Anything welding

it also depends on the thickness of the box tubing. both of these are 2x2 box tubing the one on the left is 1/8 the right is 1/4

 

I have a 140 I use for stainless only.

 

What is a SAS swap?

 

Solid axle swap.

 

thanks

 

what do you need to weld with a solid axle?

 

You need to know how to weld to switch your truck from independent front suspension to a solid front axle.

Apparently it is important to some people to do this.

 

That Lincoln you linked - Open the box pull the cover and look at the drive rolls. If they are plastic walk away. They will wear and you will be waiting for Home Depot to get you parts.

I don't agree with this BS about all you need is 120v. They are great for jobs never exceeding 1/8" material and perfect conditions. We used to have one (slightly heavier duty) at work for when we needed to do on site jobs. It was useless on flux core and on gas it worked not bad but was very underpowered for anything but the lightest of jobs. My miller mig is at the lighter end of 220v welders and roughly equivalent to the Lincoln 120v from work. Night and day difference. The Lincoln is garbage in comparison. Run the Lincoln in 220 and then they seem comparable.

I listen to people on multiple forums tell the world the way it is regarding welders. Most of them don't know jack. Fact is the newb welder is going to buy the cheapest piece of crap because someone told them 120v is fine. Then years later they may try a 220v decent welder and realize there is a difference. Just like welding helmets sure the HF shield is fine. My eyes get tired after a few hours but it works great. My co-worker and I were on a repair that took about 4 hours of solid welding so he took over and grabbed my Speedglas helmet and was amazed at how much better it was. Really a $60 helmet is equivalent to a $500+ helmet? Miller gets to sell a welder for 3 times the Chinese and they are equivalent? There is a reason the top brands are more expensive. There is a reason the big box stores only sell the cheaper crap that industrial welding stores don't.

Buy whatever you want. Be happy or disappointed. It is your money. My suggestion is to INVEST in your equipment instead of just buying a piece of equipment.

 

When it comes to beginner MIG welding, 2 terms that are thrown around a lot.

Flux core And solid core.

Flux core does not need a shielding gas. It works very well, but is prone to heavy spatter and hot BB's. Flux core works very good if you will be outside. It is not effected by the wind screwing up your weld. Personally, I have a great fear of fire. I won't use it for inside welding or welding on a vehicle. The primer paint on car bodies is very flammable and the hot BB's can start a fire.

Solid core wire uses a shielding gas to protect the weld as it is produced. Either straight CO2 or a combination of CO2 and Argon. Some are using a Blend called TriMix. It has Helium as well as the other 2 I listed.

Duel shield was mentioned, its not used much, if at all by a home, hobbyist welder. Purely industrial use.

I've said many times that a Welder is a one time purchase. A quality unit will last your lifetime.

A smaller 240 volt machine would be my 1st choice, but if I did not have 240 volt electrical supply, I would have A Hobart Handler 140 or a Lincoln or similar size and make sure they come with the gas regulator.

I only have experience with Miller, Lincoln and Hobart. Any of these would be a my first choice of manufacturers. I've only 'heard' good things about the Esab units, so I can't comment.

If I was to buy a dedicated 240 volt machine, the Hobart Iron Man at Tractor Supply would be my 1st choice. This is a stand alone machine, it does not need a cart.

I like stand alone machines because they are difficult for thieves to walk away with. Thieves are lazy.

As for PPE, I would spend a couple dollars at GoodWill and buy an old leather jacket and rip the lining out of it. Suede leather jackets are stupid cheap because no one wants them once they get dirty.

I don't care for welding gloves. I like the plain old all leather work gloves for MIG welding. As long as the cuff of the glove and jacket cover all your arm, you are good.

Welding helmets: I really don't have an issue with the $49 HF helmets. The auto shade is plenty fast. You won't be getting welding flash burns on your eyes using one of them. It takes many hours of starting and stopping the weld process to start to feel irritation. Remember, its not how long you weld using a helmet, its how many times you went from clear shade to dark shade.

Going by memory, the HF helmet changes to dark shade in 1, 35000 of a second. A Speed Glass or Miller Elite takes 1, 54000 of a second. Even though the expensive ones are faster, they are still not faster than the speed of light.

I actually own a HF helmet. Its my go to helmet when I have to weld under a vehicle. I don't give a shit if I beat it up. I'll just grab another.

To make a long story short, yes it can be expensive to start out welding. Most beginning classes for welding will spend much time on safety, which is a good thing. I never had a single welding class. I watched my 1st MIG welding rig demonstration when I was 18. I knew that I needed to learn this skill. Like many, I bought my 1st MIG set up and it was a 120 volt unit. It did everything I needed except for the heaviest of jobs. I owned it for 3 years and sold it to finance my 1st 240 volt rig (still used today). I got 80% of my initial cost selling the 1st welder.

These are things that come to mind. Please ask any other question you want and I'll give my opinion when I can.

Later

Kirk

 

It is not a bad welder for the price, but you would be better off buying something a bit better that is able to grow with you as you get more experience. Something more like the Power Mig 140c. More money but better built. Also go to your local welding supply and ask the counter guys. Afterall, you will be buying gas and consumables from them anyway, and better to give them the business than a big box store.

 

FYI, I am a carpenter. Learned to weld at 17 by myself with some tips from my welder brother. Still use my old Lincoln SP-100 that I have had for almost 20 years.

 

Well said Kirk.
One thing to think about with auto darkening helmets is the amount of sensors. if you weld on a bench this is usually a non-issue. if you weld in tight out of position or weld around other objects the more the better.

 

The tombstone .......classic starter

 

And you can use them to thaw frozen metal pipes. Saw an old timer turn his as low as it would go and attach the ground and the electrode to the pipe. It heated up the pipe and thawed the frozen pipe.

 

Better than the AC Buzzbox I learned on.

 

Buy everything at Harbor Freight. Everything else is too expensive and HF is GOOD ENOUGH.

Jim BobJoeBob has a video on U-TOOB and he shows it can be done with a raccoon on a hamster wheel connected to a generator and two wires shorted to a coat hanger and a nipple clamp. He collects methane from the cow farts for gas because it is much cheaper than those city slicker gas bottles. Good enough right? Add a little JB weld as a cap pass and your welds look tits. It says weld right on the tube.

 

Hell I don't even know where the neatest Harbor Freight is. There isn't one in the state that I know of.

 

Buy as much machine as you can afford.
You read these forums trying to decide what to buy long enough and you'll go crazy. Miller, Lincoln and Hobart are still in buisness because they all make good equipment. You will read horror stories and hero stories with all brands.
I have a blue welder and a red one. Both melt metal at crazy hot tempetures powered by unicorn horns, fuc'n pure magic !

 

Trying to sort out a cheap way to bend tube. Beside actually going to a shop and having it bent the way I want(probably the cheapest and simplest way to get a nice bend, since at this point I don't think any bender above $125-150 would make sense for me). My best two options are a torch and bending over an old rim. Or making a frame around a 12-20 ton hydraulic jack using an old rim as a die.

Anybody have any tricks or homemade rigs for tube bending that can convince me not to go to a professional, or try to make friends with someone who has a bender(which I think everyone would agree is preferable).

 

I take mine to the local muffler shop. I take them a pattern made out of coat hangers.

I ask them to match the pattern.
Never gave more than $20. They love That kind of work.