OT: MIG Welders

[Tony Falotico]

Considering a MIG welder, don't want to spend to much ($500 max?). Also, want to stick to the 110 V. Welding experience: once in 7th grade shop with acetylene torch. Does anybody have a MIG? Do you find uses for it? (Need justification to LOML). Should I save my $$ for woodworking tools? In addition to wood, I also like working on vehicles, spent the last year and a half rebuilding/working on an '83 GMC that I use as my daily driver. Would have been nice to have a welder, but I finished the project without one.

:confused:

Any comments, advice, discussion would be appreciated.

[Howard Barlow]

I have a Millermatic 130 mig and a Miller Thunderbolt 225 stick. Both have their proper use. The stick will do heavier stuff faster. You can use the mig for heavier stuff, but you have to build up row at a time.

Where you can crank up the cracker box and burn deeper, the mig will only pile higher. It won't burn deep, at least the smaller one like I have.

The mig is great for thinner stuff. It is so easy to use, it's almost child's play. It has a very short learning curve, even if you've never welded.

[Mike Gregory]

Tony, I also have the miller 130 xp (110v). This thing is great. :cool: While it may not be able to weld a bead that penetrates all the way through 1/2" steel, I've never needed to weld 1/2" steel. Most of what I've welded is made of 1/4" or less and this thing works fantastic in this range. I also have a gas bottle which allows me to weld stainless steel. Among other projects, I used this when I made a video housing for scuba diving. If you need to weld really thick stuff, you just bevel the edges and fill it in with weld. Five years ago, I had never welded anything but it only took me a day to get comfortable with the machine. Now ... no fear! ... bring it on.

It's cold here today in SE Michigan

[Keith Outten]

Tony,

I just picked an older Sears 110V mig welder and with a little tender loving care it welds like new again. I also have a Miller Thunderbolt 225 AC stick welder, an old one with a copper transformer. I have been building my own heavy duty shop stands and racks for years. Finished a new stand for a South Bend lathe I bought awhile back and here is a picture of my latest mig welder project.

[Tony Falotico]

your kinda the culprit here. I've been wanting a MIG for a couple years now, but it was that bright yellow lumber rack you posted that got me thinking again. :D

I've been looking at the Sears unit, as I said earlier I don't want to invest too much initially. Just thought it would be fun to have and possibly add some metal to my woodworking.

[Clem Wixted]

I need to build a wood lathe stand and I have both a stick and a mig welder.
Do you have pictures of yours and/or some other help for me to get going?
Thanks, Clem

[Keith Outten]

Tony,

I actually built two of the lumber racks, if you look closely at the picture I posted there is another one to the left of the yellow rack, it hasn't been painted yet so its kinda hard to see.

I know that I have saved thousands of dollars with my old stick welder, it would take pages to list all of the things my Dad and I have built and the stuff we have modified, everything from dog pens to trailers and almost every woodworking machine I own has a custom stand.

Clem,

The picture below is the stand I built for my South Bend metal lathe, this is before I did the final cleanup and painting. I don't have a picture of the stand with the lathe mounted but I can get one tonight and post it here.

Take a close look at my stand, the three 1/2" plates at the ends of the stand give it real stability and keep the stand from twisting from welding. My purpose in designing it this way was to make sure the stand was as close to being perfectly level as possible. The three legged design worked perfectly and is very stable and heavy and it took very little shimming to set my lathe up and get it mounted. with two legs backed up to the wall I can use the headstock for feeding material through since it is angled away from the wall.

I also own on old cheap woodlathe but I rarely use it and when I do need to turn wood I put my woodlathe on top of a workbench. If I had one of the really good woodlathes like the power turners here I would build a stand just like this one for it.

[Herb Blair]

Keith, you're a man of many amazing talents!

Herb

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Last winter, after receiving a 20' Tandem Axle Trailer from an Older Lady that is a friend of the family, I decided it was time to build a trailer. This older lady lives on a farm, and she had a friend who needed a place to "dump" this trailer? It was just the bare frame when I saw it, and she thought I could do something with it. I decide to downsize from a F-150 Pickup back to a Ranger, and I needed something to haul Firewood, Lumber and whatever else needing hauling. Being a proficient welder, and having a good friend who is in the Auto Body repair business, we had our Winter project all cut out for us. We Cut down the box frame, sleeved it like you would a Car Frame, and shortened the total length of the trailer to 12 1/2'. With the addition of stake pockets and some tiedowns along the edge of the trailer bed, a Lighting Kit, and new bearings, races and seals, I now have a very good Tandem Axle Trailer. All of the welding on this trailer was accomplished with a Miller Mig Unit. This trailer started it's life as a 20' RV Type Trailer. It was built in 1980, and it was much more heavy duty than I thought Travel Trailers were built. The tires were like new, and the grand total invested is under $500.00. It tows very nice, and I have had several single axle trailers, but I never dreamed how much better a Tandem trails. It sure fit the bill, and the price was right!

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Here is another shot of the trailer. In case anyone is curious, the weld on stake pockets, fenders and lighting kit came from Northern Tools, as did the nifty stake side interlocking hardware.

[Tony Falotico]

A friend's father has an HTP MIG welder. He did a lot of research before buying and found it to be IHHO the best buy for the buck. Anybody familiar with this brand? I'll be looking this week for a Miller dealer, but thought I'd check the HTP's out. I was thinking about getting one a few years back, if I remember correctly the box stores were in the $500 range, the local welding supply's (one pushed Hobart, the other Lincoln) were in the $700-$1000 range. I think the HTP at the time was about $700-800. The local welders told me not to buy from the box stores, that even though they may be the same brand they were significantly less quality.

Kevin, mighty fine looking trailer.

[Cam.Hedrick]

I too have the Millermatic 130XP for doing the small and thin stuff with argon gas for shielding....stainless steel and aluminum do occassionally cross my path. I also have a big Lincoln 300 amp ac/dc arc welder that is also a generator and trailer mounted for welding broken tractor, trac-hoe and dozer parts in the field....broke a weld on my scraper blade for the old MF-50 last week...the Lincoln saved the day!
The Miller is all most people will need for body work and up to 1/4 " stuff unless as said before you bevel the edges and fill.
A plasma cutter is nice if you get serious about body and frame work, as well as a 200 amp MIG.
I restored some expensive exotic cars as a teenager and boy a plasma cutter would've been nice...once cut two Ferrari 250's in half to make one good one....did the same with an XJ-6. Restored a burnt Lamborghini 350GT and used a ball and pien(sp) hammer to put some dings in the aluminum hood after it was hammered back into shape to make it look original. We built the wiring harness from a schematic obtained from the factory.
Overall I love my Miller and think every good shop should have one!! Justification: fixing trailer, tiller, mower, exhaust work, and Mailobx stand!!:cool:

[Howard Barlow]

Originally posted by Keith Outten
Tony,

I just picked an older Sears 110V mig welder and with a little tender loving care it welds like new again. I also have a Miller Thunderbolt 225 AC stick welder, an old one with a copper transformer. I have been building my own heavy duty shop stands and racks for years. Finished a new stand for a South Bend lathe I bought awhile back and here is a picture of my latest mig welder project.

You mean that welder will spray white????:D

[Howard Barlow]

Originally posted by Mike Gregory
I also have a gas bottle which allows me to weld stainless steel.


Mike,
What gas are you using for ss?

[Howard Barlow]

Originally posted by Cam.Hedrick
....stainless steel and aluminum do occassionally cross my path.

Cam,
I use argon for shielding,also. Is this what you use for ss and aluminum? Do you have an al spool gun, or are you having success with the original setup?

[Paul]

Tony. I purchased my MIG welder last year but haven't had an oppurtunity to use it. For some of the best prices on welders and accessories, you might want to try BR Welder at

http://www.brwelder.com/home.html

No affiliation, they just happen to have some very good prices.

Regards,
Paul

[Rob Russell]

I've got a Lincoln, 230v MIG unit. Forget the model number, but it's a small one (130 amps?). I'd never welded in my life, the only lesson was from the guy I bought this from. MIG welding is easy to learn. Couple of suggestions:

<ol><li>Buy an autodarkening helmet. I don't have one and, as a newbie, the thing I find most difficult is placing the gun, flipping down the helmet and hoping I haven't moved when I pull the trigger. I will buy one before my next big welding project.</li>
<li>Find a local welding shop that will let you take scraps of metal to practice on. I found one that has a big dumpster outside they throw the scrap in. I have their permission to go "dumpser-diving" - only rule is if'n I get hurt, don't call them. When I finish practicing on scrap - it goes back into their dumpster.</li>
<li>I like the 230v welder. It gives thicker capacity and, I think, better capacity for aluminum (which needs higher current as I recall). I know lots of alum work means a power wire feed gun - for hte few times I'll do it I'l;l just make sure the wire/gas hose is straight out with no kinks. Long, heavy-duty cord on the 230v means I can work outside as opposed to in the basement and still plug into the workshop.</li></ol>

Overall - while I haven't used it much (yet) - I'm glad I have it. The first couple of beads I laid down were pretty ugly, but it gets better quickly. Basically an eye-hand coordination thing.

Rob

[Howard Barlow]

Originally posted by Rob Russell

<ol><li>Buy an autodarkening helmet. I don't have one and, as a newbie, the thing I find most difficult is placing the gun, flipping down the helmet and hoping I haven't moved when I pull the trigger. I will buy one before my next big welding project.</li>
Rob

Rob,
That's one of the beauties of MIG. You can set you gun down where you want it, touching the wire to your start point. Until you pull the trigger, nothing will happen. Of course, it doesn't work that way with stick.

[Tony Falotico]

While pricing the Millermatic's the local welder's supply, he asked if I would be interested in used. :) He had a used Millermatic 130 xp that he had sold new and took back on trade for a larger unit. It has about 6 months left on the manufacturer's warranty, included a cylinder (that he filled for me), threw in a new helmet, tips, roll of wire and a pair of gloves for 1/2 what the 'other guy' quoted me. I figured I couldn't go wrong dealing with a reputable dealer (He's been in Lake City longer than I have), so it is proudly sitting in my garage. :D

Thanks for all the advice and discussion. :cool:

[Paul Di Biasio]

I am interested in making stands and smaller stuff like Keith's pictures.

How much does it cost for the equipment?
What bought gloves, mask etc, whats needed?
What are the dangers?
Can I teach myself from books or do I need help?

Thanks

[Clem Wixted]

Hi Paul,

I took a short course at a local Vo Tech school. You can learn a lot from books but 20 minutes with a teacher saves a lot of time and then reading the books makes a lot more sense. Not only is welding easy but also is fun. By taking a course you can see what types of welding and equipment is avavilabe and what you might want for yourself and why. The best way to get better is to weld, weld, weld. It then starts to make sense.

I picked up a Miller 130 XP MIG welder at a pawn shop for $225. Nearly new and about half of new price.

Do some reading about getting started and you'll see those projects you want to do come to life in your mind.

A good mask is important and gloves are also. If you get a stick welder you need to be careful of the UV it puts out so you need long sleeves for that as well as protection from sparks. Don't wear poly or nylon. Cotton or leather is better.

Get with a friend, or the local high school welding instructor, for a demonstration and maybe some hands on and listening time. They might even have some starter books you could borrow. Maybe even point you to some used equipment. Get to know the folks at the local welding supply place and I have found them real helpful. They often take in smaller equipment in trade from professionals who need something bugger and the smaller stuff is great for hobbyists and occasional weldors.
I once read a dissertation about the proper use of the words welder and weldor but you probably will come across it in your readings.
Shout if you want additional info.

Clem

[nmeyers]

Agree with Clem. A little help will go a long way.

If you are planning on small items, then a MIG (w/gas) is really the easiest. My experience is that thin gages are harder to work with and require more care. The MIG will do that over a stick/arc welder. To a novice, the stick selection can another issue. Too many sizes and types to choose from. Not such a critical factor with selecting the wire for MIG.

I use a Lincoln SP-135 which is a 120v machine. It works well in the garage at the workbench, or on a looooong extension cord welding pipe fence. My son has the 220v version and loves it.

Not doing wood or metal working for a living, I make plenty of practice cuts and welds. Once the set-up is right the finished product comes out good (most of the time). With welding, unlike woodworking, you add material so a grinder can fix a lot. LOL