Need advice on welders

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Ebola Monkey

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I posted this on another forum also, but with all the hard-tailing, and other choppery I figure you guys will know as well as anyone.

My wife was kind enough to give me a Lincoln AC-225 stick welder for our anniversary.

I have been wanting a welder for a long time, and more so now that there's an xs400, and an xs650 in the garage.

My welding experience is pretty much nil.

Most of my welding is going to be bike/shop related stuff. Eventually I'd like to have the confidence to hardtail a bike on my own, but that's a LONG time off. For now I want to learn to weld, and do some smaller bike related stuff.

Now the question... Should I keep the stick welder, or pony up a couple hundred more and buy a Century MIG?

I found a place online that has the Century 180 Amp 220 Volt Mig with cart, and regulator for $443 shipped. Now I don't know that they'll actually complete the deal, but I'm protected by paypal right? :)
Would I be better off with the MIG, or the stick welder?
Anyone have any experience with Century (by Lincoln) welders?

Thanks In Advance!
 
its my experience that stick welders dont always make the cleanest welds, although maybe i just suck at welding. thats what a grinder is for i guess. ive been looking for a deal on a TIG lately... never tig'd but am willing to learn.
 
This is a touchy subject. I don't even know where to start. MIG welding is actually a really nice process when done properly. It can be better, (yes, I said better) than TIG sometimes because it actually uses less heat. (here it comes). MIG is very easy to perform. Thus, it gets done improperly a lot of the time. Stick welding is fucking awesome. This was how men learned to weld. This is how bridges are built. I love a welder that knows how to weld with a stick. Good Stuff. It does, however, take some time and patience to perfect. It also takes the knowledge of materials, rod type, etc. As for you, I think you would be happiest with a MIG welder. You would probably get very discouraged with a stick. I have little knowledge of the Century welders. (and that price seems ridiculously low) I think that Lincoln makes a fine machine, but have better experiences with Miller welders. I use both at work, and prefer the Miller. BTW, keep the stick welder if you can afford it. Like I said, it's a great way to learn welding and the characteristics of steel. And if you're really daring, and want to learn stuff, try torch welding.
 
Thanks for the replies. Keeping both isn't an option.

I know the price is ridiculously low. Might be a pricing mistake, I've seen it elsewhere for around $500+ shipping.
 
I started out with a Lincoln stick welder. It has its place for sure now I only use it when I'm welding 3/8" or thicker which is not very often. I have a Lincoln that runs off of 110 when I first got it I had to use flux core wire because at the time I did'nt have the extra money for the gas conversion kit which was about $120.00 more plus a argon/co2 tank.
About 6months of using it with flux cored wire I did the gas conversion and have never went back unless I need to weld outside and it's windy. I've done everything from installing new floor pans and rear 1/4 fenders on my 68 Camaro project which involved alot of thin sheetmetal work to building 1/4" thick bumpers for jeeps using double pass and these bumpers get snatched on hard and have yet to see one fail.
I've never had a welding course and I'm not a certified welder. Its a easy welder to set up. Practice makes perfect Its like sex the more you do it the better you'll get at it. LOL
Oh yeah another thing that will make it easy is a auto darkening helmet. Hope this helps ya out.
 
Harbor Freight has an ad in the Sep "oh 10" issue of Cycle Source Magazine featuring a Chicago Electric 90 amp flux wire MIG for $89.99. Not the best welder in the world, but hey, maybe then you could keep the stick and have a mig... just puttin that out there.
 
Don't waste your money on a flux-core-only welder. You're better off learning the stick if you're not going to go with a MIG. I own a little Century 110 welder. I've owned it for about 3 years and it's done pretty heavy duty in that time. It's my main sheet metal welder, and I've done most of the round stock work on my scoot with it. I have a Miller 180 and a Lincoln 255, but neither one is very portable. I bought the Century Solar on Ebay for $175.

I'd go for it with the MIG welder. 180 Amp is a great all around welder. Light enough to do all but the thinnest sheet metal, powerful enough to do solid frame welds.
 
stuntdouble, is this the one? http://www.harborfreight.com/90-amp-flux-wire-welder-98871.html

Despite the good reviews on their site, I wouldn't buy that because I think it would seriously piss me off. Another reason not to buy it is that they think 18 gauge is 3/16" thick :laugh:

Plus they say the input voltage is 24 amps.. I don't think most people usually have access to 120v circuits over 20amps. It would be a pain to have do any wiring to run that..
 
I picked up a 120V lincoln mig welder with the gas tank used for about $275. It works fantastic for hobby and sheetmetal stuff. I also have an old 220V lincoln stick welder for the heavy stuff. The mig is much more enjoyable to use though, I can almost make some decent looking welds with it.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys.

I ended up pulling the trigger on the century 180 with cart, and gas kit yesterday for $443/shipped. Fuck me, it showed up this afternoon.

It specs out the same as the Lincoln Powermig 180 for the most part. It has the same gun, clamp, and mig kit. The cart is a Lincoln cart. Hell it even shipped direct from Lincoln.

It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the powermig 180.... Not spool gun ready, or spot timer ready. his is my first welder though, so I think I can live with a fairly powerful mig welder that can do pretty much everything I'm going to need it for. If I ever need to do miles of aluminum welding, I'll probably be ready for a new welder anyway. Only thing I was kind of let down by was that it's only rated for 10 gauge when set up for MIG. I thought it would be at least 3/16".

Honestly it showed up so damn fast I don't have the electrical work ready for it, so I cant test it. Really excited to get it up and running though.
 
Tech7, you ignorant slut! :)

Good for you Ebola, sounds like you nabbed a nice little rig there. Practice, amigo. Before you know it you'll be showing off that hardtail.

Right on! Another welder is born!
 
Ghetto said:
Just ordered my welder yesterday. Get's delivered in a week!
Click to expand...

Hell, at least tell us what ya bought.


Travis said:
No way.. That's got to be a typo.
Click to expand...

It's on the box, lit, and inside of the welder. It lists the voltage at 5 of 10 though, maybe just upping the voltage would expand the abilities.

The Lincoln version say's it'll do 3/16", miller has one that says 5/16".

I plan to really mess with this thing, and figure out what it can and can't do.
 
kent_in_kc said:
Tech7, you ignorant slut! :)

Good for you Ebola, sounds like you nabbed a nice little rig there. Practice, amigo. Before you know it you'll be showing off that hardtail.

Right on! Another welder is born!
Click to expand...
Kent. Why am I an ignorant slut? Just wondering.
 

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