I'm gonna go look at some welders later on in the week over at my local Sears and Home Depot. Thanks everyone for all that great advice.

 

You may want to try a different approach.
Postpone buying one for now and sign up for a semester of night school welding course at a local high school or college. They are usually pretty cheap.
You get the benefit of learning properly on stick, mig, tig and flame.
You may even decide that a tig may suit you better, it has a lot more capability and can be used as stick too.
It may also provide you with some networking that would allow use of a welder until you decide/afford the proper one. We did a lot of sharing when we were youger.

 

I have the 110v Lincoln welder from Home Depot, it has served me well in the 7-8 years I have owned it.

I agree with the above posters about taking a course in welding if you're serious about learning. Check with Chabot College in our area, some of the campuses have shop facilities

 

I'm gonna look at Laney College's program since I currently attend Laney.

 

Take the course ,lots of fun and it will help you decide what machine
you really want-need.
welding machines are like boats .You buy your first one and next year
you want a bigger one [more power,options].
Take the course use their equipment and then spend a little more money on a nice rig.
Also Miller vs Lincholn vs Hobart All good machines .Stay away from the
no name brands [you will need parts and acc.down the road].
Sorry if I sound like the old man but I see a lot of people waste there time and cash on tinkertoy equipment .
Wish you were close by I enjoy teaching the trade ,I,m in Va.
Good luck,One-72 40+ years welding:

 

Miller is absolutely without a doubt the best welder on the market but is probably too expensive for the home shop so I would advise buying the Hobart through Sears. I used to work in the steel mill and Miller was the welder of choice and I have used my Miller Mig 175 in my auto restoration shop for 25 years and it is a great machine. The Hobart Mig is a good machine for most general home shop duty but I would not recommend it for daily heavy frame welding etc.

 

I got a used Clarke TIG at an auction for $10. Works fine for practice welding & runs on 110. After I spend more time developing my skills with this old crappy welder, I plan to invest in a nicer unit. I figure, if I can tune in my skills with a crappy welder, then I will have taught myself under a worst case scenario & not developed any bad habits. You might get complacent with bad habits if your welder compensates for you.

J

 

I agree with most of the above, get some training first and then decide what you want/need. I know most will TOTALLY disagree with my next statement but trust me it will make you a better welder down the road. Do not get an auto darking lens to start with! You need to learn to scratch start (strike) first, not touch start. Auto darking lens are GREAT, but there are times that they don't work all the time. In limited access welds where the arc can be partially blocked the lens can lighten or not darken at all. I've been a welder for over 35 years (25 in the nuclear industry) and the guys that have learned to weld with a auto darking lens can't strike an arc to save their soul in these situations. An auto darking lens should be a tool to enhance your skills not a crutch to get you started.

 

Millermatic 252 is one great welder, one gun for steel and one for aluminum. Each gun has its own settings, just grab and go!

 

Have to agree with that, I just wish I would have switched to a auto darkening helmet sooner.

I found it faster just using a pair of safety glasses and closing my eyes for the quick welds on my 69 project, since I could weld pretty good I could tell by the sound how it was going , you know what I mean
The whole up down with the helmet after a long day at work usually got it thrown across the shop by the end of the night

 

Another suggestion ... ask your local welding supply stores if thet have a demo program.

I just borrowed a Lincoln 120v Mig Welder (Model 135) for 2 weeks. They also loaned me a 40cf gas bottle ... I paid for the Argon/CO2, and also bought an auto-darkening helmet. At the end of the 2-week period, I purchased the demo and an 80cf bottle.

 

From a welding inspector's view point, the machine you use is not as important as knowing what you are doing. If one can not pass a AWS D.1 6G weld test and coupon...you are not a weldor. For the small jobber's out there, I have seen your work and I am simply horrifided at the end results. I can not tell you how many times I have heard from members in here that state, "I know how to weld". Welding is an art unto itself. Learn the basics and practice....practice...practice. Anything worth doing....is worth doing right. Once you know what you are doing, and what you are trying to achieve...the welding equipment you seek will become second nature. Lincoln....is always a good consideration...not cheap, but a good buy nevertheless.

Stay in tune...

 

People will probably disagree with this, but I'd skip the shop class and invest in a good DVD or two on welding. Maybe Miller has one. I have the Miller GMAW book. It's really comprehensive. There is FAR more in a book like that. Maybe I'm jaded. I took two welding classed years ago and there was a lot of goofing around by people who weren't that serious, waiting for things to get set up ..a lot of down-time, really. The instructor, while knowledgeable wasn't like you could go back and replay what he was trying to get across. I learned a LOT reading books on welding. Now there are so many DVD's and I've bought them for other subjects. They're great. Anyway, that's my perspective FWIW.

Mark G

 

Welding classes are usually a waste of time for some of the reasons you mentioned but usually the classes were so overcrowded that you got very little time actually welding with a machine and our instructor was usually so overburdened that he could spend very little time with you one on one. Experience is the best teacher and you can get that with a good machine and the help of some good books and videos.

 

That is a good point, I did learn more just messing around in the shop at home then I did in the classroom

 

I think with welding my college instructor said it best...welding is like being a blind monkey on roller skates...unless you know these secrets:

1) Use a full face shield. If you use just goggles then make sure you wear sunscreen on your face. Wear kevlar, nomex, other fire resistent clothing when welding...get some nice thick gloves. Buy or build a solid metal workbench to clamp parts onto...then you just need to ground the welder to the bench. Keep at least 3 feet from the welding point clear of anything that might burn...like rags...splatter and sparks can cause fires. I always like to keep a bucket of water handy in case of fire...or to cool a part that can handle quenching. Also get some good tongs for handling hot iron.

2) Don't butt your joints together...leave a gap the same width as the diameter of your rod.

3) Adjust your welder's power output according to material and depth of penetration...guidlines must come with the welder...modify as necessary. Always spend at least an hour of working on scrap metal when you use a new welder. Some welders provide good initial power, but get weak during continuous welding which means you may need to turn up the power for long welds and clean up any splatter that occurs at the start.

4) Make a puddle and keep it at a consistent size as you move along your seam.

5) Get a good grinder to clean up any splatter.

There is no substitute for watching an experienced welder. As others indicated...get a 220V model...most homes have a convenient 220V outlet for the dryer which can carry at least 50amps.

As for the type of welder...I learned acetylene, MIG, and TIG welding in school...easy stuff...once you learn the speed at which the feeder runs or figure out how to adjust it to your desired speed welding is effortless. But, I learned stick welding from my uncle who has been a welder for decades...he welded steel structures for many of the buildings in Oklahoma...and now owns his own business manufacturing oil pumps which requires welding pipes which pass X-ray inspection. He still has a MIG for simple stuff, but if he wants to guarantee that he will get sufficient penetration then he uses a stick. Stick welding is only difficult to get the arc started without having the stick weld itself to the part...after that I think it's even easier than MIG cause you can move at your own pace and adjust on the fly.

Good luck...and be safe.

 

Good key points Rockn-Roll. I'll have to see if I can take the welding classes in the summer. Till then, I think I'm gonna hold off on buying a welder. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

Just knowing how to weld will help a lot. You need some formal instruction. People argue against going to school, I will argue for it. It is not just buying a machine and striking an arc. You need to know proper techniques and preparation. Plus safety is paramount. If you find a decent school you will know what welder you will need for what application. If you just go buy a new welder and just dive into it you might be dissapointed. I have a friend who does my welding for me. He is not cheap, but I'm not out a lot of money for a welder and other equipment like bottle leases and fire extinguishers and consumables like rod, gloves and other items. Besides I don't have to have a lot of welding done. If I bought all of the equipment to do a proper job I would end up tripping over it in my garage. It's kind of like owning a boat and then only taking it out Memorial day the Fourth of July and Labor day. If you push a pencil to boat ownership under those circumstances it's cheaper to rent one than own one. Same way with a welder.