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I'm doing some sheet and probably a cage and stuff later. I realize this will take a while to learn but i'm sick of paying for fab shops for 10 min. of work and not learning anything for my money.
135? 175? Wire? Stick?
You can't go wrong with a Miller or Hobart 175 MIG, with a gas setup. They are substantively the same unit, with some upgraded parts in the Miller that make it cost about $100 more. I picked up Hobart Handler 175 for $619, with a cart and gas set up, shipped to my door.
The upgrade from these is really nice, the MIller or Hobart 210, and they run right a $1000 for teh Hobart. This is likely overkill for your needs, however.
The 175 units will do 1/4" in a single pass, the 210 will do 3/8".
I currently get by on my ~$89 Hausfeld(??) 110v welder..
it only handles two kinds of stick... 1/16th and 5/32nd..
I control the amprage by plugging it into a long extenstion cord so I can weld the real thin stuff.
It's an excersise in frustration and my welds look like crap... thank god for my angle grinder..
here is the proccess to weld with this beast.
step 1:
try to strike an arc... after the rod sticks to the work for the tenth time.. leave it for a few seconds until it gets real hot.. then pull it off. start welding.
Step 2:
Chip all the slag away... realize that you have nothing but slag... repeat step 2.
step 3:
repeat step 2... but after getting some penetration grind down the weld and fill in the cracks with more welding... you geussed it.. repeat steps 1 and 2.
step 4:
after 20 minutes.. wait for welder to cool off. rinse and repeat.
I love Miller, but the Hobart is an excellent value IMHO.....
no, it isn't the same welder as the miller like all the hobart owners like to claim, but it *is* a good welder from what i could tell by test-driving it......
go 220 fer sure......120 vac welders are for fixing your sisters tricycle.....175 amp is a good starting range.
I guess the thickest i'll be doing is for my bumpers and maybe waylater suspension. 1/4"? I think anything thicker would be to much weight. A 175 welder runs on 220 thougth, doesn't it. Although I guess thats what my dyier runs on. I hope i don't burn any holes in my clothes while I'm working on my exaust! And its gonna be hard to get my jeep in my hallway.
I suppose someone out there was figuring I would chine in here at one point or another...so here ya go...I do most of my mig work with a Lincoln SP 170 (220v) It will weld anything I will ever ask of it and does a great job. Total cost with bottle,reg, and cart was under a grand. I have made an adapter so I can plug into typical dryer outlets. This is handy because the unit is very portable and I can take it over to friends houses to help them out when they can't get there rigs over to my garage.....
TIG is next in line for the garage.......
I made the mistake of buying a miller 135...was all could afford at the time, and it has paid for itself 100 times over. I will be buying a Tig welder in a couple weeks. Point...oh yeah I have one, buy a 220 welder the first time, I wish I would have.
We have a lincoln and we built a nice dune Buggy Frame out of Galvanized conduit real easily. We found a cart in the dumpster behind my shcool so that is my MIG setup. I don't think your need 1/4 inch capability though for a bumper. We had to run special 220 circuits in our new garage because our stick welder shoots about 3/8 and that was re-attaching an arm on the boom of a tractor loader with1/2 inch slabs of flat iron.
But we only needed that capability once and the tractor hasn't broken again so i guess it was a good repair....
