What welder are you using?

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nicefighter80

New Member
Not sure if this is in the right spot, but any ways...

What brand/model of welder do you guys use? I'm looking to purchase a small welder for small job, but capable to do frames and sheet metal.

Looking at these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thermal-Arc-Fabricator-181i-Mig-Tig-Stick-Welder-pkg-W1003181-w-W4013802-/130830095685?pt=BI_Welders&hash=item1e7614d545

I'd like the ability to try and tig weld Aluminum in the future, any insight would be a great help!
 
Hobart Handler 180 MIG and Miller diversion 180 TIG.

First welder definitely go MIG, but save up as much as possible before you buy. You'll outgrow a cheapie in a year. And you definitely get what you pay for.
 
Lincoln migpak 180 is what I got, so glad I didn't go with a 120v. Welder is something you don't want to cheap out on. Total newb still but have signed up for classes. Its been very easy to learn on especially when running gas.
 
Lincoln 180 here as well. I had 220 in my garage already and got a good deal on the 180 so it was a no brainer for me.

Not sure how good an investment an 'all in one' sort of setup is. I paid $500 for my new Lincoln 180. I'd think that's a better choice than $1000 on something that tries to do too many different things.

You can do very nice looking welds with a decent MIG setup. I did this on thick material with a Lincoln 140 (120v) at the welding class I took. A 6 hour course - first time I ever touched a welder.

2013-02-09143940_zpsbd4a6d85.jpg
 
Oh and when budgeting don't forget the bottle of C25 gas you'll need for MIG. Up here they're not cheap. Refills are fine but you have to drop $150 or so on the bottle, which then gets exchanged each time with a fresh one for around $30 or so a fill if I recall. I don't weld much so my bottle will last me a looooong time.
 
Thanks for the tips guys, seems like the general consensus is to get a 500-600$ 140/180 that only does mig, maybe a hobart handler 140?
 
Stick with a name brand and your golden. Pretty sure Miller owns Hobart, something along those lines anyway.
 
I know Kiley likes his Hobart and you can often find them 2nd hand for better prices than the bigger names like Lincoln and Miller. Not much Hobart up here in Canada so selection was limited and $500 for a brand new in the box Lincoln 180 was too good a deal to pass on.
 
Yep, Hobart is Miller. The replacement parts come from Miller and say Miller on them. The handler 140 is good. Its 120v, but will do anything up to 3/8. Like the others have said, any of the name brand will be good. My biggest recommendation is to make sir that its gas capable. The old flux core welders are just to unrefined for major work.
 
i have a (clone) kemppi 180 mig (with 10 liter bottle) and a 130 tig (with 30 liters bottle) i bought from my welding-teacher. can't remember the brand.

i do more tig than mig, so thats why the tig bottle is bigger. they're both empty around the same time, 3 months or so.
 
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