Buying first welder, need advice

[Robertdeuce]

I'm gonna be buying my first welder ever but I'm not sure which one to get.
Need to weld 3/8" steel tubing.
Any recommendations?
What's the best bang for buck welder for welding 3/8"

 

[Musicinabottle]

What's your budget? Myself, I prefer Miller having used 350s a great deal, but heck, the Miller 211 is one hell of a machine too. How often you welding....? 8 hours a day or just piddling? and how long a duty cycle would you be looking for? y

 

[Robertdeuce]

What's your budget? Myself, I prefer Miller having used 350s a great deal, but heck, the Miller 211 is one hell of a machine too. How often you welding....? 8 hours a day or just piddling? and how long a duty cycle would you be looking for? y

For now I only need it for a squat rack that I'm building but eventually I'm gonna be making other pieces of equipment for my garage gym. My budget is around 300-500

 

[Codejack]

For now I only need it for a squat rack that I'm building but eventually I'm gonna be making other pieces of equipment for my garage gym. My budget is around 300-500

You ought to be able to stick-weld all that together; I saw MacGuyver do it with a car battery, jumper cables and a quarter!

 

[Thumper68]

For 3/8ths at your budget you are going to be looking used.

First question, how much weight are you going to be putting on this?
Since you say 3/8ths I'm guessing a lot, a squat rack is not something that you should be doing as a beginner, if it fails some one is going to get hurt and welding thicker materials above 3/16 is where skill and practice come in to get a proper weld. It's not a hot glue gun for metal.

 

[dr_clyde]

For that budget, you're not gonna get much. I'd look for a Lincoln AC 225. There's always one on craigslist around here. Run 1/8" 7018AC electrodes and you'll be all in for $500. Welder, rods and a hood.

You may be able to luck into a good 240v used wire welder for that money, but I doubt it.

 

[PCustoms]

Holy hell, how much do you squat?

3/8 wall tube can hold up a ton, quite literally (and then some!)

What's your design? Have you welded before? His might not be the place to start.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Get a used Tombstone, A nice helmet, and some leathers.

 

[sberry]

I might consider an Everlast 140 too.

 

[Robertdeuce]

My mistake guys, I got the thickness messed up, its 1/8"

 

[Teenager with old tools]

I've got the harbor freight welder the gas or gasless mig second cheapest little over 100 I believe. Been working great did fine on 1/2 steel plate I made a winch mount for a friend out of

Sent from my P027 using Tapatalk

 

[eyeball]

Get a used Tombstone, A nice helmet, and some leathers.

This is good advice... That way if your critical welds are bad, they can repurpose the tombstone into a true tombstone. - Sorry, I couldn't resist...

I would go with a used MIG (maybe a use Miller 180 autoset?)and practice, practice, practice before doing anything that might result in injury or death. Maybe be start with something like a dumbbell or plate rack first?

 

[396foxRN]

I got a Hobart 115 volt last year, on sale, for $450-ish. Then $75 for a decent helmet. Then like $250-ish for a new (larger than I needed, but the price difference between sizes was only like $20 for each size up) tank and fill, then about $30 for a large roll of welding wire. I was surprised how much the tanks cost, as you will be too, so be ready for that. Be hesitant to buy a used one off craigslist, as many companies wont refill them if you dont have papers on it or if you didnt buy it from them.

The 115 Hobart does okay. I learned to weld on a large 230v Miller of my dad's that he bought new in the mid 90's. I got pretty good with that one, but this 115 is a different game. I just made this 1/8' plate bumper with the 115, but I felt better about it after taking the thing to dads and finish-welding it with his miller.

I step-terraced the front yard with the 115 too, and the best thing is the portability of the 115. With just a little inconvenience, you can take it damn near anywhere....something I couldnt do with dads big 230v miller.

for 1/8 and smaller, a good name branded 115 should be adequate, just run it off a dedicated 20amp circuit. It will run off a 15 amp circuit, but as I discovered, you will notice a difference in the heat.

 

[scooby074]

Stick is best to learn on IMHO.

A lincoln tombstone or miller thunderbolt used would be ideal. Make sure you get a DC unit if youre buying a stick.

A small lincoln or Millermatic 135ish mig would be nice too, also considering budget, youre looking used.

 

[American Locomotive]

A standard Lincoln 115v MIG machine from Home Depot/Lowes will do 1/8" fine. But a Lincoln AC 225 will also do 1/8" and a lot thicker for about the same cost.

 

[bcradio]

Good luck with your fitness goals for 2017

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you go with MIG make sure the machine ...

• is 240V or 120/240V capable
• is capable of using gas (not just flux core)

 

[Teenager with old tools]

Well if you drill your 2000 holes with an antique hand drill you'll never need to use the rack for upper body. If you can find 240v welder and have the outlet for that it'll be much better than 120. If you have 120 only then make sure its 20 amp it'll work much better than not.

Sent from my P027 using Tapatalk

 

[pbon]

1/8 wall is fine for a $279 Eastwood 135 amp mig. If you have 220V, Eastwood has a 175 amp mig with free spool gun for aluminum for $479. I would also look at the new HF welders, which have a great return policy at present. In your budget you might also find a new hobart or used lower end Lincoln or miller.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I use a Hobart Stickmate lx acdc welder. The Lincoln, Miller, Century or Arco equivalents are good too. In my part of the world, you can get a quality brand, 240 volt, acdc welder for 200$ - $300 from CL or auctions.

Harbor Freight is good for the gloves, slag hammer and brush. Helmets: don't go cheap.

 

[Rlfd213]

If you're not in a hurry keep saving and look on Craigslist. I bought a Lincoln MP 210 for 500.00 from a guy on CL. Sometimes it's worth the wait.

 

[maxpower_hd]

I have a Hobart Handler 187 I got on sale for a little over what your budget is. I have had it for several years now and I am very happy with it. I know people who have bought the 120V machines and they tend to outgrow them fairly rapidly. While they will do your 1/8" project pretty well they will be undersized for bigger projects you might get into later on. If you buy bigger now you will be happy later.

I had a Craftsman 120V that was almost worthless. This machine has done everything I've needed so far. I have even dabbled a little with aluminum without a spool gun with pretty good success.

 

[American Locomotive]

If you're not in a hurry keep saving and look on Craigslist. I bought a Lincoln MP 210 for 500.00 from a guy on CL. Sometimes it's worth the wait.

How!? Those machines just came out a few years ago!

 

[skookum1]

If you are just wanting one for hobby use/random repairs you would be well served by a Hobart Handler 140. They can be had new for under $500 and comes gas ready. It is 115V so you don't have to mess with wiring a new outlet or making an extension cord. I have one and would not hesitate to use it for a squat rack.

 

[ssdave]

I may be in the minority, given the recommendations above, but I'd recommend buying a stick welder, not a mig if you're a beginner. A mig is easier to "glue" things together with for a beginner, but does not result in as good of welds. They look good, but have less strength. You will learn a lot more and get much better structural welds with a stick welder.

I'd buy an older Marquette, Fornery, or tombstone welder, if you can get ac/dc it will be a better machine and more versatile. I see these all the time for $50 to $150 on cl or at estate sales. I bought one a couple of years ago (an AC/DC Forney) for $75 including good leads, a helmet, rods, gloves and chipping hammer. The one I had before it was a $40 yard sale Marquette, again came with helmet and rods.

I also recently bought a Miller Dialarc 250 with a tig unit for $350. Now, that's a heavy unit, weighs about 600 pounds and has a LOT of capability if you have the space for it. The newer inverter units are much lighter, but they're a lot more expensive for the same capability. Used older units are a good buy because of people upgrading or older guys giving up their tools.

I also own a small 110 volt mig, like most homeowners buy to weld with. It's a pain to use, and has very low capability. I was welding some rebar column cages the other day, just tacking them together before tying the hoops to hold them for real, and it kept kicking off because of the light duty cycle. Plus, harder to get any kind of penetrating weld with it. Made me remember why I sold the last one of these I owned a few years ago.... But without a shop to set up my better welders in, it was better than nothing. Can't wait until I get the shop finished so I get back to full capability.

 

[Teenager with old tools]

I may be in the minority, given the recommendations above, but I'd recommend buying a stick welder, not a mig if you're a beginner. A mig is easier to "glue" things together with for a beginner, but does not result in as good of welds. They look good, but have less strength. You will learn a lot more and get much better structural welds with a stick welder.

I'd buy an older Marquette, Fornery, or tombstone welder, if you can get ac/dc it will be a better machine and more versatile. I see these all the time for $50 to $150 on cl or at estate sales. I bought one a couple of years ago (an AC/DC Forney) for $75 including good leads, a helmet, rods, gloves and chipping hammer. The one I had before it was a $40 yard sale Marquette, again came with helmet and rods.

I also recently bought a Miller Dialarc 250 with a tig unit for $350. Now, that's a heavy unit, weighs about 600 pounds and has a LOT of capability if you have the space for it. The newer inverter units are much lighter, but they're a lot more expensive for the same capability. Used older units are a good buy because of people upgrading or older guys giving up their tools.

I also own a small 110 volt mig, like most homeowners buy to weld with. It's a pain to use, and has very low capability. I was welding some rebar column cages the other day, just tacking them together before tying the hoops to hold them for real, and it kept kicking off because of the light duty cycle. Plus, harder to get any kind of penetrating weld with it. Made me remember why I sold the last one of these I owned a few years ago.... But without a shop to set up my better welders in, it was better than nothing. Can't wait until I get the shop finished so I get back to full capability.

I've had good results with my harbor freight 115v mig. Put amp on high feed on low great penetration. I've done long welds without it ever shutting off

Sent from my P027 using Tapatalk

 

[sberry]

Voltage is the arc length, amps is from wire speed.

 

[Forney_Technical]

Hi there, this is Gabby with Forney Industries Technical Services, I see you mentioned the Forney AC/DC machine. We agree, the Forney 235 AC/DC is a good entry level machine but it does require 230V input. Another option you might want to consider for a 120V input is the Forney Easy Weld 100 ST. The 100 ST can use many 1/8" electrodes. My favorite electrode with this machine is the E7014.