Best Welder For A Beginner ?

[s14>integra]

I would definitely vote for getting class time. I'm taking welding classes at my school and I've learned Oxy and Arc welding(Or stick welding as some people call it). And after using nice welders and seeing how much they really help I would definitely recommend saving up to get a nice welder. If it's something you are serious about why cheap out and get something that will be harder to make pretty welds with? If you just wanna throw some metal on then by all means buy something from Home Depot. lol

[bb4_96]

For me it wasn't as much as everyone else I guess

Millermatic 130 - $300
65cf tank filled - $150
regulator - $100
hoses/wire/contact tips ~ $100
cart(casters and angle iron) - $20

Only time I need a Tig is for aluminum and thick stuff. Either buy a lincoln or miller mig, there just isn't enough support from the suppliers/weld shops for the smaller brands. Plus I've heard things about them not being able to ramp up fast enough. Definitely buy a gas compatible machine as only having flux core capability will leave something to be desired down the road. Don't think you need to go out and buy a $124387235706972 Tig setup if you're only doing basic repairs, especially if you are a novice welder. It's much better to suck with a $600 investment than a $876895976359 one.

[tinys s14]

I bought a small arc welder from harbor freight

[Darren]

Where i'm from, we don't have "harbour freight" but we have a store very similar called "Princess Auto".

After having bought one of these cheapy Migs (90) and using it for a couple years, i can say that i'm 100% sure it's stunted my growth as a welder.

Don't bother with the crap, save your $300 and put it towards a real unit. After trying a couple of friends' welders (Miller 220 & Lincoln 140); there is no comparison. You will struggle at welding everything and wonder if it's you or the machine. I guarantee that most of the time it'll be the machine.

Even if you save $500 - $600 and look for a sale for a 140 amp Lincoln or Miller 110 unit, you'll be doing yourself a HUGE favor.

Good luck

[doubleclutchinlikeishould]

I bought a Craftsman 130 for $150 off a mechanic I work with- it was practically brand new. Set up for fluxcore. Got my hands on a 20lb bottle, had it filled with argon, bought an auto darkening mask and a spool of wire, and Im welding up to 1/8" steel with decent penetration for under $300.

Its no Miller 220, but for sheet metal or exhaust work, it does the job. I actually modified my front bumper core to fit my intercooler, and welded it up with this. Works for me.

Definitely go with a Mig though. Definitely the most versatile in the automotive industry. Tig is way outta your pricerange, and youll probably just blow through everything with a stick welder.

[turbo2nr]

good thread!

can some one post use full info about welders

i.e.
- what amps and volts are good for what metals
- what to look for in a mig
- different gasses to use and what purpose to use for
- different wires to use for different material
- heat ranges
- fair price ranges for used welders
- needs for welding - steel, stainless steel, exhaust,aluminum ect

im such a noob to welding but id like to pick up a welder soon and start to mess around.

[bb4_96]

^ Miller's website has all of that info. Tables, charts, guides, all of it.

[doubleclutchinlikeishould]

Originally Posted by turbo2nr

good thread!

can some one post use full info about welders

i.e.
- what amps and volts are good for what metals
- what to look for in a mig
- different gasses to use and what purpose to use for
- different wires to use for different material
- heat ranges
- fair price ranges for used welders
- needs for welding - steel, stainless steel, exhaust,aluminum ect

im such a noob to welding but id like to pick up a welder soon and start to mess around.

The voltage/amperage will determine the power of the welder- IE, the thickness of the metal that you can weld. If your welder isnt powerful enough to penetrate into the metal, youre essentially just "gluing" metal parts together, rather than actually making them one peice. I think a 220 Miller is good to 3/16 or 1/4" thick, but it really depends on the model.

What to look for in a mig- honestly, I just buy the biggest I can afford, which wasnt that big. The wire you use is dependent upon the metal youre welding... ie aluminum wire with aluminum. The wire thickness is dependent upon the thickness of the workpiece (how much penetration you need). The gas is also dependent upon the metal being welded. Steel is welded with argon, stainless with argon and co2, and ive never welded aluminum so i cant help ya there. There are a lot of variations of the gas of choice depending on the situation.

The idea behind the gas is to protect the arc from oxygen. Oxygen will turn your weld into shit. By laying a film of argon, or whatever, over the arc, it prevents the weld from rapid oxidation. Fluxcore and stick welding accomplish this differently than MIG or TIG. The "IG" in both MIG and TIG stands for Inert Gas, which obviously indicates that they use a gas. Stick and fluxcore use flux, a ceramicish kinda material that burns off as the electrode burns down. As the flux burns, it also prevents oxygen from reaching the weld, but it leaves behind a residue called "slag," (more common with stick welding). Stick and fluxcore generally dont produce as "pretty" of welds, but fluxcore is by far the cheapest setup.

If you want a QUALITY welder, stick with a Miller, Hobart, or Lincoln- and spend over $400 on a used one. Anything cheaper than that (unless its a really good deal) wont be powerful enough. My 110v does the job for stupid stuff, but to do any REAL welding, I need at least a 220.

Hope that helped.

[BoostSlideWayz]

thanks for the info and all the responds guys... I think what ima do is maybe hope i get some money for my birfday haha. so far ive made and extra 140 $ so im just gonna wait till my b day hopfully be able to spend maybe 8 to 900 o a welder then.. and then save up for the other stuff like gas, sticks, mask , gloves, etc.

I would really like to have a tig because ive been watching lots of videos on the end result and the welds just look soo good. i will study more and read any more replies because lots of you guys seem like experienced welders witch is great to learn from!

[turbo2nr]

doubleclutchinlikeishould- awesome post clears up alot

thanks!

[atutt]

Fuck this thread makes my brain bleed...

How many people are actually Welders for a living?
Apparently everyone.

Take my advice. I'm a CWB and TSSA cert'd welder and have been for about 7-8 years..

If you want to weld. Don't touch an electric welder. Pick up some torches and learn how to has weld and braze...You'll be a far better welder in the end. And you'll pick it up and appreciate it more.

I wish I had done this... I can't use a set of torches efficiently to save my life...

[PerilousActs]

^^ completely agree. That's on my list of things to pick up over the summer.

Here's a Hobart 175 for $425, doubt it'd be worth shipping, but maybe it'll help someone:
Hobart welder

[doubleclutchinlikeishould]

atutt, I agree with you that learning to weld with acetylene will produce a much better welder in the long run, as the skills translate almost directly to tig. However, given that the OP is not a welder by profession, nor is he looking to become one, I cant say Id suggest spending several hundred (or thousand) bucks on an acetylene setup and all the materials to go with it for the sole purpose of learning how to weld. If his ultimate goal is simply to be able to put two peices of metal together, MIG is it. A monkey could MIG weld- and thats what makes MIG so great. Its easy, its relatively cheap, and its effective. If the goal is to learn to weld, Id say start with stick, then move to acetylene, then TIG. If the goal is to be able to weld in the most cost effective way, MIG all day.

[IBoughtAS13]

I have a Miller Passport 907401 at my shop. It is a really good welding machine and will weld up to 3/8" think steel.

There is a setting for wire speed as every person moves at a different rate. You are also able to set the voltage depending on the thickness of the wire you are using. It has a small bottle on the inside to be portable so you won't have to carry around a 20lb bottle.

There are different types of welding machines. You have Tig, Arc and Mig. I am a fan of Mig for quickly tacking things up like intercooler brackets and Tig for welding intercooler pipes.

Buy a good welding machine and you won't be disappointed.

[Tops*]

A quality 110 V will definitely take care of most automotive applications.

I'm really starting to feel like stitch welding, 50-point roll cages, and custom fabrication work are going to become the next ricer mods.

"My welds have absolutely zero penetration, but not only does my DIY shit welding add more HP than my stickers, my hella ill stitch welding will not crack when I pull 3 g's while touge drifting and my custom 50-point roll cage will definitely not crumble nor my harness bar break off when I crash and roll my car!"




On a side note:

For starters,

A great TIG welder is a great arc (stick) and MIG welder.

A great arc welder is a great MIG welder and a decent TIG welder.

A great MIG welder is a decent arc welder and a lesser decent TIG welder.

Flux core gets zero respect from me since I hate it, haha.

Take a class and learn how to efficiently and effectively weld. Take a MIG course first and learn how to run a straight bead and work on metal with various thicknesses. Then take an arc welding course and learn different joint/pipe welding and bend test your welds. Finally, take on the art of TIG welding and enjoy how clean it is. Very general curriculum, lol.

[Gordo714]

take a class bro you learn so much so quick. this is my first semester at local community college and already am getting the hang of it ..so far i have done oxy fuel and arc 6013 and 6010 rod..6010 rod had been giving me the most difficulty whipping the rode takes time though good luck with it

[pandaroo]

Originally Posted by Tops*

On a side note:

For starters,

A great TIG welder is a great arc (stick) and MIG welder.

A great arc welder is a great MIG welder and a decent TIG welder.

A great MIG welder is a decent arc welder and a lesser decent TIG welder.

Flux core gets zero respect from me since I hate it, haha.

uh... this is wrong. tig and stick use constant current power sources(you controll heat you changing the amperage). while mig uses constant voltage power sources. so you cant do mig on a tig/stick machine, or tig/stick on a mig machine unless its a multi process machine.

[atutt]

Originally Posted by pandaroo

uh... this is wrong. tig and stick use constant current power sources(you controll heat you changing the amperage). while mig uses constant voltage power sources. so you cant do mig on a tig/stick machine, or tig/stick on a mig machine unless its a multi process machine.

This is why I said this......

Originally Posted by atutt

Fuck this thread makes my brain bleed...

How many people are actually Welders for a living?
Apparently everyone.

Take my advice. I'm a CWB and TSSA cert'd welder and have been for about 7-8 years..

If you want to weld. Don't touch an electric welder. Pick up some torches and learn how to has weld and braze...You'll be a far better welder in the end. And you'll pick it up and appreciate it more.

I wish I had done this... I can't use a set of torches efficiently to save my life...

There seem to be a lot of" I bought a welder so I'm a welder and I know what I'm talking about" types in this thread....

[UNISA JECS]

Well I just finally saved enough $$$$$ and purchased that Miller Dynasty 200DX lastnight so can't wait till it gets here and start learning how to weld.

[sr20sean]

Originally Posted by UNISA JECS

Well I just finally saved enough $$$$$ and purchased that Miller Dynasty 200DX lastnight so can't wait till it gets here and start learning how to weld.

you spent 3k to learn to weld?

[UNISA JECS]

Originally Posted by sr20sean

you spent 3k to learn to weld?

Its a TIG machine (AC & DC) for what I wanna do MIG was not the right choice, yes its cheaper by alot but a TIG mcahine is much better suited for doing thin material stuff like intercooler piping and exhaust, ofcourse you can do MIG but like I said TIG is better suited for doing this stuff and get good clean results granted you know how to TIG weld.

Actually ~$4.1k just so I can learn and do my own intercooler piping and ofcourse make money with it in time. Still need a bottle and a cart maybe i'll make my own, will see the expensive shit is outta the way thank god.

[atutt]

Shoulda spent $400 on a transformer TIG to learn how to weld...
Better yet... an oxy/acetylene set up....
You're going to frustrate yourself with all the bells and whistles on that machine.....

Does anyone actually take what I say into consideration???? At all????

[atutt]

Originally Posted by s14>integra

I would definitely vote for getting class time. I'm taking welding classes at my school and I've learned Oxy and Arc welding(Or stick welding as some people call it). And after using nice welders and seeing how much they really help I would definitely recommend saving up to get a nice welder. If it's something you are serious about why cheap out and get something that will be harder to make pretty welds with? If you just wanna throw some metal on then by all means buy something from Home Depot. lol

You buy a cheap one to learn to weld on so you don't fry your new expensive machine. And so you can ACTUALLY use all the features that expensive welder comes with...

Why spend $4k if you can only use $2k worth of the machines capabilities?


Some people here make my brain bleed..........

[UNISA JECS]

Originally Posted by atutt

Shoulda spent $400 on a transformer TIG to learn how to weld...
Better yet... an oxy/acetylene set up....
You're going to frustrate yourself with all the bells and whistles on that machine.....

Does anyone actually take what I say into consideration???? At all????

Im good at teaching myself shit, I gotta nack for shit, would never invest in sumthing that im not gonna use to its full potential. Purchased a Lathe and a Mill and had absolutely no training what so ever and those machines have done paid them selfs off many times over, infact those machines bought this TIG welder from the date I posted on teh first page till last nite is how long it took me to raise the funds for this machine, plus I didn't go out to much and spend money lol.

Don't want a transformer machine I work from home and I also need 110v capabilty as well and want somehting portable and this thing is tiny in comparison to a transformer type machine.

[sr20sean]

Originally Posted by UNISA JECS

Its a TIG machine (AC & DC) for what I wanna do MIG was not the right choice, yes its cheaper by alot but a TIG mcahine is much better suited for doing thin material stuff like intercooler piping and exhaust, ofcourse you can do MIG but like I said TIG is better suited for doing this stuff and get good clean results granted you know how to TIG weld.

Actually ~$4.1k just so I can learn and do my own intercooler piping and ofcourse make money with it in time. Still need a bottle and a cart maybe i'll make my own, will see the expensive shit is outta the way thank god.

get a large bottle if you have the money to. generally its not much more to fill than a small bottle. most of the cost is mainly just for labor lol.

[UNISA JECS]

Originally Posted by sr20sean

get a large bottle if you have the money to. generally its not much more to fill than a small bottle. most of the cost is mainly just for labor lol.

I will, I dont cheap out on shit even if it's gonna cost me and arm a leg lol I can always hop on one leg. But I know learning to TIG aint gonna be easy (but I like challanges) because both hads are required and that in itself is gonna be challanging, I wish I was ambidextrous to begin with oh well i'll have to teach the other side haha

[duffman1278]

Originally Posted by atutt

Shoulda spent $400 on a transformer TIG to learn how to weld...
Better yet... an oxy/acetylene set up....
You're going to frustrate yourself with all the bells and whistles on that machine.....

Does anyone actually take what I say into consideration???? At all????

IMO it just seems like you're overly concerned with having people (on this thread) learn to weld for their certifications or to do this for structural type jobs. You should and I'm sure you do, realize that most of us are just home hobbyist trying to do our own fabrication.

Sure it's not a bad idea to start with oxy and get a feel for other welding methods but is it entirely needed? UNI bought a 4k$ welding setup because obviously he can afford it, what's so bad in that?

I don't think there's anything wrong with learning with the setup he has, plus those machines will last forever so he's got plenty of time practice, read up and continue to practice. Nothing wrong with practice and learning from mistakes. In time him, as well as others can start picking up different settings and learning what all the bells and whistle do and how they can use them.

[UNISA JECS]

Yup^^^ I mean I could easily have picked up a MIG welder and learned how to weld thin gauge piping with it by setting it up as best as possible to achieve best results without burning threw it, and would be alot easier to learn but that would be money wasted because in the end im gonna want a TIG machine, and not a whole lot I can see from using a MIG machine is going to carry over to a TIG mcahine a great deal anyways, totally different IMO. TIG looks and seems to me to be a welding process that takes a good amount of skill to get good results and I like that. MIG looks easy as hell to do and I like that to but i'll mostly be working with thinner stuff and MIG's dont go down low enough on amps and it be really easy to blow holes in shit.

[atutt]

Originally Posted by duffman1278

IMO it just seems like you're overly concerned with having people (on this thread) learn to weld for their certifications or to do this for structural type jobs. You should and I'm sure you do, realize that most of us are just home hobbyist trying to do our own fabrication.

A home hobbyist spending $4k on a tool with which he has ZERO experience with? Makes perfect sense to me..... I can understand the hobbyist picking up a MIG from a hardware store... Or a used $500 transformer TIG... Or even a used inverter... THAT makes sense to me.

Sure it's not a bad idea to start with oxy and get a feel for other welding methods but is it entirely needed? UNI bought a 4k$ welding setup because obviously he can afford it, what's so bad in that?

Starting with oxy carries over more useful skills than JUST welding.... Is it needed? No. Although it's a bloody good idea for someone who obviously wants to make money doing this sort of thing.Then there's the benefits of having torches in the first place.
There's nothing wrong with being able to afford fancy tools. But it's like being able to afford and buying a .50 cal hand gun when you've never touched a gun before. Or buying a ZO6 when you've never driven before. See where I'm going with that?

I don't think there's anything wrong with learning with the setup he has, plus those machines will last forever so he's got plenty of time practice, read up and continue to practice. Nothing wrong with practice and learning from mistakes. In time him, as well as others can start picking up different settings and learning what all the bells and whistle do and how they can use them.

Those machines DON'T last forever (Mainly referring to the inverter style setup. They're just not built like the good old transformers). Just because it carries a red or blue paint doesn't mean it's indestructible. Don't get it in your head they will last forever because of the name.. I've seen many Hobarts, Lincolns, Millers, Canox, Thermal Arcs etc, fail...

Originally Posted by UNISA JECS

Yup^^^ I mean I could easily have picked up a MIG welder and learned how to weld thin gauge piping with it by setting it up as best as possible to achieve best results without burning threw it, and would be alot easier to learn but that would be money wasted because in the end im gonna want a TIG machine, and not a whole lot I can see from using a MIG machine is going to carry over to a TIG mcahine a great deal anyways, totally different IMO (This is where oxy/acetylene carries over to TIG). TIG looks and seems to me to be a welding process that takes a good amount of skill to get good results and I like that. MIG looks easy as hell to do and I like that to but i'll mostly be working with thinner stuff and MIG's dont go down low enough on amps and it be really easy to blow holes in shit. (Maybe MIG isn't so easy for you then?)

All those bells and whistles are great.
But you won't become a good welder if you can't weld well with the bare necessities.
(Don't think I'm hating on inverters. I own one myself)

I see these threads and all they say are "I wanna makes purrdy dimes with purrdy colors"...

I hope that was all coherent... I'm fucking tired....