Like everything else we do, practice makes perfect. Stay safe. Have fun.
I guess I'm going back to school
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Kenbo
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I know it's a little premature, but I'm just doing a little research. For all you welding folks out there, if you could only choose one, what would be your recommendation for the perfect, all around "at home" welding machine? Brand name and model, and why? All input is appreciated.
Personally, I wouldn't opt for just one, having had 2 for quite some time now. They both have their strong points.
However, if I absolutely had too...
https://www.millerwelds.com/equipme...nderbolt-xl-225-150-ac-dc-stick-welder-m16100
Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC Stick Welder - With the right rod, and a little practice, almost as versatile on light steel as a mig, yet when you need the ability to weld heavier steel it has the power to do it.
With a mig, you're tapped out at about 3/16" - 1/4" steel. You can work around that to some extent by preheating your material as you weld, but even then you aren't going to reach the upper limits of the stick welder. Welding up bumpers for the jeep is out of the question.
If you do the stick welder and a decent torch, anything to light for the stick you can braze with the torch.
When you buy a helmet, buy a good auto-darkening helmet; they're really tough to beat no matter what you weld with. You want to check the reaction time on them, some darken slower than others. I bought one at Northern Tool, for the shop in North Dakota, looked it up later and it's one of the fastest available. Paid like $35 on sale! Spent a $100 on a Lincoln auto-darkening helmet down here in FL, and it's nowhere near as good a helmet.
A good 4 1/2" side grinder is a must, chipping hammer, chop saw is nice, die grinder.
However, if I absolutely had too...
https://www.millerwelds.com/equipme...nderbolt-xl-225-150-ac-dc-stick-welder-m16100
Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC Stick Welder - With the right rod, and a little practice, almost as versatile on light steel as a mig, yet when you need the ability to weld heavier steel it has the power to do it.
With a mig, you're tapped out at about 3/16" - 1/4" steel. You can work around that to some extent by preheating your material as you weld, but even then you aren't going to reach the upper limits of the stick welder. Welding up bumpers for the jeep is out of the question.
If you do the stick welder and a decent torch, anything to light for the stick you can braze with the torch.
When you buy a helmet, buy a good auto-darkening helmet; they're really tough to beat no matter what you weld with. You want to check the reaction time on them, some darken slower than others. I bought one at Northern Tool, for the shop in North Dakota, looked it up later and it's one of the fastest available. Paid like $35 on sale! Spent a $100 on a Lincoln auto-darkening helmet down here in FL, and it's nowhere near as good a helmet.
A good 4 1/2" side grinder is a must, chipping hammer, chop saw is nice, die grinder.
I gotta stop reading this thread or I'm gonna get led down another rabbit hole, lol
Well...let's narrow it down, what do you "plan" on welding with it?
The bigger question is... What do you intend welding with it Ken?
If you're just going to patch holes in the neighbor's bar-b-que grill, weld up occasional broken exhaust clamps after 4-wheelin, weld up a little light angle for furniture or shelves, you probably don't need a $650 stick welder, you can get buy with a 110 volt wire-feed.
And, should you buy a wire-feed, yes I would by all means recommend the 110 volt unit for the simple reason that it affords you a great deal of flexibility. Let's face it, 110 volt outlets are far more plentiful than 220 volt outlets. With flux-core wire, you can take it pretty much anywhere you have electricity and weld goodies up. In which case, you may want to consider the Lincoln Weld Pac 140. (If the 10lb. spool adapter isn't with it, buy it! You'll save enough on the wire to pay for the adapter in the first 20 lbs. of wire you burn to pay for it.)
More welders than you know what to do with just to confuse hell out of you...
If you look at the Weld-Pac 180, and say geez I can weld 1/2" with that; please note that is a 220 volt welder. And, that is multiple passes, not factoring in Duty Cycles.
However... if you go wire-feed, then you have to decided whether you want to hook up the gas bottle and make smooth pretty welds with no splatter, and have to drag the gas bottle wherever you go to weld, or do you want to use flux core wire. Because it is not going to make smooth pretty welds with no splatter. It's going to make a mess! If you clean everything up, it isn't quite as bad, but it still doesn't make real pretty welds, like gas does.
1.) I use Flux Core.
A.) I don't need another bottle out here to try and keep full.
B.) I don't need a bottle to drag around everywhere I want to weld with it.
C.) I don't need the added aggravation surrounding using gas.
2.) Flux Core - is very forgiving in respect to rust, paint, dirt.
3.) Gas Shielded - everything has to be very clean to weld it.
If you're just going to patch holes in the neighbor's bar-b-que grill, weld up occasional broken exhaust clamps after 4-wheelin, weld up a little light angle for furniture or shelves, you probably don't need a $650 stick welder, you can get buy with a 110 volt wire-feed.
And, should you buy a wire-feed, yes I would by all means recommend the 110 volt unit for the simple reason that it affords you a great deal of flexibility. Let's face it, 110 volt outlets are far more plentiful than 220 volt outlets. With flux-core wire, you can take it pretty much anywhere you have electricity and weld goodies up. In which case, you may want to consider the Lincoln Weld Pac 140. (If the 10lb. spool adapter isn't with it, buy it! You'll save enough on the wire to pay for the adapter in the first 20 lbs. of wire you burn to pay for it.)
More welders than you know what to do with just to confuse hell out of you...
If you look at the Weld-Pac 180, and say geez I can weld 1/2" with that; please note that is a 220 volt welder. And, that is multiple passes, not factoring in Duty Cycles.
However... if you go wire-feed, then you have to decided whether you want to hook up the gas bottle and make smooth pretty welds with no splatter, and have to drag the gas bottle wherever you go to weld, or do you want to use flux core wire. Because it is not going to make smooth pretty welds with no splatter. It's going to make a mess! If you clean everything up, it isn't quite as bad, but it still doesn't make real pretty welds, like gas does.
1.) I use Flux Core.
A.) I don't need another bottle out here to try and keep full.
B.) I don't need a bottle to drag around everywhere I want to weld with it.
C.) I don't need the added aggravation surrounding using gas.
2.) Flux Core - is very forgiving in respect to rust, paint, dirt.
3.) Gas Shielded - everything has to be very clean to weld it.
Don't have Home Depot... Lowes has them too, but they have the Lincoln Pro-Mig
What's the difference... One's built for Lowes, one's built for Home Depot!
Good part about that is, both stores carry tips, both stores carry wire, both stores carry a few parts for them.
What's the difference... One's built for Lowes, one's built for Home Depot!
Good part about that is, both stores carry tips, both stores carry wire, both stores carry a few parts for them.
Kenbo
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That's some great information there Rocky and I really do appreciate it. I guess you and Marc are right in that I should really think about what it is that I want to weld first. I have some ideas rolling around in the vast spaces of my head and they include, metal shelving units, gussets for the axels on my Jeep, different types of metal fabrication like shelving brackets and tool dollies, different forms of artistic welding that I can add to my woodworking and general metal repair. I have only just begun into the welding world and I'm not intending to purchase a welder just yet. Being an electrician, I'm not too concerned about the 220 volt receptacle as it wouldn't take much for me to install one. I'm also not concerned about price. I've always been of the opinion that I should purchase the best machine that I can afford because I'd hate to purchase a welder, only to find out 3 months down the road that it wont do what I want it to do and now I have to buy another machine. I'm not sure it the Mig welding is my thing but I'm not going to discount it either. I don't think that I will be welding more than a couple of times a month as I don't have that many projects right now. I can, however, seeing this becoming an addiction and I just don't want to waste money on a machine that wont suit my needs. I liked the link for the Miller machine that you posted and it is available locally as far as I can tell. I trust the opinion of our members on this site and I'm just looking for good quality options that are out there. Thank you very much for your input. You've given me a ton of information to play with for sure.
Being able to install the receptacle is great, but one can't afford to install them everywhere you may need to weld. The 110 volt wire-feed is portable enough to carry anywhere you have power, and make quick repairs. They really are very handy to have around! As I initially stated, I wouldn't opt for one or the other, I'm spoiled and want both.
With exception of gussets on the Jeep axle, pretty much everything you listed there could easily be handled with the wire-feed. The gussets might be handled with a wire-feed as well, but more heat for the sake of penetration in something of that nature is typically advisable. All of that could easily be accomplished with lighter rod on the Miller stick welder, and gussets on the Jeep axle would be in reach there too. Typically I've got to get into some pretty light stuff, or need something welded more than 35' from my Miller, before I break out the wire-feed.
If you aren't in a hurry, you might think about looking for a good used one Ken, they're much easier than the new ones to add lead too, swap leads as needed. My first, I left the ground lead at the stock 15' and bought 50' of cable to make up a second hot lead. If I needed to weld on the other end of the tractor, I got out the longer lead. Current welder the previous owner had bumped them both up to 35' leads. With the older machine it's easy to swap back and forth, if you don't want to deal with the additional cable all the time. One can usually find a good used one for about $400 US. I paid $350, and mine's in far better shape than this one I stole the picture of off Google.
With exception of gussets on the Jeep axle, pretty much everything you listed there could easily be handled with the wire-feed. The gussets might be handled with a wire-feed as well, but more heat for the sake of penetration in something of that nature is typically advisable. All of that could easily be accomplished with lighter rod on the Miller stick welder, and gussets on the Jeep axle would be in reach there too. Typically I've got to get into some pretty light stuff, or need something welded more than 35' from my Miller, before I break out the wire-feed.
If you aren't in a hurry, you might think about looking for a good used one Ken, they're much easier than the new ones to add lead too, swap leads as needed. My first, I left the ground lead at the stock 15' and bought 50' of cable to make up a second hot lead. If I needed to weld on the other end of the tractor, I got out the longer lead. Current welder the previous owner had bumped them both up to 35' leads. With the older machine it's easy to swap back and forth, if you don't want to deal with the additional cable all the time. One can usually find a good used one for about $400 US. I paid $350, and mine's in far better shape than this one I stole the picture of off Google.
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I'm a total hack when it comes to welding. I can weld but I am not a welder! I can stick weld but I don't like chipping off all that damn flux. I like mig better because it is so much cleaner. But my favorite is tig because of the control I have. For most of the stuff I do a tig welder would suit me the best. If I was building trailers or doing heavier welding like that I would probably get a larger mig. But if I found a good old school stick welder for the right price I would not pass it up!