Lincoln welder

[ARFLY]

We are getting a new house built, and when it is finished I am completely redoing my garage. My new garage will be wired for 220. I will be making some new work benches and shelves and a dedicated welding table. I guess I should start with that one so I have a place to work on the other stuff. I currently have a HF wire welder and it is junk. I had it replaced 2 times under warranty and the one I have now is extremely loud and doesn't feed wire correctly and is out of the warranty. About 12 years ago my neighbor across the street had an old Lincoln 225 welder and he let me use it to weld up some bumpers for my Jeep. I loved using that welder and would like to get one for my new garage. It looks like there is the 225 and the 225/125. The 225 is a good bit cheaper. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each unit? Is the 225/125 unit worth the additional cost?

 

[brownbagg]

the 225/125 is really a 225 ac/dc, and those are the best because you can weld dc. i will never go back to ac welding. dc is so smooth , less splatter, less fighting the rods. plus if you around construction you can pickup 7018 rods laying around

 

[sberry]

Absolutely a better machine. Its still my go to in shop stick and I got ones cost 10x as much.

 

[readhead]

Can't go wrong with the 225/125. With the DC you can tig weld and if you need to weld heavier stuff just use some 7014 or 7018AC.

 

[sberry]

The arc is really good, as good as a 10 yr old Maxstar with better starts. These plates could be cleaned before hand and regular practice would help.

 

[MagKarl]

I'd be searching your local craig's list for an older stick welder. AC is fine in my opinion, really comes down to what you want to spend. 6011, 6013, and 7018AC are readily available and cover most needs of hobbyists.

 

[sberry]

Yes, they do work and have made a living with them. The real difference is this pic,,,,,,,,,,,, and keep in mind I am not a daily driver but this is a lot of work and demands a lot greater skill than it does on DC. When a guy goes in to the trades a DC machine, 6010 and 7018 is what does the real work.
I will agree that the 7018AC is very good for the home brew crowd. It should be a staple with every buzzer and does a super job with enough heat and a bit of practice.
They certainly sold a lot more of them to non welders than welders. I saw WW11 guys that learned to do passable work in shipyards with big DC but really struggle with any kind of out of position work on a buzzer.
As Karl said it works, if I was going to work on equipment any machine is better than none but a DC buzzer is a professional machine. Lots of people figure themselves to be welders but if someone claims that they cant do it cause the machine isn't good enough they are stone fos.
I got a 300 sits there collecting dust, a Maxstar, 4 portables and the first thing I reach for if possible if I want to stick weld something is the Little Linc. If I was going to do something really fussy with small electrodes would consider a Tbolt or Stickmate but I don't trade off for it in 30 years.
The old fart Franzinator said if a guy can reallu master a buzzer the rest is easy. If I was a home hobby type it wouldn't be long before I was spinning off for a 200 A feeder if I was sincere and had a little potential to recoup cost thru repairs.
In fact could sell someone a 200 mig and never be accused of robbing him if he has any use for the thing.

 

[Grinding- wheel]

I've used both an AC and AC/DC version. I feel the AC/DC is a better machine. DC does run smoother. I have an old Montgomery Ward AC/DC buzzbox myself. I can't remember the last time I used AC. However for a very long time I had an AC tombstone. Welded everything I needed. The three man advantages of DC are a smoother arc, less spatter, may run 6010. I say may run 6010 because not all DC machines are capable of running 6010 has something to do with voltage. I do not know if the tombstones will run 6010 but I assume they run them just fine. I usually stick to 6011 you don't need 6010 unless doing code work. Plus 6011 is usually cheaper. If you want to run 7018 and you have and AC machine that is not running it well get 7018AC. My point is either tombstone will serve you well. If you are welding a couple times a year either will do you just fine. If you are welding a lot I'd recommend the AC/DC version. To me the smoother arc of DC is worth the extra cash.

 

[Murphy4570]

Get the AC/DC version. I learned stick welding on an ancient Lincoln 225S built in the 1960's (metal voltage knob was a giveaway, newer ones are plastic). AC welding is a pain in the *** compared to DC. I upgraded to a 225/125 and love using DC+/-.

Be aware that you may have a hard time running 6010 rod with that machine. You need high open circuit voltage to maintain the arc on that rod. I prefer 6011 for that reason, though 6010 welds about the same as 11 otherwise. With DC you will be able to get the most out of 7018 too, which is the bread and butter rod for pipefitters. Slow freeze drag rod, so you need to practice with it.
With DC- you can run 6013 at pretty low voltage and weld things with stick that are otherwise impossible, due to thin metal. 6013 makes beautiful welds, but has a LOT of slag and if you don't whip the rod correctly you will have craters in your weld. Very annoying.

 

[NOZZLEMAN]

Look at the MP210 from Lincoln... Mig... Tig... Stick

 

[brownbagg]

if you are anywhere near welders as in construction. they drop 7018 all day long and leave them. I usually pickup 50 lbs a year. so with the dc rig, i get free welding rods.

ac machine will not burn a regular 7018, has to be a special 7018ac that you have to pay for

 

[zkling]

Just get a full ac/dc tig machine. You will be able to weld anything between the two processes, and almost always a tig machine will be a very good stick welder.

Props to you for actually wanting to use the stick process at a hobbyist level.

And before anyone jumps in about price, the guy is BUILDING a brand new house.

if you are anywhere near welders as in construction. they drop 7018 all day long and leave them. I usually pickup 50 lbs a year. so with the dc rig, i get free welding rods.

ac machine will not burn a regular 7018, has to be a special 7018ac that you have to pay for

I'm cheap, but damn. Solid advice to someone that is building a new house.