# Want to buy a welder and need advice...



## davel (Aug 18, 2011)

I would like to learn welding and want to by a welder.
I will be welding stuff like tree stands, security boxes, odds and ends around the house, maybe use it for trailer or tractor work (when I get a tractor!).

Don't know anything about welders so I need a lot of advice from someone with experience.  Remember, I know nothing about welding!  I will read up on it and try to learn more.

Thank you!

Dave


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## huntmore (Aug 18, 2011)

The easiest to learn how to use would be a mig welder. I like miller machines. I suggest taking a class somewhere. I do not think you should be learning how to weld on a deer stand. I have been welding since 1983.


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## LongBow01 (Aug 19, 2011)

buy the biggest miller mig welder you can afford. 220 power is better than 110 if you buy a small cheap welder you will get frustrated fast. I have been welding and fabricating for 10 years so I know.


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## BradW (Aug 19, 2011)

Good advice all around. Most of my family are welders, and the biggest piece of advice as far as getting a machine is get one of the name brand ones. Miller, Lincoln, Hobart - don't get some cheap knockoff from a discount place. Check the commercial versions too, they might be $50 more but will have better settings. For example, you could pick up a small Lincoln mig welder from Home Depot, and it would have maybe 5 settings for the heat. But if you got the commercial version, the heat settings would be a dial - much more control to fine tune it. Most of the tech schools have welding classes you could take.


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## davel (Aug 19, 2011)

Thanks for the tips!!


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## NorthGaHunter (Aug 19, 2011)

Good advice being given.  I took a class at a technical school and really enjoyed it and learned a lot.  I have made a lot of things and currently have a 110v machine.  It’s a Lincoln 100 and I got it back in the late 90’s for Christmas.  This machine has been fine for me.  I have welded a lot of things in the last 5 years since taking the class.  I would consider welding a tree stand for myself but don’t really have a need.  I would not weld one for others though.  

My advice would be take a class and learn maybe more than you may need to know.  You can probably take a class for around $300 - $400 for one quarter.  Some classes are grouped as two classes such as MIG/Oxy Fuel Cutting.  I really enjoyed taking the class at night.  It helped relieve a lot of stress from work.  

Start out with a 110v first and as you learn more and decide how much you really want to weld; then invest some money in a quality 220v welder.  The others on here have better opinions on cost, but for a good 220v machine that a hobbyist would probably need,  I would think you would probably be spending between $1200 - $2000 for a quality machine.  I guess you can find it cheaper on craigslist.  

It's amazing what you can fix/make by heating a little metal.


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## Hammack (Aug 19, 2011)

I'm going the other direction here.  I have owned and operated a welding and machine work for the past 15 years, and done work from building yard ornaments to welding 6000 psi hydraulic lines in gin plants.  Mig is easier to learn to make a decent looking weld, but has it's disadvantages.  For one if you are going to be outside then a mig is useless because the majority of the time if the wind even breezes by it blows the sheilding gas away and you end up with a porous weld.  Take a stick welding class and learn to weld with it first.  Then look at the mig.  The stick is cheaper, as well as gives you the ability to use most anywhere.  It is a touch more difficult to learn than mig, but if you learn it then mig will be no problem.  As said above by a good name brand machine.  I personally have always leaned more towards lincoln.  Some like miller.  It's really a chevy ford debate as I have both, and they are both good machines.  If you look around, and maybe talk to some local welding suppliers you can probably find a top notch used machine for a lot less than a new one.  Although an entry level stick welder can be bought for the neighborhood of $200-$300.  Check with the tech schools, and see if you can find an intro class.  If you were closer I would be glad to help you learn at my shop.  good luck, and have fun.


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## NorthGaHunter (Aug 19, 2011)

Hammack said:


> .....For one if you are going to be outside then a mig is useless because the majority of the time if the wind even breezes by it blows the sheilding gas away and you end up with a porous weld....



Good points and looks like you have a lot of experience.  All my experience has been as a hobbyist around my house.  All my welding is outside and I use fluxcore on my machine.  I don't know much about the newer / better 110v machines but it is my understanding that trying to set mine up to use gas is pretty useless due to the limited amout of adjustments to the heat that I can make.  

I used a Miller set up with gas in my class.  I only used a stick one time in class becuase there were no mig's welders available so instead of sitting around, I played with it for an hour.  I think I started to get the hang of it for being the first time but I still sucked at it.


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## LongBow01 (Aug 23, 2011)

I have a 110 century that is setup with flux core wire that I use for small mobil jobs I like fluxcore better on the smaller 110 machine because you can wled thicker material than with gas and solid wire. I do agree that it might be good for you to learn stick first and then mig and tig last. I like hobart and miller machines licoln stick welders are good and there tigs are OK but I dont like lincoln migs. I have a hobart tigmate that will also do stick and it has been awsome. You might want to check out hobart before you buy. Miller and Hobart are made by the same company and alot of there models are the same just a differant color. hobart is less money than miller usally by 100-200 bucks. The hobart 210 which is a 220 machine is $900.00 at tractor supply miller makes the same 210 machine and it costs $1100.00.


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## dawgforlife (Aug 23, 2011)

North Georgia technical college in clarkesville, ga has a superb welding program! I am former student and teacher in this program. You can just take certificate classes like gmaw (mig).

4 days a week as well as 4 nights a week the shop is open


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## Knotwild (Aug 23, 2011)

Hammack said:


> I'm going the other direction here.  I have owned and operated a welding and machine work for the past 15 years, and done work from building yard ornaments to welding 6000 psi hydraulic lines in gin plants.  Mig is easier to learn to make a decent looking weld, but has it's disadvantages.  For one if you are going to be outside then a mig is useless because the majority of the time if the wind even breezes by it blows the sheilding gas away and you end up with a porous weld.  Take a stick welding class and learn to weld with it first.  Then look at the mig.  The stick is cheaper, as well as gives you the ability to use most anywhere.  It is a touch more difficult to learn than mig, but if you learn it then mig will be no problem.  As said above by a good name brand machine.  I personally have always leaned more towards lincoln.  Some like miller.  It's really a chevy ford debate as I have both, and they are both good machines.  If you look around, and maybe talk to some local welding suppliers you can probably find a top notch used machine for a lot less than a new one.  Although an entry level stick welder can be bought for the neighborhood of $200-$300.  Check with the tech schools, and see if you can find an intro class.  If you were closer I would be glad to help you learn at my shop.  good luck, and have fun.



He is right. Although I know how to weld some, I bought a 220 mig a few years ago. It is nice around the shop and can make some pretty welds. But I wish I had bought a stick. A stick is very versatile when forced to deal with rust, when you need deep penetration, and when you have a lot of filling to do. Depending on the money you want to spend and if you are thinking of using it for tractor repairs, consider a portable stick machine and you will have a generator to boot.


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## dawgforlife (Aug 23, 2011)

Grinders come in handy for rust as well!


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## thomas the redneck (Aug 23, 2011)

i like the lincon 110 unit with flux core wire for small projects 
but when me and the broinlaw was looking into buying a bigger unit for farm use and other realy important guy projects we were given good advice by a welder/fabacator he said buy a blue one   thats a miller and we love it we have welded everything from 3/4 emt conduit to 3/8 boiler plate


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## SGADawg (Aug 23, 2011)

Good advice on here.   After teaching high school students to weld for 30 years I have a little experience.  I too would recommend you start with a stick welder.  Versatility, outdoor use (wind) and ease of setup are the reasons.  I can be through with a small welding job with a stick in less time than it takes to set up a mig welder.  It takes a little while to learn technique with a stick, but a pretty good while to learn how to adjust a mig welder.  For quick repairs a stick is best imho, for fabrication or repetitive welding a mig shines.


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## davel (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks a lot for the advice!!


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## T.P. (Aug 26, 2011)

If you're planning on getting one for hobby use on materials like would be used in treestands, get a mig... Stick is not designed for thinwall tube.


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## 1smithpr (Aug 31, 2011)

miller 211 mig welder. it welds on 110 and/or 220 and it has auto set. You can use shielding gas or flux core wire. It weighs 75 pounds and is very portable. You can even run a spool gun off of it for aluminum. You wont find a better welder for the money. You can get them brand new off of ebay for 1200 and that includes the spoolgun. I have one and i love it and I am a professional welder for a major airline since 1989. Good luck and pm me if you have any questions, i would be glad to answer them for you.


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## safebuilder (Aug 31, 2011)

1smithpr said:


> miller 211 mig welder. it welds on 110 and/or 220 and it has auto set. You can use shielding gas or flux core wire. It weighs 75 pounds and is very portable. You can even run a spool gun off of it for aluminum. You wont find a better welder for the money. You can get them brand new off of ebay for 1200 and that includes the spoolgun. I have one and i love it and I am a professional welder for a major airline since 1989. Good luck and pm me if you have any questions, i would be glad to answer them for you.



X2 for the welder


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## Hammack (Sep 1, 2011)

T.P. said:


> If you're planning on getting one for hobby use on materials like would be used in treestands, get a mig... Stick is not designed for thinwall tube.



Not honestly so.  It's all in the ability of the man behind the hood.  I have welded a many mile of 18ga to 14ga material in my years as a welder, and never had much trouble.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with a mig, but for hobby and occaissional use I still say the stick is by far the cheaper and more versatile machine.  Want to weld stainless?  throw a different rod in the stinger.  Aluminum?  I've done that too with a stick.  With a mig not only will you have to change wire, but gases.  For the money, a stick welder is the way to go, and it will make you pick up the other processes a whole lot easier in my opinion.


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## 2011GADawg (Sep 1, 2011)

I am a new welder as well and I dont know much, but I would recommend a stick welder because of the cost and simplicity. Stick welding is not near as hard to learn as people make it sound. Check out weldingtipsandtricks.com it is very informative and helped me tremendously.


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## kscoggins (Sep 1, 2011)

Hammack said:


> Not honestly so.  It's all in the ability of the man behind the hood.  I have welded a many mile of 18ga to 14ga material in my years as a welder, and never had much trouble.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with a mig, but for hobby and occaissional use I still say the stick is by far the cheaper and more versatile machine.  Want to weld stainless?  throw a different rod in the stinger.  Aluminum?  I've done that too with a stick.  With a mig not only will you have to change wire, but gases.  For the money, a stick welder is the way to go, and it will make you pick up the other processes a whole lot easier in my opinion.



If your concerned with using mig outdoor,  don't be. You can use flux core wire which don't require shielding gas. Depending on your budget,  I would get the miller 211 that was previously mentioned. If thatstoo much then find an used Miller thunderbolt ac/dc or Lincoln tombstone ac/dc machine.


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## T.P. (Sep 2, 2011)

T.P. said:


> If you're planning on getting one for hobby use on materials like would be used in treestands, get a mig... Stick is not designed for thinwall tube.





Hammack said:


> Not honestly so.  It's all in the ability of the man behind the hood.  I have welded a many mile of 18ga to 14ga material in my years as a welder, and never had much trouble.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with a mig, but for hobby and occaissional use I still say the stick is by far the cheaper and more versatile machine.  Want to weld stainless?  throw a different rod in the stinger.  Aluminum?  I've done that too with a stick.  With a mig not only will you have to change wire, but gases.  For the money, a stick welder is the way to go, and it will make you pick up the other processes a whole lot easier in my opinion.



Go to any fab shop (fabbing anything)and see what they're using, you'd have to look for a while to find a stick machine.

 Never said thinwall couldn't be welded with a stick machine, we do it everyday, in the field. The only reason we use stick is because it is much more feasable to use a self-contained engine driven machine in the bed of a truck than to pull up to a jobsite to which has no power available and try and figure out how to run a mig machine with no power.

Stick machines for beginner use is a waste of time. Aluminum and stainless are just as easily done with mig.


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## Mac (Sep 2, 2011)

Thanks for all the good info


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## Hammack (Sep 2, 2011)

T.P. said:


> Go to any fab shop (fabbing anything)and see what they're using, you'd have to look for a while to find a stick machine.
> 
> Never said thinwall couldn't be welded with a stick machine, we do it everyday, in the field. The only reason we use stick is because it is much more feasable to use a self-contained engine driven machine in the bed of a truck than to pull up to a jobsite to which has no power available and try and figure out how to run a mig machine with no power.
> 
> Stick machines for beginner use is a waste of time. Aluminum and stainless are just as easily done with mig.



I don't have to go to a fab shop.  I owned and operated a welding and machine shop for 15 years, and have been in and out of a whole lot more as a subcontractor.  We did have migs in the shop, and portable stick machines on the trucks.  You are correct that you don't take a shop machine onto a job site, but any engine drive out there will power a voltage sensing wire feeder for mig welding if someone really feels that mig is the way to go.  I had them on every rig I had, even though they hardly got used in the field.   No, a stick machine is not used much in a fab shop because of the speed, and cleanliness of the process being so much higher than stick welding.   Swap over to a repair shop, or where a lot of pipe is run, and you will start to see more stick machines coming into play. That is not what we are talking about here, as a beginner is not looking for the same requirements.  I still stand by my statement that a stick machine is the best all around machine for a beginner to start with.  For one it's cheaper, and most people who can learn to stick weld can switch to mig with little to no problems.  That isn't the case with someone who can only mig weld swapping over to stick.  For $300 a beginner can get everything he needs to start welding with a stick.  With a wire machine he will be looking at easily twice that for a decent machine not taking into consideration having to buy wire, and gas.   You are correct that Stainless and Aluminum are just as easily done with wire, but at the cost of having to swap a machine over, and having to keep wire, and another gas bottle for both which means that he is looking at two more cylinder rents as an added expense not to mention having to reload wire and change gas in a machine for a 5 minute job then have to swap it all back out.


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## T.P. (Sep 2, 2011)

Hammack said:


> I don't have to go to a fab shop.  I owned and operated a welding and machine shop for 15 years.  We did have migs in the shop, and portable stick machines on the trucks.  Infact we even had 12vs suitcase feeders set up on the portable rigs for mig use in certain situations.   No, a stick machine is not used much in a fab shop because of the speed, and cleanliness of the process being so much higher than stick welding.   Swap over to a repair shop, or where a lot of pipe is run, and you will start to see more stick machines coming into play. That is not what we are talking about here, as a beginner is not looking for the same requirements.  I still stand by my statement that a stick machine is the best all around machine for a beginner to start with.  For one it's cheaper, and most people who can learn to stick weld can switch to mig with little to no problems.  That isn't the case with someone who can only mig weld swapping over to stick.  For $300 a beginner can get everything he needs to start welding with a stick.  With a wire machine he will be looking at easily twice that for a decent machine.   You are correct that Stainless and Aluminum are just as easily done with wire, but at the cost of having to swap a machine over, and having to keep wire, and another gas bottle for both which means that he is looking at two more cylinder rents as an added expense.



And as someone who still owns a Fab Co and runs 20 tons of steel in one door and out the other door, every day, I will stick to my beliefs that a mig is easier for a beginner to master. I've watched guys(and girls) learn to weld for the last 30 years.


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## Hammack (Sep 2, 2011)

T.P.  if you are just looking for the easiest, then yes a mig is the easiest to master.  I never said anything about stick being easier.  It takes more practice to learn to use a stick over a mig.  That is no doubt.  I'm thinking the entire picture.  Cost vs. simplicity.  I can see your point, but at the same time when simply comparing start up costs the stick will save him several hundred bucks, and gives him the ability to do a lot more for less.  As I said there is nothing wrong with a mig, but if I was only going to have one as a hobby machine it would be stick.  I guess we just have to agree to disagree.


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## 1smithpr (Sep 3, 2011)

2011GADawg said:


> I am a new welder as well and I dont know much, but I would recommend a stick welder because of the cost and simplicity. Stick welding is not near as hard to learn as people make it sound. Check out weldingtipsandtricks.com it is very informative and helped me tremendously.



I worked with and was trained by Jody who runs weldingtipsandtricks.com. He would tell you to by a quality mig welder for all purpose welding. A  stick welder is great but limited to thicker material. A mig welder is more refined and better suited for all types of home projects. I weld for a living everyday and we dont have as a stick welder in the lineup, mig and tig does it all..


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## Davexx1 (Sep 4, 2011)

Dave

Take a basic welding class at your local Vo Tech school and learn the process, get a little experience in the classroom, and then buy a machine and some gear.  After some instruction and experience you will have a much better idea if you really want to invest the money and if so, what kind of machine that would work well for your skill level and the types of projects you expect.

Keep in mind there will be a variety of tools, saws, clamps, etc., plus a project material list/inventory of steel that will also be required to build stuff.

Good luck.

Dave


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## davel (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks for all the advice guys!  I really appreciate it!


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## jimboknows (Sep 27, 2011)

any opinions on a hobart handler 140.  I've never welded and bought one and it worked well on trailer repair and the use i bought it for, builing a smoker out of a 120 gallon propane tank.


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