I know nothing about welding, but I'm going to have to learn (doing chevy 63 inchers in the near future). I was planning on buying a welder and getting in a lot of practice before I do the spring swap. Problem is, I have no idea what kind of welder would be adaquate. I don't have a lot of money to spend (should I be looking for used welders?)
So what is a reasonably cheap welder that does the job well enough to do spring hangers? Is there some sorta "welding for dumbies" site where I can learn more?
I went the cheap route as well. I bought an arc welder first. It's good for material thats at least 3/32" thick. You can get one at a pawnshop for $100. I picked up a fluxcore wirefeed for $165. Just get ahold of a welding book & some scrap steel & practice.
x2 with the stick. i was told you should learn that method first but i guess that is like the ford and chevy arguement...either way, they are cheaper and will lay down some hot welds...and its all about the heat!!!
If you can find a wire feed with Argon, you will be suprized at how fast you learn. You can buy a hobart, or Lincon new for around the $500 mark, with argon around $700 out the door...figure 1/2 that used.
I tried using my dads old Lincon arc welder (old but nice, that model is still sold today), & f'd up almost everything I touched, cause I had no idea what I was doing wrong. With a wire feed (at least for me) it was easier to learn what to do, & what not to.....LOL I still get messed up with the arc welder.
just a tip, CLEAN the metal you are going to weld, rust isn't condusive to a strong bead
I am by no means an expert but I do know it is much easier to weld with a wirefeed. However the arc is the best bang for the buck when it comes to (substantial material). Hi rise buildings are put together with the ARC. I say learn both.
I'm taking some night classes for TIG welding at my community college. Check out yours, and take a class. We can bring in a project to weld up if we want to. And even after we finnish with the class, they don't have any problem with someone comming back to weld something up. TIG welds are sweet, and strong!
Just a thought.
If your gonna get a mig welder to weld structural metal, you NEED a 220v welder. I just bought a Millermatic 175 and it does a great job for anything I could need. It cost $715 with a cart though, so it's alittle more expensive, but a welder is somthing you shouldn't skimp on. Don't get a 110v mig for any structural work, i'm not sure about stick, but the lincoln 225 buzzbox is the most common and should do ok for thicker metal, and are relativly cheap, but Mig is WAY better in my opinion. You could probably find a Hobart 180 for around $500, but get a name brand welder (lincoln, miller, Hobart, clarke) for sure so you can get parts if you need them. If you just want to get a couple spring mounts done, have someone else do it, otherwise buy a nice welder.
That's what a lot of people have told me, but I have no 220 outlets close to the garage. I don't really want to get a 220 extension cord and have to unplug my stove or dryer every time I need to weld, and don't want to pay for a permit to install a 220 outlet in my garage (besides, I dont know much about electrical anything). A 110 machine would fit my needs better, I think. I can always do multiple passes if welding anything thicker than 1/4".
thats where you have to be careful though ^. Multiple passes don't always mean good penetration into the base metal. A good way to tell is to weld two sample pieces together, then cut the weld in half to see how deep it penetrated. My mm175 is rated to weld 1/4", but it penetrates all the way through 1/2" plate steel with .030 flux wire (i use flux wire for thicker metal, but solid mig wire and c25 gas is alot better for everything else), the mm175 has alot of potential to weld most metals you would ever need.
Installing a 220v receptacle isn't hard, but I can understand if ur not comfortable with having to do it (thats alot of voltage..lol). But if you want to, all thats really involved is to get a 50amp breaker, some sufficient gauge wire (i had 6-3, kind of overkill :-D) slide the 50 amp breaker onto ur breaker bars, wire the hot leads, wire the ground lead to the ground bus in ur breaker box, and the only involved task is to route the wire to where you want a receptacle. We have ours right next to the breaker in the garage so it was only a 1x1 foot square of drywall that we had to open up and replace (easy). It's worth it though to get a bigger welder.
I know a couple people with 110v and when they weld 1/4"+ steel they have to set them on full, and barely get enough penetration. There the one's who convinced me on a 220v model because I wanted a 110v. I'm just sayin if ur gonna be welding thick metal on a regular basis, ur gonna want somthing above 110v. thats not just my opinion, it's been tested by the school here in break tests. Most things on a car can be done with a 110v, i just wouldn't trust 4 link mounts and things like that with a smaller unit if I had a choice.
We linked a bronco II and with a few exceptions the welding was done on settings the 110 could have done, but I will concede that we were burning it hotter on some spots like the upper control arm mount off the lowers (radius arm). How much 1/4" + material do you plan on welding? That probably is about the limit. For most people starting off with moving spring perches, sidebars, light tubing etc. the 110 is sufficient. That being said, if you do get a 110 unit you will most likely want to upgrade in the future for the reasons I mentioned before.
I don't like to wonder or worry if I'm gettin' it hot enough. I've been taught to (burn through) then back it off a little, not on axletubes ofcourse If :shaking: ...WHEN I get a 220 Mig w/gas, my buzzbox will collect dust. Until then the 110/ 95 amp flux core is for the little stuff only. I welded my whole front axle with my buzzbox :smokin:
yea thats what i'm sayin Al kaholick. I was about to buy a mm135, but i mean the price is so close to the 175 that theres no point not to get the 220v. You never know, you might wanna weld up a trailer, or in my case, some hydraulic mounts for my small excavator. But whatever welder you get, DON'T get just a flux welder, flux wire is a pain in the ass unless you have to weld outside or somthing.
One other thing, support your local welding shop if you have one. Mine will price match internet, as I expect most will, and you will get much better customer service which will come in handy if you are new to the stuff.
IMHO if you are just learning-the gas shielded MIG is the easiest to learn on. Thicker stuff is easier to weld than super thin stuff for a beginner. Practice and a good electronic helmet are the key to learn. I'll let others argue 110-220 V stuff, but I only use 110 myself.
x2. get what you can for a welder, put money in a good auto darkening helmet and spend the 30 bucks on a respirator so you're not blowing metallic boogers.
ive never used a stick before, learned on gmaw equipment and that's what i bought later. it's easy to do a mediocre job with gmaw and not realize it because it looks pretty...so beat the living fuck out of your practice welds. if it breaks, it shouldn't break at the weld...if the weld does cut loose, you can usually identify the reason why or post a pic and people here will help you tune the welder and your technique. i dont have a press, so i practice with 90* welds then flatten them with persuasion from something heavy. a good test is butt weld two small strips of metal together, then bend the piece in half at the weld. if it breaks, you didnt do it right. if it bends, cut it open and look at cross sections of the weld that did work. once you get it right for a certain material, make a note of your heat and wire speed and practice practice practice.
I bought a 110 welder from Home Depot it's aLincolne wire feed gas or flux I use flux for now and it does great it welds 1/4 " plate just like a 220 does just not as fast you have to weld a little slower but built plenty of things for my toy and it does great only costed 400$ on sale check it out 3200 H.D. I belive 135 V.
all my shit has been built with a lincoln 135, a half a dozen bagged trucks , a few 4wd trucks and a trailer. and i have never broke a weld. my buzz box gets the dust knocked off of it every once and a wile, but the 110v welder gets most of the use. it came from lowes a few years ago and bought it for $400 + $75 for the c25 tank:smokin:
I would spend the extra money and buy a 220v welder. You will get better welds with the extra voltage. With going with a wire feed welder i will learn faster and have better results. I belive that any 110v welder is a waste of money. I personally like the miller 175 and the 210. The miller welders in my experiance preform better than any other for the money. You will have a lower maintance cost with a miller than the others.
I'll vote for a 220 if you can as well. The 110 might work for light automotive stuff, but if you ever decide to weld up a custom front bumper or something like that you will find that the 110 welders will overheat and trip the thermal overload and find it very hard to lay a good 20" continuous weld in 1/4" steel. Duty cycle is important if your doing bigger or longer welds.
Anyway it kinda like comparing a small 110 table saw to a nice industrial 220 saw. They can both do most of what you need, its just a question of how much you need to do and whether you need to do it fast.
as for 220 v. 110, the 220 is pretty much out of the question for use at home (garage in condo, I seriously doubt I'm allowed to do electrical work out there). There is a possibility I could use a 220 at my friend's shop, but I wouldn't want to rely on that.
In addition to spring hangers, other work down the road will probably include sliders and relatively simple bumpers. Maybe some exhaust work too (both cars), but if the thin metal is a problem, I can always just go to an exhaust shop.
If the outlet is the problem make a haevy ext. cord and run it to your dryer
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