The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Mig welder and plasma cutter combo

Anyone have the Mig welder and plasma cutter combo that Eastwood advertises in the classic truck mags? Will be buying a Mig welder and saw their ad. Where are they made also? Any good? Thanks. Jim.

Jim, its hard to answer your question because it matters where you are as far as quality of the end result and your budget. I have used Eastwood products but have always found them to be introductory in nature. The equipment you purchase from them guarantees if you decide that you really like this craft, you WILL be purchasing a better solution in the near future.

I had a best of the best Hypertherm 85 plasma cutter a year ago, and got rid of it because it just wasnt needed for a very small restoration shop. There is very little need for a plasma in automotive resto work. Thin cutoff wheels, body saws, etc can do the same job unless you are into this more heavily than I am.

What IS needed badly is a good wire feed, gas MIG welder. I use it almost every day for restoration work, but also for shop jigs, tables, carts, etc etc. Miller makes a really nice one that uses both 220 and 110v power. 80/20 argon mix gas is a must. Its very attractive to purchase a low cost unit that does them both, but usually, and I think in this case, you get what you pay for. Hope this helps!

Agree..I have a plasma cutter too and use it very little. Thin cut off wheels work for me.

I have a nice Lincoln Mig, use it continually.

2X on the Lincoln MIG, love mine too. I've been thinking about a plasma, glad to hear you guys don't use it much.

I have a self contained Hobart plasma cutter at the that I use occasionally. It needs low humidity because it has no air dryer. And I guess I am spoiled by the large Miller we have at the shop. There it is a must because we work a lot of aluminum. I bought the small one with the idea of using it to cut out rustouts, but I find myself bringing a nibbler and small reciprocating saw home from the shop and not worrying about warping anything. The plasma cutter I have at home is one of the few things that I really could live without.

The Hobart 140 welder I have at home is a different story. I use it a lot. I use Argon/CO2 mix on everything. We have welders up to a Trailblazer 440 at the shop, which is on a trailer, but I have never found the need for anything larger than the 140 on a car or pickup.

As for Eastwood, my opinion of them is they sell junk that makes the job look easy and then when the sucker gets it home, it doesn't work at all.

I've kinda informally temporarily "traded" my plasma to a buddy in exchange for his pneumatic paintless dent puller kit...now that is a cool tool and fun to play with..looking forward to learning how to use it more effectively...glue on!

My buddy is using the plasma to cut up some structural steel for a home project. Good for that sort of stuff.

Thanks for all the replies. Guess I'll put my money into a nice Mig setup and new helmet. Been leaning toward a Miller though. Also looking to pickup a new Kobalt 80 gal compressor. Thanks again. Jim

Could use one of those dent pullers too.

Well..my buddy bought a hail damaged Porsche Boxster cheap from out west...that dent puller has been amazing at working out the damage..not perfect but pretty darn close and he is no expert. I've been using it cleaning up a couple of dents on newer cars.

Not sure how it will work on older thicker steel. Looking forward to trying it tho. The puller has a variable pressure setting.

What brand is that puller Maple...would be good to know how it works on the old trucks.

Yeh, let us know. I'm going to have a little change left over. My dents are in my 68 C20. Not the 50 GMC. Thinner metal I think.

Dent pulling is a problem. LOL! My first purchase at least 6-7 years ago was a Stud Welding kit. If you are not familiar, its a gun that welds a little stud or studs into the dent, then uses a slide hammer type puller to grab the stud and pull out the dent. Then, you just grind off the stud, body filler, sanding, etc and viola!

Works great with our old trucks due to the thicker metal, but for me, the dent isn't the problem. I can use dent pullers, screwdrivers, hammers, picks, whatever and still have the most dreaded part of this issue ahead of me. The body work and re-painting process. Not for the feint of heart, nor the feint of equipment not having a full body shop/paint booth available or a facsimile thereof and many many hours of finesse work to get it right. After learning more about welding and true body work methods, I have decided that I LIKE my stud welder, but its nothing you cant do by drilling a small hole in the dent, then hooking behind it and pulling the dent out, then welding the hole shut. Whatever puller you are talking about, please send us a link. I am always up for an easier solution.

I bought one of these about 25 years ago. http://dentfix888.com/?product=stud-welder I had a lot more time to work on jalopies back then. Or Maybe it was because I was 25 years younger and put in a lot more hours a day. I really like it. They are making one for aluminum now because of the aluminum that Ford uses. I am toying the idea of buying the aluminum model because our trucks are all rived aluminum. We outsource large paint jobs, but painting small repairs works good enough with a Sata HLVP gun. Almost anyone can match paint with them. All but 2 of our trucks are refrigerator white and that simplifies things.

I purchased a MIG 175 from Eastwood a couple of years ago with good intentions of taking care of my welding needs. I finally dove into it a couple of months ago, when my sons Tacoma died (frame rust) and I promised him my '91 S10.

The S10 needed several areas replaced, so I used a 1/32 cut off disc...worked great because that metal is soooo thin. I used 22 ga. as replacement and did have some blow though with the MIG (most of the time I was butt welding), but I think that was me and the thin metal, not the machine. I was dialed in really low (A-B).

After that experience I think I'm ready for some "real" truck metal!

22 gauge isn't easy to weld for someone who has done a lot of welding. I bought my first wire welder back in the 80's after I had been welding with a stick for about 30 years. An old guy who had been welding longer than I had and also had been using a wire welder longer than I suggested I practice on 14 ga and then work my way down to thinner stuff. I think that was good advice.

I run a Lincoln 180 here at home. Perfect for home/shop use...
Great on body panels, or other thin stuff. You gotta 'get in and get out' quickly on the super light material. LOL
With multi-pass you can get into some structural welding also.
I have an old Lincoln stick, but rarely do I reach for it.

The MIG versatility is awesome! I would personally stay away from the big box stores when it comes to real equipment. Red or Blue is your choice, though.

As far as a plasma? I don't have one at home, but use one at work fairly often on 1/4" to 1/2" plate. Its great on arcs or radius cuts. Overkill on body panels, as was said earlier. Most of the cheap ones wont blow thru anything heavier than 1/4",so save the $1,000.00 toward a good plasma for later, if you think its something you will use.

If you buy cheap stuff...if you really use it, you will buy better stuff eventually. Ive learned to save myself a step, and bite the bullet the first time.

Sorry folks...been busy..looked at the pneumatic dent puller and don't see a brand name. I can post a pic if desired.

I'll ask my buddy where he got it.

I have a stud welder/puller as well and like it.

I've got a TIG/stick combo from Miller at my shop and I gotta say I like TIG way more than MIG. Probably overkill for what you're looking for but my god it's nice.

I have a Miller EconoTig that tigs or stick welds. Like it a lot for small precision welding or heavier welding. Was looking at Mig for bodywork and large jobs. Looks like I will be going for a Lincoln 180 or Miller 180. Thanks. Jim

Had a big shop and commercial grade equipment--sold and closed and now back to hobby shop and have the 175 from Eastwood works pretty good but its not a commercial setting anymore. For the money worth it for me. My 2 cents!

I use a stud lever with my stud gun,works great. stud lever I bought mine from ebay.