Need some quick advice on a welder.

More of an art than a science - discuss metalworking and welding here.



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PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:35 pm
IF you're not in a hurry the craigs list is always a goo dplace to find a good deal too on a higher quality welder.



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PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 12:28 am
amchev wrote:nput: 115 volt, 15 amps, single phase
Welding current (2 settings) 63 to 68 amps (low), 79 to 90 amps (high)
Duty cycle: 10% @ 80 amps, 18% @ 60 amps


With those specs it's not going to have a very broad range of materials and the duty cycle sucks. 10% = 1 minute of use 9 minutes of cool down.

I just went through a similar conundrum and decided to bite the bullet and get a 175 amp welder. You could go with the 130-140 amp range and be good. I got a lincoln Weld-Pak 175 Hd on ebay for $400, the guy had the 3200 HD (135 amp, 110volts) for $300.


yep, i actually tried one of these out, not to mention the welds looked like mountains, i used up the duty cycle after a few minutes, the pos shut down completely for like 20 minutes



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PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:28 am
ok fellas correct me if i am wrong because i am not a ford guy. it seems to me that you are going to cut the inner fenders and the cowl out of this car and weld in new ones. arn't fox body mustangs of a unibody design which uses a macpherson strut suspension assembly which is suported by the inner fenders? now if it were me, there is no way i would try to weld something as important as the inner fenders back on a car with anything less than a good quality GMAW. flux core is completely out of the question.

but then again i could be completly wrong about the suspension on a mustang(i'm a honda guy), in which case i apologize for waisting your time.



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PostPosted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:57 pm
91dxhb,you hit the nail on the head,i have several fox body stangs weve played with in the past years racing.

My wife has a 85 GT ragtop which WAS her baby untill a deer crossed her path one night and she ended up in a ditch pushing the whole front end left,when i went to get her out of the ditch i looked at it and THOUGHT"oh well,some new fenders and a front bumper cover and it'll be ok",looked at it the next day close,the "doghouse" was all bent up,even though it drove straight on the way home with no problems ive decided to ditch the project in fear of the whole structure being weakened and plus be weakening it more when tugging and pulling it all out straight.

The whole thing on the front end works together as a unit for strength,when one part is weakened or damaged it makes the whole thing weaker.
She's happy though,i had another ragtop,an 86 LX ragtop V6 i had bought to use for parts or racing and when got to looking at it closer was in better shape than i thought and just needed a top,when we applied for the title on a bond the search results showed the car only had the original 62k on the speedo showed..got lucky there..better gas mileage and even same exact color as her 85 GT.

97minitaco,just my opinion,be much easier and probably cheaper and better end results to find a good 86-93 fox body in good shape and use your parts for it..again..just my opinion



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PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:02 am
keep your options open buy a welder that you can change either to gas or flux core. My preference is HTP. Good luck



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PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:42 pm
Personally you should spend some money on a better welder than those harbor freight units. I run a simple little 110 Hobart Handler and there is no comparison with my Hobart. I personally dont like flux core wire, sure it works but nowhere near as good as solid wire with gas does.

I have been practicing on both over the past month and you cannot beat the Hobart and Solid wire with gas. Its well worth the extra money.....

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PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:37 am
check out HTP, I think its WELD USA or WELD America on the web. You get a lot of machine for the money. I bought the 160 DV w/gas & it does a pretty good job and seems to be pretty well made. Lots of features that miller, hobart, etc.. dont have for the same $$...

http://www.htpweld.com/

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 8:06 am
I know it's an old thread, but maybe it will be a timely resurrection for someone

Don't even worry about TIG until you meed to weld stainless or aluminum. It will also be much further from your price range than any of the above.

You're pretty much looking at wirefeed (MIG and flux-core) or stick welders for your criteria.
MIG is vulnerable to shield gas getting blown away, so don't try to use it outside on a windy day. You'll also need to buy a tank for the gas (~$150-200 for the tank, and ~$40 per fill up). MIG generally produces faster and cleaner welds than FC or SMAW (you'll have to chip off slag and spatter from the latter). The only difference between MIG and FC machines is gas and polarity. Fitted with the right wire and polarity setting, a MIG machine can do FC, but a FC machine may or may not be adaptable to MIG with the addition of a gas solenoid. Both MIG and FC will limit you to working within ~6' of the machine (there's a limit to how far the machine can push wire through the torch umbilical), but a SMAW machine would allow you to work much further from the machine just be adding longer clamp/electrode wires (ever seen service vehicles with gas-powered welders on the back and ~100' of cable hanging from them? yeah.). Skill-wise, MIG and FC are the same, stick is much harder--in any case it's very easy to learn how to weld, but takes a good deal of practice to learn how to do it well.

A helmet and gloves are critical. You will suffer instant and serious injury without either. $50 for a helmet/$15 for gloves will suffice. If you're not doing a huge amount of welding then there's no need to buy higher end helmet and gloves. You might want to spring for an auto-darkening helmet since it makes things much easier, but that's about it. Other than that, PPE depends on your application. If you're doing all your work on top of a table at a comfortable height, you'll probably be fine with natural fiber long sleeve shirt and pants. Once you start welding at chest or head level or overhead or in other positions you'll want to invest in a jacket and/or hood.

Last time I looked, the cheapest new 120V MIG machine I found was a Hobart for $420 shipped (so around $700 once you gt a tank and safety gear). Harbor Freight sells Chicago Electric machines much cheaper, but you absolutely get what you pay for and personally I wouldn't even consider them. I've personally only used Miller and Lincoln machines, and of the two I'd go for Miller. They'll start around $600 retail. Not sure about buying used equipment other than craigslist/ebay.



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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:33 am
Wyallange wrote:I know it's an old thread, but maybe it will be a timely resurrection for someone

Don't even worry about TIG until you meed to weld stainless or aluminum. It will also be much further from your price range than any of the above.

You're pretty much looking at wirefeed (MIG and flux-core) or stick welders for your criteria.
MIG is vulnerable to shield gas getting blown away, so don't try to use it outside on a windy day.


I disagree with you

Far Superior welds are obtained with a Tig on sheet metal and an even better alternative would be Good old Gas welding.
Mig welding thin sheet metal is not the way to go!
Can it be done? Yes it can and is done every day, BUT there is a Tme and a Place to use all the different welding Processes!
Welding Patch panels on fenders and quarter panels for instance is not the correct process for a Mig in my opinion, You cant lay a bead on sheet metal with a Mig with Gas or Flux core its just too Hot you are forced to use short Zaps which leave rock hard bead that cracks when you try to beat on it plus you have to move around constantly to try to prevent heat warping.

Cheap Tig machine with High freq with a decent duty cycle and under 500 Bucks they even have a couple for $300.
https://www.everlastgenerators.com/prod ... arc-160sth

While most think Gas welding is Hard its really not it just takes TIME to really learn how to weld! Its not all that hard though just take your time Burn some metal and learn.
My Old man wouldn't let me use one of his machines till I proved I could weld with Gas I am glad he did It made me a better welder!

Fantastic complete Victor Gas welding kit perfect for welding sheet metal.
https://www.zoro.com/victor-gas-welding ... IwQAvD_BwE

Gas welding sheet metal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv5bKXJ3kEM

Gene Winfield demonstration of Gas welding sheet metal at the World of Wheels show
If I have to explain who Gene Winfield is well?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIk5EsYDkiw

Gas welding Aluminum then abusing weld too prove its just as strong as rest of panel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF1Srs_e1Aw
Dennis B.
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Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.
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