TOPIC:

hey guys im looking for a good, inexpensive welder to improve my welding skills over the winter. harbor freight sells them... and what was what we had in shop class in highschool, seemed to work fine.

what do you guys have?/recommend

Thanks

I have welded some at work with a factory rated welder. I bought a Lincolm 135A welder hoping it will be enough to do welding around the homestead but not sure how good it will be welding on a bike. Worried it won;t be big enough to get a good enough heat soak to have a strong weld that I can trust. I would be interested in what some of you guys who have welding experience think of the capacities of these small 110 a/c welders are. I'm sure these home wleders will be fine for aroung the house jobs and crafts, etc. but not sure how good they would be on stuff like welding on bikes, trailers, etc. where a safety issue comes in.

Stick with the name brands,Miller,Hobart,Century,Lincoln.
Make sure you can get your consumables,tips,cones,liners,drive wheels,etc..
My 110v has 2 settings,90 and 135 and I run the smallest fluxcore wire that I can find thru it.
It burns a little hotter and more of a job to clean up,but will burn thru the factory welds to get good penitration when needed.
MIG is better on clean metal,fluxcore on the dirty,rust stuff.
If I need something cleaner I have a Miller Sync. Wave 250 for TIG and stick.

Any 110v welder should be able to handle up to about 3/16" so welding the frame on your bike, trailer, hell even your truck should be within it's capabilities as long as you use flux core wire and they are better for welding sheet metal since they burn so much cooler than a 220v welder.

Hi bearshawk. I am a salesman in the welding industry. Are you looking for a tig or mig? In my opinion you should go to your nearest welding distributor to purchase a welder. The harbor freight machines as with those found at Lowes and Home Depot are not of the same quality as the equipment you will find at your welding distributor. Additionally if you purchase at a big box store, does anyone there know how to help you if you have a problem? Can they hook you up with a warranty repair center if there is a problem with your new machine? Just a few things to consider before you go out and possibly make a mistake.

I use eastwood welders and have had great experiences with them. They aren't as cheap as harbor freight etc ones but they are pretty inexpensive for the quality, and they have great support if you run into any issues, plenty of service parts available etc. Certainly not on par with Millers etc, but great welders none the less.

Just be sure whatever you get if it is a flux core welder it can be upgraded to gas MIG. Welding with gas shielding makes for prettier welds, less clean up, etc. Even if you save a few bucks getting a flux only machine, it would be quite a waste to have to buy a whole new machine when you are ready to sharpen your skills a bit.

I am currently using a Lincoln SP125-Plus that I am able to use from the shop at the office. It does a very good job, and its pretty adequate for what we are doing on our bikes. Next week im gonna go ahead and pickup a Hobart Handler 140. Once again rated about the same, maybe a little better, but will do everything I need it to do and I can either FCAW or MIG on it down to .023

I primarily FCAW with mine on the bike to support the heavier metal, but if im overly concerned I will multi pass the weld joint.

Im certainly no expert, and others here have much more experience in this area then I.

Here is a comp chart... its on Hobarts website, so take it for what is worth, but a basic comparison none the less.

www.hobartwelders.com/pdf/comparisons/handler140.pdf

Jack

Boostable wrote: I am currently using a Lincoln SP125-Plus that I am able to use from the shop at the office. It does a very good job, and its pretty adequate for what we are doing on our bikes. Next week im gonna go ahead and pickup a Hobart Handler 140. Once again rated about the same, maybe a little better, but will do everything I need it to do and I can either FCAW or MIG on it down to .023

I primarily FCAW with mine on the bike to support the heavier metal, but if im overly concerned I will multi pass the weld joint.

Im certainly no expert, and others here have much more experience in this area then I.

Here is a comp chart... its on Hobarts website, so take it for what is worth, but a basic comparison none the less.

www.hobartwelders.com/pdf/comparisons/handler140.pdf

Jack

I love my Hobart Handler 140, I haven't had too much use on heavier gauage metals, but on sheetmetal it is great. Plus, it has the gas option so that really gives me some nice welds

If its someting that is easily acessable to weld you can put a torch to it and preheat the metal before welding gets alot deeper penetration my neighbor who is a pipe fitter taught me that trick.

Where ever you buy on just be sure to ask if the machine is equiped with a gas solenid. If it is not you can only weld with flux cored wire or you will have to find a solenoid kit for it.

I have a Millermatic 135 that is 110V and it has served me very well for my bike. I like the fact that it has infinitely adjustable amperage and wire feed settings. That makes it easy to fine tune for what ever I'm welding. Also, for doing sheet metal work, it's perfect. Switch to the 0.023" MIG wire and you can weld 22ga without burning holes all the time. If you need to do the heavier stuff, use it with the flux core wire and it can handle 3/16" in one pass. Pre-heating with a propane torch really helps on the thicker stuff.

I have a Lincoln 135SP that I used for the majority of the bikes construction. Like testatossas Miller it has infinitely adjustable amperage and wire feed making it easier to find the sweet spot. I recently picked up an import fig/arc welder. After resolving some shipping damage issues, I am very pleased with the machines performance on mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum and titanium. A goodi wouldn't be afraid of a 110v 135amp mig welder not having enough huevos to weld a bike frame though. I'm literally betting my ass on it