it just about daily.

used to have an oxy/acet torch which I used for welding but it got rather spensive buying gas all of the time. I switched to the mig and although I can't get as nice of welds, there are advantages to being able to zap a spot weld anywhere.

I was looking at the Lincolns also, thanks for the tips guys

i have a mig and a stick, both lincoln. the mig is good for sheetmetal and bodywork, pretty welds dont matter if your going to grind smooth anyway. anything 1/4" and up or anything structural, i use a lincoln 225. not much good for welding in a quarter pannel but perfect for heavier stuff like building a trailer hitch or fabricating brackets. never had a tig, wouldnt know what to do with it. i have both and need both but i would rather burn a hole in light metal than have a weld fail on a dump bed or trailer hitch.

jrinaman wrote:i have a mig and a stick, both lincoln. the mig is good for sheetmetal and bodywork, pretty welds dont matter if your going to grind smooth anyway. anything 1/4" and up or anything structural, i use a lincoln 225. not much good for welding in a quarter pannel but perfect for heavier stuff like building a trailer hitch or fabricating brackets. never had a tig, wouldnt know what to do with it. i have both and need both but i would rather burn a hole in light metal than have a weld fail on a dump bed or trailer hitch.

Good to know on the Lincoln stick 225 I was wondering about that one. I've seen a couple on craigslist.

I'd decided on a Miller 210 Mig back some 5 to 6 years ago and it does everything that I could ask of it very well. I also have an Oxy/Acet tourch setup that is mostly used for cutting and a bit of brazing now and then. I'm happy with them. Scott...

I'm with Big W... you can weld any thickness with a 110V MIG (I have a low-end Lincoln), but you will have to learn how to weld in multiple passes to get the weld metal built up and properly penetrate. I have a 110V stick welder too, but I never use it anymore. Lincoln, Hobart or Miller, you will never have any problems getting consumables, accessories or spare parts. Good luck.

sasktrini wrote:I'm with Big W... you can weld any thickness with a 110V MIG (I have a low-end Lincoln), but you will have to learn how to weld in multiple passes to get the weld metal built up and properly penetrate. I have a 110V stick welder too, but I never use it anymore. Lincoln, Hobart or Miller, you will never have any problems getting consumables, accessories or spare parts. Good luck.

Mine will definitely be a Hobart or a Lincoln. Miller out of my price range. From my understanding Hobart is Millers lower brand..

I've got a cheap no name that needs to go into the garbage. You get what you pay for, for sure. It was free and it make the simple jobs hard.

I have an old miller that I bought at a garage sale it was old, but it was like the ones I used at work in the 1970's Tool & Die. I need one like this to weld up aluminum.

I also have a cheap wire 110 welder that I use for bicycles

The back rim on that chopper is AWESOME

I have 2 welders, a Lincoln 180 MIG and a Miller Diversion 180 TIG.

While TIG will give you a much prettier weld and can weld much thicker metal, for your average person this isnt a huge necessity. My MIG can weld up to 1/4 inch easily, I have built some heavy duty structures and have never had a failure.

I would recommend going with a 220 volt welder if you can, they have a much better duty cycle and will handle more use and last longer. I also picked up a SG100 spoolgun for my Lincoln that does a decent job welding aluminum as long as it isnt REAL thin stuff. The only problem with this is that it requires a different shielding gas than steel welding so you have 2 choices, buy 2 tanks or buy a 100% tank for aluminum and FLUX for steel. I hate using flux core wire so I went with option 1, the 100% tank I use for both my MIG aluminum and with my TIG.

The BIG difference between MIG and TIG is the price! You can pick up a Lincoln 180 at Lowe's with a $50 coupon for about $600, my Miller Diversion TIG was $2000. You can weld ANYTHING with a TIG and it looks 10X better than a MIG without all the grinding and rework but you can buy a ton of paddle wheels for an angle grinder for the $1400 difference.

Determine your budge, what it will be used for and power supply. If your going to use it in your shop/garage and if you got 220 available, spring for the 220 volt welder, you will be doing yourself a favor. You wont have to be looking for another welder if a heavier duty job comes up.

Check out all the online tutorials you can before starting to weld. Burning up a bunch of nozzles and having poor welds can be frustrating and ruin the experience not to mention be dangerous if it is a structural weld and it fails. Remember that just having a BIG bead on a joint is not what makes a good weld, the penetration between the 2 materials is the key, the bead is just filler material to make up for the 2 materials melting togethher.

Your machine settings make a huge difference so learn about your machine. If it has pre-setting selectors and not potentiometer dials (especially on wire feed rate), try to stay away from it as these can make getting a better weld, especially when first starting out, a lot harder

I agree with the others that if you are new to welding, stay away from TIG, it is WAY harder and takes a lot of practice. If you are not going to be welding 75% of your time on Aluminum and Stainless Steel, there is no need to waste the money on it. You can get a Lincoln spool gun for under $200 and will do most of the aluminum jobs a regular person in their shop could need.

I have a Lincoln ARC 240v "tombstone", I borrow my brothers wire feed buzz box when I need it.

what is a lincoln spool gun?

Welding Aluminum uses a different kind of current and gas to weld with, also the wire is so flexible or fragile that going through the whole machine and out the torch would just break it and it would never weld right. So a spool gun actually holds the wire and controls the current, it uses AC just like Flux welding does but uses 100% Argon gas instead of a 75%/25% mix like MIG does.

Using Flux Core wire is not MIG welding, it is wire feed welding. MIG = Metal inert gas, which is where the 75/25 gas puts a protective barrier around the material being welded. Flux wire is kind of like old stick welders where the outside, the white powerdery covering, protects the inside filler stick creating a barrier around the welding material. This is why Flux still uses AC to weld with no gas and not DC like MIG does.

I was wrong about the model number for the spoolgun it is a 100SG. Here is a picture of what I have.

ok, i have a wire feed welder with mig capabilities. never bought the gas and tank. does the spool gun connect to a welder? or is it a welder itself?