Thinking about trying my hand at welding. I've come across what I think is a deal on a Campbell Hausfeld 115volt mig and I'm thinking about picking it up. Not planning on doing anything heavy duty, just replace a lower cowl, weld up the side vents & hood. Do you think this unit would be adequate?
I highly reccommend the Lincoln pro mig 140. Available at Lowes for around $500. It will do everything you would need it to do and then some. This is what I use to build with.
Don't get sucked in to buying a cheep rig. Buy a lincoln or miller they are made to be around for a long time. If you look at the guts of these compared to a hobart you will see the hobart is not in the same league. Buy something that will last. I have already used my welder far more than I ever thought I would. steve
Robert, Most all of the rigs today are made by the china clipper express, i think at least some of the Lincoln's are made in Poland. Seems we make almost nothng here anymore.
You get what you pay for. You are only going to be able to flux-core weld with a campbell hausfeld, and you really need to be Mig welding. Miller, Lincoln, Hobart(made and owned by Miller) Esab, are the rigs to be looking at. I have two Hobarts, a 135 and 210. Maybe you can find a used welder. Chris
Make sure the welder you buy is gas compatible, you don't want to be doing patch panels with flux core wire. Like the guys are telling you, you get what you pay for. If you are just looking for a 110V welder, the Lincoln SP 100 is a good welder. I've had one that I have been using for the last 20 years at home. I've done sub frames, patch panels, rear end mounts, motor mounts and all kinds of little fab jobs with it. I've even welded 3/8" plate with it but I had to preheat the metal first. It's been a good unit and has never let me down....Big Tim
I have a CH 115 welder with the mig kit. It does a decent job, but it only has 4 heat settings. 1-2 hi and lo. Seems like I always needed a heat setting that falls somewhere inbetween those settings. My brother in law stumbled on a little barely used Lincoln and actually paid less for it than I did mine. Way better unit. While the cheapies will do the job, save a little more money and get a lot more welder. Bob
Thanks guys for your responses. I understand what you're saying about the other the quality and versability of the lincoln and others mentioned. My line of thought was: 1. I've never done it before and have no clue of what I'm doing 2. I maybe horrible at it and have to turn around and pay someone to fix my screw ups 3. I'm not gonna be doing anything major and there's not much that needs to be welded. I may be better off just paying someone after all. I'd hate to a hole in something!
Get some chunks of angle iron or other thick steel. Turn the welder up and begin to stick the steel together. You will see what happens and begin to understand it. Work on making your welds nicer, then turn down your welder and do thinner stuff. My neighbor borrowed my welder and watched a You tube video, then welded up his mailbox. The better the welder, the more you look like you know what you are doing. I taught myself with a small welder. It would do the job, but would take multiple passes on thick stuff. I got a better welder and I look like I know what I'm doing. Remember, a grinder can pretty up some really nasty looking welds, just make shure you have enough penetration.
Well I bought it anyway. It showed up on Craigslist again and this time the price was half of what it was listed for previously ($60). I went by to just take a look at it. The lady showing it said that her husband had bought it and never used it. He's on drugs and recently just walked out leaving her without food for three weeks. She can't work due to a disability. I went ahead and bought it to help her out and probably would have given her more if i'd had the cash on me.
Slowly learning how to use this thing. The hardest thing so far has been overcoming my instintive tendency to pull away when the sparks start flaying! The welds aint pretty, kinda look like rat droppings but they hold. Working on trying to determine the right wire speed and heat setting to keep from burning holes in the metal.
practice, practice, practice Ya know~ This is how Evan got started... Post up some pictures when it gets "purdy".
Use thicker steel and turn it up till you get the hang of the bead and the speed and flow. Try spacing the pieces a little apart and fill welding or stitching. get used to the thick stuff and back down from there. The thin stuff is a pain and will burn through easily.
Practice, practice, practice. Definately doing that. Just how thick do you think this will safely weld?
Make sure the metal is clean, you can use a wire wheel to clean down in to the grove or some kind of paint stripper cause if you don't your welder will pop and spatter on you when you try to weld. Only weld an inch at a time and keep a pressured up water hose with a spray nozzle by you so you can cool off the welds. Watch the blue heat marks and don't let them spread out away from the weld or you will warp the hood. weld an inch then start an inch away from the last weld and weld back to it. this is called back welding and it will help in keeping the metal from distorting. Stringer beads with less oscillation will work better than an oscillating bead, they will help keep the heat down to a minimum. KEEP THE METAL COOL! and you should be fine. Same thing go's when grinding, don't let the metal get hot and turn blue on you....Good luck... Big Tim
Migatronic Danmark MMA/TIG welding for farm use ect. Megatronic I just bought a new 200 amps Tig /MMA welding machine for 1 fase 230 volts. Compaired with Esab and Kempi in the same range and price this apparatus comes out very well. Allmost every kind a metal as copper, titane, steel, aluminum is posseble to weld with it. It has an standard package but i bought an extra movable TIG pistolhead when working underneath a car or traktor. Gas and a manometer is not included !
