Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Need info on welders

But have you ever cobbled together a rabbit hutch?

Depots DON'T "refill" bottles, they ROTATE your empties for clean , recently certified CLEAN and full ones. "Owner bottles" are stamped with an alpha numeric code,....that's honored in 50 states.

FWIW I currently "own" about 25 cylinders,....O2, Acetylene, Argon, Co2, Nitrogen, Mixed Gases,....even compressed air.

"A lot of places"....Bush league is just that,....body shops, auto parts dives, and other jerk wad outfits

....than there's professionals.

GBTC

A stud welder is not so hard to find, a stud torch fitter is a rare duck. You will be doing him a favor by teaching him how to run a torch now. You can go propane and oxygen to keep it easy if a welding supplier is not close. One k bottle will run a bunch of 20lb propane bottles.

For a cheap wire feed, it's tough to beat a hobart for the money. Hobart, lincoln and miller should be on your radar.

Pizzing contest about welding ensues,....

some notably absent.

GTC

I have 11 bottles.....own every one of them. NEVER had a problem getting filled even at competition stores.

Ni guess I missed the part where I posted it was impossible.

I dunno where this "hard to get refilled" horsechit comes from, either.

....what better place to get smoke blown up one's azz than a welding environment, though.

GTC

Welding threads, much like chainsaw threads, tend to turn stupid rather quickly on here.

But here goes anyway, get him a Miller 211. He will be able to practice his welding and make things now. Later you can add a oxy acet cutting outfit.

Buy from an actual dealer where the can try it out first and he can get real help if needed.

Miller prices usually go up in Feb, so look now.

The closest I ever got was when two competing stores had different paint codes for owner vs rental. A quick phone call solved it.

tnscouter,

See this thread:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/9961774/Searchpage/3/Main/691790/Words/welder/Search/true/Re:_Upgrading_the_Welding_Shop#Post9961774

Best thread on welders that I have seen.

The rebate mentioned in the first post has expired, but it may come around again.

Myron

I'd probably get him a small inverter based wire feed welder with a gas solenoid and the highest duty cycle I could find. The Miller machines with the 115V/230V are kind of neat. I'd get a quality machine, there's lots of off brand junk out there. You might ask on Weldersweb. I'm sure you'd get a volley of responses over there. I was taught on a little Lincoln 115V machine. I still have one, but hardly ever use it. I bought it for it's portability, but for anything short of a quick repair, it's just easier to use my engine drive and suitcase. I've used the little 115V very successfully to repair cast iron with fluxcore, preheat, and controlled cooling. The nice thing about the little 115V machines is that it's hard to set it out of range on anything larger than 10ga. That said my first mig, I bought it when in college, was a 230V Century 145 amp Mig. It was the display model at SAMs Club. I gave it to my brother when he wanted to learn to weld.

I just did a quick review of the current offerings from Miller and Lincoln and I agree with Lonny, get'em the Miller 211.

Hit It

Gotta go get my asbestos underwear,....the smoke's blowing hotter and thicker.

later

GTC

Sheesh... Once again in true campfire form, the guy asks a about a MIG welder for his son and he gets suggestions on how he would be better off with Oxy/Acet and a pissing match on whether to rent or buy shielding gas bottles follows.

Remember, this is just a kid that wants to play around with a welder at this point. He is not going to take his 6GR TIG Pipe test or going into business at this point. Just a Dad asking what would be a good starter machine for his son that won't break the bank.

For what the kid is wanting to do, he will need a cutting torch anyway.

I'd buy him a used oxy acetylene set up and let him learn to weld with it. Propane is not so good for welding, so I'd go with an acetylene bottle and appropriate cutting tip.

If he learns to make a decent position weld with gas, he won't have ANY trouble with other types of welders.

FWIW.... Aerospace engineers I've known seem to think that a gas weld has superior fatigue properties in comparison with other approved types.

And the best starter machine IS an Oxy-Acet unit and it will not break the bank. No electricity required. It is the first welding tool ANY beginner should use in the real world. A more useful and versatile tool for beginner or professional does not exist.

Amen

Precisely what I did for the very same reason with recommendations coming from here.

...and it would seem some notably front and center of every one that takes place.






tnscouter, Going on the assumption that you are located in TN, (your profile doesn't say if or what part of the state your in).
If you are around eTN, I have a couple of 110v wire machines setting on the shelve that I bought for some light duty traveling contract work last spring that has been completed. One is a miller sp-100 and the other is the Lincoln power mig 140. Both have the trigger operated gas solenoid.

I'm not really lookin to sell either but If you are pretty close(k-town), I wouldn't be beyond just letting you borrow either machine to let you and your son use it for a bit to get a better feel for what you are looking for.