Looking for advice on first welder

[duckwhacker]

I've wanted to do this for a while now, but now is the time, I am going to finally learn to weld. Wanted to pick up a welder and all other accessories for something in the $500 range, if possible. I will be welding mainly aluminum and steel and just messing around and watching videos to get the hang of it at first, but would like to eventually do larger projects that actually involve me building things or repairing stuff. Most of the welding will be taking place in the garage but it has plenty of ventilation and access to 220v. From the research I've done it looks like it will have to be a mig welder since a tig is out of the price range. Anyway, just wanted to get some advice on some machines you guys would recommend. Will probably be searching craigslist a ton and wanted to be sure I knew what to keep my eye out for.
Thanks

[Jay O]

Here we go again. Use the search function and you may be able to find what you need. The short and sweet answer to your question is you need to triple your budget, even for used equipment. Make a list of the items you need and you will see for yourself.

[Gamble]

You will need a spoolgun to do aluminum and 100% argon. For SS a tri mix works best of argon/co2/helium and for regular mild steel 75argon/25co2.
For tig to do aluminum you need it to do AC and you can't find one for less than $1k range new.

[Rick V]

Have a read of this very recent post... same question posed.
http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=57674

[morkdach]

[/size]

Originally Posted by Jay O

Here we go again. Use the search function and you may be able to find what you need. The short and sweet answer to your question is you need to triple your budget, even for used equipment. Make a list of the items you need and you will see for yourself.

[WOW.
I'm a newb here and have been on several forums unrelated to welding and never seen a post like this!!!
this was his first post and may not know about the search!!

[mudbugone]

That's what I want to do...Join a forum and get B!TCH slapped on my very first post.

FWIW... his question may have been redundant,but the forum search tool isn't always all that great. His question is actually very different than the posted discussion...but then we'll probably never hear or see him again (Unless he's like some of us that have a thicker skin & a harder head and just don't GAS )

[brucer]

to the op, you need to ask yourself what range of material and thickness your going to be welding then go from there....

on your budget of $500 you almost have to go used... thats where i would start anyways.

to me your value differs in a welder, and from what i've learned in welders the bigger the better.. for home use , me personally, would not own anything less than 180amp and that raises your budget up a couple hundred atleast.. my stepbrother does autobody work at home and he just bought a 140amp lincoln 140c for $675 with a mail-in rebate of $75 for a total of $600, the 140amp welder is the very smallest i would go and i tried to talk him into going bigger but he wouldnt listen..

i would suggest to save up your money and look into the hobart 210mvp..

[umahunter]

with a name duckwahcker i assume you will like to do stuff for chasing ducks including boat work (i know im an addict as well lol) brucer offers up some good advice. my best advice is buy as much as you can afford. you can always turn the dial down doesnt work the other way. check craigs and even pawn shops or even refurbs .if you have a home depot card they can get you any Lincoln in the catalog same with lowes you can get a hood gloves etc to start at harbor freight for cheap 500 is a small budget but it can be done and you can upgrade later as you move along

[mudbugone]

To the OP... Welding aluminum as a newbee is reaching the extreme border of ability. Not impossible,just difficult and probably more expensive than your $500 target ceiling allows.

This machine is the only way I could see you getting close to that $500 goal.

http://www.eastwood.com/175-amp-mig-...spool-gun.html

Read the following thread...

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php...ood+mig+welder

You could use a DC stick to weld aluminum,but that's another difficult method for aluminum.

Any way you turn... doing aluminum will be more expensive and more difficult. That's just a fact of the process.

In theory everyone 'wants' to do aluminum but it's far more difficult than welding ordinary steel and requires money,special equipment,as well as ability. You state this is new to you.... learn the basics first before you over reach. That isn't to say DON'T buy a machine that can go where you want to go...I'm just saying learn if you're really into this before spending lots of bucks to go in several directions.

Aluminum welding is probably the most difficult path to learn... I get the impression from your post that you have looked at the various Chicom multi task welders and think you can get into this for your target $500 which probably isn't true.

Welcome to the kitty litter box BTW.... It's mostly clean sand with some wet clumps and some dung heaps,but we all generally get along.

[Welding_Swede]

Originally Posted by mudbugone

That's what I want to do...Join a forum and get B!TCH slapped on my very first post.

FWIW... his question may have been redundant,but the forum search tool isn't always all that great. His question is actually very different than the posted discussion...but then we'll probably never hear or see him again (Unless he's like some of us that have a thicker skin & a harder head and just don't GAS )

Perhaps the reply to the OP's question was a little strong, perhaps not. There is a sticky at the top of this forum titled: "Welder Advice for Newbies". I would suggest that if the OP had mentioned reading it and still had a few questions he may have received a warmer response. The sticky actually has an enormous amount of info in the threads that it links to. Isn't that the reason it's there?

It seems to me (IMO) that there is a lot of advice sought by those that are willing to do very little in the way of their own research. This may not be the case with the OP of this thread but I certainly understand why these kinds of posts get similar responses.

I spent at least a month or two reading posts on this and other welding sites before I even thought about posting my first question. Should new members really have a reasonable expectation that someone will take a half an hour to give them a custom tailored response to the same daily question?

Eric

[morkdach]

Originally Posted by Welding_Swede

Perhaps the reply to the OP's question was a little strong, perhaps not. There is a sticky at the top of this forum titled: "Welder Advice for Newbies". I would suggest that if the OP had mentioned reading it and still had a few questions he may have received a warmer response. The sticky actually has an enormous amount of info in the threads that it links to. Isn't that the reason it's there?

It seems to me (IMO) that there is a lot of advice sought by those that are willing to do very little in the way of their own research. This may not be the case with the OP of this thread but I certainly understand why these kinds of posts get similar responses.

I spent at least a month or two reading posts on this and other welding sites before I even thought about posting my first question. Should new members really have a reasonable expectation that someone will take a half an hour to give them a custom tailored response to the same daily question?

Eric

Sorry I do not agree as a newb spend a little time ask ?'s .
Fill them in on options and where to go in the forum to find answers to there ?'s.
I found this site when I searched used welder parts.
I have been a service Tech for several years on welder&plasma repair.
I decided to join the forum and this is the first post I read.
So IMHO if I were Duckwaker I would say to JayO

[Tool Maker]

Duck whacker If your still reading this forumlisten to this. You want to learn to weld. take it from an old fart with over 50 years of welding. Buy a small wire feed welder like a Lincoln 175 240 volt maqchine. its not a big welder. It's able to run gas but will run flux in wire also so you wont have to start with a tank and flow meter. You can ad them later. This will get you into the game. You can make trailers, toys, Do some body work, in general do a lot of welding with this unit. I have one myself along with about 5 other larger welders. but the little Lincoln I bought last because its so handy and I have it in my art studio. Nice toy to play with. when you get good with it then you can keep your eyes open for that big AC DC with tig. Mac

[joedirt1966]

Get a welding reference book from a library.

A little independent study goes a long way towards understanding the various welding processes better.

The more education you obtain, the better you will be at determining the best welder for your intended purpose.

If you lack significant understanding, an answer to your question often leads to 5 more questions.

[duckwhacker]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I did do a search and read a good amount of other threads before I posted, but I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for and I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I needed before spending the money. I'm going to keep an eye on craiglist and see if a good deal pops up, if not I'll add a bit onto the budget.

[duckwhacker]

Originally Posted by umahunter

with a name duckwahcker i assume you will like to do stuff for chasing ducks including boat work (i know im an addict as well lol) brucer offers up some good advice. my best advice is buy as much as you can afford. you can always turn the dial down doesnt work the other way. check craigs and even pawn shops or even refurbs .if you have a home depot card they can get you any Lincoln in the catalog same with lowes you can get a hood gloves etc to start at harbor freight for cheap 500 is a small budget but it can be done and you can upgrade later as you move along

yup it's definately an addiction. Doing my own boat work would be really nice, I know I've got a long way to go though before I reach that point, but it's one of my goals.

[weldbead]

for thebudget you have buy a used transformer stick machine(such as a tombstone) and you'll have plenty machine to learn on and money left for fabricating tools.i dont think you gonna do aluminum foir $500 unless you are patient and diligent in the search..

[soutthpaw]

Originally Posted by weldbead

for thebudget you have buy a used transformer stick machine(such as a tombstone) and you'll have plenty machine to learn on and money left for fabricating tools.i dont think you gonna do aluminum foir $500 unless you are patient and diligent in the search..

I agree with this. If you have the power supply to support a decent size transformer its the way to go on a tight budget. you can run aluminum stick electrodes and if you get a Miller Dialarc 250 with HF you can even make a cheap tig setup down the road for Al welding. See Rick V's threads on aluminum stick welding. you can also add wirefeed or spoolgun to a good stick machine. be sure to get and AC/DC model. a Miller dialarc or idealarc by Lincoln (2 of the best welders ever made) will run 250amps DC. but a lincoln buzzbox will only run 125 on DC and 225AC the miller thunderbolt is 140DC I think. tell us where you are located too. you just have to be patient and keep watching CL etc for these deals. there are plenty out there for these machines

[Nitesky]

Originally Posted by mudbugone

That's what I want to do...Join a forum and get B!TCH slapped on my very first post.

FWIW... his question may have been redundant,but the forum search tool isn't always all that great. His question is actually very different than the posted discussion...but then we'll probably never hear or see him again (Unless he's like some of us that have a thicker skin & a harder head and just don't GAS )

If we wait for only "new" questions they might as well shut down the forum because everything has been asked at one time or another.

[insterno]

Have you considered spending your budget on welding school instead? I know this isn't exactly what you're asking for, but you could to to school for a couple terms on that budget and learn what you're hoping to learn. You can often rent a welder, or even borrow one if you have a specific project, you might even be able to do some of your small projects at school as you learn.