or anybody else who uses a welder on a regular basis... i am interested in learning how to weld to fabricate parts for my vehicles (bumpers, skids, etc.) my question is, what would be a good, portable welder to learn on/work with that would make strong enough welds? wire feed or rod feed? it wouldn't nned to be industrial quality of course, as it wouldn't be used all day every day, but something i can work with enough to learn to make reliable welds. thanks for your input!

 

In my opinion I would go with a Miller or Lincoln unit.
Now the question is wire or stick.
Now ask yourself this ,how thick of metal are ya welding?
If you decide on a wire welder , I'd go and use a GMAW unitor mig welderas yall know it , just because
I hate flux core wire and when your workin with gas you have cleaner welds.

 

Plus then you have the option of running dual shield

 

probably mostly around 1/4" thick metals, maybe occasionally a little more. how portable are the welders that use gas? are they easy to move around? i imagine they take up a lot of room... will a wire welder make strong enough welds?

 

Will a wire welder make strong enuff welds ? Are ya kiddin me ?
What do ya think holds together most of the steel and aluminum products on the market?
Stick welding anymore is only found in ship yards, pipeline, and heavy industrial equipment.
Here's Miller website. www.millerwelds.com .
If ya look at the GMAW welders you can see they are affordable.
And they can be compact just remember you ain't gonna need any thing past light industrial.

 

gotcha... most of the welders i see are rod, but that fits in with what you said... i work out in the oil fields. any specific model you would recommend for a beginner?

 

Ya know I would get one with all the trimmings , but thats me.
I'm use to good equipment , but thats because of the shop I work at .
For a home user I would recommend anyone of the models that go to the 252 series.
But don't go any smaller than the 4th step up.

 

Heya, well it all depends on what u intend to do,
mig welder arent friendly if u need to move around,u need a spool gun and flux core wire or if u use solid core wire u need a bottle of gaz and regulator!! this mean alot of stuff to move...
on my truck i got a wolfpack gaz generator and i carry 200 ' of ground and 300' of whip cable 1' thick,
this is really heavy but i can weld about anything customer can ask.
In my truck i have also a maxair 150 stick welder,very portable( hook right on fuse panel) and i carry a tig whip whit a tiny bottle of 3mix for welding Stainless steel or tiny pieces of steel.
If u plan on a static welder for ur garage,u cant go wrong whit a miller or lincoln mig unit,u need to know that mig welding even if its require a bottle of gaz(else u use flux core wire) is REALLY REALLY more user friendly if u arent able to weld already than learning stick.and unless ur skilled whit rod much more clean weld.
Its goes really much faster too and u dont have to bother whit flux this way.
If u often weld dirty or rusted metal u better get a stick welder and 7013 rod but be sure to get some extra wire whitch can be seperated,this way if u need to weld outside u will be able too.
It all depend of what u do,whit a fixed mig unit u wont be able to go outside as whips is not extendable
and ur not supposed to weld outside due to wind but i often weld outside steel,stainless even aluminimum,
just crank the gas psi to 40 and get a wind shield of any material and ur good to go

And for strong of weld if u arent skilled whit stick ull get better result whit mig welder,take alot of scrap and triy to stick them all together in different ways,after try to break them,ull discover way to weld to prevent pieces from breaking,if u weld one side of a piece and bend the piece the same side ur got a weld its will break more easily than if u put a single weld the other side,think about the weld like a hinge...
weld both side when u can but weld the good side when u cant acces every side.
Remember i use stick when no other options is available like on the field and mig welding as often as i can,i dont want my welders to waste MY time and cash using stick when they dont need it and TIG only when small pieces and stainless i dont want to buff cuz TIG is WAY SLOWER than mig and i dont really trust TIG for parts that work hard,depends the application and thickness of metal...

 

I agree with Wali on almost every thing except the Tig , thats just because it's what I do
and I love it. As for the mig versus flux core , you can buy a mig machine and just not use the the gas at times and change the
roll of wire from solid to corewhen needed. This way if you gotta take it some where you can leave the bottle at home.

 

thanks guys!