bobs77vet

My new favorite site, thanks

gerry72

Welcome to the 1980s, Bob.

By "arc" welder I assume you mean a stick welder, since all electric welders are arc welders of some type (GTAW, GMAW, FCAW...)

If all you have or can afford or need is a stick welder, then sure. You can do anything with a stick welder that you can do with a MIG for the most part. Not as convenient or easy as MIG and, depending on the welding you need to do, like overhead, needs more experience with stick welders but they still get the job done and are still the standard for many industrial applications. For home use though, most go with MIG since even a drunk, retarded monkey can learn to MIG without much difficulty.

DR.Jay

I haven't seen anyone mention anything about duty cycle.
Be sure to buy a welder with a high enough duty cycle. You wouldn,t be happy with a welder that you have to let cool down after welding for just 30 seconds.
Just my $.02

I bought this one. It is a 100% duty cycle 125 volt Mig welder with a Tig attachment. It uses 100% Argon shielding gas for the Tig. I do alot of welding projects with my job that requires it to be fairly portable. This unit weighs 150 lbs. It will weld 3/8" steel with the Mig, and 1/4" with the Tig.
The cost can be prohibitive At $3500 which includes all the attachments. The spool Gun for welding Aluminum is another $1000

DR. Jay

chevy69

Hello again Bob. I failed to mention earlier that I was in the same exact boat as you. I had a Lincoln weldpak "NASCAR" edition flux core welder I bought from home depot and actually did the gas conversion. It was ok for light work, but Tom at Street Rod Engineering told me the penetration would be insufficient for heavy frame work, crossmembers, etc.... He said the Millermatic 175 I bought would do fine (I checked with him before I bought it).

bobs77vet

Dr Jay thats out of my price range but it sure looks nice...

and gerry72.... i remember the 80s!!!!!!! and in fact thats when i bought the stick welder....the question really was if i upgraded my Lincoln Mig pak100 to use gas instead of the flux core unit would I be happy with it and would it help me with the frame welding i need to do on the Hotrod project i have? Or would i be better off upgrading to a heavier Mig with gas ; OR should I just using my 220v/50 amp stick welder for any heavy welding that i need on the frame like putting in the IFS? this is just a hobby after all and not a production environment.

all told probably welding in the IFS i bet has no more then 1'-2' worth of welds....

bobs77vet

yeah thats what i am thinking so now the question is...will my stick welder suffice for the limited welding that i will be doing? it after all is 220 volts and 50 amps and has lots of ummpphhh

comp

i'll check it out

DR.Jay

The price scared me for the first year that I contemplated buying it. I do alot of custom production for our machines. I also do alot of side work for people on weekends (deer feeders, trailer repairs, custom hand rails, repairing old military sheet metal)
I had paid off my Snap On account in August, and my dealer was more than willing to sell me what I needed. Snap On finance was great too. The interest rate is high, but the payments are cheap $40.00 a week. What I do with it in one weekend pays a whole months payments.

It,s also a great way to build up your credit!!!!

Seek out a local Snap On dealer in your area. It's just an idea
DR. Jay

MotorHead

I would just upgrade what you have to gas, frame metal is not very thick, you can easily burn right through it with the mig you have now, ask me how I know that

bobs77vet

that thought has occured to me and if i need more ummpppffhhh i have the stick welder i can use....i guess i just need to start saving some dough and see how much i have squirrelled away when the need arises...Lowes has the Lincoln 175 for $594

Twin_Turbo

I kind of disagree, I would rather have stepless wire speed control, a wide range of heat control (possibly dual range) and if you can a skip weld control w/ full dial control over weld and pause intervals..all rather than 100% duty cycle at the highest heat settings. On automotive applications you are not welding very long weld beads, even the longest beads like doing a frame can't be done in long passes, short sections and changing locations on the frame to prevent warpage is the only sure way to do it. The duty cycle really is of no use then.

This is my 400V Mig rig:


It's got all of the above and more like switchable trigger control (4&2 stroke, interval timer for spot/stich welds) it can load the large 20Kg spools and small spools, fully adjustable 4 gear roller feed motor, 28 step heat control, straight and reverse polarity hookup, 60% Duty Cycle full power (270amps), additional gas flow control on the machine itself. It's a nice machine but is it needed for a hot rod project? No, half of the stuff on it I hardly ever use.

DR.Jay

And I thought mine was overkill. It's a nice machine anyway.
Mine has almost all the same features, but it is only a 125 volt 160 amp machine. The thing I like about it the most is that it is fairly portable, and it has a 25' ambilical cord so I can leave the main unit in the bed of my pickup or in my garage, and not have to drag it around, I just un hook the suitcase from the side, and take it to the work. I have wire speed, and can control stich & spot time at my side. I can also run it off a decent generator.

Twin_Turbo

I like that you have an entire mig/tig/stick rig there in one, sure beats hauling 2 machines..It being modular is really nice

kend414

Bob, I have a new Millermatic 135 that runs on 110v 20 amps. Welds from 24 ga. (.025) to 3/16". A welder of 40+ years gave it a 2 thumbs up so it must be decent. If you need it for a project or for a month or two, no problem. I have the gas setup (argon mix) and ton of wire, both thicknesses, .024 0r .030 Solid core (gas), flux core and even solid stainless core wire. Shoot me a PM. You'd have to make the haul up the GSP though.

bobs77vet

thanks Kenny.

i'm thinking i'm gonna upgrade to the 175-210 220volt range, so there may be a mig pak100 available if any one is interested

kend414

Your welcome Bob. I didn't realize you had one. I hear those 220v machines are a nice upgrade.