Looking for a welder

[oldschoolrods]

Cool Happy welding, just try not to catch yourself on fire..............multiple times like i've done And if you want shoot me the serial number of the machine, i can get some more info on it that way.

[Caseys71]

After a small road trip we got it . I ended up taking home a 10lb. spool of .023 wire, and quite a few tips, pretty much anything that he figured he wouldn't use, I can't complain. The bottle was right at 15 lbs, an almost full 2lb. spool of .023 already on it. The guy I got it from was great, we were talking trucks for at least 15-20 minutes, If I would've gotten there a week or so earlier and had a car trailer I could have scored both the welder and a free '73 Bronco he was giving away which he said the guy drove home. I'm pretty excited you might say.. .

Cool I hope you get it. For a tank like that around here new and filled would cost $225 . Looks like a deal.
Kyle

Yea that's the reason I jumped on the deal, $225 sounds about right when I checked with National welders.

Cool Happy welding, just try not to catch yourself on fire..............multiple times like i've done And if you want shoot me the serial number of the machine, i can get some more info on it that way.

, I will do my best, to keep the flames to a minimum, and the learning to a maximum , Also I will get you the S/N in the morning.
Thanks for the help everyone I will be sure to enlighten you on my welding experience .

[Caseys71]

Also does anyone know where to get the kit to run a 10lb. spool on this machine, I will be purchasing one soon.

[stephen44]

Good Job ! - glad you got a 'deal'

don't forget most mig welders have a wire configuration for gas and gasless - so if you do not have one - search on google for the manual and ensure your's is set right.

I am sure someone onhere can help.

enjoy !

Stephen

[Caseys71]

Good Job ! - glad you got a 'deal'

don't forget most mig welders have a wire configuration for gas and gasless - so if you do not have one - search on google for the manual and ensure your's is set right.

I am sure someone onhere can help.

enjoy !

Stephen

Thanks for the advice, I have already heard that you change the polarity of the gun based on whether you were running gas or doing flux core welding, and I will get the manual, I came across it on Millers site just need to find it again.
Thanks, everyone for your guidance, .

[ladykiller]

I don't like the HF welders, but I just bought a rebuilt Campbell Hausfield 110v flux core wire welder for $117 on ebay. It has 4 heat settings, and variable wire speed. I used it on my garage I'm building and some dent side steel w/ .035. The garage is a 20x20 carport that my uncle had hacked up for scrap, got it for free. I welded all the beams back together and everything is great.

I think a lot of the welder attitudes are snobbery, or insufficient training on the equipment. Ask a Harley man if he likes Hondas. Flux welding isn't gonna be exactly like using the gas, but it'll work, and you don't have to buy or rent the tanks or gas. I just bought it to get a little body work done, and to do this garage and other around the house projects. It welded the dent side metal no problem. It ain't always pretty, but it works. My only complaint is that it doesn't weld thicker material, but neither will the comparable name brand 110v welders. I guess that's how it can actually weld on my truck though. If I need something for thicker stuff, I'll go get a Lincoln arc welder from Lowes, about $300 after tax, or about $150 on Craigslist.

I do agree that the gas will give you a cooler, prettier weld, but I didn't have the cash, and this one serves me well. You can get the gas version of mine for $165 rebuilt on ebay (you'll still have to get gas and tanks).

[Caseys71]

Thanks for the contribution! I don't really like the HF welders either but I guess if you were in a pinch they could be modified to do what you need them to do. I say that because I've seen on welding web specifically where guys mod their HF machines to perform just as well as a more expensive machine but with not even half of the cost. That Campbell Hausfield sounds like a nice machine, and $117 is a steal , the settings sound about like the ones on my machine which are plenty for me. That's a lucky find on that carport , glad to hear that you've got a new place to store your trucks , My dad and I just built a shelter for my truck hopefully it will be water-tight and I can move all of my tools in there within the next week or two .

I agree that people don't give Flux-Core welding the credit it deserves because it's:
-Cost Efficient
-Penetrates deeper
-No need to refill gas or purchase a cylinder at all
-Can weld outside without worries of wind blowing shielding gas away
But:
-It tends to run a bit too hot for sheet-metal and on top of skipping around like you would with MIG you'd have to wait for it to cool even longer
-Wire is more expensive
-Have to clean up the welds to get rid of spatter
-Doesn't look as nice

I don't see an issue with it to be honest, and I plan to use it in the future as a matter of fact, but it works best when used in certain conditions where it should be used, I plan to use it for deeper penetration on things like tubing and angle iron and what-not just messing around with little projects here and there that and welding outside in windier conditions because I do most of my welding outside anyways. I'm glad your happy with your purchase and to be honest I thought of purchasing just a straight Flux-Core machine because of cost but, I still wanted the option of trying out MIG welding and now that I've done MIG I love it, But as you said usually when you get an opinion people will automatically shoot down Flux-Cored welding, and I don't believe that it's not for sheet-metal because I've seen people do it and your doing it yourself, many people on this site do it as well I agree with you that a lot of it has to do with your circumstances and your abilities to perfect your welding because some people can make a Flux weld look just as pretty as a MIG. The one thing that was starting to scare me away from MIG was the cost of a bottle and regulators and what-not but I'm glad I was able to find a machine for me and I love mine.

Also $165 for a gas capable machine is not bad at all, I wonder if it came with regulators? And Thanks again for your contribution , and I hope that your machine continues to serve you well .