Welders

[E30godz]

Im thinking about getting a welder, MIG type, what are some good, not-so-expensive ones....and any opinions from those who have welded before

someone wanna put this in the community forum?

[Widebody325]

I have a Millermatic 175. I picked it up brand new last year for about $700, with cart and some extras. I absolutey love it. It can weld effectively up to 1/4" mild steel, and unless you are welding together tractors and dump trucks, you are never gonna come close to that thickness. Next on my list is a TIG, Alumnium here I come.

[RedBaron86325]

It is pretty easy to find a good welder. Brands like Miller, ESAB, Hobart, Lincoln, etc...make a very good product. Some are very expensive, others are a little more reasonable. In the end, it pretty much boils down to "you get what you pay for". The Miller 175 that Widebody uses is a sweet welder. I have a Lincoln 3200 and finally converted to gas last night. Total cost of my setup was arount $300 for the welder, $100 for the gas conversion kit, and about $150 for a cylinder full of gas. Gas refills on my 50lb bottle will run around $35 and last for about 2 months or more depending on how much welding takes place. Prior to last night I was using flux core wire. I actually like the flux core wire because of the ease of deep penetration. Converting to gas will take a little more practice, but it is nice to finally have beautiful clean beads and I don't have to worry so much about burning through sheet metal immediately on contact.

I'm not a welding expert, but I'd recommend spending a lot of time practicing on a shitty welder or a stick welder. Once you can consistently get a good bead and good penetration on a shitty welder, a nice gas mig will seem like the gravy train. Possibly more important than the welder unit itself is the helmet. A good helmet and proper gloves WILL make all the difference in the finished product. That 'perfect' looking bead is nice, but more importantly is the penetration into the steel. If I am working on something fairly important or a joint that I'm not used to, I typically work with a couple pieces of scrap of the same material to make a quick practice run, then either break it apart or cut it apart to see what kind of penetration I was able to get. If it isn't satisfactory, you can then make adjustments in wire speed, heat, or electrode angle. It is all just practice, practice, practice. Reading books is good for understanding how/why things work the way they do, but you will not learn how to weld effectively from a book as it simply takes practice and your ability to learn from your mistakes.