Re: Welders!
 

im looking to buy a welder and wondering if anyone is selling!!! i figure i would give the forum a try before i start looking on ebay

Re: Welders!
 

New question. What about wire size for body panels?

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How a bout this welder has any one used it? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=6271
Thanks earl

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I have used the L-tech tig with argon and it does beautiful.If you get a mig go with gas and get it from a welding supply.My neighbor has a lincoln SP175 he bought from lowes.I have a lincoln SP175T that I bought from the welding supply where I get my bottles filled.When he tries to weld anything like a frame his will get hot and shut down after a few minutes.I have not had this problem with mine but my supplier told me that the one I purchased from him was commercial grade with a higher duty cycle.I have been very pleased with mine.

Re: Welders!
 

There is an American Company called HTP America. I happen to own their
200 amp mig, 160 amp tig and a resistance spot welder. They have more features than most welders for a better price.

They offer outstanding customer service. I had the president of the company
troubleshoot a problem with my tig welder and he guided me through it on his 1-800 phone line after hours. It needed a new printed cicuit board which he guided me through removing and promptly sent me a replacement.

This company has definitely left me satisfied, with no regrets and offers outstanding products. They also offer a beginner Mig welding video for $15.00
which is refundable upon the purchase of a welder.
They offer 6 Migs from 120 -240 amps. Some of the mig accessories are really cool as you can use them with your mig welder. Such as Stud welding so you can pull out dents with a dent puller instead of buying a separate unispotter, shrinking attachment so you can add heat to a high spot or oil
can in sheet metal without having to use a torch. A spot weld nozzle, so you can drill or punch a hole in the top sheet of metal and spot weld to the lower sheet without having to move your welding gun and on apreset timer which is built into the welder.

There are many more cool toys, and I would definitely check out their website
and/or order a current catalog. I live in Canada and paid for shipping and customs charges with no regrets. Their welders are not manufactured in the U.S. and I would not trade them any day of the week.

The company is located in Arlington, IL.

Tell Jeff or Dianna that Warren Oliver says hi from Calgary, Aberta, Canada. Hope this helps.

Web site: www.usaweld.com

Phone: 1-800-872-9353

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Dont leave out the trusty Lincoln. I got one from Home Depot for about $360 and for another $100 you can get the regulator kit to run shielding gas. Its a wire welder and plugs into any 110 socket. Like I said, with the reg kit, you can be miggin'!

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Yep that's the Weld-Pak 100HD. I was going to get that one but for $449 I got the Weld-Pak 3200HD and has the regulator and gauges included. I like it:metal:

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what do you guys think of this welder?

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

Plugs into 115V, 20 amp outlet. 4 voltage settings and continuous wire feed speed. Welds mild steel, 24 ga. - 1/8 in. thick. Safety feature keeps wire electrically "cold" until trigger is pressed.

Includes gun and cable assembly, work cable and clamp, gas nozzle, gas regulator and hose
Solid wire spool, contact tips, handshield, spool of fluxcored wire, chipping hammer/brush

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got a esab migmaster 173 a fue weeks back and i was welding my floors and rockers in and it works great i also made a rear drop panhard bar and it welds just as good as the miller 251s at work. i paid a little over a grand for it in $cad. its a good deal imo, considering the millers run in the 4+ range.

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Ok I just got myy bottle of gas and going to start my welding skills back up. The question I have is what size wire for what steel? Im going to do some body work, (roll pan,, shaved doors) and the Notchin the fram :) Right now I have a roll of .023 and .025 Ive tried to look through the forum for postings but either Ive over looked it or its not thier..
Thanks every one!

Re: Welders!
 

23 and 25 are ok for what your doing.
if your doing a lot of panel work you may want to try
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-JW-Harris-20...QQcmdZViewItem

I use it a lot and its very good on panels and frame work.

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If you are looking at spending around $1500 for a welder, spend a little more and get a Miller 251. They run about $1800. It has a variable voltage control instead of "settings". I find that most welders never have the setting I want on sheetmetal. One is a little too cold, the next is a little too hot. So, If you are not an expert, the settings give you a choice of burn- thru or chicken poop. The only welder I ever ran with settings I liked for thin sheetmetal was a Snap-On YA212A IND. It has 12 voltage settings. I don't have it anymore, wish I did. At the time I bought it, there was no question in my mind that I wanted the tried & true Milller 210. Snap- On & Miller both wanted me to buy their welder. I told both of them to leave them to demo for a week, and that next week someone was going to make a sale, the other would be loading up. I was surprised myself that I liked the Snap- On machine better, and it was quite a bit more expensive than the Miller.

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That Harris wire, can be used with gas right?

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NO those welders are not good. If you dont know the difference it might seem OK, but its not!!!. Even for body work on thin metal that welder does not put out enough current also they do not put out a consistant current. A friend of mine went out and bought one and after about 5 minutes I made him take it back.
Both Lincoln and Miller make nice small 110 welders. I have had a Lincoln 135 for many years running .035 flux core (inner shield) and that will weld safely up to about 3/16 MAX!! anything thicker and your really pushing it even with allot of skill its hard to get proper penetration. Ive run it with hard wire(.030) and gas(75-25 argon CO2) and I didn't like how it ran, not hot enough, BUT it does run it well enough to weld body panels but it needs to be maxed out on power. I also have a miller-matic 210 that can run any wire and gas I could need in my garage.

You can buy Anti-spatter spray from weld shops and even home depot sells it. It makes clean up from flux core wire much easier. Get a wire brush for your angle grinder that will get most off anyway.

I say this for safety and for piece of mind. You do not want to weld something together on a truck that can be worth more than 100 of those crappy welders.

also you can have the best, latetest and greatest welding machine in the world but if the operator is inexperienced it makes hardly a difference. practice and have someone experienced help out. and practice more. LOL

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Harber Freight has these on sale for $99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94056

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What about this one instead???
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55525

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LOL!! no man they are not decent or reliable welders. I know they are cheap. you are getting what you pay for them. They might work OK for a awhile but not reliably or consistently There truly is a reason they can sell them for so much less than a quality welder. Check out Miller Lincoln and Hobart, all these companies do is make welding machines and supplies.

check these out http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...eet.asp?p=2515

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...llermatic_140/

thats a prefect start and don't sweat the the MSRP you can always find better deals on the internet or shopping around town
very reliable and parts like tips nozzles and everything else is easy to find.
I fabricate/weld for a living and I'm not paid to sell this stuff i use much bigger machines for work but at home i have had the lincoln 135 for 5 years and its been used hard and have never had trouble with it also i have a Miller 210 MIG welder for bigger jobs. AND you can have them serviced if something goes bad in them you don't have to buy a new one.

hope this helps out...
.

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dish soap works pretty good for "de-spat"...

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My neighbor has an ESAB, not sure the model number, but says he has had all of the rest (Millers, etc.) and this one is the best.

I signed up for a Beginning and Intermediate class at the local VO-TECH, starts next week. Anxious to begin. Then I will pick out a welder.

Re: Welders!
 

Regardless of which brand you go with I would highly recommend buying from a welding supply house. I manage a welding supply store and could go on all day about horror stories from people who purchased online. Everything from getting damaged machines to missing parts and everything in between. And when they do have a problem they are usually on their own. I can always get very close to the online guys prices if not beat them. Then when you have a problem we are there to take care of it for you. We dont claim to know everything about the machines, this would be impossible with the constant changes in technology, but we can always get you a straight up answer. If a customer requests it I will always go to his shop and set it up and do a demo for them. We sell ESAB, Miller, and Lincoln and I will say that we have by far the least problems with the ESAB. They all have good machines however Lincoln in my opinion has very poor support. The ESAB will also give you more welder for your money. They offer the Migmaster 203 for around $1275.00 and it will do an excellent job of anything you will encounter in a bodyshop. It has 12 voltage taps,will accept up to 45# spools of wire, has a spot timer, comes standard with a 13' gun, is gas ready, has a running gear so no need for a cart, is spoolgun ready, and welds increadibly smooth through the entire voltage range. IMO buy a good one once and it will last you for a lifetime.

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Not another Harbor Freight question. I promise!

Has anyone used or had experience with this one? I can't find anything on it except the reviews on the site, and I'm always a bit wary when it's the company's own site. It looks and sounds ok, though.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...2691_200332691

Re: Welders!
 

www.accustrike.com





love the quote on this helmet: "As one welder so eloquently put it: This helmet cuts down on the cussing."

ive been welding for about 5 years now at the Trane Company here in Pueblo, Co. we make large industrial size water chillers. love the welders they have here are the Maxstar 300 Series tig welders and the Miller Delta 450 which is a high voltage mig and spray welder. we weld plates 1/4 to 3/4 plates

i also plan to buy a welder and did see some good welders on craiglist like miller 251 mig and miller 210 mig go for under $700
might want to check there!!!:metal:

Re: Welders!
 

.023-.025 wire with 25%CO2/75% argon gas works out well on body panels. Straight CO2 is cheaper and will work but it will run a little hotter.

I got a couple of 1lb rolls of Hobart .024 wire as a sample and really like it. It might even be enough to finish this job out and I wont have to go and pay for more.

A .023 tip should work with .025 wire also. I am running the 24 with them and it works fine. I don't think an extra thou or 2 will jam it up.

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what do you guys think of this welder? for like body work?????? yes or no
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...keyword=welder

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for thin sheet metal I think you would be OK with that welder. If run with 75% argon 25% CO2 it should be real nice.

I wouldn't weld anything structural with it though. 1/8" might even be too thick for it. even though it says it can do it.