One of my projects is my cast iron railings. One of the longer ones has split while the bottom has rusted out. Can I use what's descrbied here on it?

 

Cast is very hard to weld. High heat rate. You might want to take that to a welding shop, so they can burn it in.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/HOBART-HANDLER-1...QQcmdZViewItem

These guys sell a ton of welders on ebay. I bought my Miller from them.

 

This is The Guy I bought our Lincoln from. When I went to the big name welding store to see if the guy would match the price NO-WAY!Went with a Lincoln came with more consumables and their spool gun (for Aluminium) was only $180 where as the Miller spool gun was almost the same price as the welder itself. Great on delivery ordered on Friday the Lincoln truck was in my drive on Tuesday. wro87

 

Alot of great advice here and I think you are hearing mostly the same answer on welder quality. With either 120 or 240 make sure you have the capability to draw the proper amps.

It is very frustraiting to repeatedly pop a breaker.

I have been able to do most of what I have needed with 120 and a Miller along with a Lincoln plasma that runs on 120.

Make sure you get a bottle large enough for the inert gas to allow for some welding with out running low in the middel of a weekend.

Good luck

 

From what you described in your initial post, a 120v Lincoln, Miller, Hobart (same as Miller but with lighter xformer), or even a Century welder would be a perfect fit. In your case, I would almost avoid a 220v welder unless you think you'll be welding a whole lot of 1/4" stuff. I've used a Miller Matic 135 and it welded 1/4" fine. You could do thicker stuff with it as long as you're not requiring maximum strength. Or, for the few times you did want to weld, say, 1/2" you could heat it up with a torch to increase penetration. The nice thing about the 120v welders is they are good and portable. When I bought my Miller, I got a larger one and I really can't take it anywhere. I figured I would get into 3/8" and 1/2" and heck, I hardly do much 1/4". I love the welder but for me, a more portable welder would have been a better fit, something like a Millermatic 175. The 120v welders do a better job on sheet metal too. So, it's definitely possible to overbuy.

As for Harbor Freight welders, I've heard some good things about Chinese welders. Harbor freight stuff is generally a cut above all the other import stuff. I just bought a H/F plasma cutter. It's still in the box so I can't say. The reports about them are good. As far as parts go, you should be able to get parts for a H/F welder. Call H/F and check. Harbor Freight is AMAZINGLY good at supplying parts. Much more so than the image you get from post. For example, you can get just about any miniscule part for any air tool they sell. Parts you probably couldn't get for a comperable Ingersoll Rand or C/P tool. I've done it. In fact, for the several parts inquiries I've made over the years, there has NEVER been anything I couldn't get. They'll ask you about it and sometimes they won't know and out of the blue you'll get a call a few days later ...they checked with their supplier, etc (in China presumably). And they are amazingly cheap! Only problem is, it can take 6 weeks coming from China on a slow boat, sometimes 12 weeks (seriously). But as far as consumables (tips, liners, torch handles, etc) that's all available either at their store or via the web (ebay/H-F, etc). In terms of service, there are places on the web that will service any Chinese welders regardless of make age. Consider other welders such as Century too. I used a Century on a job once, scoffed at it at first, but it performed well. Pricing is less than a Miller.

Personally, I'd go for a $500 Miller/Lincoln. Go to your local welding shop. They'll deal and usually get close to the price and save you shipping. When I bought mine, they cut me a heck of a deal on consumables. I bought several rolls of wire for 1/2 off and still using them!

 

try shopping here ....good prices ...good stuff..
I have a lincoln gas mig and a miller plasma cutter

http://www.ramweldingsupply.com

they have free shipping to most all of the western states
and have just about whatever you need for welding supplies

 

You guys are great! Knew I came to the right place. So if I picked up something like this Miller...what else would I need to get like helmet, tank, etc? Versus what would be nice to have like cart.

 

To do it right, you will need a helmet (welder's flash is a painful 3 day experience-get a decent one), leather gloves, and a wire wheel for your angle grinder. Get a braided wheel, they last vs. straight wire. I bought a cart at the local auto parts store for half of what the weld shop wanted. A bottle will have to be leased or bought outright, then you pay to fill it. Stay away from monthly fee programs.. Spend a few hours on practice- different angles and positions on different material thickness. Knowing how the weld will behave is very important. There are some how -to videos out there, your new welder probably will have one with it. Best of luck!

 

If you have a local,or tri-county/tri-state "trader" paper...you may try in there too,and look for a older model.The older models are welders...the newer ones have all the fancy electronic boards,etc.My old boss had a new Miller,and the board went out.It costs over 500.00 for the part,and this wasn't no great big welder either.A advantage of the paper is...you can try it out,and the people alot of times have the gloves,etc. to go w/it.
I have a 1972 Millermatic,and can weld ANYTHING!!!!!!I also,have a hevy duty 440 volt welder from the train yard,but what do I weld w/that???????And.....where do I get the 440????

 

Might also watch Craigslist for a while.

I have seen some pretty good deals on welders....plus its local so no shipping!

 

You can pick up a decent auto-darkening helmet for $50-$100. I really like mine, which was a H-F unit about 5 years ago. The newer ones darken even quicker. Get one that has the quickest darken time because if you do a lot of welding that little "flash-time", by the end of the day makes your eyes tired and sore (with mine anyway). Newer ones are much quicker than mine.

I leased my bottle of gas for a few years, then i got smart and just bought it outright. Should have bought it right away.

 

I bought myself an elite miller auto darkening helmet off of ebay. It wasn't cheap, but I love it...it has adjustable settings and everything. You can get a cheap one at harbor freight - I opted for the higher quality helmet from miller because I weld a lot.

 

If its staying in the shop get a good one. I have my Miller and Lincoln in the shop. I also have a small Century wire welder (110v) that I can throw in the truck with the generator and take places to weld stuff up that cant get into the shop. Its a good one for the money, it was about 150 bucks 6 or 7 years ago and had the conversion kit so you could put gas on it and had fully adjustable heat and wire feed. Excellent for the money til you see how much you are actually going to use it.

 

Hi,

I have a Nothern Tool 135 MIG (120v) which you can pick up for $296.99
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...2691_200332691

Great welder to use for floor pans and anything 3/16" or less. Very pleased with it. You can't weld 1/4" with it...

I also have a Hobart 187 MIG (240v) which you can pick up for $649.99

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...8799_200328799

This welder creates very smooth welds and I have used it to weld hardened 1/4" steel. I also made this welder portable by hooking it up to my 4400 Watt generator.

The Hobart is made by Miller, even the handpiece has Miller stamped on it.

 

I'll also throw my vote for these guys too. I bought a Hobart 220V from them and had it fast. Best price anywhere. I recommend a 220v, it is not hard to wire or use a dryer or oven plug to get power from.