I need Recomendations for a home garage mig welder

[IH2LOSE]

Well I am looking to purchase a mig welder for my home garage.

I have 110volt and 220 volt available.I am looking for a HIGH quaility welder to keep around the garage for small welding projects.

I am not sure what the amprage rating should be.I will be teaching my son how to weld with this,

any suggestions are greatly apreceated

 

[ShakeRattleRoll]

You need to give a little bit more info on what you do want to weld? You see welders have what they call duty cycles which means how long can they be used constantly. For home use I have been very happy with the smaller Miller or Lincoln units for 110. For welding rods I stay with 6011 and 6013 rods. 6011 is a great all purpose rod and 6013 will give a bit better look to the weld. If you are going to weld overhead or vertical use a 6010 rod. These smaller units can be picked up fairly cheaply and some can even fit inside of a plastic milk carton which is easy to move around. Now if you feel that you will weld for long periods or thick steel over 1/2 then the 220 units for ac/dc is for you. But these are heavy and not easy to move around.


Sorry if that is long but there are many ways to weld and so you need to figure out what your welding needs would include. Arc welders are a very good all around welding machine. MIG welders are also great all around machines but enable you to change the type of metals you will use by changing out a spool of steel wire or alumnum wire so it is very versitile as to the metals you can weld and also lets you weld for longer periods since you do not need to change a rod. Then you get to what I call the Dr's Welder the TIG which is pretty much a glorified torch welder that uses electric power. But thes machines are for fine work and tite places as well as not cheap.

Have fun and do not hold the ground when welding lol. Let The Sparks Fly

 

[IH2LOSE]

I plan on welding light steel.I need to weld some small steel plates (1/4" max) to steel tube.And allthough I dont have any other plans now for it.I do plan on building a tube frame convertion 61/62 vette. I have an older lincoln arc welder that I learned to stick weld on but the welder was old when I got it and is really old now and I have to go thru 2 sticks on waste metal just to get it hot enought to start talking to me.

So with a pending mini chopper project with my son in the starting stages I need to aquire a mig welder so I can teach him how to weld with a mig.

My dad suggested I just upgrade my arc welder to something from this century but I had felt stick welding is a dying art and the mig will be more versatile for smaller stuff

 

[IH2LOSE]

What does duty cycle mean? and why or how does it effect my purchase

 

[ShakeRattleRoll]

Gotcha if you think stick is dying try Oxy/Act welding lol. Well then from what you have stated I would take a gander at the Miller and Lincoln web site's to see what they have in the way of MIG outfits. But if I were you I would purchase the welder that has the guage and the tank with it as well as a good feed. I say this because you can purchase the cheaper welders that do not include the tank or guage but when you add those items you will spend more than if purchased together. Since I have not used anything new as of late I would contact the manufacturers and ask them which machines would best suit my needs for current or planned projects. And dang it I still drool over a good TIG lol. I used to use a tiny Tig that you could cut two coke cans apart in the middle and weld a perfect bead all the way around that was neat .

Duty Cycle from what you have said I would not worry much about the duty cycle since you will not be doing production welding. Duty Cycle is how long the machine can be used. Or how long you can keep welding without letting the machine cool down.

 

[drags1998]

I bought a Lincoln SP-170 (220volt) Same size as all the small Lincoln's. Will weld with or without gas.(I use argon) I would strongly recommend one. I have welded anything from 24g steel to 3/8 plate with no sweat!!!!! While your at it, buy an auto-dimming helmet,they are the GREATEST!!!!!!!! Good Luck.

 

[ShakeRattleRoll]

Well there we go one Happy person throwing sparks . And I do have to say those new auto adjust systems are neat neat neat. I still use the old style cardboard type flip up but that is what I am used to and more importantly can afford lol. And ARGON is the way to go.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Well I made a purchase today see link

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_175/

I could not find a local lincoln dealer so chose the miller. I will wire it up tomorow and see how it works.I also splurged for a dimming helmet.And I also purchased my son a small leather armed shirt for saftey.

I never even knew they made these type of shirts.

Thanks for the advice

 

[ShakeRattleRoll]

They have so much Leather goods for the welder you could call your son Leather Boy . If there is skin there is Leather to cover it.

 

[plumcrazy]

do you plan on using shield gas? i would recommend it. sorry i miss the start of this
post. i just got a hobart stick and tig combo i must say its the best shop purchase i
have ever made. now i can do some nice exhaust work when my funds build back up

 

[Robin7TFour]

HELLO, i borrowed a small lincoln 110v MIG welder. i used it to build my header to sidepipe connecting pipes. for someone who hasn't picked up a metal-melter in 14yr (and then i wasn't so good) the project went fairly smooth. took me awhile to get my heat and feed running smoothly ,but i got the hang of it. yes, do buy an auto-dimmer hood. Harbor Freight has them for as low as $59.

 

[schmaltzr]

I have a Miller 175 myself with the Auto-darkening hood. My hood is re-charged by welding and sunlight through solar cells rather than using batteries. It works great. I take the precaution of charging it up a little with outdoor light before I weld if it's been in the dark for a long time. I've heard that the Miller is a first choice anyway for many professionals, so don't feel you got a second choice. My MIG welder is so easy to use, I wouldn't use anything else. I would like to let the accessories to weld aluminum, but at this time, the expense isn't in my budget. -R

 

[Arthur6]

I bought mine at Home Depot. Was about $300. Lincoln (can't remember what model). Works GREAT for everything I've ever done. I play with motorcycles and cars.