what kind of welder for a cage

wondering what kind of welder i would need to be sufficient to use make a cage. i have no experience with welding and want to get one to learn with but also have one good enough to do a cage one day once i learn, i dont want to have to buy twice. give it to me in laymans terms to please as i know nothing about them. also the cheaper the better being that i dont have a lot of funds. thanks for the replies in advance

This is the welder I bought for fabbing Jeep parts.



It's just a Lincoln AC-225. I found mine on sale at Lowe's for $200.

Ramsey said:

wondering what kind of welder i would need to be sufficient to use make a cage. i have no experience with welding and want to get one to learn with but also have one good enough to do a cage one day once i learn, i dont want to have to buy twice. give it to me in laymans terms to please as i know nothing about them. also the cheaper the better being that i dont have a lot of funds. thanks for the replies in advance

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Depending on what cheap is to you...

You should get a 220v MIG with gas shield.

That is basically a wire fed machine that uses gas to shield the burning of the wire to make a clean strong weld.

Invest in your equipment, save up if necessary but don't buy cheap crap, you will buy twice if you get into working with this stuff. It is always easier to sell good equipment than cheap crap if you don't get into it and want out.

mark

Good Post!!!

What about something like the Liincoln Electric SP-135? It's got a low duty cycle, but for hobby use I would think that it would be fine, but I'm new to welding and have only a little experience with gas, mig, and tig.

Robert

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but I use a Harbor Freight 90-amp flux-core welder with .035" wire (meaning the wire lets off gas as it burns, shielding the weld, instead of gas coming from a bottle, like a Mig welder. Gas coming from a bottle shields the weld better, meaning less splatter, but I believe flux-core can get more penetration if comparing the same amps. Shielding is required because hot metal reacts with the air). I've plated the chassis using a combination of 1/4", 1/8", and 3/16" c-channel and angle with this welder, chopped and plated the stock crossmember with 1/4" plate, welded on an LCA mini-skid, and a few other odds and ends with it so far. You get what you pay for, but this gets the job done for cheap with 1/8" and 3/16", 1/4" is doable but barely. The MillerMatic 175 is what I want eventually, but I've had this for a year so far, and it's worked well. I bought it for $120 and I've already had two offers to buy it for about $80 when I eventually upgrade.

Edit:
By the way, most cages are .120 wall (1/8").

I started with a 90 flux from harbour freight and its a decent welder. I found that i could not live with the duty cycle though. It welded all the way up to 1/4 but it was not pretty. You had to do 3 passes and it would overheat and shut off after 5 min. You had to wait 20 minutes before you could start again. If you can afford it and you plan to make a cage, theres no substitue for a good size mig w/gas. I bought a power mig 200 from lincoln and I dont know how I lived without it. You should probably start with at least a 135 amp. I like the 175 and 185 beause they still have the small guns but have all the power you need with decent duty cycle to 5/16" If you are really shoestring budget then a 225 "buzz" box is the best value for the money but its a stick welder.

only prob with getting a mig welder is that can't be more than what 7ft form the welder and i know that i don't want to be lugging around a big heavy welder/finding 220v somewhere else. the other down side is the gas is only good in a shop or on zero wind days if there is wind it blows the gas away and you are back to square one. you can use flux core but then you have to knock off the slag just like you would with a stick. i would look into getting a machine that can do both mig and stick or just get a nice stick welder they are cheeper and you can stick it in a corner and have extentions very long for the clamp and stick ends.

ryurabbit said:

I started with a 90 flux from harbour freight and its a decent welder. I found that i could not live with the duty cycle though. It welded all the way up to 1/4 but it was not pretty. You had to do 3 passes and it would overheat and shut off after 5 min. You had to wait 20 minutes before you could start again. If you can afford it and you plan to make a cage, theres no substitue for a good size mig w/gas. I bought a power mig 200 from lincoln and I dont know how I lived without it. You should probably start with at least a 135 amp. I like the 175 and 185 beause they still have the small guns but have all the power you need with decent duty cycle to 5/16" If you are really shoestring budget then a 225 "buzz" box is the best value for the money but its a stick welder.

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What's wrong with a stick welder? It's not as blingin as a mig, but it sure gets the job done.

Speaking from experience, if your just starting out, learn to stick weld. You can get the AC225 from Lincoln for around $200, and it will do anything you need for a cage. I can tell you, if you can stick weld, mig is easy. I plan to get a mig eventually, but the stick will stay in my shop as it is powerful and super reliable.

now does a stick welder use gas, i really dont understand what half of you said

Ramsey said:

now does a stick welder use gas, i really dont understand what half of you said

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Nope, a stick welder does not use gas. What I was telling you is that once you LEARN to weld with a stick, there really isn't much to learning to use a mig. I bought my stick to learn to weld and to setup my 8.8 rear. It has since paid for itself a couple of times. I should have bought it before any of the other mods for the XJ. I just finished this rear bumper.

OK The best machine for a cage is a TIG because of the better more solid bead, you can also be very accurate with it. But they are very expensive and take quite a bit of skill to use. An arc welder does not supply a good enough bead for a real strong bead when dealing with thin wall tubing, thick stuff and flat stuff they work very well on. Flux core mig welders are OK but don not supply a constantly smooth bead because of the variation from the cheap light weight coils. Your best bet would be a gas sheilded mig around 140 amp and 110 volt. Hobart (now Miller) has a really nice unit for around $500 and I have had one for 5 years. I now have a 220 for the thicker stuff but the old 110 is nice for the thin tubing and body, also can be good for up to 1/4".

Just my two cents.

can someone tell me how a stick welder works and if it would be sufficient for fabbing up things for my xj. also an idea of how much they cost

Ramsey said:

can someone tell me how a stick welder works and if it would be sufficient for fabbing up things for my xj. also an idea of how much they cost

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Do some browsing here:
http://www.millerwelds.com/education/library.html

I fire my stick machine up maybe once or twice a year. Usually when I forget to get gas during the week for the Mig. :doh:

I wouldn't ever waste my time with the 110v model migs (even stick for that matter). Yes they are cheap (and I'm pretty cheap myself) and can get most jobs done, but I don't like having to buy twice on expensive crap. The duty cycle is too small and they just don't have enough juice.

I'm a spoiled brat and my welder came to me as a wife/family present. The head mistress even went as far as following me when I went for supplies so she could go down and tell them not to sell me one since I was shopping. I ended up with the Miller 175 and it's been a very good machine. I almost traded it on the 180 or 210 but chickened out and now some days I wish I had. I've been bouncing it off the duty cycle on some bigger chores lately. The smaller gun has kept me from upgrading so far.

Most of my Jeep parts are made from 3/16" and 1/4" material with some 3/4" for the occasional D-ring mount. I usually tack everything together and then burn it all at once. I would get really annoyed if the welder kept shutting down. Also when welding on the underside of something I like to crank the welder up high and move quickly. Smaller welders don't give you that luxury.

Anyway, my point is buy 220V mig, get a cart, wire the garage, and make an extension cord. Don't buy for a single project. Stick welding is ok, but I would trade my mig in for one unless.......

i'm still lost, can someone throw out a price range of what i can expect to spend on a decent welder, nothing fast or fast. just something that is good enough

Ramsey said:

i'm still lost, can someone throw out a price range of what i can expect to spend on a decent welder, nothing fast or fast. just something that is good enough

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Hobart 135 (for comarision only ) - Saw one today for $480.
Miller 175 - Low $600's without the cart.
Hobart 175 - Some of the local harware stores sell them for around $580. The biggest difference between them and the Miller is the metal pinch rollor pieces and variable (?) voltage control in the Miller (Hobart has four or five power options). Hobart is a good welder.
Lincoln - Not sure what they run, but they are in the same range. The offer the 175 with variable and steppec voltage.
200 amp A/C arc - Around $200-$250
200 A/C and 140 D/C arc (better choice for stick) - around $350

From there they jump up to around $1100 and up for the light industrial. Miller 210, Lincoln Powermig 200, etc.

I guess it boils down to how much money you want to spend. My point was that for $200 you can get a welder that will handle any of the typical projects you will do on your Jeep. It may not be as nice as a $600 mig, but it will get the job done. As a bonus, if you can stick weld, mig is cake.

96country said:

I guess it boils down to how much money you want to spend. My point was that for $200 you can get a welder that will handle any of the typical projects you will do on your Jeep. It may not be as nice as a $600 mig, but it will get the job done. As a bonus, if you can stick weld, mig is cake.

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can you give me an example of a 200 dollar welder that your talking about. i feel so stupid but your gonna need to give it to me real simple if you dont mind.

I've never seen more garbage replies on this forum in a long while.

unreal.

how many of you people own welders? built cages? know what they're talking about?