What's up everyone, New to the Welding World

[gsxrsrad1000]

Hello All,

I know you guys get tired of answering newbie questions, but places like this are one of the only ways to get honest opinions from people that live, sleep and breathe this stuff. I am in the Market for a welder. I have never welded in my life. I love to fabricate and work with my hands. My grandfather was a master welder and I was always wondering about the art, but he passed before I really got a chance to admire welding for what it is. I was talking to my mechanic and he told me it's best to learn stick welding first because after you master stick welding, you can weld pretty much with anything. At first I was thinking I would get a Mig welder, but he told me for the price I want to pay, a Mig welder using standard house current would not be sufficient. I am looking to weld 24 gauge steal, basically the steel framing bars you see people welding on "Monster Garage" and shows like that. I just need my welded frames to hold at the most 400 lbs. I was looking at the Lincoln Electric 225 Amp Stick Welder as my starting point. Can someone give me their honest opinion of this welder and furthermore will it weld those framing bars? Lastly if this unit will not, can you give me some examples of possible units that will. Does not matter if they are Mig, Tig, Stick whatever, I am just trying to figure out what I need so I am not wasting money on something that will not do the job.
Thanks for taking the time in advance.

[Mike W]

Hi and welcome. Are you sure about that #24? It is awful thin. I started with an arc welder, then got oxy/act to cut and weld thin metal. My opinion is to get a 220 volt mig.

[gsxrsrad1000]

Cool, I was reading more threads and a guy was asking about the Handler 140. I believe that is pretty impressive for that Welder to weld 1/4 steel off of house current. But 220 would be the best so I konw I have the power.

[Timinmb]

Hello All,

I know you guys get tired of answering newbie questions, but places like this are one of the only ways to get honest opinions from people that live, sleep and breathe this stuff. I am in the Market for a welder. I have never welded in my life. I love to fabricate and work with my hands. My grandfather was a master welder and I was always wondering about the art, but he passed before I really got a chance to admire welding for what it is. I was talking to my mechanic and he told me it's best to learn stick welding first because after you master stick welding, you can weld pretty much with anything. At first I was thinking I would get a Mig welder, but he told me for the price I want to pay, a Mig welder using standard house current would not be sufficient. I am looking to weld 24 gauge steal, basically the steel framing bars you see people welding on "Monster Garage" and shows like that. I just need my welded frames to hold at the most 400 lbs. I was looking at the Lincoln Electric 225 Amp Stick Welder as my starting point. Can someone give me their honest opinion of this welder and furthermore will it weld those framing bars? Lastly if this unit will not, can you give me some examples of possible units that will. Does not matter if they are Mig, Tig, Stick whatever, I am just trying to figure out what I need so I am not wasting money on something that will not do the job.
Thanks for taking the time in advance.

A stick welder will give you the most bang for the buck in terms of maximum welding capacity for the dollars. It does not however work well for welding sheet metal and requires more skill and learning time than the mig process. If you get a sufficiently sized mig, you will be able to weld from sheet metal to frames. I think that the less welders you buy, the better use you make of your money, so a 220 volt mig of at least 175 amp capacity is what I would recommend. If you decide to go the stick welder route, as mentioned, get the model with DC capabilty, as I suspect you will seldom use the AC setting if you have DC. Most of the rods have their best characteristics when welded with DC current, and you may even some day hook up a tig torch to the stick welder to enable you to do some finer work, like welding stainless headers for example. Consider enrolling in a class that teaches mig and stick and see how you like the processes before you buy. On the other hand, you can probably pick up an old AC 225 machine for a $100.00 used and have some fun with it. But the classes are still a good idea.

[Trent Combs]

In particular, what are you wanting to weld? The material you are welding dictates the process needed, the thickness dictates the amperage. Welding .180 aluminum, .250 mild steel, or 18 gauge stainless are all very different tasks. Personally, I am a hobby welder - went to the local junior college and took a basic class. Bought a Lincoln 225AC/DC tombstone 1st, and have used it on many projects. Next came a O/A torch setup. Then a Hobart Handler 135, which I use about 75% of the time. Recently bought an older Miller Dialarc 250P with a HF box, because I want to learn to weld aluminum.

Budget is always a consideration. I started off buying the best I could justify and afford. I wanted to make gate frames, work tables, equipment stands and the like. All using mild steel tubing, .180 wall or thinner, and no structural welding - in other words, if it broke I'd be embarrassed - not maimed or dead. My welding teacher strongly steered me to a AC/DC machine, and I'm glad he did. I bought a cheap Harbor Freight chop saw, and started welding. So far, I've never had a weld fail.

As I have progressed, I found that a torch was needed - sometimes you need to cut curves. I rented one a couple times, then watched the classifieds and bought a used Victor set complete with tanks real cheap. Don't use it much, but when I need it there is no substitute.

The HH135 filled yet another niche. I already owned a 5K generator, and wanted to kill two birds with one stone - I wanted a mig for thin stuff AND I wanted the versatility of being able to weld anywhere I had house current or my generator. The Handler fit the bill very well - and fit my budget.

Next, I found myself wanting to learn to Tig aluminum - but not wanting to spend a couple grand to see if I would use it. Watched the classifieds, called on the Miller (listed as "200 amp welder" - that was all!) and found out it was a fine older 375lb AC/DC shop unit with a HF box and Tig setup for the princely sum of $300. Bought it, haven't had time to get it set up yet. I'm enrolled in a Tig class next semester. If i get good with it, this will be my roll cage/buggy/motorcycle building machine. If I don't like it, I know I cak get my money back out of it. Heck, I could recycle the copper....

I've been toying with the idea of getting an engine-driven unit as well. Unfortunately, I have rented several, and don't think I'll be satisfied with a small one. I live in oil country, and after you've used a Pipeliner, you get spoiled. I don't do enough where I NEED an engine-drive, especially when I can rent one easily, but someday......well, if I start using one enough to justify owning and maintaining it, I'll start shopping.

[moody]

i started arc welding and have been doing it for about a month and a half now

its great

i built the welder myself out of only 2 microwave ovens

the wire, electrode holder and ground clamp were the only things i had to buy

only cost me about $40

check it out at my site

[gsxrsrad1000]

Great, thanks everyone for all your advice and opinions. I value each and every one of them. I decided to go with the Handler 140. After reading this forum day in and day out, and some of my own research, I believe this will handle exactly what I am looking for. Is $444.00 A good price for the Handler 140? It's brand spanking new with the 3 year warranty.

[abooker]

gsxrsrad1000 you never stated how much money you have to work with or if you're in a hurry to learn. If you want something quick with a easy learning curve go with the MIG, a HH140 for portability or a HH180 if you're going to leave it in the shop. Either is a good investment. If you want to cut old metal or plan on learning to TIG weld in the future buy a Oxy/Acetylene set. Once you master the weld puddle learning TIG will be easy. The Oxy/Acetylene is capably of welding mild steel / aluminum from 1/16"-1/4" easily ( 1/8" for the aluminum ), cutting of rusted items and heating to bend steel. The main drawback is that it's not as fast as a MIG.

[UncleT]

gsxrsrad, I recently purchased a Hobart Handler 180 and I love it. I am in the same boat as you. I am new to welding and I purchaed the HH180 and had no problem at all learning how to weld. You can get one on ebay at IOC for $500 - $600. Not sure what your price range is. I've heard a lot of good things about the HH180 and as of right now I have no complaints.

[J-Dogg]

The 225 is an ac only machine, and the amprege control goes up by like 10, you will probobly want a ac/dc stick welder. But a stick welder will not weld thin matrerial easily i would deffinitly go with a mig.


Jared

[legend]

If I was an amateur at welding like you then I would definately shoot for the Stick Welder because it's cheaper,easier to work with,and less complicated with setting up the equipment.I will definately go with a 230 volt stick welder machine like a miller thunderbolt ac/dc because it has infinity amperage unlike the lincolns although lincolns are quite nice as well my money would go to a miller stick machine(electric) although i absolutely enjoy and benifit off both brands.

Stick has a lot of advatanges that mig doesn't have.First of all you can go over a 100 ft in leads and weld just about anywhere around your shop or garage whatever you have and even in windy conditions and on rusty metals by burning through it with 6011.Of course almost nobody welds thinner metal with stick and most likely use mig even though I really don't see no bit of trouble welding lighter material with me using stick.Actually I can't tell the difficulty.Also you don't need gas for the stick welder and don't have to go through all the trouble of changing out rolls but simply just change the rod.Also consumables are cheaper like rods instead of buying a whole brand new roll of wire for just one project you can just buy 1 pound of rods for about a buck.

[TomG]

I'm pretty new at this but I've had decent success with my HH140. So far, I've practiced on 22 ga., 16 ga., and 1/8" t-bars. I welded a new 16 ga. top on my dad's wood-burning furnace (learned that fitment is VERY important when welding sheet metal), new supports on my wife's big yard X-mas ornaments and a propeller my dad fabricated onto a rod to make a heavy duty driveway sealer stirrer. All of that took a 1 lb roll of 0.030 flux cored wire.

$444 is a good price for the 140.

[toolaholic]

my 1st machine was a miller thunderbolt dc welding is much more pleasant than ac. good luck take a class at nite school