Making bumpers... is my welder strong enough?

well i have an OLD school ARC welder by miller, and this thing is HEAVY duty.... and can lay a bead like building a skyscraper.... BUT i hate Arc welding.... just not smooth at it...

i also have a a crafstman Mig welder... its no biggie, but can lay some nice welds... i havent done anything big with it though... just frames for gokarts and sandrails and stuff like that...

im trying to make a bumper for my xj but its a 11 guage steel and using 1/4" thick plates to attach it to the unibody... and want to make tow points in the front...

ive been throwing some welds on some scrap 1/4" plate and playing with it and it looks like its penetrating and holding.... BUT im not sure if i want to be pulled out by it... hahaha...

i dont know the amp output on this little guy... and cant figure out how to attatch pics here.... so what are some welders you guys use?

JOe

miller 135 110volt mig welder for anything and everything (car related at least)
you could also consider using your stick welder for the 1/4" - 11ga and the mig on the rest, or maybe just grinding slight angles at your joints and doing realllly slow and hot root welds and then maybe covering them with some nicer superficial beads or just burin it hot, grind it smooth and use some hammered paint.....

I've got a lincoln weldpak (Home Depot Special) 110V and 20A. I just finished boxing the unibody "frame" with .25" angle iron and .25" plate. The welder worked great for the 1.5 minutes the cheap breaker in my house panel would hold without blowing. I had to watch the weld puddle very closely to get adequate penetration because I was welding at the outer limits of the machine. Take it slow and lay the bead from unibody to steel and back. Be very careful to spend as little time as possible on the unibody (distortion and burnthrough). The craftsman MIG should be more than adequate if you take your time.

It's all about joint prep...

Lincoln Powerpac 100...



If you prep the joint right... bevel everything, and use multiple passes (cleaning between them), you can create joints in 1/4 to 1/4 stock to match any welder out there...

It takes more time.. but I've got more time than money!



http://members.intertek.net/~simons5/xj/fbump.htm

if you have to ask, the answer is NO! Do you really want to be wondering when you're getting winched near a cliff?

use the arc machine for critical welds.