What kind of welder to get?

HarryJM said:
Hey Terry,

I totally agreed with you philosophy on not cutting corners and my wife shares your philosophy also. So yes I will be look into getting something bigger than an 30 amp panel.

Thanks,
Harry
Click to expand...
Hey Techee,

Work is a little slow now and I have been watching welding videos about various welding techniques, machines, etc and yes the AC/DC tig/stick seem to be the way to go and Eastwood seems to have some good welders.

Thanks,
Harry
 
Not to hijack my own thread but why choose MIG over O/A, as it seems the MIG welders are very popular?
 
the cranky guy said it all. o/a is more versitle
 
plus it depends on what you want to be doing hahaha
 
MIG is much, much, easier than O/A. It's just one much easier than stick. In fact, MIG is considered too easy. You can get pretty but not deep penetration welds. If I want to sliver solder or braze , I'll put a welding tip on my O/A, but that's the only time I would ever think about using the O/A to stick things together.

These new inverter welders are amazing, the quality of the arc and it's in the size of an overnight bag. It just blows me away after years of dragging big transformer welders across mills. I was a millwright, but we did have to weld.

If I wasn't retired, those Miller TIG AC DC units are very tempting.
 
I own 230v mig, tig, and stick machines. I use my Hobart Ironman 230 mig 95% of the time. It's got a good operational range, and works just as good as the day I brought it home from Coastal farm supply store 7 years ago. I've been through 5, 45lb pound wire spools through the machine. I use my hypertherm power max 85 for cutting duties.

I hardly ever use my oxy/fuel setup any more for welding or cutting.
 
I have a couple of migs... a Millermatic 211 and a Tweco 110 volt. They are both great welders and if I have a lot of welding to do I use the Millermatic with CO2 gas. It runs a very nice bead. I also have a Klutch
FREE SHIPPING — KlutchST200iDV Dual Voltage Inverter-Powered Stick/TIG Welder — 120V/230V, 15–200 Amp @ 285.00
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_welding+arc-stick-welding+arc-stick-welders

That said...I find myself using the Klutch more than the others. It's just so light and I can run a quick bead to join 1/4" steel for brackets and it only takes me 5 minutes max start to finish. With the others, I have to lug them out and make sure the wire feed is on time...etc. I just love the Klutch. I doubt it weighs 15 lbs. And it is a very easy arc welder to start an arc/bead... at least it is for a novice like me.
 
Harry, I hear ya my man! :)
I am turning 65 this year and will retire comming next summer.

So here goes, last summer, after a lots of thinking about, I pulled the trigger on a shinny brand new Miller "Multimatic 215" which can do TIG, MIG and stick. It is way above your budget but I have a few special needs that guided my choice and I don't want to expand here.
Now I am no welder! but I have the drive to learn! (and learn to drive!)
So in your case, I think I can give some educated advise here...

- Get a MIG! you can probably find a good machine used wthin your budget and MIG, although I am still not very good at it, is one of the easiest process to learn!
- MIG, and other processes comes with some 'unforeseen' expenses.... Mig uses a mixture of argon and CO2 gas, you will have to pay for the first tank and then for each fill up.
- Among the unforeseen expenses, you will need some tools, a helmet ($$$) gloves, coat etc...
- Like some other guys said, 240V 30A circuit is not going to make it. For your little shop you need at least 50Amps, and a sub panel this size does not exist. Then you look at 60 and 100A subpanel and find that 100A subpanels are less expensive than the 60A!
- In sizing your panel, you can always cheat in thinking that you will use only one tool at a time.... then comes a friend to help! So allow 30 A for your welder, 15A for lighting and another 15A for other tools. (Yup! that's 60A total)
- You might also need power for heating or air conditionning, depending where you live

Some other considerations...
Your shop being 10 X 14, forget flux-core welding! you will axphysiate yourself! This process produce an awfull lot of smoke... So is Stick welding. Mig with gas wil be just bearable if you do just a few welds. TIG is harder to learn, but seems to produce the least fumes (I might be wrong here, some will correct me)

Install at least TWO fire extinguisher, and not near the machines! If a fire ever catch, you want to be sure to be able to reach one or the other without flames in between!

My $2 CDN ! :-D
 
There are 200 amp circuits available from the power company, you need to change the meter then you can power the house, and the shop with separate panels. If under ground they would not pull it for my house due to the conduit needing to be 4", mine is 2".
 
HarryJM said:
Not to hijack my own thread but why choose MIG over O/A, as it seems the MIG welders are very popular?
Click to expand...
mig welders make a novice look better than he/she really is - that's why. problem is without o/a experience puddle control is usually compromised. my go to welders for most fab jobs are migs dese days but i have o/a experience - although for body work i went back to o/a - except for when i need to plug weld where spot welds were
i have tig also but use it little. i grew up on o/a and a lincoln tombstone buzz box that paid for itself many times over
 
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