Im looking at buying a Welder but dont know much about the technical stuff.
I want a stick (worked on a farm for the last 4 years and have taught myself how to use one) and want to be able to weld stuff atleast a 1/2 thick. I have an 80 amp dc now and the one at the farm is an ac 220?? amp. wich is better AC or DC and how many amps do i need.

Thanks
Fordman300

 

have a look at www.hobartwelders.com 1/2" is pretty thick.

 

A dc machine will give you better results @ much easier to use than a ac unit
Easier to stike an arc @ weld out of position. A 180/200 amp machine should do
anything you need.
ANY QUESTIONS E MAIL ME hotwrench@pennswoods.net





























































d
c machine will give you better results, less splatter , easier to weld out of position as in verticle or overhead. Easier to strike an arc . To weld 1/2 inch

 

what do you think of these
235 AC
$219.93

235 AC 160 DC
$369.99

 

campbell hausfeld makes some very nice ones i have one and they work great and you can't beat the 5 year warranty you can buy the from these places

www.grizzly.com
www.chpower.com
www.walmart.com
www.harborfreight.com

i got mine on ebay brand new for 125 and it is wire feed and can hadle a ten pound spool or welding wire and you can upgrade to gas for cheap

 

ch also makes great stick welders they make one for home use and they also make a monster industrial welder which is great and reasonable at about 280.00

 

I just have to add a comment that its refreshing to see some sugestions made for the "entry level" machines, which is what the young man is asking about. Too often the replies are "Don't waste your money on foreign junk, go right to the top, buy big!!". Quite a few folks just can't walk into their Miller dealer and plunk down twice what a cheap machine will cost. For home use, a number of the entry machines will get the job done. As experience grows, so will the yearning for a more advanced machine. The biggest mistake will be buying a 1/8" welder to try a 1/2" job. ( I own Miller Stick, MIller MIG, Victor OxyAct, Thermal Dynamics plasma cutter, but never look down my nose at someone trying to "get into it" as cheap as possible.)

 

I'm buying a Hobart Handler 180 here very shortly. I do have a little extra cash to blow at the moment so I figured I'd invest it in a quality 230V MIG. Otherwise, I'd probably be trying to get by on the cheap also. Lots of sheet metal repair practice heading my way!

Ron

 

I agree with bikeitswift ........I am pipe welder and been through two welding schools ....What I have found out is not even the companys will buy the most expencive welders. They buy what suits there needs. If you are not going to use it that often say only for repairs then a cheep one would be great if you plan on doing a lot of fab. work then a welder with more features would be nice I.E higher duty cycle and higher amperage so on and so on . You have to look at the power requirments. My hobart AC/DC stick welder is great 235ac/160dc is great but I moved and ther place was not set up ofr the 220v 50amp service that it required. The house was set up for 100amp long story.....buy what you can use and afford. Just remember that mig can not be used in windy area and keeping the gas bottle filled all the time. Yes there is flux core yes it can be used in an more open enviroment but It runs verry verry hot easy to burn through work piece. My hint/ tip for the day If you are using a small welder and you want weld larger stuff then what it is rated fore use preheat the work piece first to 700-900 degrees That ay you won't need as much amperage to melt the metal.

 

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=prod...5-1703-K2158-1
Is this any good? How thick could somebody weld with this? I need to get a welder and start practicing on some stuff around here. My friend has one, and he does quite a bit of work with it, and I think I might need one.

 

Lincoln is very good...but, at that price you are just getting a "flux core" welder. The wire has its flux inside. You do not apparently get any provision for adding gas to make it a MIG (at least from their write-up). Flux is "Splattery" and "Smoky", but if you are welding outside in the wind, you can't use MIG because the wind blows your shielding gas away. I saw a 100 Amp wire with regulator for gas (use could go either way) at Sears last week for $265.00 (might have been $365, but I don't think so)...end of model closeout thing in the store, that looked a lot like this machine, plus I think it included the cart... I wasn't buying, so I really didn't look further, but I rember being very impressed with the price. We get a lot of posts from satified Campbell Haisfeld useres, and always check Harbor Freight sales. For entry level they'll all let you blow holes in sheet metal and weld 1/4" plate and angle iron. If you have 220V available, I'd buy the Lincoln 220AC at Lowes for $225.00. Real nice stick welder!

 

Hobart makes entry level welders too. One of the big reasons there are a lot of posts about being satisfied with CH welders is ,,, basically,,, they dont know any better. If its the only machine one has used then whats to compare it to? The guy here that is getting a HH180 is going to get some good value from a well proven machine. A 280$ machine is not a "big industrial unit" and no one is telling anyone to go "big" or bigger than is proven neccesary. I am not looking down on anyone trying to get in cheap,, just saving them the grief of wondering,, is it me or the machine? Super cheap welders is just one of those tools that dont work real well, especially in MIG welders. There are too many technical issues that contribute to a stable arc that when corners are cut they just dont work well,, if they did we would all use them. CH doesnt make very good air equipment and thats their specialty, what makes anyone think a sideline like welding machines would be any better?

 

Sberry27 makes a good point also. Actually, a used Miller, Lincoln, or Esab might be able to be tagged for that price...probably not a MIG, but maybe...
My garage holds Victor gas, Miller Stick, Miller MIG, Thermal Dynamics Plasma Cutter, so I don't disagree that quality counts...and I'm just an artist, and don;t do safety-critical welds like trailer hitches, overhead gantrys, pressure vessles, etc.

 

A AC/DC Hobart Stickmate is under 400 and could last a lifetime. The arc quality for running sticks is up to par anywhere and if it was on the other side of the wall where it couldnt be seen I doubt anyone could tell,,, at least not apreciably that machine from a 4000$ machine running electrodes within is range. I would think some cheaper machines in its type where the technology is so simple may pass too although I havnt heard any real glowing reports of them by experienced operators. Clarke makes some machines and I know of a case where they guy had a Clarke 180 and a HH175 side by side, he said there was no contest which machine ran better and this is an apples to apples test. Hobart, Lincoln and Miller and Esab really make only one thing and competition is so intense that they have to do a good product at good prices. All Clarke and CH have to do is be cheap. I have 7 or 8 red and one blue and my next is going to be blue I think. I am not real impressed with Lincoln importing a special line for the discount store market like Lowes. They are trying to compete with cheaper machines and I feel it will be a shot to the foot in the long run. When a company that made it on quality trys to make a cheaper product it usually fails. You dont see many discount Mercedes,,, not that you can compare the 2 products,, but historically it hasnt worked well.

 

I just got a super deal on my HH180 at my local welding place. $499!!!!

Cheaper than IOC and I get it that day. Super deal on a super machine. Maybe even a hack like me can lay a decent bead with it.

Ron