Fabrication/Welding, What do you use.

[180roman]

Couldn't quite find an appropriate section to post this in, so this seemed to be the best fitting place.

I'm in the market for a MIG Welder or a MIG/TIG combo, so just wanted to get some opinions on what people use and recommend.

The welder I'm looking for should be able to perform body work on thin sheet metal and still be able to cope with welding thicker structural steel up to 5-6mm.

I'm leaning towards a Lincoln Powermig 180C or a PowerCraft 180i or a Cigweld 200

So tell me what you've got/recommend

[Jesus Christ]

[180roman]

[IG]http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae289/MarkTheMayer/Funny%20Motivational%20Images/1287589741710.jpg[/IMG]

ha ha you're a cunt

[Oxer]

How much you looking to spend?

[180roman]

About $1k

[Jesus Christ]

had to.

I'm pretty sure i'm going to pick up a Lincoln weldpak 140, but am strongly comsidering a Hobart Handler 135. I can't run 220v for a while in my new garage so i have limited choices, but if i had access to 220v, i would have gone that route. This is all MIG btw.

I'm still undecided and would still like to hear some suggestions and recommendations though.

[180roman]

I know Ox has experience with welding/fab, so interested what he will recommend for the budget.

Welding friend is telling me to not bother with a MIG and just get an AC/DC TIG and learn on that straight up, but he does TIG welding for a living, so it is easy for him.

[Jesus Christ]

I know Ox has experience with welding/fab, so interested what he will recommend for the budget.

Welding friend is telling me to not bother with a MIG and just get an AC/DC TIG and learn on that straight up, but he does TIG welding for a living, so it is easy for him.

I wanted to also but any tig i would want is way over 2k so for the super light duty i need it for, i feel tig is overkill

[kbuss]

If you don't care what the weld bead looks like go with MIG. It's a lot faster when it comes to welding something together, but the overall size of the bead is much larger and harder vs. TIG. Which means you will spend more time grinding it down to make it smooth if you are going for that seamless look.

TIG is my preference, I only use MIG if i absolutely have to. With practice you can make the bead look really really good. Plus, if the bead looks good, don't even bother grinding it away, show it off. But if you needed to grind it down it will be a lot faster than MIG. The weld is softer. Plus, I feel TIG is easier to control (once you get the hang of it).

220v is where it's at, especially if you want to weld thicker material. Obviously this would be more than $1k.

[MommysLittleMonster]

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times.

Pick up a 220v Hobart Handler. Same mother company and parts a Miller welder, great customer service, and a really versatile welder for the money. It's what I use on a weekly basis, and i do everything from sheet metal for bodywork to heavy stuff like plow frames, trailers, and heavy fabrication.

We bought out setup for around $700, and it came with a cart, a gas gauge and regulator, and gloves from Tractor Supply.

[Jesus Christ]

I don't need a 220v for down pipes and exhausts. I would absolutely love a tig, but only have access to a 25 amp circuit, so 110v is my only option. I have access to the best MIG and TIGs but i want to just do exhaust, down pipes and light duty stuff like fenders.

[on1wheel06]

theres always the hobart 210mvp that can be either 110v or 220v with a change of a plug.

[enwhychris]

I picked up a Hobart Handler 140 which operates off 115V current(http://www.hobartwelders.com/product...ed/handler140/), and I have been very happy with it. Its relatively light duty compared to others, but you cant beat that price, and the quality of the parts and customer service have been spot on so far.

When I received everything the gun was defective, so I called customer support, and a new one arrived at my door in 2 days.

I have also found that almost everything has a corresponding Miller p/n, and those parts are much cheaper than the Hobart branded ones for some reason.

For what its worth, I had no welding experience whatsoever before I bought it. I watched some youtube videos and was welding personally impressive beads the same day.

It came complete with everything needed to hook it up to a tank, and I would highly recommend picking one up. The difference is like night and day.

It says you can weld aluminum as well, but I have yet to try it so I don't know how effective it is.

If I'm not mistaken I picked it up for $550.00 on Amazon.

[cruuz]

^ yep yep yep ^

hobart handler 140 ftw. you won't get a good TIG setup for under $1k. in fact by the time you get a bottle and everything for the handler, you'll be around $800ish anyways. also, do yourself a huge favor and get an AUTODARK helmet, you'll spend less time fucking about and more time welding. this one got comparable reviews as the $400 ones a while back. i dunno if you guys have these stores over there, but you could always get it shipped

to weld alu with this one requires the spool gun attachment, which is like another $300 iirc

[Oxer]

It all depends on what you want to do. For fine metal work like fabbing manifolds out of stainless/alloy etc then tig, if its for panel work you can use either, if its for more structural work then you can use either, but mig saves time. Apparently now days you can buy wire fed tigs, which to me sounds stupid because its basically a mig.

As far as brands go, you can get cheap stuff off ebay thats relatively reliable, but if you were ever looking to upgrade, then the resale on the cheap one would be less. Ive used a bunch of migs, uni mig, cigweld, micromig, etc. they are all pretty reliable and easy to use, as soon as you go digital display, you then need to learn finer details with the settings. Im old fashioned, so any mig with a wire feed knob and an amperage/voltage knob and im set.

I havent had a huge amount of time behind a tig, but it has very similar principles.

On another note, I have a unimig 250 inverter Like this:

http://compare.ebay.com.au/like/261131050132?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes

I bought it off a mate, brand new and never been used, you can run it off 3 phase and/or single phase. You can use it as an arc/mma welder, a mig welder, or a tig by chaging the nozzles. Ive never used it, and to be honest, I dont think I will since the wiring in my garage isnt 100% If you're interested shoot me a pm, I have the mig attatchment, Im not chasing that sort of money for it either

Either way, with something like that you can do very fine stuff, along with heavy stuff. With a smaller welder around the 150 mark, you will struggle to do heavier materials. anything around the 180 - 250 mark is perfect for the stuff in between.

But if you buy mine you can do anything haha