What type of welder to use for frame work

[Fretless Six]

I know this question has been done to death on the board here, but I'm still in the dark about a couple of things. First, what amperage do I really need to say weld up brackets to mount a seat to and maybe fab up a few other odds and ends. Also I know everyone here thinks fluxcore is garbage because of all the splatter but I'm only planning to weld in areas that you can't see and I can take an angle grinder to anything that looks that embarassing, how does it hold up structure wise. I welded back in high school almost 10 years ago and haven't since so I'm planning on practicing a lot before I even think about doing anything to my frame.

It's a CB200 in case you're wondering and as soon as finals are over next week I'll post some pictures when I've delved into it some more and start a build thread.

[cdiver666]

Well I would say, as long as you're not doing like a hard tail conversion or something and are sticking to pretty much non-structural components (and you have a lot of practice of course), any decent welder will work. I don't know about minimum amperage, I would guess it varies from what type of welder your using, how thick the metal is, and how thick your wire/rod is.
I managed to weld my frame hoop on with a craftsman arc welder with 1/16th harbor freight rods on the maximum amp setting (90). The first couple of times it didn't stick. This is because I would beat the shit out of it with a hammer to make sure it was solid. Eventually, I got it hot enough that it finally penetrated. That metal was thick. If you're just welding tabs on, I think you could do the same with my welder with less issue. I managed to weld 22 gauge sheet metal too on a lower amp setting (it goes down to 30 or 35). The welder cost 150, more rods were 10 and it came with a few rods, a chipper, and a ghetto face shield you hold. It runs on 110 volts too.
But if you want something that is easier to use... (and have the money more importantly) by all means go for the mig. I wish I had one, but my arc works.

[motrhd]

A mig welder is probably the best way to go, I used a fluxcore 130 amp welder to build a prostreet pickup truck a few years back, and other than some spatter clean up, there were absolutely no issues. I now have a 160 amp gas mig and can weld anything........steel that is. I still prefer tig for aluminum. Also a little tip given to me by a professional welder, I use .023 wire for better penetration, the guy who taught me this has to weld stuff that can pass xray(boilermaker).

[thompsonmx100]

I've used the harbor freight 220v 120amp dual mig that I picked up for 150 bucks to weld my subframe on. I ran fluxcore wire through it. I found that if I put a wire wheel on my grinder and layed it next to me I could go over the area right after I finished laying my bead. I have also found that if I slow the wire down I can go slower and get better penetration.

[jeffreyhardy]

thompson do you have a link to your welder or was it a sale?

[ndromb]

I had a HF welder that served me well for 2 years and 5 spools of flux-core wire.  I upgraded to a small Lincoln.  I like the Lincoln because the wire isn't hot unless the trigger is depressed.