anyone used this or any of these cheaper setups? reccomendations? http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200310823_200310823

http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentdatasheet.asp?p=7106

 

i have a Lincoln weldpack 100 . the heaviest thing its done is frame plating on a 57 willys jeep - done by my roommate who is a welder by trade. he had to pre heat with a torch to make decent welds on 3/16 material.(mig, not flux core). I have done a fair bit of sheet metal welds with it and am happy, but his comment is that anything smaller would be pointless. so 100 amp min. i guess.

k, would just be using it for smaller projects like maybe bumpers and a roof rack.

Thats not too bad of a price. I could use one of them for my small projects, like rust repair and my other upcoming project

I have a little cheapo buzzbox like that... works well enough for 1/8" thick and under stuff. But, for bodywork, I really like a wirefeed instead of a stick. You can usually get a flux core wirefeed for under $250. Just alot easier when you are under the car trying to weld exhaust pipes back together, or trying not to burn through sheet metal or whatnot. Maybe I'm just not very good at welding and if I was I could do all that with the stick, but I really like the wirefeed.

so wire welding is also called mig welding right? sorry for the noob questions...was 12 when I learned how to weld and all we used was a gas torch. So with the wire weld you basically have a roll of wire instead of a big rod and depending on the type and thickness and whatnot they react differently right? So would this be a better investment?... http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200332691_200332691

what about this pipe bender...anyone tried it out? why couldn't you bend exhaust pipe with it? http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_628_628?cm_sp=Customer%20driven-_-Recently%20Viewed-_-Category%20Page

That Northern mig welder looks reasonable. It's got a cold trigger, which is vital, and can use sheilding gas. There may be a kit you need to buy to use the gas, I'd get it. I've used flux core wire in my miller, and hated it. I use my 110v Miller ALL THE TIME. I consider it an essential tool.

 

The MIG can do all the work of that little arc welder box and much more. I'd save my pennies and get the MIG, hands down.

so wire welding is also called mig welding right?

 

Yes. It stands for Metal Inert Gas.

Also called GMAW, gas metal arc welding.

One thing to watch for on any machine is the number of heat settings, number of wire feed settings on a mig, and duty cycle. A machine with a 10 or 15% duty cycle is just about worthless.

My snap-on YA217 has a duty cycle of about 35%, and I have hit that a few times. My Miller Dynasty 200 has a 20% duty cycle maxed out, but that isn't too bad on a stick machine. I have only tripped it when running 5/32" rods on thick steel for an extended time, it's fine for 1/8" rods even for extended use.

awesome, thanks again for all of the advice...not looking to build any airplanes or skyscrapers or anything so think this might be a good investment for something to play around with and such....maybe build a buggy or go-kart eventually.

we have both MIG and ARC welders - the one that gets used the most = MIG, hands down. just used it yesterday to weld up some new exhaust parts.

very versatile & easy to use.

for really heavy stuff, the other half will use the big 220 unit his boss has at work.