Welding?

[McDave]

That is great advice Ottsville. I took a lot of classes at night. You can pick up all kinds of skills.

McDave

[kirkupnorth]

The new line of Harbor Freight welders(the orange ones) look pretty good. They are your typical chinese inverters but the come with a 1 year no hassle warranty. I considered one when I was shopping.

The thing with welding is that once you have one, you'll find all kinds of things to build or repair. Get the best welder you can afford.

Check your local community college - many times you can find and evening class for learning to weld which will give you access to various kinds of equipment.

Checking for a community college class is an excellent idea! If you aren't near a CC, you could also talk to your local public school district's "Community Ed" or "Adult Ed" department. If the school has a decent industrial arts program, they might offer some evening classes.

[rmcrist]

Great advice and thank you!!


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[JRAnt74]

Set to start welding on my priject!

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[jmanscotch]

I'll second the Hobart Handler 125. It's a great little 120V welder for under $500. I use mine for MIG welding and like it so far. I tried it with flux core and didn't care much for that, messy and seemed like poor penetration.

Spend a few days watching different youtube videos on MIG welding then practice and practice. It's fun to learn.

[Shadow Catcher]

My feeling you would be money ahead having some one do it for you. I did weld inspection during my inspection career, everything from the space shuttle to carnival rides. As long as you are not working on critical structural welds i.e. tongue, if it is screwed up it is not a disaster waiting to happen

[domoarigato]

Ya, what Shadow said. There is a running thread (joke) that has been going on for years over at weldingweb on the absolutely scary stuff that people attempt to build with a 110v welder. Agreed, window headers fine.. prolly want .030 wire vs .035 for better heat regardless w a 110v. No, trailer building tho.. Yikes!

My feeling you would be money ahead having some one do it for you. I did weld inspection during my inspection career, everything from the space shuttle to carnival rides. As long as you are not working on critical structural welds i.e. tongue, if it is screwed up it is not a disaster waiting to happen

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[Iconfabul8]

I know a guy who built a 9 sec Mustang with a 110 welder. Not something I would recommend, but if you know what you are doing, technique is everything. My little 220v lincoln SP170 plus is not supposed to weld anything thicker than 1/8" with .030 wire and co2 argon mix. I have actually got some acceptable penetration on 1/2". Granted, if I need real super strength I break out the Lincoln AC/DC buzz box and some 7018 LH. If I were starting from scratch I would seriously look into a multi-process machine.

A couple of my welders:

[domoarigato]

In regards to roll cage, a catostophic wreck would be the true test of the welds (and roll cage design, if not a kit). But your right though, if you have a good eye for penetration and fill, you can stretch the capabilities of a 110v machine and do a lot of stuff. Thing is there are folks trying to accomplish said feats without having this "eye" and some seem like a disaster waiting to happen, certainly not proper. Just a fair warning to weekend warriors who may have just bought a welder two weeks ago and looking to set the world on fire.

-Domo

I know a guy who built a 9 sec Mustang with a 110 welder. Not something I would recommend, but if you know what you are doing, technique is everything. My little 220v lincoln SP170 plus is not supposed to weld anything thicker than 1/8" with .030 wire and co2 argon mix. I have actually got some acceptable penetration on 1/2". Granted, if I need real super strength I break out the Lincoln AC/DC buzz box and some 7018 LH. If I were starting from scratch I would seriously look into a multi-process machine.

A couple of my welders:

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[domoarigato]

I know a guy who built a 9 sec Mustang with a 110 welder. Not something I would recommend, but if you know what you are doing, technique is everything. My little 220v lincoln SP170 plus is not supposed to weld anything thicker than 1/8" with .030 wire and co2 argon mix. I have actually got some acceptable penetration on 1/2". Granted, if I need real super strength I break out the Lincoln AC/DC buzz box and some 7018 LH. If I were starting from scratch I would seriously look into a multi-process machine.

A couple of my welders:

I have a Tweco/Thermal Arc Fabricator 211i which is a multi process. Had it for about 4 years now. Used MIG, TIG and stick quite extensively and have had zero problems. I'm currently using it with .030 flux core (so I dont have to drag gas bottles into the trailer) for all the thin wall tubing welds. 50' 50A extension allows me to use it in the trailer as well. I had one of those lincoln buzz boxes near 30yrs ago, and they work just fine. Hard to kill an older transformer design. Those are decent little stick welders, the AC/DC boxes.

-Domo

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[phoenixbound]

Any thoughts on this HF welder? I am interested in welding for some small projects. Have not welded before, but would like to try. Most of the reviews seem pretty good. If not this welder, any other 110V recommendations?

HF Welder.JPG (71.52 KiB) Viewed 2786 times

[Ottsville]

Any thoughts on this HF welder? I am interested in welding for some small projects. Have not welded before, but would like to try. Most of the reviews seem pretty good. If not this welder, any other 110V recommendations?

HF Welder.JPG

It'll do small sheet metal projects.

What's your budget for a welder?

[phoenixbound]

Probably around $200 tops for now. I don't want to spend too much till I see how it works out for me. But, I don't want to buy a welder with such limited capability that I can't really do much with it.

[Iconfabul8]

Here are a few reviews on the pro-series-mmig125. Seems to be a decent welder for the money and about what you are looking for. Walmart has a good price on it but is apparently out of stock.
http://www.mechanicalcaveman.com/best-1 ... lt-review/
http://weldercritic.com/pro-series-mmig ... it-review/
https://abeasts.com/pro-series-mmig125- ... ck-review/

[phoenixbound]

Interesting, $369 on Amazon. $163 at Wal-Mart online. But like you say it's out of stock. I will watch for it. Thanks.