Welder selection help ( I really mean HELP)

Thanks,
Bill

A mig does not have the versitility of a stick machine.

Without knowing the types of projects Bill will be doing, it is hard to recommend one type of welder over another. The right stick machine and accessories will probably come closest to being able to meet Bill's needs without knowing any more than we do about what they are.

The final chapter of the wire welder replacing the highly paid and highly skilled stick weldor has closed. The man and the MIG machine most people own has now been totaly replaced by the robot in manufacturing to a very large degree. It sets there with it's 1500# pay off reel oblivious to heat or cold, vacation or sick time, weekends off, benefits, breaks, union dues, etc. It is the ultimate slave to it's master.

A robot won't get the maintenance weldors job until it can think like a man. That day is not as far off as we would hope.
Steve

Running off on a tanget, the only things I might, starting out add within a limited budget would naturally be tooling up between your numbers, with such things as grinders, lay-out tools, chop-saw, ports-band, bandsaw, clamps and some of the other goodies or must haves.

Here is a wish-book [catolog] that may be of some help 1-800-374-9353 www.rramsales.com

btw; tried to e-mail you, would like to have a phone conversation sometime with you if you're willing?

Bill, a machine that will do everything, but may not do it well is a Backhoe. Now with a handfull of welders in the shop, I still don't have it all covered and with the acc. that go along with them I could probally go out and but a newer backhoe. [Lighten up a little guys its been a long season ;>} ].

The welding field has many avenues that can be taken, and some of the machines may overlap somewhat with acc. You may need to define more in which directions your intrest and needs maybe?
Without knowing and if the budget will allow may save you a few dollars as you aquire the equipment taylored to fit the type of welding you wish to do in the present & future.

I'm confused here myself, and don't know where to start with all the good points or the few exceptions. ;0]

TIA

I supose it would be MIG welded by some, but with the limiting factor of the filler metals available within the MIG process and the time it may take to change a wire spool & maybe a gas bottle over for this little job -- I would much prefer to weld it with one of the superior stick alloys.

First, if you don't already have an oxy-acetylene rig, buy that first. I didn't, and wished that I had. I use my torch a lot more than my welder. Plus, you can weld some fairly heavy steel (1/4") with a big enough torch.

As for a welder, I bought a 220V MIG welder (Lincoln SP-170), and I haven't run into anything that it couldn't handle. The ability to handle aluminum was a plus, but I've never needed it.

In retrospect, a stick welder would do me about as well, for a lot less money. One thing about a stick is that there's a lot of specialized rods available, such as nickel (for cast iron) and hard-facing. Still, I like the MIG welder for the light stuff that I do.

If you go with a MIG rig, spring for a 220V rig. Most houses really aren't wired properly to supply the 20 amps that a 115V welder needs. As for gas, just go with whatever mix your local store sells. (If the gas is too much of a hassle, you can always switch over to flux-core wire.)

I bought a big honkin' Millermatic 250 (250 amp)Mig welder and have used it for everything from patching sheet metal to 1/2" steel bar. In my opinon, it works perfectly well on thick stock with plenty of penetration. The beads are very pretty, and it didn't take very long for me to get good at it.

I have one tank of 25%/75% co2/Argon and it works beautifully, except outside when it is windy. In that case, I load up flux cored wire and use that along with the gas. I also sometime put tarps around the work to minimize wind and use the regular wire.

I am planning on getting set up for some aluminum welding soon. So, that is another feature of mig.

So- I really like mig, but then again I am not a stick welder so I can't compare them. I'm sure that a stick welder is cheaper.

I also would say that I have never found a need to run mine near the highest setting- I think a 170amp machine would have done fine for me.

You have a Cadilac machine there. I would trade my stick machine for one like yours. Most MIG machines are the small ones that can't cut the big stuff like you can. They work well on aluminum or sheet steel but don't have the amps or can't feed enough wire to do 1/2" steel in one pass.

What did you have to pay for that machine?

Everybody on this board gave me some excellent opinions on the rig and the price. Many said "no, don't buy it...but give me the guy's phone number" ;-)

This is my personal opinion but in general, you will get your best bang for the buck with an AC/DC stick welder. It will do all the heavy welding you need and most of the light stuff too. You can even weld stainless steel and aluminum with the new rods available.

A MIG machine really shines when it comes to sheet metal. Nothing quite compares to it. It can do thicker metals with multiple passes but lacks some in penetration. I find MIG claims, when it comes to thicker metals, to come off more like "we're almost as good as the stick machines for these jobs."

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a MIG welder. I just wouldn't trade my stick machine for one.