Best welder for making bumper?

This.

If you are going to school, learn and decide there. You'll make a much more informed decision.

 

I still am so I will take advantage of whatever machine there is!

 

This

 

Hobart is the ECONOMY line of Miller. Unlike Lincoln which makes very good welders and cheap crap all under the same Lincoln name - sometimes hard to know if yours is decent without doing some serious digging.

I am an adamant believer in buying the BEST welder you can’t afford and keeping it for a very long time or life. Those new to welding buy a welder on price and not quality. I have 3 miller welders and one Eastwood. I bought the Eastwood ONLY after hearing a hands on review by a guy who does VERY HIGH END Tig work. The comparable Miller was 5X more and I bought the Eastwood knowing I will buy that Miller in 5 years.

Why to buy high end like Miller or Lincoln etc? Two reasons with the first because they work and work well. They often have the latest features and are well sorted. My inverter stick welder has hot start technology which makes a massive difference starting an arc especially at low amperages. My Miller inverter Tig is absolute magic at low or high amperages.
Second reason to buy the big names and get the industrial quality (not the big box Lincolns). PARTS!!! At least one big box retailer locally sells a Lincoln mig that while it has the same name and stickers on the case it is 100% incompatible parts wise with the same unit from a welding supply store. They use PLASTIC drive rolls and you can’t go to a welding supply store for parts. You have to get your parts directly through the big box store. I am sure you can guess how long it will take to get back up and running.

Now I get it a dollar is a dollar and you don’t have it to spend right now. Same story across many forums. Then people spout all sorts of BS about I am not a good welder or I am learning so I don’t need a good machine. The other one is a good welder can use any machine and make it work. BS. A good welder can identify the issue with a cheap welder and know how to work around it but that doesn’t mean they can make magic with a poor machine.
I started off with a small AC stick. I basically gave up so many times because it was such a bad welder. I can use one successfully now but I don’t because it is so frustrating. Once I bought my first Miller I realized how much better I could weld. Because I wasn’t fighting the machine I could learn because I could be consistent. When you fight the machine is it you or the machine? While laid off one time I worked for an amusement company and tried fixing the frame of one of those video games with the car bodies that moved. Their welder was in such poor condition I had trouble making a 1/4” bead. I brought mine in and fixed 10 games in the same time it took me to fix one with their welder. It was easier, the welds were better quality and I could work on cruise control compared to being completely worn out using their crap machine.

My recommendation is to buy used. Buy something awesome that has a few miles on it. My Miller Mig has quite the number of miles on it. Now that I need an aluminum spool gun I am looking to finally upgrade. I already have offers for what I paid (used) 8 years ago and I have yet to advertise it. Couldn’t do that if I bought new or bought a cheapie. Do yourselves a favour and save a little bit longer to get something decent. You will learn faster and become a better welder by buying better.

 

Well shit, I really really appreciate the reply and a opinion on really everything! One question I have is, with the cheap welders, is it that they don't put out good welds or they break down? After an okay amount of welds?

 

Depends on the unit. The cheap lincoln mig's have plastic drive rolls. That is what pushes your mig wire through the whip. So when learning you tend to stick the tips a lot which with plastic drive rolls makes the wear even worse. Add to the fact that you have to order parts from the big box store you bought them from and fight for them to deal with their supplier it seems a really bad choice for a long term purchase.

Now there is a "decent" Chinese make that I know a lot of people have been using(Everlast). Once again parts can be tricky. The distributor has been fantastic I am told but the manufacturer keeps upgrading parts so how long before your parts are obsoleted? The same people who raved about this make also swore about them when they broke down. My miller's have NEVER broke down. Doesn't mean they won't tomorrow but they last and last.

Now this is where my Eastwood falls in. Chinese. But it has a decent reputation for what it is. The miller tig I want is $5500 just for the unit. Then I still have to get cables, torch, cooler etc. so closer to $7000 plus taxes. The Eastwood AC/DC Tig was $1050CDN taxes in. It isn't my day to day machine. It is what I use exclusively for aluminum. I use my miller for DC tig. So the Eastwood serves a purpose. It isn't my first choice but it has enough features to get the job done. My only fear is it may fail just like an Everlast. I hope I can find the miller I want used or can justify the big bucks when it does.

So there are issues with cheaper welders as to durability. They don't have the features that better welders do. So do they make a nice weld? Sometimes yes. Depends on the particular model. Sometimes cheaper welders like say a Hobart are just older Millers with a new case and paint with Hobart stickers on the side. But short of welding side by side I can't say if one of the cheaper ones is just as good. Miller for instance has AUTOSET technology in their new entry level mig welders. It is like semi auto setup. Never tried one but a friend says it really helps because he is a hobby welder and doesn't weld all day. So that feature may be worth a few hundred for someone learning.
Stick welding - hot start technology is like magic. Definitely something I would want if I was learning stick. It makes life so much easier. Low buck models won't have this so once again the big names win for me.
Tig - depending on your application and your style you may or may not need certain features. My DC tig I don't use a foot pedal. I had a switch on the torch that I replaced with a push button. I set my amperage and away I go. I don't do many repairs with it only new builds so once I figure out my setting I don't need to adjust beyond my speed and filler. On my AC tig for aluminum I NEED a foot pedal. Aluminum needs lots of heat to start and then you move and adjust your heat as you go. Different material with completely different characteristics than steel. Pulse would be nice. But for now it is doing what I need. When I make the step up to the Miller I will have a totally different machine with so many more features. So is my Eastwood comparable to the Miller? Well yes they do the same things in terms of ability. But it is like a Kia and a Ferrari. Yes they both will get you there. But you can't say they are comparable.

So in conclusion I would always go with an industrial brand and pay a bit for those new technologies that make life easier. I want parts off the shelf or easily sourced. I want to INVEST in my equipment so that as I learn I am investing in my success. I hope that I won't have to buy another one in a year or two because my initial purchase is junk. I learned my lesson by being cheap.
Go to every local welding supply store and ask questions. I mean proper industrial welding suppliers. Listen to everyone and then make a decision. Today you want a welder for one task. Who knows what you may make tomorrow if you have a good machine that is easy to use.

 

Didn't read all the comments, but a couple things: Youtube has hundreds of hours of worthwhile video to watch about welding. I would go with any of the big names, just please don't go to harbor freight and buy a mig welder. They are total trash and you just will waste money because you realize that you need a higher quality welder, so you end up with two welders and only use one.

Biggest thing to get through that learning curve is read read read and watch a lot of videos. I am self taught thanks to youtube and reading articles and now I make decent side cash for welding for folks who need projects done. Just remember, take your time and learn the skill and you will start appreciating good looking quality welds. If you have to get the grinder out to grind your welds, that makes you a grinder, not a welder lol. Plus it wastes a lot of time. Good luck.

 

Sometimes good, sometimes absolutely completely inaccurate information by a yahoo. For the noob you won’t know the difference between the two. Take the time to try a proper school. Many colleges offer night classes or weekends just for welding.

One guy on YouTube -Weldingtipsandtricks.com has some decent videos. Sometimes advanced and not really entry stuff. I haven’t dug too deep to see if he has more entry level stuff.

 

Totally agree, and good point, but from my experience most content has been pretty good, and with practice you realize what works and what doesn't. The issue with proper school is what everyone else has an issue with...Time and Money! I'd say if welding is a skilled trade that you want to pursue, then go to welding school. But for the average weekend warrior or even the hobbyist type, find some larger more well-known youtube welding channels and go for it.

 

My favourite quote of all time: “The enemy of great is good. As in good enough.”

Time and Money is no excuse. The fact is most people figure they can wing it and win. So why is it that those same people struggle just like everyone else when they go to school instead of crushing it because they are so good? Because YouTube or not they aren’t nearly as good as they thought they were.

Maybe the world needs a new rating system. YouTube good.

 

One of the things I have seen with pretty much all the China made welders and plasma units is those that work seem to do so quite well for a period of time.

The majority of failures seem to be right out of the box.

The down side is no tech support or parts as of yet we have been looking into doing warranty work with no communication from the China companies.

In this day the best advice is read the operators manual .

It sucks to pay $120.00 for what you thought was a failure under warranty only to find out it is normal for that machine.

Go to a real class if possible It is so easy to pick up bad habits that are so hard to break.

Funny thing about the Lincoln Big Box store welders Welding Distributors can not even order them.

Maybe Canada is different we can order any part with a Lincoln Part # but a distributor is likely to say we can`t get them go where you bought the machine !!

We get the Big Box Store Lincolns for warranty and repair all the time.

 

Thank you to all you guys, for the info opinions and sharing your builds. Along with what not to buy and what to buy. Tomorrow I will be heading in to start getting welding going, I still have a few monthes of hs left so I will take every chance I have of using our welders and what I can figure out in the time I have and figure out my decision from there, I'll try and keep ya guys updated on what I figure out and see as I learn!

 

@T4RFTMFW