Welder

What brand and size is a good welder to use for a sad without spending a fortune

 

[Blee1099]

If you don't know how to weld, start with something cheap like a harbor freight special then as your skills improve get a better one like a Hobart or Miller.

 

[Maniak]

You can get a miller or lincoln 120V wire feed welder for pretty cheap and you can weld up to about 3/16 with that using .030 flux core (.035 flux would be better).. Wire welding seems to be the normal starting point.

If you have 220V in the garage you can get a 220V wire feed but it'll cost ya more.

If you can swing it, get the miller 135 with a regulator. That way you can add gas to it later...

If you wanted to start with stick welding you can get a tombstone (big lincoln welder that looks like a tombstone) for pretty cheap. I've seen complete used setups (with mask, rods etc) for < $250.

Personally, just starting out, gmaw (wire feed, miller 135 etc) is cheap and easy to learn with.

~Mark

 

[RangerX]

Go to this forum: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=116 and enter the word "welder" into the 'search this forum' box. There's more than a few threads asking the same basic question.

I'm locking this thread just so the info on welder opinions doesn't get spread out more than it already is.