The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Welder recommendation

Want to purchase a new MIG welder to use with my frame-off restoration project, '58 Apache. Primarily will be making repairs to the floor boards and body panels. I have been told that machines are now available on the market that will operate on regular house current. can anyone provide any recommendations to a particular machine they have had good results from.

John

I had never used a MIG before I bought my MillerMatic 140 w/Autoset. Became a good grinder at first, not a bad welder now. I have even used it with a short extension cord and have had no problems. No over heating of the unit or tripping of circuit breakers. Autoset seems to run too hot on old metal so I only use it when working with new steel. Works well there.

I have been told that the Lincoln units sold at Lowes/Home Depot are lesser models that what the welding shops sell and prone to problems with the transformer burning out. My Miller came from a welding supply shop and has worked great.

my Lincoln 140 has been working fine for a few years now, haven't heard anything about problems with'em - whichever you get, go the extra for the gas attachment, makes sheet metal way easier to do

Bill

I got a Hobart 140, love it-found it on Craig'slist.

I had a Miller 135 that I borrowed from My son, Than I just bought a Miller 180 Auto Set for myself it's a great machine.The only thing I don't like on some is that the settings for feed and voltage are set at 1 thru 10 and nothing in between where the Miller You can set it at 4.5 4.6 so you have the ability to fine tune you're welding to the task at hand the first welder I had was a Snap on with the click settings and I would burn thru on say 6 and it would be to cold on 5 with the Millers I've used I can set it for 5.5 to get the prefect weld.

Pete

I bought a cheap flux core welder from Harbor Freight. My suggestion is don't get one. Spend a little more & get a better one.

I would suggest a MIG unit. I use the Lincoln one that runs on 120 volts. I also now gring welds using a 3" cutoff wheel on its side. I learned that trick onthe internet and never looked back.

"I also now gring welds using a 3" cutoff wheel on its side."

Truckernix, not certain that I understand how that works. Can you ellaborate?

Don - use the edge of a 3 or 4" die grinder disc to smooth the welds, rather than the flat face of a disc, and not a large angle grinder - light touch, continuous movement, much better control and fast

Bill

I had the Hobart EZ120 flux core welder. I sold it and bought a Hobart 140 and now use the shielding gas. I am still a lonnnng way from a good welder, but my welding improved greatly with the gas. When I bought the Hobart 120, I didn't know enough to know I was buying the wrong welder for me with my skill level. I sold it on Craigs list and the guy that bought it was an experienced army trained welder. He welded a scrap of door sheetmetal to a 1/4 inch thick steel plate. The weld was perfect. I would have burnt the sheet metal full of holes and still not welded it to that thick plate. A highly skilled man can do most anything.

I read somewhere on the net that a poor welder makes for a good grinder. I am now a great grinder.

I bought a Lincoln MIG at Lowes. Works well for the things you mention that you need to do.

I've got a Lincoln 140 but have yet to use it. I need to upgrade the wiring in my garage to 12 gauge so I don't burn down the house. Where do you all get your shielding gas? Did you have to lease the tank? What mix do you use for body work?

Ditto on the Miller 180.... bought it for my 51 panel project.
Glad I got the extra power by running off 220V.

I ended up having to do some critical area fabrication on frame/suspension upgrades. Effortless on thick stuff. Also, Has good control for doing delicate 22 or 24 gauge work, too.
As I understand, the differences in prices are largely due to the level of precision and quality
of control on power and wire speed settings. For hobbyists that are largely weekend warriors this is important.

75% CO2 & 25% Argon is the usual mix for general restoration work.

You can get the tanks from AirGas or PraxAir, etc... I believe you can
buy a tank and get it refilled (or exchanged) or, rent.
Also, there are differences in tank construction between the suppliers. So, you can't necessarily move between gas suppliers with ease... Just find a good local place to deal with.
my 2 cents
Mike

i love my hobart handler 135 (which shares many Miller parts - Hobart has been owned by Miller for several years, now).

I have never used a 220v welder, but this little 120 volt setup has been able to meet all my hobbyist welding needs. I have never paid attention to the wiring in my walls (or worried about it) - I'd be surprised if you could cause damage with a modern 120 volt welder because they have a pretty short cycle time circuit. In other words, they don't allow you to weld continuously for very long (which would generate wire heat). I think mine cycles at about 12 seconds of weld time, followed by 48 seconds of cool down time (20% on, 80% off)- but i don't exactly remember and it's never an issue with sheet metal welding, since it's all stitch welding.

oh yeah, I run mine through a retracting 3 outlet extension cord plugged into an 8 outlet wall power strip, plugged into a 2 outlet wall outlet on I believe a 15 Amp breaker for the garage opener outlet and the 3 wall outlet in my attached 2 car garage.

I got the higher priced mig welder from Harbor Frieght on sale and it has worked great. I've gotten pretty dangerous with it. Grinding is now to a minimum.

Thanks for the info on the wiring...I really wasn't looking forward to rewiring the garage. Kinda irritated the builder would wire a garage with 14 gauge wire and 15amp breakers though.