Best Welder

[GAFarmer]

What is the best welder for welding 1/2 inch rusty steel?

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Ideally, a 200 Amp DC machine, with either electric or internal combustion engine drive? [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] The other end of the range would be a 200 Amp AC machine with something like 6013 rod. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Inexpensive AC welders are everywhere and as long as you aren't trying to weld ovehead, they are fine. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[GAFarmer]

Thanks CJDave, what brand do you recommend?

[Pat]

While you are waiting for Dave to respond... The top names are top names for a reason. It is tough to beat equipment from Lincoln, Hobart, etc. Beware of the "just like a Lincoln" or made by Hobart but with a different name... Even if made in the same factory, if made to different specifications (usually lower power, duty cycle, reduced robustnous) it isn't the same. GM built army tanks to MilSpec and they built the Cadilac but they also built the Nova and the like. They were not all built to the same degree of perfection.

For casual use you may get by with a cheap store brand or brand X or harbor Freight on sale special but if you want it to do a good job for a long time, buy a name brand, used is OK. Your basic AC "buzzbox" is pretty fool proof with little to wear out that can't be replaced so don't be afraid of used. My welders were bought new but are decades old used units now but work as well as they did out of the box.

Testamonial: My Electricians had just bought a MIG wire feed unit for use with flux cored wire. It works pretty good B_U_T when they didn't have theirs with them and used mine for a few minutes they found out how little MIGs are supposed to weld. They sure wish they had paid a few $ more and got one like mine. There was a lot of difference in the ease of making a good weld which effects the quality of the weld. That is the difference between brand X Campbell Hausfeld painted on a chinese product or whatever and a real welder, Lincoln in this case. I know there are other GOOD brands like Hobart and Miller but I happen to have two Lincolns.

You can even build your own arc welder. http://www.dansworkshop.com/Homebuil...20welder.shtml

This is a very practical project that can be successfully completed by folks with rather low electrical skill levels. It is a pretty "mechanical" process to follow the instructions and build a pretty good welder that you can easily repair if needed. The designer has selected a pulse width modulaton technique for varying welding heat. This is a good method. It was used on the portable arc welder project I worked on decades ago. There are even simpler ways to arrange to change welding heat in steps with the basice design presented. I DID NOT tally up the cost to build one of these welders but it should be cheaper than buying a comparable welder if your scrounging abillities are good. Many of the components should be found for free or realy cheap.

The plans are $9 for 4.6 meg super complete PDF file but are also available in a html version for free. Parts cost to build a decent welder ranges from free to $150 depending on your scrounging abilities.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I would definitely stick with the good guy brands like Lincoln and Miller and Hobart. If you want to compare welders to welders, WEIGH THEM. Good windings are copper, and copper is heavy. When Pat mentioned that his contractor found that Pat's welder was easier to use, I would bet anything that Pat's welder uses a: "constant potential" welding source. In other words, it's DC. Direct current welds continually, alternating current stops welding sixty times per second. Lincoln is still making the red, tombstone-shaped welder, and they are a proven asset to any non-commercial shop. You can get it in AC or AC/DC. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[GAFarmer]

What do you guys think about something like the Hobart Stickmate 205 AC?

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Have no direct experience with that model. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I just looked at HOME DEPOT's "Tool Box" tool catalog and they show two Lincoln "Tombstone" welders; one is AC only and one is AC-DC. The AC is $239 and the AC/DC is $387. You could not ask for a better home-grade welder. If you had that AC/DC, it opens a wider range of welding possibilities and rod choices, since many of the best rods are "DC only". The BIG DIFFERENCE between these units and what I have in my shop is DUTY CYCLE. I suspect that most of the "home grade" welders have somewhere around a 25% duty cycle at top-end settings, where as most industrial-grade stuff would be much higher......perhaps 80%. Duty cycle is not much of a consideration unless you are building up the tracks or the blade on the dozer and going hour-after-hour with harfacing rod. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[GAFarmer]

Now hold up just one second, I think duty cycle is very important. Now if I remember correctly (its been about 2 years since I have done any welding) duty cycle is the # of minutes a welder can run out of ten. For example, if a welder has a 20% duty cycle, it can run 2 out of the 10 minutes, needing the other 8 to rest. I hate to say it but I want to be able to weld for more than 2 minutes out of ten. If I want to weld, I want to be able to WELD, not sit and read my latest issue of "Soap Opera Today:The Magazine". [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[GAFarmer]

Oh, I just thought of another question guys. Do you have some tips on doing overhead welding with a MIG welder. One of my buddies is wanting to weld some empty piping in his barn together so he can put wire in there to keep the mice away from it. It has already been tacked up on the hangars and tacked together, so what should he do? I told him I thought it would be a heck of a lot easier to tear it down (it's only tacked on) and weld it on the ground. That way you don't have to try welding over your head. As you can probably tell, I don't like to weld in the overhead position at all. So, any suggestions for him? [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]