Which welder for body work

[Chris321]

I am interested in getting a welder suitable for welding in patch panels for rust repair on cars and trucks. I am not an experienced welder so I will be learning this as I go. My only welding experience was shop class in high school.
What would be a good entry level welder for this type of work?

 

[Boredmechanic]

Hobart handler 140

 

[wvrailroader]

Hobart handler 140

^^^^^This

My Handler 140 is amazing for thin metal. I have welded up holes in paper thin rusty mower decks and hinges on mailboxes with it. I am definitely NOT a welder, but the 140 makes it easy, even for a hack like myself.

 

[BajaScout]

Miller 211. Used it for my welding classes and I liked it better than the high end machines the school had. Very easy to use.

 

[Weedwaka]

211 all the way.

 

[JeepsAreBuilt]

you will want to use sheilding gas with whatever welder you end up getting.

 

[HMCFab9]

Miller if you want to spend the money.
Hobart if you want to spend less but still get a good welder.
For sheetmetal, .023 wire is good. C25 for gas works well for me.

 

[HD FLHX]

Buy the best one you can afford, its a waste of money buying a cheap unit to start off only to replace it with a good unit a year later. As others have said a Miller 211 is a very good machine for light fab and sheet metal work. I have one along with a Diversion 180 tig.

 

[Chuck122]

I'll be the one to say it: if you are starting out and the only thing you think you will use it for is auto body, I'd get a small 115 MIG, as in not fluxed core. I have a Lincoln sp-135 I think and it works fine for auto body and the likes

 

[rockwithjason]

any of the 140 class machines will do it nicely. my good friend who is a pro body guy uses an auto arc which is a rebranded hobart. works well. i have a lincoln 140c at home and a miller 140 at work. all work well.

 

[gte718p]

211 is an outstanding welder. I've used it several time and will probably buy one after this 9 month trip I have coming up. That said its a $900-$1200+ dollar welder that will weld up to 1/4 single pass. Great for doing cage or suspension work, but entirely unnecessary for body work.

The Hobart 140 is what I have in the garage now. It has been a great little welder for 7 years now. It has done everything I've ever ask and lays down nice welds even for an amateur like me. It does require multiple passes on some of the larger stuff. However, I've done and tested cage and suspension work with it. The only failure I've had were when I was lazy. Not the machines fault. You can be into a 140 for less then $500

 

[PCO6]

I use a Lincoln 180 for most body work. I still use an O/A torch and also a Porta-Spot but as far as a mig welder goes, I have been very happy with my Lincoln. Any good quality welder of similar capacity would be fine.

 

[Hammer1963]

I use a Miller 180 for most all body, frame repairs and fab work up to 1/4". Zero complaints

 

[zkling]

I'll be the one to say it: if you are starting out and the only thing you think you will use it for is auto body, I'd get a small 115 MIG, as in not fluxed core. I have a Lincoln sp-135 I think and it works fine for auto body and the likes

see if you can find an older SP-125 or Millermatic or the like IF all you plan on doing is sheet metal. However if you THINK you just may in the future want to tackle something thicker up to the ~1/4" range, I'd highly suggest you splurge for a ~200 amp 120/240v machine. The new Lincoln 200amp compact machine looks very promising for auto restoration work.

 

[Bruce4310TX]

hobart is a miller

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd definetly not go into half assed and buy a cheap one. You'll be fighting the welder and probably blowing holes through the body panel, leading to nothing but aggravation.

Hobart and Miller make very nice welders and you get what you pay for.

 

[arrowhead]

Wow, you really do bleed Miller blue HD FLHX, even your tanks are blue! Sorry just bustin, couldn't resist!

OP, I would stay away from the cheapie brands, even if you have to get a decent Lincoln or Miller lightly used. A small mig is perfect for sheetmetal, in fact I prefer it over a large machine.

Buy the best one you can afford, its a waste of money buying a cheap unit to start off only to replace it with a good unit a year later. As others have said a Miller 211 is a very good machine for light fab and sheet metal work. I have one along with a Diversion 180 tig.

 

[BD1]

If all you want is a 110 volt mig, check craigs list. There are always some listed in my area. Most people buy them because of cost and then upgrade to a larger machine. You can find some killer deals on the small mig machines.
Definitely stick with Miller, Lincoln, and Hobart. Try them before you buy. Make sure you can use gas with it. Some are flux core only.
Easy grind wire in .023 is known to be great for body work.

 

[HD FLHX]

Wow, you really do bleed Miller blue HD FLHX, even your tanks are blue! Sorry just bustin, couldn't resist! .

Yeah, I drink the Miller Kool-Aid

 

[sberry]

This is a place its well worth the effort to shop up a notch. Get a 180 class unit now and you can save upgrading. This is why so many 140's on the list for sale and only a few 180. They are very competitive at new prices.

 

[countryroad82]

I've got an old Hobart 135 (predecessor to the 140) that has done great for me since I got into the bodywork biz. For heavier stuff I tend to use my old Lincoln 'tombstone' welder for frames and junk like that. Like others have said, if you can afford to, shop up a notch or 2. The only reason I have my little welder is due to it was a gift when I started and it hasn't given me a reason to replace it as long as I have the bigger stick welder to take up the slack.

 

[BMW Rider]

Miller if you want to spend the money.
Hobart if you want to spend less but still get a good welder.
For sheetmetal, .023 wire is good. C25 for gas works well for me.

I've been giving my 211 a good workout lately welding up a 10 point cage in my 79 Mustang as well as some sheet metal work on it. Definitely use the smaller wire for sheet metal. I was having a heck of a time using .030. Switched to .024 and it's way better. Also with the 211, running it on 110v rather than 220v for sheet metal is better as the machine is designed to soften the arc on 110v which makes it less prone to blow holes. Still, you need to do short bursts and move around to manage the heat.

 

[sqznby]

Over kill is better in this situation. You'll start off with body work and you'll end up gradually working your way into suspension and frame work.
Hobart Handler 190 is a good choice. You can adjust the heat accordingly as well as using different size wire for the thin body work to thicker frame rails or suspension components etc,,,.

 

[Bearston]

I believe that a 240v is much better value and far more versatile than a 120v. First I bought a 120v machine which was ideal for about an hour until I decided to weld more substantial steel, so I got rid of it within 6 months of getting it and got a Lincoln 180c and love it. My goal initially was to weld body panels and small steel, of course by the time I finished my first project, I realised that the 120 v machine just wouldn't cut it especially when using a 15 amp circut (fire), in fact I found the 20 amp circut frail as well, so I sold the inadequate machine. Now, with the 220v machine I'm still limited, butit surprised me how much more versatile the new machine is. For thich (1/2"+) material, I picked up a 300 amp stick machine. Avoid financial and creative frustration and go with a 240 volt machine. You are going to have to upgrade your wiring to at least 12ga wire, for just a very few more dollars, you will have a solid 240v circut running a good, solid machine, I upgraded the 120v line to 12ga and then again to 240v, why waste both time and money? Remember, things change in the future and you WILL want to work with more than just sheet. EDIT: Take a look at the new Lincoln multi process machine (MP210?), it may be all you need for now and in the future. Ultimately, whatever works for YOU is where you should go with this. All the best to you!

 

[motofool33]

you wont believe how much of a difference the inverter based machines are compared to the transformer based machines. im around alot of welding machines as my job is welding inspection, pulsed arc is the best for thin materials and thats only offered on the higher end models.

but lincolns newest welder is pretty awesome i wish i had waited and bought this one instead of my cheapy inverter longevity (welds great parts just hard to get ahold of)

http://lincolnelectric.com/en-us/Equipment/Pages/product.aspx?product=K3963-1(LincolnElectric)

 

[Fandango]

My two cents worth. Get something that will work with 120v and 240v.

For sheet metal the duty cycle won't be an issue and with 120v it will give you a lot more flexibility as to where to place the welder.

 

[toolslut6.0]

Miller 211. Used it for my welding classes and I liked it better than the high end machines the school had. Very easy to use.

Get an older miller 200 with a nice tweeco gun and a start with .30 wire. Always can switch the lliner and spools to .23 if you have to. Also you can always burn in heavier metal if you have to and the heat settings go plenty low for thin sheet steel.

 

[22george]

I bought a good 110v mig welder to weld body panels 20 years ago. It did a good job. But l ended up needing to weld thicker steel and it didn't cut it. I wished l had bought a good 220v welder that would do that. I finally bought a miller 211 2 years ago and love it. It will run on 110v and 220v.