Anything welding

No worries.

How are your internet skills? If you can post pics of your welds on this site and this thread, we can get you very close to proficient .

I'm from the school of "buy a damn welder and weld ". Post pics and many of us on here will be happy to give pointers.

You can do it!

 

The welders I posted will serve you for a lifetime. The prices divided out over 25 years makes them very economical.

These are not cars that are worn out after 300,000 miles. They are the only purchase you will make.

 

This is a decent welder to get your feet wet on and not break the bank. I was like you, and wanted to learn so I bought a shitty $90 Amazon welder. Good lord it was a piece of shit and I didn't realize it until I upgraded a year later. It was seriously holding me back. This isn't the welder I have, but I have two friends with them, and I've welded with it too and it's a great value.

https://www.eastwood.com/mig-welder...xRfyy1o4dJXaAD3HK8JtZB8dOwP8FaqxoCLUcQAvD_BwE

 

Thanks, I was just gonna mention how crappy, cheap welders disappointed people so much that they walk away from learning to weld.

 

They really do. It's hard to do anything decent with them and I sure as hell would never do anything remotely structural with them. I found little misc BS projects to keep me busy, and once I got the nicer one, gloves were off and started doing bigger things. Knowing what I know now I should have upgraded sooner.

But I don't regret the path I took. That little welder paid for itself after a couple CMCs.

 

All buying a crappy welder does is help you decide if you want a welder or not. You buy a crappy one, use it for a few days and realize if it’s important enough to you to buy one that will actually work. That’s what I did. If the goal is to just stick stuff together crappy will work, personally, my goal was to make things that people would think I paid someone else to do. A crappy welder won’t get you there. I bought a harbor freight welder, used it for a few days and realized it wasn’t gonna cut it. I bought a millermatic 175 and ran it for 10+ years.

A few years ago when I got my Tacoma it gave me the itch again. I bought a Lincoln 180 new off Craigslist for $500. It welded great and I ran it for a few months till I knew I was getting serious again, then went out and bought another miller 180.

Like @EatSleepTacos said, a welder like eastwood or a cheaper 220v lincoln will serve you well and allow you to turn out good quality welds once you grow into it. If you’re looking for a “forever” machine I’d recommend checking out the smaller Miller 220v machines. I think they have a much more robust drive roll system than the other cheap welders, and that’s the most likely thing to give you issues over the long term.

 

Late to the party. I have the Cheapo freight Vulcan 215 welder. Here are some welds I've done with it.

 

Been looking at this one to get into Mig for my first machine (of my own).

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-mig-welder-175-amp-with-spool-gun.html

Being that I already have a 240v outlet for the stick machine, I figured this would be the cheapest way to get into Mig in my garage. That Titanium HF one looked decent too.

 

Just got done building a front hitch for the Tacoma. Hopefully powdercoat hides some of my welding Was done but decided to make some clevis brackets and add them on.

 

Let our son strike his first arc at 5 years old. I was 10 when my dad let me strike mine with his Lincoln buzz box. I saved his and put it in my toolbox.

 

Everybody here is a pro, except I.

 

I have the titanium 140 and I really love it. You’d be happy with the 240v version. One big difference is transformer vs inverter welder with the titanium being inverter.

Transformer is old school and reliable but I love the way my welder burns, seems so pure. Wish you were closer so you could try it.

 

I picked up a cheater lense for my hood and it helped a ton! Went with a 2x magnification and it really helped me focus on what's going on. Now I can get back to working on technique and consistency. Thanks for the tips guys!

 

Outstanding

 

Thanks man!

 

Welded some 10” pipe flanges at work the other day.

 

Yet the Doctor says your eyes are just tired ?? Interesting ?

 

i even changed doctors and the new one said the same thing.

 

I just bought a cheater lens. Also 2x. Can't wait to put it on the hood and get back to practicing.

 

New bean bucket.
Esab warrior tech. $103.00 .
Seems ok so far.

I just can't justify a $300.00 helmet doing production work, gets destroyed too quickly.