What kind of welder to get?

Harry, if it just a few welds here and there, go the a shop! You will pay just for the welding.
Just prepare the job , procuring the metal, cutting, grinding etc..
Then bring the whole mess to a shop with a good sketch and bring it back to the shop where you can grind everything smooth and paint to your lacking etc.. Job (well) done! Preparation and finishing is what is costly, just the welding is not much. Plus a good welder will make you very good weld, easy to clean with a grinder, and this guy will get things done much faster than we will ever be able to do!

You will also save on the electricals for your little shop where a 30 or 40 amps circuit will then probably be sufficient! A small mill, a small lathe (say 2HP or less), some lights and a few outlets then you're good to go. For this, if the code allows it, you can simply run a 'direct burial' type of cable that you can bury directly in the earth. When it gets cold, use a small kerosene space heater, like you would find in a camping or RV equipment store.
In NC you have nothing Like I have here (Quebec) where it gets to -10°F for weeks and so far 6 feet of snow accumulated! :)
 
blue_luke said:
Harry, if it just a few welds here and there, go the a shop! You will pay just for the welding.
Just prepare the job , procuring the metal, cutting, grinding etc..
Then bring the whole mess to a shop with a good sketch and bring it back to the shop where you can grind everything smooth and paint to your lacking etc.. Job (well) done! Preparation and finishing is what is costly, just the welding is not much. Plus a good welder will make you very good weld, easy to clean with a grinder, and this guy will get things done much faster than we will ever be able to do!

You will also save on the electricals for your little shop where a 30 or 40 amps circuit will then probably be sufficient! A small mill, a small lathe (say 2HP or less), some lights and a few outlets then you're good to go. For this, if the code allows it, you can simply run a 'direct burial' type of cable that you can bury directly in the earth. When it gets cold, use a small kerosene space heater, like you would find in a camping or RV equipment store.
In NC you have nothing Like I have here (Quebec) where it gets to -10°F for weeks and so far 6 feet of snow accumulated! :)
Click to expand...
Where's the fun in that? As I explained my new metal working hobby to an old friend that I recently reconnected with – I can now make a bolt with my $600 lathe and $700 end mill :)
 
Just like me, I spend more than 10K$ in machines and tools to make microphones I can buy for 100$ :-D

But I have somewhat more serious works I want to do, including initiating one of my grandson (10 years old now) to the basics of wood and metal working. :) Now, THAT has no price!
Best job in the whole galactic empire is being a Pappy! :)
 
well guess it is my turn. I have a miller 225 mig and old big stick and a plasma machine, and o/a setup I use the mig all the time the plasma a lot not so much the o/a and the stick never. Yes tig is a nice set up but when I was in a welding shop we only use tig for alu, and real fine work. The miller 250 we had there would weld just about anything with a row of dimes weld very easy to do. I would stay away from the 110 machines there duty cycle is not much plus doing anything heavy will take a lot to build up to get the proper weld. So I guess do some research and pick what will fit your needs. If I can be of any help please JUST ASK.
 
Hey hss cutter,

This thread sure has been a good learning experience for me as the feed back has provided me lots of opportunities for research based the responses. And that includes duty cycle and I'm learning about its correlation to amps used.

MIG welders seem to be the go-to welder based on the response to this thread and that is what I am leaning towards at this point. My long range plan is to have my shed converted shop setup (machines, electricity, lighting, heating, etc) for my retirement sometime after November 2020, so I have plenty of time to research and plan things out.

Take care,
Harry
 
There are several things that should be considered in this decision.

1st the cost to operate.
O/A can be expensive due to the cost of gas and the wear and tear on the body lugging cylinders up and down the hill that you mentioned.
Mig can be slightly more costly due to the shield gas.
Flux Core in my mind would be the least expensive. Flux Core does not require any shield gas thus no cylinders to lug around.

2nd strength of the weld required.
What do you expect to be welding?
For high strength Arc may serve you better but for general purpose welding Flux Core would serve just as well

I have Arc both AC and DC, MIG, TIG, Flux Core and O/A in my shop and I must admit my go to welder in most cases is Flux Core.
This is due to ease of setup, cost to maintain and quality of weld. Simple flip the switch on weld and flip the switch off. Here I will mention this is for general purpose welds.

One other benefit of MIG and Flux Core is that you can get a good welder that runs on 110V and is portable enough to carry from job to job easily.

Last but not lease would be 3rd.
Duty Cycle of the welder. The more you pay for a welder the higher the Duty Cycle. This means in a one hour period the higher the Duty Cycle the longer you can weld before having to allow the welder to cool down. You need to consider how much welding you expect to do at a time.

Dennis
 
Hi Harry; so many suggestions that I have read and all valid. I am a Journeyman Welder (20 years). I have tried many but not the Hobart Handler 140 in particular; I have heard very good things about it though. If I were to use 110V I think that the Hobart is probably the machine of choice. I am a big fan of Hobart and Miller machines. In my humble opinion most other 'Big-box' 110V machines, which I have used, are inferior. I would like to propose, though, that in order to produce a good weld, you need to produce enough heat which requires enough power. I use a small Lincoln MigPak 220v Mig. welder and find it just adequate for most small jobs. (Up to 1/4" ) I don't know how you could get good welds using 110V. (I have seen exceptions; but they are serious professional machines with price tags to match.) You have to produce heat. I find that the Lincoln that I use is good. ( I'm sure that the Millers, Hobarts, ESAABs, ect.) are also good. My point is, again, you need enough power. My 220V will run Gas-less Flux-core well and runs MIG (gas shielded).(Check your polarity when changing between) Also, an important thing to understand is if you have a low powered machine, (or if you are welding thin material ) you can't run a heavy wire. Most of these small machines will work best with .025 or .030 wire. For a beginner, I think that a 220V MIG. is best.
 
I'm inclined to agree with the majority on the power availability. If you want to do much over 3/16", you really need 220V on at least a 50A. But, if that's not an option at the moment, I would grab a little multiprocess machine from any of the reputable brands. I love the Esab Rebel 215IC, but I personally have the Lincoln 210 as my multiprocess. You can run it on 120 or 240, so you're ready to bump up the heat once you get 240 out to the shop. Easy to use and can literally do it all. MIG, TIG, Flux, Stick. Now the only thing left is a plasma cutter... LOL
 
Did not read all 99 posts so may already be posted.

Sub panels are basically free with breakers.

We got our 200 amp panel with a bunch of breakers for $75.00 at home depot and others are similar good prices.

So buy the largest panel that will fit the space.

Code requires 36 inches free in front so mount it next to your door in the walk path so the walk path is the 36 inch space.

Wire is not cheap but cheaper to do it once and not need to upgrade.

We have 200 amp panel fed with smaller breaker and wired for 100 amp.

Your main service panel limits the sub panel breaker size but not the panel size.

We like one outlet per breaker for shop use so loads easier to manage.

Breakers are cheap.

We had stick and gas welders and wanted mig.

Knew little about them so a shopping we went.

Went to every welding store and bugged them all and all seemed to claim whatever they sold was better than the others as expected but could not get consistent answers.

We sent an identical email to both Miller and Lincoln asking a series of questions regarding their units based on what we learned.

Things like plastic feed wheels on the Lincoln and other details.

Miller confirmed what we knew and the best was Lincoln confirmed things about build quality and suggested we buy the miller.

Been a wonderful machine.

Get a mig that can do gas.

Flux core is a lot more expensive but it works on less clean metal.

Get a 240 volt model as it can do more, the 120 volt models are limited in capacity.

Our Miller can do substantial welding on the 20 amp outlet we placed in the center of the shop.

Last bit is before you buy any electrical parts do your shopping and select what you want and take photos of the panel.

Make sketch of your property and shop with cable length between existing panel and new and where new panel is proposed.

A photo of your existing with breakers.

Visit your local building department to discuss your plans.

They can advise what size of wires and placement.

Service breaker limits and other details.

If DIY and less than say $500 a permit usually not required so focus only on getting the panel in the building and nothing else.

If asked why nothing else simply state you are still shopping for specific welder and will build to suit later.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
 
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