PS and if you cant give me a truthful opnion about what i asked or somthing on the same lines then dont

 

The word is save your money ,untill you get the $ to spend !
Don't buy the 110 mig's they just don't cut it,enough said.
If I was you I'd try to take some mig welding classes and you will see what we mean.
No reason to use the lanquage and explenitives you used

Rich

 

F-4X4
Yes the Lincoln will do body work, the main thing you need to do this is a welder that can use .024 wire and C25 gas. A 110 volt welder can do this just fine. I have been a Pipe welder for 37 hrs, and I like you will use my stick welder if I need to weld something heavy. I bought my HH125 MIG because it is easy to move around, and body work was the main thing I wanted it for. Most people are quick to tell you want they have is best but buying a welder is like buying a gun I have never seen a guy shot a deer at a 150 yards with a shotgun, or a guy go bird hunting with a rifle. Weld your thin metal with a MIG or a TIG welder and your thick metal with your stick.

 

Well, considering my finances are the same essentially as yours, I spoke from experience in that the Craftsman isn't that good a welder, and the Century's were almost as bad. The craftman worked good if only plugged right into the wall socket, but who does that much work 3 foot from the wall? Same went for the Century. I picked this Lincoln up used, and have been tickled with it. i would venture to guess it would be pretty good, but I highly recommend the gas kit, you will not be happy doing body work without it. Flux core is higher amperage to get it to arc, and the residue it leaves makes trouble in the paint. I wasted $350 on the Craftsman, and $250 on the used Century, and was greatly disappointed with both. See if you can't get a local weld sales shop to let you test one out, if they are confident enough in that you will like it, they should agree. If nothing more, can let you know more than I can. I haven't heard too many complaints about the Lincolns in general, and would think that it would have come out by now. For body work, 110 welders ar fine, when you graduate to doing more, you need more. But for just welding body panels, you don't need to run a continuous weld, so a lesser welder can do the job, but as soon as you keep a steady bead is when the tempers flare. I would say if all I were to ever do was weld body panels, the century welder would have been ok, but the full live on the Craftsman would have still ticked me off.

 

Let me say this why have 2 machines.I can weld autobody panels with my mig (millermatic 200 ) then switch gears and weld 1/2 inch plate in seconds
I have 2 stick machines collecting dust in my shop never use them anymore.

I disagree with 110 machines doing a very good job,they are built cheap and don't last any brand. If your just playing around with this type of welding go for it. Guys on here before were trying to say,which brands were better and being honest about the size machine that will last you almost forever,thats all
adjustability in heat range is a key ,when looking a migs.

Granted his budget is the key here! took me 2 yrs to save for what I have
but i'will have it till I die,then it will go to my son.Who uses it now.

Rich

 

You want a truthful opinion about a handy mig,,,, its a piece of junk. I dont think you need a 6 billion dollar welder either. Tools are about value too, some cheap stuff works well, some doesnt, welding machines is one that doesnt tend to work well and obviously having little experience you will never know, is it me or this machine. When it doesnt it becomes a dust collector. I for one encourage better than bottom of the line in welding machines to avoid dissapointments and a decent machine has an extremely long life. All that said I see the handy does come with reg, setup for gas, a shield of some kind, a pecker/brush. It has a contactor which is a plus. It says output is 70A @ 17V, so good arc stability at 50 or so A with 023 wire should be fairly stable, it may work fair on really light sheet. Doesnt say it has a gas solonoid. It has a 1 year warranty. A 135 has 90A @ 19v which makes the machine about 50% more powerful, would allow use of 030 wire, a decent gun, better regulator and Lincoln has the confidence to give it a 3 year warranty. I am not sure where the Handy is made but some of the 135 is made here, at least assembled. Not only does it have more power but it goes lower, good feature in sheetmetal work. I tend to think its worth a wait to save a little for a better machine. I think of all the cheaper machines the Clarke may be a better deal in terms of power, it says 100A but didnt quote at what voltage the output is. One guy here said he had a HH125, it has a good reputation in machines of its class.

 

I have the Lincoln 135, and I haven't had a better small welder. I have been welding for 20 years now, so experience is on my side determining which is the problem. I do go dual purpose, as there are jobs that a wirefeed just can't do as well. if you can spare the time and the bucks, a welding class would be very helpful, if you wish to learn the best ways to do the trade, even as a hobby. I know some that take the classes to get their car done, of course by them, but have free use (sorta) of the school's equipment. May be something to consider, if you have a project you want to do, and you have expert supervision as well. Another thought is renting a welder, you should be able to do that, if you don't need it all the time, then it would be a more sensible way to go. I use both my welders regularly. Even if I had a higher power 220 welder, I would still use the arc on occasion, as there are some structural jobs that won't hold up if done with a mig. I refuse to keep several spools of wire around and have to swap them constantly to change alloy. If I did it as a business, it would be different, as I would have to for the stainless, and other alloy type welding. For hard core structural welds, arc welding is still necessary. Mig is great for general purpose, up to 1/4-3/8 single pass, but after that, all have to multi pass, and you have to watch the heat settings an such, and strength is better with low hydrogen welds.

 

Yes, the Lincoln 135 is considered one of the best in its class. I have the next size up in that same SP family and the arc quality is as good as any feeder I have used. Very durable machine and mine has been used hard and then some, way beyond what a hobby or small garage would ever see especially the first few yrs I had it. At 10 yrs its just showing some minor problems now but, a switch and the fan needed lubed, but again, its got hundreds of hours of on time. Although I have bigger machines I still use it on a regular basis, the small gun is nice and I keep smaller wire in it, nice for sheet or exhaust work. https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=29637&width=2

 

here is a thread down the exact same line. http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/...ead.php?t=9745

 

I'm 17 and i bought a lincoln electric wirefeed welder when I was 15 for $300 dollars. A year later i bought a mig upgrade kit for $100 dollars. So for about $400 dollars (plus extras like gas, wire etc.) you can have a nice mig welder for 110V outlet. It is really easy to use and you can buy these at Home depot or lowes hardware stores.

 

Rangerboy, you are right the 300$ machine worked and you had to drop another 100 in it right off ther bat so you are already at 400. Also that machine isnt the same as the others we talk about here and a part may be obsolete tomorrow as its contract made with a Lincoln label stuck on it for that market. Take that to a dealer for something and he is going to say "good luck" As for how well it works I have some doubts. To you it may work fairly well to me it may look different. I have used dozens of these in the last 25 years and have thousands of hours of experience and bought more than a few machines and tools and I can tell you for a fact that a 120V circuit is a poor power supply for welding from in the first place and adding insult to injury with a marginal machine makes matters worse. On premium models of this size there is intense competition to make them run as well as they can, leaving out a few goodies to save a few $ for a competitive market like Lowes means making sales at the expense of operating quality. You want to save as much money as you can, order a premium machine from the net.

 

I luckily got my HH135 for 100 bucks from where I work. They got a Miller and sold their old one to me.I'm not sure how long they've had it, but it looked like it has been through alot, but it still works great. I do everything from tacking sheet metal to about 3/8" steel, and none of my welds have broke yet, after teaching myself to use it. Like said before, don't use too long of an extension cord. I figured that one out, the wire just kind of melts and doesnt really arc well.
You wouldnt be too bad off buying a welder w/o gas hookups right away if you're looking top save money, just make sure you can upgrade it to gas before buying it. IMO, flux core doesnt give great welds, but it'll work for a while till you can get gas. Expect a high price the first time you get a bottle, then it'll be much cheaper to refill it, I think I pay about 20 bucks. But I agree with a lot of the other guys, go with one of the main 4 brands, you'll be happier. Plus, it's much easier to find replacement parts for a name brand machine compared to a Wal-Mart special.

 

i got the handy mig from lincoln and i love it. i can weld alot thinner stuffwith it compared to my sticl

 

I bought a Craftsman 110v a year ago and couldn't be happier. It is not live all the time, just when it is grounded and you pull the trigger. The store said they would have parts for ten years. I can use tips from a Lincoln. I'm not out building trailers, cow catchers for the front of locomotives, or bridges, so so far I'm happy. I've used Hobarts that weren't worth a hoot unless plugged into a wall socket three feet from the breaker box.

I don't use my welder to make a living. I bought it for a future restoration project and for some light duty welding that springs up from time to time.

Something for everyone to remember, just because someone you talk to isn't happy with brand X doesn't condemn it to obscurity. I've heard people bad mouth one thing after another. Occasionally I've seen that person's place or in action. Needless to say, I learned to take what they say with a grain of salt. Many times a machine failure is due to lack of maintanence, misuse, neglect, or going above and beyond the intended duty of said product. Just my .02

 

Yeah I know what you mean, I have a Millermatic 135 wire fed machine. I think it's my most favorite tool in the garage. It's great for fabbing up exhaust systems, body work, making brackets, anything you can imagine. I love it!