Ken Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 If so, what type of welding do you do? What equipment do you use? What kind of stuff have you made or repaired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Ken What kind of welding da ya mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted July 10, 2004 Author Share Posted July 10, 2004 Any kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue edge Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 True blue (Miller) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTOSHootr Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 I second Miller. I have a Millermatic 185 Mig and it will do just about anything a "hobby" welder needs to do. A Synchowave Tig welder is on my wish list. My family has a shop and we restore cars and drag race a little. We use the mig welder for sheet metal work. It is also great for making target stands, plate racks, etc. Go to www.millerwelds.com for info on welding. Lincoln Electric is the other top name in welders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 I too use a Miler mig machine. Plugs into 110 20 amp circuit. I love it. Made target stands, fixed the lawn mower, welded up a bracket for my wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Seems like out here in Wyoming everyone welds but me. It's on my list of things to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 There isn't all that much "to learn" when it comes to MIG welding. It is about as close to point and shoot as welding gets. In school we were not allowed to touch the MIG until we had completed our cert plates for arc and gas. I used to be a certified arc welder. Then I failed the Navy entrance physical (bad back) and decided to go to college instead (but that is a whole other thread). There isn't much call for welding in college so now I am an IT puke. I think I would rather be welding. I never had good luck with Miller equipment but others always had great success. Don't know why. Lincoln always ran for me without fail. Lincoln for anything arc, Victor or Smith for gas. I have my eye on a new welding setup for both gas and arc but need to get the new shop built first. Wood working, reloading, etc. don't mix real well with welding. Just what I need...another hobby.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTOSHootr Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 There isn't all that much "to learn" when it comes to MIG welding. Right, its like using a glue gun compared to gas welding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Lincoln makes great stuff. Esp the big 400 amp gas / diesel powered ARC machines. I have access to just about every state of the art arc / tig welders there is. Problem is that at home, 3 phase 480 volt power is a little scarce Anything big I take to work and have a "professional" fix it. My grandfather was a welder. He welded pipe for a living. I was always facinated by the process so as soon as I was old enough, I learned how to oxy/acet gas weld. My grandpa taught me and to this day it is one of my fondest memories of him. About 5 years ago, I took arc lessons at the local ROP center. Structual steel and such. Very cool. Since then it has been very handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie j Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I use a Hobart handler 135 . It's 120v input and approx 135 amp output comes with regulator and gas solenoid so you weld flux core or mig. I found it was a better buy than the low end millers and lincolns. I welded 18 ga sheetmetal with .023 wire and c25 with good results, and 1/4 galvanized pipe with .035 flux core with fair results. One word of advice is to buy the best hood you can afford, skip the home depot junk. I almost forgot that Hobart is now owned by Miller and alot of the machines are one in the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I'll second Dave's advice to go buy a high quality hood. And check your lenses FREQUENTLY. You would be surprised to learn how fast you can get a flash burn from a cracked lens. And that is NOT fun. You can however simulate this by taking a handful of dry sand and mushing it into each eye. Repeat for 24 to 72 hours. I do not recommend it. After I had a very mild one I started replacing my lens frequently. Of course I think all these lenses are now polycarbonate or acrylic now not like the glass ones I had 20 years ago so maybe this isn't the big deal it used to be. TIG was my all time favorite thing to work with because it felt more like "art". Kind of the best of both worlds (gas and arc) combined into one wonderful dance. We used to practice "thin skin" TIG by cutting the tops off of two pop cans and then welding them together. Crap...now I am getting a SERIOUS jones for a welder again. Dagnabbit! And I am about out of CO2 for the homebrew fridge which means I will have to go to the land of temptation...the welding store. Uh oh...this is gonna get expensive..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I taught welding for 15-18 years before they turned me into one of those "IT pukes". I still weld on occasion. A couple of weeks ago I made another 40 target stands and a couple of swingers, and a few other items. Mig is the easiest to learn quickly and is great for high productivity fabrication on new iron. However, when you start doing X-ray and destructive testing it's amazing how many folks can run a real pretty Mig bead that won't hold squat. For general repair work on dirty iron and for welding specialty steel like 500 AR I still use a stick. I use Lincoln, Miller and Hobart welders. For low duty cycle hobby work all of them make a good machine, each of them also makes a low end piece of trash. You get what you pay for. BTW, and electronic hood is the shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Would anybody care to enumerate the "trash" models and what to look out for? I'd like to pick up a welder just to keep up with stuff around the ranch - plus to repair all of Bill Sahlberg's steel that I've shot the hell out of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Stick with a Huntsman or Jackson and you will be fine. Like Ron said, the auto darkening hoods are the deal. Just expensive, thats all. I like the Huntsman model 430P. Light buy very protective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Yeah, I'll second Huntsman. Mine is 25+ years old and it still does a great job. But it has the small view window (2 inch by 4 inch I think). My next one will be the big 4x4 square. I can't justify the cost of the auto-darkening ones...but they are totally cool. I think Eric was looking for the trash models of welders though. Basically, if you buy it at Home Depot, Lowes or Costco...it is probably the low end trash. They will weld, but they just won't last long. Get thee to Norco (I think there is one in Spokane). If not a Norco, go find a real welder's supply. Ask Bill Sahlberg. If anyone knows where to go in Spokane it is Bill. For the ranch I would get one of the gas powered ones that has a generator built-in. That is the only way to fly and you will be surprised how many times a generator comes in handy out in the boonies when you are welding...like when you need to run the body grinder for a bit. Ron is right on with the MIG destruction tests. We did some comparisons of that long ago. New kids swore up and down that they could do the job with MIG instead of stick. Nope. Too easy to throw voids in the weld and not realize it. Not that it can't be done...it is just harder to do right. There is a reason 6013 and 6011 are called "farm rods"...especially 6013. They burn through rust, dirt, grime and other assorted crud and get the job done. Get some of one of those and some 7018 (in the appropriate rod diameters of course) and you are set for 95% of anything you will run into. Or do they even use that nomenclature anymore? I have been out of it so long..... I used to even know what each of those numbers stood for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I use an Oerlikon (Swiss made) MIG/MAG welding machine but I'm looking for a Villarch or Lorch. (even better than the Oerlikon=great gunbuilders as well) I use it to weld vintage cars like Porsche 356&911. Henny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I have a Lincoln Squarewave 175 TIG/stick welder at home. Love it ! Don't get to use it as much as I would like though... We have alot of different stuff at work. I echo the above comments about MIG looking pretty and failing tests due to air pockets in the weld, I had to redo my overhead plates twice to certify on MIG. Stick sailed through the first try, even on 100 series rod. It was a comparison to welding that first drew me to Brian's book. You have to SEE the puddle to get a good weld. If you are going to use the welder very much on anything that matters, spend the cash to get a good one. Cheap stuff is actually harder to use well. The regulation of the output on the better stuff makes a world of difference. Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Stupid Question Time: Can't one just turn down the wire feed rate on the Mig, thus running the puddle slower and improve the penetration of the weld? Or use a thicker diameter wire in conjunction with going slower? I wanted to get a Mig just because it would be a do-all machine, but you guys are giving me second thoughts. My stick welds are butt-ugly, but I know I'm getting the strength. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Mig is great on light stuff like sheet metal for auto work. Unless you have a serious poewr supply, it just doesn't work well on old metal. But for sticking togeather angle iron for target stands, it can't be beat. Stick with the Lincoln 5P+ for the 6010 rod. very easy to weld. Also 7018 for cover and the welds are both strong and pretty. I'll second the welder/generator combo. Lincoln and Miller both make them and they are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Eric, Yes you can adjust both feed of wire and amps for the power but the low end machines usually lack fine adjustment of power. A lot of weld supply places have demo machines or even demo days. Ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 My stick welds are butt-ugly, but I know I'm getting the strength. Mine too, unless I practice a lot. I guess not that much different than my shooting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 The " auto darkening " lenses are really great ! Especially when you are in strange positions, with a flashlight you can see exactly where everything is BEFORE you strike an arc. Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted July 12, 2004 Author Share Posted July 12, 2004 In light of the wiring found in a residential garage, obviously there are limitations on the machines you could use at home. What would be the common power input specs on a machine for use at home? For example, any machine requiring 3 phase is out. Something drawing much higher than 30 amps would seem to be a problem, too. Am I missing something here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Forget the 110V stuff if you want a decent welder. Go for something that is 220V single phase as a minimum. Yes, that puts you up into the higher dollar welders. Demo days at the big welding supply places are a total hoot. I used to work in a small shop and we would close down and go to "demo day" for the free hot dogs and soda and to play on all the new machines for the afternoon. I recall sitting and playing around with the lower end stick machines and wondering why in the hell anyone would buy one. Some were so simple that all they had was an on off switch but the manual would tell you all the wonderful things you could do with it. Yeah....right. IMHO, a lot of people have tried to learn to weld with cheap stuff and given up convinced they couldn't do it. The cool thing about getting into the higher end boxes is that you can get them set up for TIG, MIG and who know what else these days. Add a decent gas welding/cutting setup and you are ready to rock and roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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