Inexpensive Welder for small jobs
 

I'm looking for an inexpensive welder that I can use for small jobs on my car. For example, custom seat brackets, some chassis bracing and possibly some exhaust work (wife's car and my dad's car have leaks). I have some experience in welding from metal shop class in high school, but I don't want a mig welder or anything that will require gas. Something low duty. Again, it's unlikely I'll use it more than once a year.

That being said, I'm looking at something like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RIZ7SE/...I2XHSSPQYICFYS

I want to avoid something used so I'm looking at new welders only.

Thanks,

-Jake

You don't need gas for a mig welder. You can just buy flux core wire.

yea, the seat brackets I made that I was showing you on Sunday, I actually Used a Lincoln 140T (I think that was the model) welder and used flux core because we didn't have the gas cylinder setup yet (the welder was about a week old at this point).

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...incolnElectric)

and since you mentioned the seat brackets that we were talking about.. here is a link to the ones I built that we were looking at.

the photos and write-up start 1/4 of the way down this page on my website

http://www.freewebs.com/iroczman15/workdonein2011.htm

my friend has a harbor freight 220v 170a mig unit that does gasless flux core and regular mig. it will give you the option to step up in the future.

do you have access to 220v outlet in your garage? this will dictate the what kind of welder you can buy, unfortunately if not then options are limited and you couldnt even weld with gas if you wanted to.

harbor freight still does have standard 120v flux core welders which are decent and will get the job done for the amount of times you will use it, i think they are below $200 as well

http://www.harborfreight.com/welding...x-welders.html

That's exactly what sparked this thread. It's time to get a welder and do this right and build something like what you have. That welder you have, though, is definitely out of the budget. Your brackets are beautiful though. Very professional.

That's a good point. Don't have 220v yet, and will need some work done before I can get a garage with that kind of power outlet. I just looked at HF's 120v welder and it seems to get decent reviews. Perhaps one of those and a warranty will help me get the job done. The price is definitely right.

Kirkevil migs with a 110 and uses gas? Not what the OP wants but it exists.

wasnt aware of that. good to know though

what's the aversion to gas?

Everybody has their own opinion, but the cheapest I'd go would be a 110V Hobart that can be converted to gas.

Maybe not this exact model, but something like it:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...8739_200318739

Yes, you can stick metal together in a number of ways but the very low end equipment can make it harder and uglier.

Yes, what he said. Cheap welders are an expensive lesson to pay for a decent welder.

If you we close to here, i could help hook you up.

I work for :
http://www.sjwelding.com/home.html

Stay away from the chinese stuff. Miller is currently still offering rebates i think

I have a Lincoln HD flux core welder (their flux-only model, can't be converted to mig) that I picked up on craigslist a few years ago just to get started. On the bright side, it's a decent build quality and replacement parts are readily available unlike the cheap chinese units. Also, a lot of the chinese units are electrically live even when you're not pulling the trigger for feed so you end up flashing yourself every time it touches something when you try to get the wire where you want it.

I've found that it's a pretty good solution for sticking two pieces of metal together. I was happy with the results on some lawn mower modifications, but it gets frustrating at times. It definitely splatters far worse than MIG. The biggest downside is trying to weld anything thin, as you can only go down to .030 wire (if the unit will even feed anything other than the usually-default .035). You need EXTREMELY clean surfaces, and have very little control over the heat and feed so exhaust is very tricky, especially if rusted.

You can try mine out for your seat brackets, it will probably do a pretty decent job at that. When I was looking I realized that anything cheap cheap (<$200) is a gamble because no replacement parts are available if something breaks. One step up ($200-$400) you have the ability to convert to MIG by adding a regulator for another $100+ down the road, but then you end up in the price range of decent units that include it to begin with.

It just feels like anything more than the simplest welder will be overkill for what I am able to do. Anything requiring thicker gauge metal or cleaner welds will be done by a fabricator. I don't want to spend more money than I need to on a tool I'll use so infrequently.

Keith: Is your welder a 110v unit?

What do you think about this? I suppose this fits the budget: http://cnj.craigslist.org/tls/5238351933.html

Harbor freight welder, seen decent vids of them in the past

yeah mine is 110v

I've found that it's excellent for sticking flat stock together but too crude for sheet metal and exhaust typically. That said, half of my exhaust is done with it haha. Let me know if you want to try it out and see how you like it, I haven't used it in months.

For years I've been planning on selling mine to pick up a Hobart Handler 140, that craigslist unit looks like an excellent deal especially if it includes regulator. The 140 is the largest you can run on 110v so it's capable of doing everything from sheet metal to heavy stuff and will last forever. The Hobarts are usually regarded as the best beginner welder because it's so capable. I've used the 135 also and it's excellent. If you're considering the used market and end up liking mine I would let it go for around what the harbor freight unit and warranty would cost, but that Hobart is probably better in the long run if you get really into it.

Being we are discussing welders. I'm looking to upgrade to a 250 area MIG & TiG (AC/ DC) units if anyone knows of any for sale. I am open to the all in one units also. Most of those do everything OK but not great. Prefer Blue or Red. No junk or dinosaur aged stuff.

That used one looks OK to me!

Hobart and Miller are made by the same parent company so there is some crossover quality-wise. They are not necessarily the same units but some stuff is close.

I have a Lincoln 135T that I bought 8 years ago. I went through a few spools of flux core wire then switched to mig. I was able to get a good deal on a tank of argon from the local welding supply shop which prompted my change.

I doubt I would switch back to flux core. The mig is cleaner and easier to work with in my opinion but there are situations where not having to lug the tank around would be nice.

I found an old shopping cart and hacked it up to make a cart for my welder, tank and other welding related stuff. I do mostly small fabrication, mowers and exhaust repairs.

I did some research and the Hobart 135 seems to have some issues so I won't be picking that one up.

Keith: I'll reach out when I need a hand welding up those brackets. If you were planning on upgrading to a decent MIG, I could contribute to help mitigate your cost. Seems to be a mutually beneficial solution.