How many of you have a welder?

[Vanilla Sky]

So many issues can be fixed by having a welder sitting around. I've done several exhausts with my second-hand $125 Lincoln flux core. After owning such an easy welder to use, I can't see how anyone can go without one. I've since upgraded from that flux-only Lincoln to a Millermatic 130xp. It's still a small 120V welder, but it will weld anything I'd need to weld here. If I can't weld it here, my buddy has a Millermatic 200 sitting at his shop.

With this all being said, how many of you guys have a welder and know how to use it? I see people here paying to have exhausts systems welded up, and I see so many that want strut tower braces and such, but all of this stuff is pretty simple to put together if you have a welder laying around. My Miller was $200, but it needed a couple of parts. I traded it straight up for my Lincoln, though, because I'd done a good bit of welding for my buddy before he bought his big Miller.

Everyone here seems fairly willing to have stuff made, but no one wants to make it. If you have minimal tools, you really can make anything. We build roll cages and suspension members with nothing more than a couple of grinders and half a wall of measurement tools.

On that note, how many of you guys would like to have some simple shop how to articles to go along with the 3geez stuff? We have the R&D forum, but no one seems to use it. Would a fabrication forum along with some guides to make some of the more popular mods be helpful to you guys?

[A18A]

fabrication forum would be awesome.

I have my mates flux core welder (need to make it gas one day). He never uses it, so it resides in my garage. I would say the quality of my welds are below average, but if I want something done, I'll make it work. My H22 hasn't fallen out of my car yet lol.

It's a really awesome tool to have.

I do "own" a half broken arc welder, but I never use it.

[2oodoor]

There is a milermatic 210 at work i use a good bit it has aluminum and steel leads very nice unit

[AccordEpicenter]

I have a Hobart 120 and Hobart 140 welders, both with C25 gas. I made my turbo manifold, charge piping, exhaust parts etc and brackets for misc parts with the 140 and it works great. I just have angle grinders, one with a grinding wheel and the other with a wire wheel, and a nice milwaukee chop saw and somtimes i can clean things up with a dremel if need be. But yeah, you can make just about anything with this type of setup.

[A20A1]

I want a gas/aluminum conversion kits for my Lincoln so I can run the smaller solid wire to do the thinner gauge metals, also weld aluminum apparently.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K610-1/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K664-2/
$275.43 incl./Shipping to Hawaii

My best investment aside from the welder itself was a good helmet, for a while I was using the hand held face shield that came with my welder and it didn't make things easy.

[Vanilla Sky]

My Miller is spool gun compatible. That's the biggest thing I'd look for, because aluminum wire tends to kink if given the chance. The pisser is that a spool gun is as expensive as my welder.

Hobart also builds some good welders. They're a subsidiary of Miller, so you may find some parts to be identical to Miller. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but Hobarts used to come with Miller torches.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see as many of you have welders as have reported in thus far. Now we all need to start building cool stuff.

[2oodoor]

I would like to build a custom hood like an all metal riser like the oem but raised up 2 or 3 in. Id cut the oem style up about 1.25. In for the overlap and eiher add mtal to the factory panel or possibly use mustang hood skin as donar. Retaining the original hood of course.
All this to make more room underneath<

[Vanilla Sky]

I've always thought about taking 2 Accord hoods and using the body line that's already there, making a taller cowl hood.

[2oodoor]

I've always thought about taking 2 Accord hoods and using the body line that's already there, making a taller cowl hood.

Thats like what I was saying but you said it better

[Vanilla Sky]

Right on.

[Dr_Snooz]

I have an old Dayton something-or-other stick welder waiting for me up the hill. I just need to go pick it up. It was my father's before he died. It's about the size of a large ice chest, but must weigh 90 lbs. I haven't a clue how to use it, so once I get it, I'll be massacring a lot of welds trying to learn.

I also want to learn how to fiberglass. I've done some surfboard repairs but no fab work.

Edit: I think a fab forum would be a credit to the board. We have some serious skill here that we need to show off to the world.

[AccordEpicenter]

My Miller is spool gun compatible. That's the biggest thing I'd look for, because aluminum wire tends to kink if given the chance. The pisser is that a spool gun is as expensive as my welder.

Hobart also builds some good welders. They're a subsidiary of Miller, so you may find some parts to be identical to Miller. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but Hobarts used to come with Miller torches.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see as many of you have welders as have reported in thus far. Now we all need to start building cool stuff.

Yes this is exactly right. Hobart and Miller are made by the same company with similar parts in most machines, and the Millers are a little better made with better quality parts.

[87roach]

The Miller I bought was a great purchase and I never looked back, seriously awesome to be able to zap things together when I want and not having to source someone out to waste my time and money.

[cygnus x-1]

I want a gas/aluminum conversion kits for my Lincoln so I can run the smaller solid wire to do the thinner gauge metals, also weld aluminum apparently.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K610-1/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LCN-K664-2/
$275.43 incl./Shipping to Hawaii

It is SO worth converting to gas with MIG. Flux core works ok but it's hard to use on thin materials without blowing holes. And it's very smoky which is bad news in enclosed spaces (garage).

For aluminum consider getting a spool gun.

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-K2532-.../dp/B000LPWIJK

Newer Lincolns are plug and play with this gun. The older ones will need some rewiring but it's not that hard to do. It is a bit expensive but will make aluminum welding much less of a hassle. I recently picked up one of these guns for my Lincoln 175 but haven't really even tried it yet. Been too busy with other work.

Also you will need a tank of straight argon for aluminum. C25 will kinda-sorta work but the welds will be really porous and generally crappy.


C|

[AccordEpicenter]

guys tell me for welding aluminum, forget the spoolgun and go straight to TIG, they say its the way to go by far.

[Vanilla Sky]

TIG is without a doubt much nicer looking, but you can get perfectly serviceable welds with a MIG and spool gun.

If I had only one machine and couldn't afford a multi-process machine, I'd get a big Miller or Lincoln MIG with a spool gun. I don't want to TIG everything.

If you guys have issues finding good deals on welders, start going to shops, any kind of shop that might have a welder, and ask if they have a welder they're looking to get rid of. It's incredibly common for shops to upgrade and keep the old one around for "bitch work", only to have it sit and collect dust while the new one gets used all the time. One of my buddy's shops has 2 spare welders, a Lincoln and a Miller. They have a third big Miller that sees all of the work.

[cygnus x-1]

TIG is without a doubt much nicer looking, but you can get perfectly serviceable welds with a MIG and spool gun.

It also depends on what you're after. If you just need to tack stuff together and aren't concerned too much with looks then MIG is just fine, and it's way faster. TIG is also expensive, figure at least $1000 to do it right with Al. If you want pretty welds and/or need to do finer work then go for TIG if you can afford it.


C|

[Vanilla Sky]

Agreed. To me, TIG is for precision work or something you need to look good. MIG is for steel and just getting the job done. Pretty much anything can be welded with any process, pick what your wallet can afford and what your primary goals are.

I'm into welding for body work and exhaust work. Some cages and stuff. I've been doing well with a flux core welder, so MIG was the logical step up. If I wanted to work on thin stainless and any aluminum as my primary materials, I'd skip straight over to TIG.

No matter, I'm learning it all. No reason to only learn half of something.

[hondalude86]

I bought a used hobart handler 140 last summer for 250 bucks! It came with the little basic pony cart (made by hobart), random spools of wire (mostly flux core), an autodimming facesheild, and an upgraded teflon lined miller torch on it. works great! I love it, and only recently did i upgrade to gas. Insane how much easier and cleaner gas is. I also bought an argon tank, but haven't filled it yet. Here is a picture of me welding...

[cygnus x-1]

Just thought I would mention; For MIG on regular steel you need an argon/CO2 mix gas. For stainless and aluminum you need straight argon. For TIG you use straight argon for most everything.

C|

[A20A1]

I bought a used hobart handler 140 last summer for 250 bucks! It came with the little basic pony cart (made by hobart), random spools of wire (mostly flux core), an autodimming facesheild, and an upgraded teflon lined miller torch on it. works great! I love it, and only recently did i upgrade to gas. Insane how much easier and cleaner gas is. I also bought an argon tank, but haven't filled it yet. Here is a picture of me welding...

Nice welding jacket. I need one, I was welding something above my head and wrapped my head in a wet towel but had plenty of molten sparks go right thru my clothing and embed themselves into my shoulder and forearm.

[Vanilla Sky]

I need a set of leather coveralls for welding under my Jeep. I have a nomex balaclava that I wear when I'm welding anything overhead, but it still doesn't protect anything but my head.

[nswst8]

Yeh, my brother owns a welding shop in Bakersfield, CA and I go as often as I can, I have a Millermatic 211. It is dual voltage 110/230. I'm nowhere near as good as he is but it is great to have a full shop to play around in.

[Oldblueaccord]

My Miller is spool gun compatible. That's the biggest thing I'd look for, because aluminum wire tends to kink if given the chance. The pisser is that a spool gun is as expensive as my welder.

Hobart also builds some good welders. They're a subsidiary of Miller, so you may find some parts to be identical to Miller. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but Hobarts used to come with Miller torches.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see as many of you have welders as have reported in thus far. Now we all need to start building cool stuff.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...2227_200482227

I bought this one last year. I was thinking I would use the gun with regular wire and keep the machine set for light gauge wire. Sadly I wired it up and ran it on flux core for 30 secs and haven't used it since. I had a chance to weld up a pickup truck AL tool box with it but I didn't have the argon bottle and mines brand new full. You can't do lighter gauge AL with it.


I still grab the old Century 110v. its like grabbing a hammer out of the bottom drawer of my tool box its so easy.That and about 80' of 10 guage extension cord cant go wrong.

wp

[Buzo]

So electric arc welders are obsolete? Its the one I have at home .
I used it the last time to modify my dizzy and convert it into a cam sensor, I use it mostly for "pointing" things together, not for welding big surfaces.

I also recall I saw one in a shop made with a 5 gals can filled with salt and water, I believe. Not sure how it was interconnected, but it worked pretty good!