Welder for tacking damascus stacks

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
47,357
So my little HD sourced Lincoln 110v welder is totally useless now, as opposed to the 80-90% useless that it has always been. For purposes of tacking together billet stacks and welding on handles what is the best reasonable option in a welder? The only other thing that I might use it for is making BBQ stuff like a Patagonian cross.
 
I would pick up one of the small inverters. You can tig and stick weld with them and they give you a lot of functionality for the price and space. It also depends on how many functions you are looking for. If I was to buy a new welder I would get something like the ESAB Rebal. It will do everything but aluminum and if you are in a pinch it could do that as well. It's also just big enough to handle a decent size welding project without hitting the duty cycle constantly. It's more than most people want to spend to tack things up though.

I would look at something that could handle 80-90 amps with at least a 80% duty cycle. This will let you use 3/32" 7018 to weld up that project that you will find someday. Tig wont be a problem. Foot pedals are great but I would try to get high frequency start and lift arc functions at minimum. You can buy a thumb switch or foot pedal down the road if you need it. If you think that you want to do aluminum you need a AC function and that adds a lot. If that is important to you its probably best to hit me up and we can talk about options because there are lots. Lol.

A small CC (Controled Current) machine is probably as good as it gets for cost to performance. You are not paying for any moving parts. The new inverters do a pretty nice job too and your not paying for 50 lbs of copper like older machines.
 
Definitely get an inverter, or a small 220V mig welder if you're getting a mig welder. A 110V will tack billets, but so will any cheap stick welder, oxy torch, or even bailing wire. On the other hand, an inverter or 220V mig welder will actually have other uses, where as any 110V, basically, won't.

I usually recommend, as a budget option, the smallest 220v hobart (I still regret selling my little Handler 187, since it was so portable compared to my big 250 amp machine), whenever Tractor Supply, or Northern, runs a special; however, there are a bunch of seriously 'decent for the money' import welders of all types on the market now. I'd probably check youtube reviews for the cheapos; I keep seeing reviews of various ones that really seem unbeatable for the money, hell there's currently a $500 import tig welder on amazon, that, certainly isn't on par with a miller, but also, isn't only a quarter as good, when you're comparing prices. Even the dirt cheap plasma cutters, are amazingly better than you'd expect these days, however, universally, any of the machines that operate on 110 or 220 switched, suck ass at 110V input.
 
My other problem is that my 220v is the oddball 220/20 that runs my Paragon. I run my press on that too. Think old fashioned window unit AC plug.
 
Well, there are supposedly good performing 110V inverter models, that perform well. I simply mean that most base, or cheap 110/220 switchables aren't worth a shit.
 
I have done quite a bit of welding with my 220v Lincoln 180 mig with flux core. Plenty of juice for tacking billets and welding rebar handles. I have used it to weld some plenty thick stuff while building my power hammer.
 
A buzzbox stick machine is the absolute least cost option for welding stuff together.
Either for forging billets or fixing your BBQ.

With advent of inexpensive MIGs, decent small buzzboxes can be had second hand at giveaway prices.
 
If you have to use 110, and insist on MIG, get a 140 amp machine. My 22 year old Century is only 120a and if it had just a tit more power it would be almost perfect for stack stringers, rebar, sealing canisters. As it is, it's bordering inadequate, only in perfect conditions with some preheat can I get it to spray .030 hard wire nicely.

A 220v stick welder is absolutely the most cost effective way to get the most capability. I have one, anything "heavy" I need to weld at home, I use that. I find it inconvenient for making billets or sticking on rebar, but have done it and it certainly works for that.

As for plug, you can get your welder and just swap whatever it comes with for whatever outlet you have. If you're renting and can't do anything about your service.
 
Mig is definitely nice. If you are going to get a mig unit at a minimum you want one that has separate controls for wire speed and voltage. Mig is one thing that I would get a good brand name unit. You will need spare parts like liners, tips drive, wheels ect. It will suck to find non standard parts.

What was talking about was the new small inverters for tig and stick. They are getting pretty good. I also think that a lot of them are being made in the same place with brand names slapped on them. This includes some of the name brands. There are bargains to be had for sure.

Tell us more about what you want and how much you want to spend.
 
I have a chinese clone of the lincoln 140 mig, 110V. For right at $300 I have zero complaints. It's welded anything I've ever needed in the 4 years I've had it. Uses tweco parts that can be found almost anywhere. I've probably run close to 100lbs of wire through it.
 
The handle was always the big problem even when my welder was new.
 
What's the biggest consideration here? Cost, utility, being able to hook it into a 110V plug?

You can change the plug on any welder you get, to hook it up to your existing 220V circuit if necessary. Briefly looking, for instance, at the Hobart Handler 190 (which is a great little welder for the money), it's showing input Amps at 220V being 20.5 to meet the duty cycle of 130 Amp 30%. Max power tap (setting) on that machine is 190 amps, so you'd need a 30 amp circuit to probably run it full blast without tripping the breaker, but when I had my 187 model, I'd rarely run it higher than the 4 or 5 position tap, which is about half capacity, for tacking billets and sticking general shit together around the shop. You only need max power output for single pass welding of the thicker stock rating, which is 5/16". Of course you can weld thicker stuff with different edge prep at lower settings (within reason), and multiple passes.


Ultimately you'd probably want to run another circuit, I'd recommend going ahead and putting in a 40 or 60 amp circuit in for a welder, typically it's one of the clothes dryer type plugs (a lot of people use their dryer circuit if their shop is in the basement or garage near it), but if you've got that existing one, you can use it.

You'll have to experiment and see what the power limit on a similar welder would be, but I'd bet you'd be covered for a time, before you learn to push the capacity.


Stick is cheap and easy, but it's often dirty, and requires experience and lots of prep and other variables to be right, to get good structural welds. TIG is the most versatile, if you've got an AC/DC machine with the right accessories, but it's the slowest to setup, use, and takes a lot of practice to master. I have a big powerful old 300 amp tig welder, takes up a lot of space (I'd like to replace it with a compact inverter TIG), and honestly, rarely gets used. I bought it for doing the filler-less tig welded dry stack welds, but found out I could do the same thing, much faster with mig, so the only time the tig gets pulled out, is when I need to weld stainless or aluminum, or do "pretty" welds on steel, or something else complicated or semi-delicate (my machine isn't great for doing super fine work on sheet though).


I did a bit more research, and it still seems that while inverter TIG can do some pretty interesting stuff on the higher end machines, most of the dual voltage MIG machines still seem to be "not very great" at 110V.

Under any circumstances, it seems like you'd be better off hooking up to that existing 220v circuit, if you can't run a new one. Are you in a residential area with really strict oversight? I personally always do my own electrical work (it's not difficult, once you understand the safety considerations), but if you've got liability concerns, it may be well past time to develop a relationship with an electrician, most of them like knives in my experience. Paying for electrical work can be expensive, but dropping a short run 220 circuit for a welder is an easy task, even if you do have to hire a stranger, just shop around, but I'm willing to bet, a knife to the right guy, and you'd get it done for free real quick. Only major material cost is the wire, which even if you run a large circuit for a hypothetical "cover all your bases" in case of a big welder in your future, if your breaker box is reasonably close, material costs could be less than $100 total.
 
Jason Fry said:
I have done quite a bit of welding with my 220v Lincoln 180 mig with flux core. Plenty of juice for tacking billets and welding rebar handles. I have used it to weld some plenty thick stuff while building my power hammer.
Click to expand...

That’s what I use as well and it works great. Iirc they’re like $600-$700 at Home Depot
 
I went with a miller 211 for tacking, and basic chores. Working out great for me as a total welding novice. 120 or 220, simple to use and understand, and it actually does some good looking welds, even by me, which is sayin something. Def pricer than some options mentioned here, but if bought during a miller rebate sale, its not too bad as you can get a lot of stuff thrown in.
 
I just sold my little 120v mig and miller thunderbolt stick welder. Thy have served me well but need to move on and make space for the monster 300amp tig/stick welder that Salem located for me.
 
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