Namebrand Welder

[NATHANHASNORIDE]

Hey guys I am curious to what is a good namebrand welder?I wanna learn to weld is an arc welder what you would use on a truck frame/body?A tig is for aluminum aint it?I would like to get me a good welder when i find a dang job but mean while I wanna keep my eye out for a good used while I have a lil cash in my pockets.

I have helped my dad weld once and it was pretty although I sucked.I wanna get one so I can learn cuz it seems like a pretty hand trade to know when building cars or trucks!

[heep70]

Wire feed or mig. The 220volt migs are the best. I use a Lincoln 110volt wire feed. I really like it, but I don't weld body panels. The gas migs are good for that.

[flyboy2610]

Lincoln, Miller, and Hobart are three names that come to mind.
Definetly go with a mig welder. For most jobs a wire feed wleder will work, but if you are going to be doing much with sheet metal, get a welder which can be adapted to do gas mig welding.

[willowbilly3]

Get a decent wire feed that can be adapted to the gas. Don't be tempted to buy one of those $99 ones. Miller, Lincoln, Hobart as mentioned. But if you are looking at one at Home Depot or Sears, someplace like that, Look close at who made it. Manufacturers make them and label them for outside sales. Century (another good name) makes them for Snap-on, or used to anyway.

[tazzman68]

I've been welding for something like 20 years, and my personnal preference is Miller, although Lincoln and Hobart are good machines. And at minimum, I would say to get a 220volt Wire feed with Gas.

[Pro-Street/StateTk]

I would say miller I have a miller 420 120v 30 percent duty cycle I welded
with a huge miller in a plant I worked in and I still think my little 120v
welds as good as the 480v that I used to use in the plant years ago! but
I have notice most people vote for a 220volt.

I have welded frame parts with mine and as long as you get in the practice
of melting the to parts together, and not just glue them with the wire it does
Great!

[Randle]

I have been involved with welding sense 1968, first as a pipe fitter welder doing piping and code repair, and now as the supervisor over all pipe fitters in a local chemical plant. There is no doubt Miller is the Cadillac or should I say Lincoln of the Meg welders but for doing body work Lincoln, Miller or Hobart will do a good job. As for as 110 or 220 volt if you run the 110 volt welder on a dedicated circuit it will do a good job, if you don't exceed the rated duty cycle. I have a Airco stick welder and a Lincoln Hi Frequency welder in my shop and 90% of my welding I do with a 135 Hobart meg. Which ever welder you buy be sure it is a meg and not fluxcore if you want to weld on sheetmetal. A meg can weld your truck frame or it can weld aluminum.

Randle

[ttyR2]

For most home/small shop use, a Miller 175 like I have is more than adequate. It's a 220VAC unit and is nice to use. Picture of mine:



While something like a Miller 251 would be nice, it's really overkill for anything most folks would tackle.

['75-4x4guy]

Lets not forget about oxy acetylene you can weld with that too .

[hardtailjohn]

If you're only planning on buying one welder, I'd personally go with a TIG. You can't beat the versatility! It will still allow you to weld with sticks, yet you can do the very light metal with less warpage than a MIG, or O/A, and if you're really too uncoordinated to feed the filler as you weld, it can be fitted with a spool if you want. The best bang for the buck as far as I'm concerned! I have an old Millermatic 200 MIG, and it refuses to die, and will be joined by a Miller TIG soon.
John H.

[71Ford100]

Forney all the way .I would go with a miller. I prefer an arc over a mig because our miller is an arc and I don't know how to use a mig (yet)

[flyboy2610]

For welding sheet metal you want a mig. I've seen very few people that could do a decent job with an arc. Mig is actually easier to do than arc.

[boots]

For my birthday I just got a Lincoln Mig 135, What I like about it is that if you dont have the 220V outlet in your garage you can use this , since it runs on the 115V, plus its not that expensive. by the way I got it at my local lowes.

[GT-Racer]

Does anyone else here get Handyman magazine? They had an excellent article this month (july/August issue) comparing welders for the home hobbyist. Miller 135 Millermatic was the top tool in their comparison $700, and the Craftsman 20569 was listed as Best value for the money at $299.

[fordloaf]

I am looking for a weld too. I have a oxy/acet cutting torch and a big old 220 arc weld which i dont know if it works. What kind should i look at if i already have these?