Need some info on welders

[tundramonkey]

Been thinking about purchasing a welder. Would like to get something for welding steel that may be converted to weld aluminum at a later date.

First off I don't know anything about welders.

What type is better, stick, mig or tig? Or does that depend on what you are welding?

Any info you guys can share would be great. I'm sure I'll have a few more questions, just not sure what to ask at this time.

Thanks

 

[mtnjunkie]

I'm not an expert or anything, but my dad and brother are pros. I weld off and on when needed. Miller is good, I have a 251 wire feed, I like it a lot. Also have a Bobcat 250 (I think it's a 250) portable welder that is nice. Wire feeds are easy and fast. Stick welders are slow and don't make as nice of welds unless you really know what you're doing. My brother has a spool gun that allows him to weld aluminum, I think it just attaches right on his Miller. I'm really not sure how that all works as I haven't used it, but that is an option for welding aluminum.

 

[Squirrelchaser]

I have only used miller welders. The kind of welder depends on what kind of material and how thick the material is. Aluminium needs more amps than steel with a wire feed. So you wont be able to weld 3/8 aluminium and 3/8 steel with a 200 amp welder. Tig welding aluminium needs high frequency steel does not. Bottom line figure out what most of your welding needs will be and purchase a welder with those needs met. Try to stay away from cheap welders consumable parts are hard to come by.

 

[Vertical_Escape]

All purpose use around a home shop, go with the wire feed. Easier use, cleaner welds, get a good one and work with it. http://www.lincolnelectric.com/ or www.esab.com should give you some good info on wire/gas combinations to use.

 

[Blu Du]

anything we weld is done by stick welder. better penatration for thicker steel. we usally just weld on our excavating equipment. i would like to know what is good for aluminum, say i was gonna build a sled deck whats agood welder

 

[Squirrelchaser]

Building one now and its all being TIG welded. Haveing a friend help with the tig welding. Could also use a wire feed machine with a spool gun, If no spool gun the machine has to have a gun that pulls the wire. Aluminium will bunch up if its pushed, wire is not as ridged.

 

[n8schuelke]

I'm not an expert on this subject either, but have experiance with both alum. and steel. For thinner steel I recomend a 120 wire feed welder (lincoln or miller, not a fan of hobarts). For aluminum a TIG is better. Aluminum is a totally different animal than steel. If you think you can weld alum. take a class on it and your opinions will probably change, It's hard. Just because an alum. weld looks good doesn't mean it is, you have to do strength tests and make sure everything is perfectly clean. just like anything it takes practice.

I hope I was some help

 

[sledhead699]

getting my welding certifaction right now. and would recomed that you take a class and then from that go and buy your welder. for good all around welder MIG is the way to go but for larger structer welding and welding cast ARC is the best, and the TIG is best for alumimum but very hard to learn.

 

[Ex-Member]

+1 for the Miller 251... had one at my last job, thing rocked.

 

[AKHark]

Definitely get a mig. Ive got a Millermatic 180 which is good for smaller projects, welding on trailers and stuff, you can run aluminum on it but you have to get a new gun with a spool attached to it. If you try and run aluminum through the regular gun it will bunch up. I wouldnt go with tig it takes alot more skill. Mig is pretty simple to do, doesnt take very long to learn. Also if your doing aluminum you have to use straight argon unlike mig where its best to use 75% argon 25% Co2.

 

[Climbit]

you can PM me if you have any specific questions I am a welder by trade. For all of you that think Miller is good you should give lincoln an honest try , they are way farther ahead in engineering and innovation.

 

[IDspud]

traded my lincoln in on a miller. much happier

 

[tundramonkey]

Thanks for the link VE, good info.

After reading through some of that info it looks like a mig welder would be a better option for what I would need. Looks like you can wire feed and then add gas for diff types of steel welding. Then I can purchase a aluminum spool later if want to attempt to weld aluminum.

I would be using it for stuff around the house, so nothing real major.

Thanks

 

[Wade]

For thick steel, nothing beats a arc welder. You have to remember, they've had a 100 years to get it right.

For thin steel, do you want to stick metal together or make art? If you don't care what it looks like, get a high amperage MIG welder. Your going to need a 210 amp at least, for thick steel. If you want welds that your proud of, get a TIG welder. No question, more work to learn, but not that bad.

For aluminum, again you want to stick aluminum together or make welds your proud of. The MIG welder with a spool gun is your best option. Get the highest amperage you can afford, I'd suggest 210amps at least. If you want pretty welds get a TIG.

You see these nice looking aluminum sled decks, they TIG the welds you can see, and MIG the welds you can't see. The MIG is faster and therefore cheaper.

Now the secret. A high amp MIG welder is expensive, at least $1200, a spool gun is going to run you another chunk of change, say $800. A really good TIG welder is going to cost you $2000. But, TIG is CC (constant current), and a arc welder is CC. So, all TIG welders have arc welder mode, and arc weld very well. And, you don't need a special spool gun. So, you get one TIG, you get arc welder, and fine steel and aluminum, and you make pretty welds, all in one package.

I suggest you look at this unit Precision 225 TIG Chart

Main product page: Precision 225 TIG Cat

I have the 6 year old, precision TIG 180, and love it.

 

[boone]

Welding is what I do for a living. Have done it all my life.The Lincoln PowerMig 300 is, hands down, the best MIG welder that I have ever used. It has a digital readout and tons of presets so setting it up is a piece of cake. I mainly weld steel with it and do aluminum with my tig, but I have done a bunch of aluminum with it aswell. All you need to do is switch the wire, gas, and flip it to another setting and your ready to go in about 5 minutes time. If you are careful, and keep your gun cable straight, you can weld aluminum with the standard gun. I do it all the time with no problems. If you are going to do alot of aluminum and/or be in some odd positions, I would recommend getting a push-pull gun or a spool gun for it. I prefer the push-pull gun because you can use the large spools of wire, can run any type of wire through it without changing anything, and you can get up to a 50 foot cable.

You will need to keep atleast two types of gas on hand. For aluminum you need to run 100% Argon. For steel and stainless, you have several choices. I prefer 75% Argon - 25% Co2 mix.

My best advice, do not skimp when buying a welder. A high quality welder will give you far less headaches throughout the learning process. It is definetly one of those cases that you "get what you pay for".

Good luck,
Boone

 

[FatBoyzfrenchy]

I had a small mig until I needed to weld aluminum, then I bought a Lincoln squarewave pro 175 tig, it does dc-, dc+ and ac it will also do stick. I can do steel and aluminum with tig or stick depending on what I'm welding. Tig will also be good for more exotic metal such as stainless steel, magnesium, coper and more.
IMO it is the best solution if you want versatility for relatively low cost. Sure you can retrofit a good mig for aluminum with a spool gun but you will be in for quite a bit more $ then the tig way. And yes tig does require some training, it is not plug and play so to speak, but very satisfying once you get the hang of it.

My .02
FBF

 

[CCRider]

If you have never done any welding you should take some classes first. That way you don't blow yourself or those you love up. There is a lot to learn before you jump into melting metal.Safety First as always!
I started out with an Oxy-acetylene set-up for cutting and small repairs and then added a stick welder (Lincoln AC/DC) later as needed.I'd like to have a wire-feed....but so far the old stick has done the job for me.

 

[AKtoad]

It all depends on what you are welding. If you plan on doing some heavy steel then go with 220 welder, I always use Miller. But if you are just welding some gauge metal then just get a Lin. 130 MIG welder I used one the other day at work and it was nice and smooth. If you plan on welding Alum. then do it right, get a TIG welder spool guns are nice but if you don't have alot of practise then you can screw up some money real quick. At home I have a Miller Dynasty 200 DX and love it but I Heli-arc alum for a living so TIG welding seems automatic for me and stick welding I am alittle shakie but I once had a 6G cerc.
It all comes down to practise.

 

[ruffryder]

Now the secret. A high amp MIG welder is expensive, at least $1200, a spool gun is going to run you another chunk of change, say $800. A really good TIG welder is going to cost you $2000. But, TIG is CC (constant current), and a arc welder is CC. So, all TIG welders have arc welder mode, and arc weld very well. And, you don't need a special spool gun. So, you get one TIG, you get arc welder, and fine steel and aluminum, and you make pretty welds, all in one package.

I suggest you look at this unit Precision 225 TIG Chart

Main product page: Precision 225 TIG Cat

I have the 6 year old, precision TIG 180, and love it.

Very good info there. I just picked up a Miller Dynasty. If I didn't need the small size/weight and ability for 120 volt hookup, I would have gotten the precision tig.... They are both really good tig machines.

 

[himarker]

IMO: Miller is the only way to go...I used to run a 251 w/ a 30A spoolgun welding out jetboats...a.d a Syncrowave for the finish welds. Id love to have the new 252, but i cant afford it right now. A new 252 here is right around $2200 i think...good luck