evoeone

but i'll have about 400$ to spend on a welder, give a quick suggestion of what kind, model #, 220 or 120, etc., gotta love financial aid refunds

list what is overrated such as a 3000$ tig to weld an exhaust, i wanna do exhaust work, ic piping only and thats about it, so the thickest thing needed to weld is 1/2" flanges, the rest is pretty thin stuff,

i was thinking about these, and if they really are crap let me know, but if they actually do work decent , please post that even if you have an expensive one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=34099
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=34099
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=34099

i want a 120v one, cause i cant use 220, the last one is probably not a good idea, and the lincoln look scooler, thats what i seen the exhaust shop use, but i also heard hobart is nice, so any info is appreciated

95hybridcivic

when i worked in a welding shop that made pressure vessels we used Lincoln welders. the ones we used were their higher end models but i have never had a problem with lincoln welders. If you have a lowes In your area I think they have the same one that is on ebay for about the same price i think it was 397 so if you are wanting it sooner you could just go pick it up there. hope this helps

Phoenix GSR

you can buy the lincoln pro mig 135 (the first link) at lowes for $395, or at home depot they have the lincoln 3200hd for $435 which is the same welder as the pro mig 135, but it has a mini cart.. wheels and a thing that holds your shielding gas... that is the one I use and I like it..

the lincoln handy mig is really cheap, but it is only 80 amps which may not cut it on a .5" flange, also the gas hookup is just a barbed fitting (you will have to buy your own regulator, the others come with one).. that seems really cheap to me, but I guess it works

evoeone

thanks fellas so i'll probably end up getting the licoln 135

Joseph Davis

I'm a big fan of whatever works.

If you aren't doing a lot of welding, feel free to grab a cheap generic welder. I've had a Century 130 amp unit that's been through hell - left out in the rain, stolen + the case staved in, etc, and it works just like new. When you're only doing light duty work, the lower end units last a very long time.

MIG is the easiest to learn, and great for general use and exhaust work. Go for it.

Make multiple fill passes. I sure as hell would never try for a full penetration pass on a .5" thick flange... *warpage*. Running 1/8" tungsten in a TIG welder, doing smaller, cooler beads and pausing to take breaks I have warped .5" flanges slightly. Nothing bolting it to a head and hitting it with a torch didn't fix

KC GSR

are these little 400 dollar welders something that you could use to make custom manifolds with? or will these not even come close?

Joseph Davis

You can make a custom mild steel manifold out of schedule 40 pipe with one of the super portable 80 amp flux core wire feed welders or ghetto stick welders that go for $100-150. Bare bones mild steel headers and/or turbo manifolds aren't anything you need to get fancy for.

The cheap MIGs are just really nice because the shielding gas keeps temps down and helps prevent warpage if you ever do any work with thinner materials. They have a lot of versatility. People buy one of those because they know they won't be a professional welder, but they want to keep their options open for future projects.

Wes V

A welder is a tool that you will keep AND USE for as long as you have hobbies out in the garage!!! Keep that in mind.

I have a Miller MM130 Mig unit that set me back around 500 dollars. That includes the "bottle" and regulator.

Unless you are real good at welding, a flux core wire welder will not give satisfactory welds! Shell out the extra 150 (or so) to get the Mig attachments.

I got a unit that works off of 110 and not 220 due to the fact that I didn't want to be limited to where I could weld.

The reason for getting a Miller was due to knowing that the unit could be fixed at a latter date if required. This would also apply to the Lincoln units.

Wes Vann

evoeone

can i get away with the last one, i can deal with ugly welds, and even if i got a mig, i still need to get gas wchi is more of a PITA!!!!!!

even if its hard, ugly welded, can i use the last one? i dont care about making multiple passes, or cottage cheese looking weldes, remember, i only want to do exhaust work and ic piping, thats it. and that doesnt have to be pretty, so is the last one capable? my welder said that mig is overrated, and for what i am doing its good enough for my application, this is coming from a guy w/ 30 years experience, also, its just gotta hold the exhaust weight which isnt much and seal the exhaust gas itself


[Modified by evoeone, 4:43 PM 2/8/2003]

Phoenix GSR

if you arent wooried about looks, than buy a stick welder...

walmart carries a CH hady arc welder for $80 that will do any exhaust work.. it will just look ugly... if looks dont bother you stick with arc welding.. it should be just as strong


[Modified by Phoenix GSR, 4:59 PM 2/8/2003]

Phoenix GSR

if anyone considering buying a welder wants to see the differance between a non-professional mig weld and a flux weld let me know... I will email you a pic (I don't have a server to post on)

I have been welding for about 3 weeks now (just started learning for hobby and I want to make my own manifold/piping), and I just got my C02/Argon cylinder... there is night and day differance between the welds...

evoeone

'looks

evoeone

bump

evoeone

how about the lincoln weld pak 100? 100 amps, 1/4" steel, flux, mig and tig possible with kit, but i just wanna do exhaust, piping work. dont care about spatter or ugly weld...any of you guys use this one? its $325 for welder, face shield, video, spool of flux

Joseph Davis

They are supposed to be good, never used an actual Lincoln Weldpak, but they are common as dirt - getting replacement parts for them will be very easy + no waits for parts.

If I was looking to go TIG eventually (think aluminum), and wanted to cobble together a setup cheaply, I might spend the same money on a bigger/stronger stick welder. You can buy/ebay/build high frequency start boxes and run gas to them to convert to TIG.

Nah, I take that back. If I wanted a cheap TIG welder, I'd build one out of broken microwaves.