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Welders

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Spdjunky

Active Member
So I'd like to ask everyones thoughts on what welders they like and don't like. I was hoping to stay under a grand....

I've done minimal welding in the past with stick and mig. By no means a pro. So something easy to operate would be nice with good service.

I'm looking for a mig and tig for now.
I'd like the ability to wire spool aluminum or at least tig aluminum also.

Later I'd like to get a plasma.
 
stangracer90

stangracer90

Active Member
I like millers they are a little expensive but they are good welders I have a 252 miller mig with an aluminum spool gun. There's a lot of good welders on eBay reasonably priced, you might want to check it out.
 
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Spdjunky

Active Member
There are a lot of crap welders on there also. That was the purpose of asking here, so I know what to avoid...
 
ponyboy89lx

ponyboy89lx

Well-Known Member
Staff member
There is good and bad in all brands lol, my buddy has a Hobart with aluminum spool gun works great.
 
Bobby Amato

Bobby Amato

Well-Known Member
I wont buy anything outside of Miller, but that is because that is all we use at work and that is what I have at home. I would not waste your time trying to mig aluminum. It is a completely different animal and it's not going to be pretty.

I personally have a miller 211 for mig and a miller 165 diversion for tig. They are both perfect for the hobbyist. Any good machine is going to be over $1000. Then add the bottle with gas and you are at $1200.

Fluxcore has it's place and it's great for outdoor jobs and if you don't mind a little clean up. If you are good you can make some beautiful welds with fluxcore. Just remember a chipping hammers name is deceiving. It should be placed on the side of the weld and scraped down it and the slag should fall right off. If you have to beat on it, you are not only going to make it ugly, but the weld probably sucks too lol

If you have any other specific questions let us know. Oh yeah the cool thing about the miller 211 is that it has a multi voltage plug (MVP), so you can run it on 110v or 220v. It runs better on 220v, but 220 is not always readily available.

Hope this helped a little.

with my Miller diversion 165 TIG



With my Miller 211 MIG

 
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Spdjunky

Active Member
Bobby, thanks for the detailed write up. I'll look into those.

I was kind of curious about eastwoods stuff. But I am, extremely leary! Same thing with the Harbor freight crap.

The one that I've been contemplating is the Thermal Arc Fabricator 3 in 1 ( 181 & 211).
The weld shop said they are (I think) the off brand of Lincoln.

On both units the tig and wire spool gun (for aluminum) are extra. Neither will tig aluminum.
 
Bobby Amato

Bobby Amato

Well-Known Member
before I bought these more expensive welders I was using a Hobart handler. It was $500 and had the regulator and everything needed to use with gas. I just had to buy a bottle. You could run it with fluxcore until you get a bottle. The downside is that is has limited adjustability. Settings only had a 1 2 3 4 for voltage and it ran on 110v.

I think you should forget about trying to weld aluminum using a spool gun. There is an entire new learning curve for running aluminum mig. I would steer clear of any harbor freight or eastwood welders. Stick with trusted names if you want the welder to last. In my opinion eastwood is a glorified harbor freight.

I'll bet you can find a really nice mig welder for a good price on craigslist. Where do you live?
 
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Spdjunky

Active Member
Illinois

thanks again for the input.

That was my thought about Eastwood too. No proof from any posts anywhere though.
 
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Spdjunky

Active Member
Bobby, Just curious....

You say Aluminum spool welding is a whole new animal, so are you saying tig aluminum is easier for you?
 
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Spdjunky

Active Member
Shit, just reread, missed a few posts.

Stangracer, thanks for teh input. Damn that 252 Miller is pricey. I'll read up on the one you posted.
 
Bobby Amato

Bobby Amato

Well-Known Member
The thing that raises a question for me is the fact that it is so cheap. I don't like multi process machines. I would rather have 1 machine for MIG and one for TIG. That way if one machine goes down you still have use of the other. Also you will need 2 bottles with that machine unless you are planning to run fluxcore. Otherwise you need an Argon/Co2 mix for MIG and a bottle of straight Argon for TIG if you want quality welds. Plus if you get a dedicated TIG machine it will likely have AC/Dc , so you can weld aluminum too.

Not trying to talk you out of it. I'm just trying to give you some things to think about. Thermal arc makes some pretty good stuff, but the low price scares me. Have you seen any reviews on it?
 
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