The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Santa left me a new MIG welder

Santa lightened his sleigh by leaving me a new Lincoln Pro MIG 140. I have never owned a welder before. I am looking forward to burning a few holes trying out my new tool.

Bill Schickling

sweet! that's a darn good welder.

hay thats mine santa made a mistake.please box it up and send it over .

Man that is the second time Santa left me the wrong present. Ok it's in the mail.

Bill Schickling

Bill,

Burning will = learning. Merry Christmas!! Was a wet one here

Dan

Hey Bill Thats a great xmas present
I know,been blessed w/Santa Baby that is as much into the 52 as me.
Leen gave me my Lincoln last year and I,m tryin to wear it out.
Get acouple pcs of old steel from these old bears that are hopper material and have at them IE door skins or a fender.
AnyWho what Dan said,,,,,,Burnin=learnin and THATS Grand
Merry X mas all
Best Regards
ps Dan been rainin down here sinceabout 11am

Santa brung me the Hobart Handler 140.
But, he didn't give me bottles.
Guess I'm going to Tractor Supply...

Cheers,
mark.
51 KY 3100

If you have a Tri-Gas dealer in your area price the bottle there. The one here beat everyone else's price by a mile or more.

Santa brought me the Millermatic 135. I just had to go pick it up and pay for it.

Santa brought me a new Lincoln - MIG welder that is.

I found a cheap starting point for a welder cart: Harbor Freight Hand Truck

It is on sale right now but I don't know for how long. I picked mine up at the local retail store and they honored the web site sale price.

I would probably be a little disappointed if I was going to use this as a hand truck, as the construction is ultra-cheesy, but I think it will be fine for moving the welder short distances within the shop. You can't complain about the price, though.

I'm going to modify it after I get my gas tank and have used the welder enough to figure out what accessories I want to add, like hangers for cables and maybe a tool box.

I don't have a place to post a picture, but if you would like to see my welder sitting on the cart, just email me.

Forgot to ask...

About the gas bottle, what is a reasonable size to get?

Bill,

Take time to research your shielding gas options and wire diameters. Welding new floor panels in will take a different setup than welding up some 3/16" spring perches...one size does not fit all. Buy yourself a Aloe Vera succulent and put it in the window in the garage..when you burn yourself, run to the plant and "anoint your wounds"!

The standard old phrase is "looks like crap, but it's hell for stout"..that is usually an excuse for poor welding. It is possible to have a great looking weld with good integrity if you practice and are serious about the task at hand.

Have fun, be patient and keep a extinguisher nearby...

Uncle Stu

I got the 80 cubic ft. It was $101 at Tri-Gas (filled). Others wanted $150-175.

Cletis, is the 80 cf tank about 3' tall or so? Sounds like one I looked at a couple of days ago at a local gas supplier. I think they wanted $125 plus about $40 for the charge if I remember correctly.

I haven't checked any other vendors but there are maybe three or four, sounds like I'd better do my shopping!

Thanks!

Uncle Stu,

Love the bit about anointing the wounds. I spent about an hour yesterday and got the cart put together and the welder set up for MIG welding. I also need to go acquire a bottle. I will probably pick up a smaller bottle at the farm and tractor store here in town. I need to find a good storage place for it, where it will be out of the way from traffic through the garage.

The welder recommends pure CO2 for thin sheet metal and 80/20 CO2/Argon for thicker things. I will take your advice and do some research.

My other uncle, not uncle Stu, knocked over an oxy\acetelyne unit while changing bottles, when I was a kid, and blew a hole through the barn wall where the tank decided to go. I think my grandfathers last words when he passed at 93 were; "Don't let John do any welding". Funny 35 years later but nobody was joking that day.

Looking forward to adding welding to the list of things I learned while working on my truck.

Bill Schickling

Locobreath, that sounds like the one.

bill,
an 80 cf or 125 cf gas bottle is good for home use. i wouldn't go any smaller than 80 cf. a cart made for the welder will usually hold the gas cyl. too & quite safely. 75% argon/25% co2 is the best all around gas for mild low carbon steel. ( what our trucks are made of. ) i hate to disagree with the manufacturer but i think my 20 plus yrs on the job welding experience should count for something. co2 sucks! it only works well at higher tempuratures & isn't very stable at lower temps. i can't believe they reccomended it for sheetmetal. it also leaves more splatter. co2's only advantage is cost. it's cheaper. i look at your site fairly often ( it's in my favorites file ) & i know your not a "just get by" kind of guy. go with the 75/25 ar/co2 mix.
the smaller 120 volt machines like the .023, .025 solid wire best & you can weld heavier stuff with it, it will just take more passes. however for sheet metal you should try an .030 size wire by jw harris called "twenty gauge". it is designed for the smaller 120 volt welders & runs at lower heat making for less warpage. it's been discussed on this forum & hotrodders.com. good stuff!
have fun & email me any time i'll be glad to help.
robert

Robert,

Thanks for the info. I went back to read the information that came with the welder. There really wasn't a preference for CO2 over the Argon/CO2 mix. Sorry for putting that info on the forum. It was more like they were the same. They do specify a higher temperature and faster wire feed rate for straight CO2.

I appreciate the help and advice from an experienced welder. I will look into getting some of that wire. There is a pretty good size welder's supply in the area.

Bill Schickling

About a 3 years ago my dads friend was moving to a smaller house that had no garage and he gave us a lincoln 250 stick welder. We only had to tighten up a wire in it to make it work