About To Buy My First Welder...need help

Ended up picking up a brand new Hobart Handler 140 last night at Murdochs, I forgot I get 10% off there because of where I work. I ran through the flux core 2 pounder it came with in no time, so I will pick up some more today and keep practicing

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you're using an innershield wire there. it's dirty and produces a hot arc, but it's a GREAT farm wire for surfaces poorly prepared. try to keep all welds in the flat with this, especially while learning. electrode stick out is important with this machine as it directly effects penetration.

once you get good with this NR-211 wire, get a spool of hard wire and a tank of 75-25 mix gas and stop worrying about spatter and slag clean up!! ;)

lemme know if you need anymore tips or help
 
I think you also have the option for a spool gun that will let you do aluminum (100 Argon needed). Also make sure to have the right polarity when you switch to gas shielded, if not your welds wont penetrate and will look like crap.
 
spool gun controls are quite nice, and miller offers their spoolmate for a VERY nice price. only problem with welding Al on 110V is that you REALLY need to pre-heat your work piece as the Al will dissipate the arc energy VERY quickly, especially on thin stuff, due to the thermodynamic properties of the metal (high thermal conductivity). 110V doesn't provide enough heat input from the arc to keep the material hot enough to not cause hot cracking issues.

it's possible, just not ideal.
 
700 seams a bit steep for a 140 with a discount. Go on ebay, I've seen Lincoln 140 weld packs for $500-600 shipped, $700 with kart or make your own kart. Keep in mind you still have to buy a gas bottle ($200).
 
I guess it just falls down to personal preference. I have a Lincoln c300, precision tig 225, and the 140 weld pack. I love my little weld pack. My friend has a 140 miller, its a good welder no doubt about it but i just like my Lincoln better. Its like snap on vs matco. Both good tools just personal preference. But to answer your question i think 700 is a bit high. I bought my 140 for 550.
 
hotrdd said:
A buddy at work who is into black smithing has a welder/plasma cutter/tig from these guys. Has anyone tried one?

http://www.longevity-inc.com/
Click to expand...

Chinese box! Everlast, Longevity, Eastwood... Go with the best costumer service, cause you'll probably need it! Eastwood have the best support for what I saw on weldingweb.com , but you are in alberta so you might want to have a Canada support. Everlast and Longevity have dealers in Canada, not eastwood. Thoses welding machines are like flipping a coin... You can get the good one first try, or not! Check Warranty and specs. I've tried the Everlast 250ex last week. Pretty good tig for the $$$, but my friend had some troubles at first with it, need to ship it back for a new unit. I'm personnaly heading for a Thermal-Arc 186 ac/dc tig cause this brand stand behind there products and my supplier is near for support. I can't afford Blue or Red, my wife would kill me.

Everything depend on your needs and budget!
 
I think the 110 welders are ok but for what it costs to get a 220 line ran so you can use a 220 machine is well worth the cost.
A plug in runs around $7, a box to put it in another $5-10. The wire is the expencive part, that depends on how far you need to run it. A few feet is not much, 100 feet is much more.
The 220 service to your work area is a good idea any way. Most things that run on 220 cost about half to run.
Leo
 
For what I do (generally less than 1/4" thick) my Lincoln 110V has been great. I run flux core because it does burn hotter making for better penetration (check out both the Lincoln and Miller web sites to confirm this) and I never have to worry about running out of gas. Yes it does spatter, requiring cleanup but probably 90% of it will come off with a stiff putty knife. I keep pieces of scrap aluminum around to shield stuff also.

I have done thicker stuff, such as a steering box mount for a tractor which was about 7/16" thick. I beveled the edges, cranked the heat setting to D (highest) and did double passes on each side. Eight years later, still hasn't broken.

I've built several roll cages with it using 1 3/4" x .095 wall tubing. There's a lot of tool snob people who swear a 110v welder won't do that, I disagree. I did some test joints which I sawed open, the penetration was great. In fact, I usually have to dial it back to setting C or I will get burn throughs. On a joint in a long section (think diagonal hoop brace) I crank it up to D since the large piece of hoop tubing will act as a heat sink.
 
Sn34ky said:
Chinese box! Everlast, Longevity, Eastwood... Go with the best costumer service, cause you'll probably need it! Eastwood have the best support for what I saw on weldingweb.com , but you are in alberta so you might want to have a Canada support. Everlast and Longevity have dealers in Canada, not eastwood. Thoses welding machines are like flipping a coin... You can get the good one first try, or not! Check Warranty and specs. I've tried the Everlast 250ex last week. Pretty good tig for the $$$, but my friend had some troubles at first with it, need to ship it back for a new unit. I'm personnaly heading for a Thermal-Arc 186 ac/dc tig cause this brand stand behind there products and my supplier is near for support. I can't afford Blue or Red, my wife would kill me.

Everything depend on your needs and budget!
Click to expand...



I have a large miller 175 mig welder already. I was mostly just interested in the plasma cutter and try the TIG.

Also thought I'd share that I've had some success going to my local metal recyclers and giving them cash for metal and some heavy duty 220V extension cord. This allows me to the run the machines when I want . I think last time I bought 300' for $50
 
hotrdd said:
I have a large miller 175 mig welder already. I was mostly just interested in the plasma cutter and try the TIG.

Also thought I'd share that I've had some success going to my local metal recyclers and giving them cash for metal and some heavy duty 220V extension cord. This allows me to the run the machines when I want . I think last time I bought 300' for $50
Click to expand...

Check this... for about 1k you can get a plasma and a 200amp tig...

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-tig200-versa-cut-kit.html
 

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