welder reccomendation

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pike3e

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Sep 28, 2008
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I am thinking of getting a welder for my garage (shop). I am interested in fabricating a few simple things like a quench tank and also welding handles on barstock to reduce my use of tongs. I may some day be using it for welding together barstock for damascus but that wont be for awhile. What do you reccomend for a good enty level unit for bladesmithing and house use. Also reccomendation for stick, mig, ect. Thanks for the help.

John
 
I bought a lincoln sp170 in 1997 and have ran over two hundred pounds of wire through it without one problem changed the liner in the gun two years ago that's it besides contact tips. this welder has welded everything from 1/2 inch mild steel down to .020 sheet.
 
Lincoln, Miller or Hobart. The smallish mig welders by these companies will do you good.
I have an old Hobart stick welder that's served me will for 30+ years and a Miller 210 mig that's wonderful.
I would not recommend any of the cheaper off brands.
 
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I use flux core wire in an old Lincoln and it does all I need. If you don't have 220V in the shop,you can get by on the smaller 120V units, but the 220V models are much better. If power isn't a problem, go for at least 200 amps if you are going to make a lot of structural welds on equipment. A smaller 140-180 amp unit will do the normal shop jobs.

Stacy
 
I have a Hobart 135, it runs on 120 Volt wiring and seems rock solid. Pretty darn easy to use if you have no welding experience too.
 
I just bought a Hobart 125 over the weekend and really like it.....It handles 90% of my welding needs.......For the other 10% i have stick welder.....Just started work on a 6 x 10 utility trailer with tilt..........carl
 
As far as mig, tig, or stick...

MIG is the easiest. But it requires you to use a tank of shielding gas (argon, etc.). It leaves a pretty clean weld that requires little cleanup.

TIG takes a lot of skill and is usually the last type of welding learned. It does however give you the most control and the prettiest welds (if you are good).

Stick is the old standby. It does take some practice to make a good weld, and you will learn to hate slag, as there is a lot of it that you will have to chip off all your welds. This alone makes it a poor choice for bladesmiths IMO. If any of that slag ends up in your forge weld it could ruin your piece. Not that stick can't be used mind you, just not my first choice for that purpose.
 
Well, I've used a little Lincoln WeldPak 100 for years and it's done most of what I asked of it. If you're welding heavy stock (3/8" and up) you'll need to prepare things properly, fillet your weld edges, and run multiple passes properly to get a good, solid weld for structural or tool use.

I recently cut the lead on that little welder by accident, so I've gone to using stick only in my shop for the time being. The stick machine came to me free from a friend, so the price was right. It's an old Lincoln Idealarc TM-400/400 400amp AC/DC unit. Weighs close to 600lbs I'd guess. The one thing I've learned is that the larger a welder you can afford to buy (and power), the more stable your arc will be. I don't mind slag chipping too much and it seems that once the right settings for a given job are found, slag can almost chip itself with the right rod. I did some welds yesterday with 1/8" 6013 rod setting up a damascus billet and there was very little chipping required as most of the slag popped off. I guess what I'm trying to say is "don't let stick scare you away". MIG is a bit easier, but I'm a pretty crappy welder with whatever process/machine I use, so I try not to sweat it :)

My advice it that for starters you should probably go with a wirefeed machine unless you have somebody nearby to teach you. Also, buy the biggest machine, from the best known company you can power and afford. It really does make a difference.

-d
 
If there's a welder repair shop near you they may have some inexpensive good used machines available. Our last few welders have been from the local rebuild shop. It's older technology, but for MIG or stick that's not an issue unless you are welding a lot of thin aluminium.
 
I've had a Miller 135 with gas for 5-6 years now. Luv it!
Of course if you have the money and wiring (220V) I would recommend the next higher model which is the 210 I believe.

Patrice
 
I'd recommend you look up your local community college, and AT LEAST set up a time to talk to their welding instructor(s) about various machines. So long as you aren't cutting into their teaching time, an instructor will be able to thoroughly discuss the attributes of various machines, while explaining things like amperage, duty cycle, etc.

Even better yet, sign up for a quarter or classes. Most small schools in this country offer a basic over view of welding that will include Oxy/fuel welding, 6010, 7018, MIG, and TIG.

This would give you a much better understanding of the molten weld puddle, and how to make it do what you want it to.

A friend of mine recommended this to me several years ago when I asked him (a lifetime boiler-maker) which welder I should get. I knew NOTHING. I didn't take his advice, and it was a major struggle to learn much of anything.

Fast forward several years to where I was finally in school for a welding degree, and I learned more in a month of school than I had learned on my own in 8 years. :)

Good luck with it. :)
 
About 8 years ago I got hooked on TIG and now I hardly ever use anything else.

A 250 amp miller AC DC stick welder isn't expensive, and with practice the welds look almost TIG quality. I found that with 6013 and 7014 the flux on my welds often just about fell off on their own. Good quality dry rod was critical.

Several shops I've been in use the little 110V Miller MIG welder, one even used it in production. I found it easy to use and make beautiful looking welds with it.

The trouble with MIG is it is the easiest to learn and make good looking welds, but probably the most difficult to use to make good quality strong welds. That is where stick shines - it is a very powerful tool for the money where performance trumps appearance. So, if you're just welding up billets, MIG (or OA), but if you're building a trailer the nod goes to stick. At least in my opinion.

I have nothing against Lincoln, but all the really good little welders I've used were Miller. I think they ranged from $300-$600.
 
There are many old Tombstone Lincolns out there. I bought one for $100
this spring. There were three on craigslist near me at the time. 60-200 amp range(I think)
220 volt if that makes a difference
 
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