This is topic Which welding to buy in forum General Talk at Northern California Ford Owners  .


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Posted by sleeping stallion (Member # 8162) on :
 
Hey guys I just starting my welding course I'll be doing my cow 1,2 and 3 " thank you gi bill"
So anyways just want to ask what are some of you guys running at home for a hobbie mostly to mess with automotive stuff a little bit of everything,
Looking for a decent machine nothing to fancy since it will be my first machine thanks in advance
 

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Posted by 05s197 (Member # 13235) on :
 
I looked all around for a welding coarse. where are you taking them?
 

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Posted by sleeping stallion (Member # 8162) on :
 
I'm from salida and found a course here in modesto they have 2 school modesto technical college which I did there automotive part along with smog, so I decided to check out their welding course they offer some at the junior college but not advanced stuff
 

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Posted by 89foxstang (Member # 5908) on :
 
Check out Eastwood , I heard their welder a work pretty well. If your doing sheet metal work get a 110 mig if your gonna do frame work , either a 220v mig or if your gonna put in some time pick up a tig welder .. Me personally I have a Lincoln sp 135 for the sheetmetal and a Lincoln 225 precision tig for frame work and aluminum .. Can't go wrong with Lincoln or miller .. I'd just get what ever color you think is pretty or who gives you a better deal(assuming they are the comparable machines)
 

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Posted by SLOWBACK 67 (Member # 6348) on :
 
^ +1
What he said.
 

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Posted by 05s197 (Member # 13235) on :
 
Heard good things about lincoln. Someone at the drag strip told me home depot has good ones to start on. Cant remember if he gave me a specific brand or wire etc.
 

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Posted by CalBoy101 (Member # 13131) on :
 
Stay with one of the "big 3", Miller, Lincoln or Hobart. You'll need to decide if you want a mig or tig, the mig is cheaper. If you are serious about welding you'll need to end up with one of both.

Miller has a new mig that will run off 110 or 220, I think its about a grand. That's pretty nice as you can plug it in anywhere on 110 for small jobs or body work or to 220 when you need to do bigger jobs. This welder will pretty much handle anything on a car while a smaller 110 volt unit will fall down on frame type work.

If you are bucks down the Lincoln welders sold at Home Depot and Lowes are ok as long as you get at least the 140 amp size, the smaller ones are crap though. You can pick these up used for pretty good prices if you don't mind waiting for a good one to come up but often people list them at sucker prices so be careful.

Here's some really good welding forums with lots of experienced guys on it and they don't mind helping someone just starting out with tips and advice:

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/forumdisplay.php?3-Welding-Discussions&s=f10273c2c32eafad807e71c6bb69ad53

http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/forum.php?s=eac154e2d5fc565395a563ef3506591d

[ 2013-12-04, 07:04 PM: Message edited by: CalBoy101 ]
 

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Posted by sleeping stallion (Member # 8162) on :
 
Thanks guys I'm doing some research I'm liking the miller just becuase that's what we are using at school
As of now I want to get a mig ill look into the link thanks
 

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Posted by wilit (Member # 3367) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by 05s197:
I looked all around for a welding coarse. where are you taking them?

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