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Wire welder


DonMuncy

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Oh good gosh yes get an auto darkening.  They make it sooooo much easier .  I have a Hobart auto and just got a HF one.. have not tried the HF one.  There is a knob on the side to adjust the darkness.

I have only had the old Lincoln cracker box 240v arc welder.  I pretty much suck at welding.

Just got the 240v HF tig welder.  Have not played with it yet.   Want to weld some 4130 tubing into some bicycles of strange designs. 

HF is having some big sale on welders and stuff right now

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On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 8:01 PM, DonMuncy said:

I (mostly) self taught myself to gas weld almost 50 years ago, and manage to do a credible job. Several years later I got a stick arc welder, and never got very good at it, especially on thinner material. (In my experience, everybody who welds is better at the system they first learned on).

Somebody told me that the wire welders are much easier to learn to use than stick welders. Although I don't do much welding, I am contemplating getting a cheap wire welder and giving it a try. Any and all thoughts, pro and con are appreciated.

Don,  if you are looking for an entry level welder that has some welding ability more than a hobby box look at a Millermatic 211.  It comes with everything you need but a gas bottle, its pretty much auto sensing (set it and forget it) and it will weld steel and stainless from 24 ga to 3/8.   If you are just learning to MIG then also make sure to get a 220V machine because it will allow for longer duty cycles.  (the amount of time you squeeze the trigger)..  If you want to weld aluminum then look for a TIG machine from Lincoln.  The Lincoln line makes several TIG machines that will far out perform Miller.   Last don't go cheap on a helmet you only have one set of eyes.  Get an auto darkening one that runs on batteries not solar power or arc light.  Praxair is a good source for welding supplies and their sales department can offer good recommendations.  Harbor freight would not be my first or even second choice even though the prices are very appealing.  Their machines even the 220V ones have very short duty cycles and the helmets they sell are very slow to switch.  I've used them and after an hour or two I can tell that my eyes have been flashed.  Just my two cents.   Joe

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Flux is awful.  Splattery mess.  Get a bottle.  That eastwood is fine.  Its the same chinese unit rebranded by a bunch of companies.  Ive been using mine for a few years now.  If you arent building trailers or something where you need to do really thick stuff they work great for the price.  Sure the millers are better but they cost 4 times as much.  I wouldnt do a frame cut with mine but other than that it did everything I needed on my truck resto and built a bunch of furniture around the house.  The only thing is once you start doing mig and realize all the cool stuff you can do with a welder you'll want a Tig so you can do aluminum...

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  • 2 weeks later...

The HF that I go to started carrying the welding supplies like rods and sticks.   I bought some aluminum tig rods.  Could be fun.  Started building the Welder cart with the old crackerbox sparky arc Lincoln.

Edited by Yetti
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On 10/24/2017 at 10:33 PM, TheTurtle said:

pam dont protect my arms :)  Im a puss.  You should see my wleding outfit.  leather coat, mask and a hat thingy that covers my neck. 

HF had the leather arm covers.  Fitbit watch faces melt with flying slag.... ask me how I know.

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To weld Aluminum you need a Tig with AC output and a balance control to control the cleaning action. It also needs a high freq start so it will start without touching the workpiece. Most of the cheaper Tigs only have dc output. 

Mig with a spoolgun can also be used in some situations with reasonable results. 

My Tig is a barn find, a Miller 330 which was manufactured in 1959 and used for many years by continental to weld up cracked cylinders. I think it will do 460 amps on the high range. It still works well, but the newer ones weld much better. 

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Seems some of you have some idea of and about welding definitely buy a Miller for sure they make the best hands down ac machines on the market don't quote me but I think Miller matic 140 mig machine would be all that any body would want that would not be using all the time and parts are easy to find at any welding supply you can run flux core wire in it to but I would recommend bare wire with 7525 gas redueses splatter would be glad to help with any questions I have been welding for 23 years 100% X-ray mainline pipe line nuclear power plants so I do have the knowledge to help whom ever wold like 

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On 11/4/2017 at 11:33 AM, N601RX said:

To weld Aluminum you need a Tig with AC output and a balance control to control the cleaning action. It also needs a high freq start so it will start without touching the workpiece. Most of the cheaper Tigs only have dc output. 

Mig with a spoolgun can also be used in some situations with reasonable results. 

My Tig is a barn find, a Miller 330 which was manufactured in 1959 and used for many years by continental to weld up cracked cylinders. I think it will do 460 amps on the high range. It still works well, but the newer ones weld much better. 

Not sure how new machine welds better than older machine copper was better back in 1959

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On 10/24/2017 at 12:38 AM, Dream to fly said:

" and the helmets they sell are very slow to switch.  I've used them and after an hour or two I can tell that my eyes have been flashed."

And when you do get flash burn - (best described as someone grinding a handful of sand directly on your cornea)

The best relief I've ever found (this from an old Millwright) is to slice a thin layer of potato and apply it directly on the eyeball.

 

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9 hours ago, Mike Ropers said:

And when you do get flash burn - (best described as someone grinding a handful of sand directly on your cornea)

The best relief I've ever found (this from an old Millwright) is to slice a thin layer of potato and apply it directly on the eyeball.

 

Vicks vapor rubb on top and bottom of your eye lids 

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