What kind of welder to get?

Bob La Londe said:
I hate to say it, but welding can be an all encompassing hobby in and of itself, and unless you plan to just push flux wire for mild steel you better plan bigger on your electrical budget.

That being said, I do push flux wire for mild steel. It is in my opinion the absolute easiest type of weld to do. I also have a dual gun, dual bottle, dual regulator MIG setup for steel and aluminum. Literally just drop one gun and pick up the other, I've also got two little suitcase 110V units setup for flux core (and I use them), an AC cracker box that burns rod upto 1/8" almost as fast as I can pick up another rod, a piggy back TIG to run on top of the cracker box for light AC tigging aluminum, and of course an OA rig that hasn't had a welding tip on it in ten years, but its the first way I ever learned how to weld.

One thing in your post got my attention, and I am surprised nobody commented on it. You had a job specifically welding galvanized. I am going to assume you had a proper safety setup, but comment for those who might not know. Welding galvanized is exceptionally hazardous. The fumes are pretty toxic. I do it occasionally, but only outdoors with my flux core rig, and the wind (or a fan) setup to carry the fumes away from me and disburse them.

Anyway, a combo TIG/STICK rig is pretty versatile. For mild steel flux core mig is the easiest way to weld I know of. If you plan to make and repair decorative fences its the way to go and you can plug it in anywhere. Of course the duty cycle will be measured in inches, but its cheap and easy. Even cheaper for me growing up was OA welding. We had a country general store and I had an endless supply of wire clothes hangers for filler rod.

P.S. I am not a welder. I am not good at welding. I would hire a shop in a heartbeat for my more important projects, but I have never had a welding shop do my projects in the time they said or even two or three times the time they said, and by the time they got to my job they forgot what I wanted and did it wrong. That's why I learned to weld aluminum. LOL.
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Hey Bob La Londe,

Not sure where my welding will take me so I am leaning towards a decent MIG/flue core as that would probably be a good setup for a beginner.

If I remember right the galvanized welding was on some kind of long box like structure with each internal individual boxes around two feet square. And yes I learned really quick to take a very deep breather before welding as the fumes were very toxic. This was a winter job during the non-motorcycle riding season in Davenport IA, probably sometime around the mid 1970's and no safety stuff back then.

Yes I'm starting to understand the significance of duty cycle and as with any new hobby doing prudent research before buying, which this thread is helping to figure out what which questions to ask myself, make a decision and see where it leads you.

Thanks,
Harry
 
I am not a fan of running equipment rated for more amps than a circuit is rated for, I hear it is done frequently with no issues, and I am not being critical. I do not wish to gamble my house on a 10 dollar circuit breaker.
 
At work we had a couple of the old,now, 400amp Miller transformer welders. It was very ,very rare that we used them over 150amp. That's about what I used with 5/32 7018 rod. So when I weld 1/4" with .035 with my Miller250x MIG, I'm not pushing it. It'll run .045 on 1/2 "plate.

It's a single purpose machine, though I have spool gun and tank for aluminum , I find I'm eyeing the TIG stick combos . On aluminum I'm limited to 1/8" and up. Less than that, it's pretty tricky.

These are expensive machines, around here about $3000 for the Millers. Even the latest 250 Miller MIG series are about that now. The later ones are better MIGs, BTW.
 
If you have any need or desire to weld aluminum you need a TIG, A TIG will also allow you to stick weld. If not, a MIG is the best choice. The little 110v are handy, but get one that is 110/220 and an argon setup so you can weld thicker metal and still be able to transport and use 110 and flux core for stuff. I highly recommend the Millers. I have a victor O/A set and can't remember the last time I used it. In fact if anyone in Arizona is looking for a small set with tanks and cart, I'll sell it cheap!
 
Downwindtracker2 said:
On aluminum I'm limited to 1/8" and up. Less than that, it's pretty tricky.
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1/8-1/4 is pretty easy with my 212 (not autoset). Less than 1/8 requires that you plan your weld and your travel. Just for S&Gs I've done aluminum as thin as .043 with it. I almost can't move my hands fast enough. I've done .080 with stitch and fill, but even 1/8 will drop out if you build to much heat. 1/4 is pretty forgiving. You can wallow around on it for a while before it will drop out on you. 3/8 is about my limit for MIG aluminum with that welder. It requires a solid preheat to do a good job, but I have done it without. My big thing though is prep. You absolutely have to clean and deoxidize aluminum right before you weld with DC.
 
I have Air Liquide O/A combination set and bottles. The set was free from work when they upgraded to the next size, but the bottles certainly weren't . The Air Liquide sets are industrial standard here. Industrially, there are many more in use than the rest combined. ( Liquid Air in the states.) I had a Japanese Tanaka set before, good for gas welding, weird mixing for cutting. If you get a O/A, I would get your locally common one, easy servicing and finding tips. I find I use it mostly for heating and bending . The cutting was very humbling. Just call me Ol'Shakey.
 
just because this needs to keep on going :)
before and after ww2 aircraft and other structures that used 4130, aluminum, magnesium, inconel, monel, stainless, cast iron were all welded with o/a (and tig was avail then). this continued until the 1990's
years back when i was real poor i couldn't afford a tig so i welded alum with o/a
 
I ,too, have the old woodworking tool bug. Of my metal working tools , only the welder bought new and the mill/drill bought used,have paid for them selves. In fact the welder has at least three or four times over ,paid for it's self.
 
Harry,
I'm going to throw in my two cents worth here. You have O/A experience and you seem to have most likely used a MIG. That means you know what a weld puddle is and it's a matter of picking the most cost effective single machine for general use. I don't own a MIG and will likely never have a use for one with what I do, but I have to agree it is probably the most versatile general purpose machine for "everything".

Almost two decades ago I professionally welded for about 6 1/2 years and used TIG, MIG (occasionally) and PAW (plasma arc welding) on primarily titanium and stainless along with aluminum to a lesser extent. I'm spoiled and hate grinding welds, so I have a Miller Diversion 165 (dedicated TIG) and an O/A set up for all of my hot work. I never have a need for high deposition rates and precision is needed, so TIG is my happy place. As others have said, cost for the unit is higher and you need a tank for shield gas, but the newer TIG machines are so much more user friendly than what I worked with (Aircrafter 351) that they can quickly make your welds look like you're a seasoned veteran.

I'm not trying to sell you on TIG, but if you have a chance to go to a dealer that has one set up for demonstration, you might be amazed what technology has done for user friendliness. That also may mean the newer MIG units have benefited from technology, so see what they have to offer.

Just remember: Stick = high deposition rate, least precision for detail work, but some guys are gifted.
MIG = moderate/fast deposition rate depending on machine amperage, takes practice for precision, but tiny work is a pain.
TIG = low deposition rate, high level of control for heat affected zone and welds that don't need clean up (assuming your not a putz)
O/A = WHATEVER YOU ARE CAPABLE OF! Fast, slow, tiny HAZ, huge HAZ, lots of filler, no filler, very versatile, but proficiency is one of those things that one can never stop learning. (I still have a lot to learn!)

Good luck with you shop construction and try not to get overwhelmed with opinions. As I said, that's my two cents worth and it's worth half of that.

Mark
 
Good one Crank. I'm still using a transformer TIG but have used some of the newer stuff and it is pretty amazing and so easy to use. The latest MIG's seem to be using a lot of the same controls, sort of morphing together.
On another note just to muddle the puddle, HarryJM you mentioned heating, well when you have decided on a welder one of your first projects could be a heater: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmQ5wJnkAIoIDKEy-YqHozUmzjcgHA_Ka then what you save on power can be invested back into tools etc.
 
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