[Guest]

I need to get a welder, but I have no money to buy one. My choices are limited to the welders at Home Depot because I still have some credit there.

What do I get though?

They have a 155amp Lincoln gas/no-gas, but it's ($750?) a couple hundred more than I can spend right now, and that doesn't include the $150 for the gas conversion (which doesn't include the tank)(yes, those are Canadian prices). /wwwthreads_images/icons/frown.gif

There is a 100amp gas/no-gas that sells for $500. That's right up my ally price wise, but is it worth it? I'll be stuck with no-gas for a while, and I'm just not sure this one will get the job done.

On the other hand they have a 220v Lincoln AC/DC arc welder. I've heard that this is harder to learn, but how much harder? I'm good with my hands, I don't mind a bit of a steep learning curve, I don't need pretty welds right off the bat just durable welds for mainly non-safety oriented work.

Should I get the weaker gas/no-gas or the stick?

A friend is going to lend me his buzzbox and hopefully show me the basics. That should help in deciding what to do, but what do you guys think?

This is for working on my Jeep, adding body armour, repairing stuff like broken shock mounts etc, making bumpers and carrying racks etc, and later (when I get good enough) maybe some frame work. Right now I have a guy who needs a bunch of landscaping equipment fixed and a few things built for him, he doesn't care about pretty welds so I thougt I might be able to do it for him.....we'll see how far I get with the buzzbox over the next couple weeks.

THANKS!

jo-jo
'77 CJ5 Fozzy Locker
20 degree RTI 1250
'87 Samurai Stock (for now)

 

[010]

JoJo
Have I ever let you down.
buy the lincoln ac/dc stick.( make sure it is ac/dc, the plain a/c machine is harder to use)
when you got some money buy a mig that is 130 amp plus. I use the miller 130 but the miller 185 is a cadallic to my 130. Those lincoln 100 are not worth dragging home even if they was free. Buy the lincoln ac/dc and next time you in the states buy the mig. I got my 130 from northern equipment for $499. I.m very happy with it but I got the ac/dc for heavyer metal.

The lincoln ac/dc will run about $300. and try a 7018 rod they easy.

brownbagg

 

[CJDave]

/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Jo-jo....you DO understand that thirty years ago, practically NOBODY welded with wire? You DO know that? Hmmmm....? Do you think that we just sat around and WISHED that we could weld? Hmmm....? Nope...we didn't DO that...we got out our Sears Roebuck or our Forney or our Lincoln buzz boxes and we WELDED some pretty darn good stuff.....like RACE CARS. Yep...that's what we did....and some of the welds looked like they had been squeezed out of a toothpast tube into the vee grove that we carefully ground before we welded stuff. Don't get the idea that buzz boxes won't weld. You just cannot sluff your way through. Buzz boxes have been repairing, building and creating since the days when pot was a thing you cooked in, gay was happy, and closet was for hanging coats in not for coming out of. Borrow that buzz box and practice, practice, practice....you'll be fine/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif....liberal and misguided....but fine/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif

CJDave
Quadra-Trac modified by the crack moonguy/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif transfer case team.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Brownbagg!!!

Thanks CJDave, even though you couldn't leave the...um.....stupid politics out of it. Of course I wouldn't expect anything different./wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Oh, BTW I am not a liberal or a conservative (up here we're allowed more than just two choices).

I never thought that you can't weld well with stick. I've just heard a lot of people say it is hard. When a pro brought his portable gear to my house to do some work on my Jeep once, he left the MIG on the back of the truck and whipped out his old trusty stick. I guess it's just a matter of practice like you say!

Thanks again!

(Not wishing for a past when blacks were hung in fields, gays feared for there lives and pot was fuel for government propaganda! The '50s where a great time.......for some!)

jo-jo
'77 CJ5 Fozzy Locker
20 degree RTI 1250
'87 Samurai Stock (for now)

 

[Guest]

Migs are easier to learn but you can weld as well (if not better in some cases) with a stick. Once you get use to welding one way it doesn't matter if there is another welder that is "easier" to use. Practice with the buzz box some then get a welder and practice some more before you try to weld something important.

Tim Springer
1980 CJ7
WALSTIB/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif

 

[CJDave]

/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif The last good year was '57-'58. After that, Chrysler discontinued the big hemis; the Russians launched the Sputnik and we had to start studying in school; the beetles polluted rock and roll, the Vietnam war wrecked the American psyche, and the "flower Children".....the future Klintun excusers" were all in training on LSD.../wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif We had a few good years in the early 60's but by then, the spectre of the VN War dogged every young American male like a shadow you couldn't shake/wwwthreads_images/icons/frown.gif

CJDave
Quadra-Trac modified by the crack moonguy/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif transfer case team.

 

[Guest]

I have a mig with gas for tin welding. Still use a Lincoln Buzz box my dad gave
me. For me it is easyer to get the buzz box out than to get the mig out.
The mig you got to uncover get the gas out put reguator on the tank set the
gas and wire speed.
Buzz box just uncover plugin set amps and weld.
Rod is the biggest down fall of the buzz box . One brand of 6010 will burn
like $hit and make bubble gum welds and another brand of 6010 will run like butter oh so perty.
got some 308 ss that runs so nice. should be useing 309 ss on plane steel. I just have a few LBS of 308 ss and it has worked well for me.

 

[CJDave]

/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif Isn't 6010 DC only? /wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

CJDave
Quadra-Trac modified by the crack moonguy/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif transfer case team.

 

[Guest]

Jo-Jo
I have just started to weld myself, so I'm sure that I don't know a fraction of what these other people know, but I just bought a Millermatc 130XP and I love it. 10 minutes out of the box and I was welding and having a great time. I probably would have bought a bigger machine but I don't have easy access to a 220v outlet. My friend(who also just started and who have way more money than me)started off with a Millermatic 250, that thing is great, but you have to have the 220 power and it cost over three times more.Mine only cost me $500 and for around another $150 or so I can get a regulator and a bottle, plus I was told by the dealer that I can use a spool gun with the 130XP to weld aluminum. Like I said though, I am just a beginner.

 

[Guest]

I learned to weld on our old Forney buzzbox...and then learned how to Mig when we got the Millermatic Challenger. Both are 220. The buzzbox will weld down to tissue paper if you are careful (although I can't make pretty welds on thin stuff with it). On the other hand, it will also weld 3/4" steel without a problem...and the duty cycle is much higher. With a little practice, you can stick weld very nice welds. Moreover, controlling penetration, crown, and all of those other things is as easy as adjusting your position and speed with your wrist...you don't have to stop and adjust the welder. Another positive is that you don't have to worry about kinking the cable. If you bend a mig cable too far, the wire stops feeding. Stick means no worries about birdnesting, and you always know how much wire you've got. Often, you can use the stick welder to power other metalworking implements, as well. On the other hand, mig welding means that you don't have to stop your weld every ___ inches to put in a new rod, and making pretty welds is easier to learn...but I wouldn't say that making strong welds is any easier with Mig than with stick. If I had to make your choice, I'd get the stick. If you were going to do a lot of body work, then I'd say you should get the mig. You'd be surprised how much of the stuff you'll end up welding (especially if you're repairing equipment) will be thicker than 1/4 inch. I don't know what else you have for equipment, but I'd get the stick and then save up for an oxy/acetylene torch/welder. Then you'll be ready to go.

Evolution of tools: stone, hammer, wrench, socket, impact, really big hammer, blue wrench.

 

[Guest]

Isn't 6010 DC only?
===================

/wwwthreads_images/icons/shocked.gif You got me Dave /wwwthreads_images/icons/shocked.gif
All my welding stuff is at my building
6 mi away .
My head who I cannot trust was thinking 6010 soft rod some will call a
farmer rod / 7013 a harder rod that was a little harder to run nice beads.
Got nothing here to check myself.
My point is same No. but the brand to brand will burn diferent.
ALSO keep that rod dry like a small light in the storage box/

 

[JEEPN]

I use a Miller 185, nice welder. I borrow it from my older brother (he has the welder, I have the torches, nice deal) and plug it, via an adapter, into the dryer socket, which is 220. He taught me how to weld with it, and it'll weld from 1/2" to bottlecaps. Now I'm in the process of wanting my own, and am considering a stick. I have some stainless pipe to make stuff with, but rethreading the new mig wire is a PITA. People have welded with sticks since the beginning of time, so I figure it'll be a nice addition. I can also find a nice used one for about $100. I have heard migs are easier to start on, but that either welder, once proficient, will more than suffice. It's like wheeling, 80% of it is the operator. One point though, everyone I've talked to has said the same thing, don't skimp or settle. Doing body metal with a Hobart 110 is fine, but frames, cages, and heavier metal are a lot harder and don't always stand up. When looking for a welder, get a good one the first time.

JEEPN
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled!
GM151/SM465/NP205 twinstick/7"Lift/33"TSL's/IHC D44's 4.10's Lock'd