anyone good with a 110v stick welder?

[datsunfish]

So I picked up a 70amp 110v stick welder. I fooled around with it a bit with 1/8" and 3/16" steel and it does great. The problem I am having is sheet metal work. I can kinda get it flowing with the real thin rod but no go with the bigger stuff. The problem is that the rod sticks to the metal and just cant seem to get a arc. I have to glide it across the metal until it lights up but that takes forever. I have used a 220v arc welder before and can get an arc from about 1/4" but this little guy is being stubborn.

Any tips to getting an arc would be appreciated. I got alot of sheet metal work to do and I want it to come out nice and not in big old blobs.

thanks

[dattojoe]

turning up the amps would be my guess. What guage material are you trying to weld.

[datzenmike]

I helped a neighbor with his and, yeah it sticks on thin stuff and if you turn it up it blows holes. Try drying the rods in the oven, they absorb moisture. Always keep them in a sealed container and dry.

[thisismatt]

Stick welder...sheetmetal....what?

[datsunfish]

Cool thanks. It has 2 settings and I tried it on both. And it does just what you said Mike. All in all it only cosy $50 and it does great on thicker metal and I will have plenty of projects for that too.

How about gasless 110v wire feeds? In my experience they tend to blob a bit rather than lay a nice bead.

I dont know the guage it is but its the same as floorboards and body panels so probably around 1/16".

[datzenmike]

That would be a better choice. Price wise and plug in anywhere. I asked around and everyone said it would be fine but I would wish I had go the 220 volt one, so I did.

[Cuts metal like mad]

for sheet metal the 110v mig is a pretty good choice, for mild steel the 110v arc is ok choice... no serious projects for either one.

 

Then again, datsunoob brought over his lincoln 140?? (110v) and burned some metal for me, he did the engine frame mounts and they look good and solid to me, I believe he made 3 passes?? Good enough... :D

 

EDIT: Oh yeah... duh, I can weld sheet with a big arc welder... big adjustable knob though... but I haven't been able to make any clean beads with a 110v arc... but good luck anyway. Other than the thinkness what exactly are you trying to do?

Edited November 11, 2008 by zuum510

[INDY510]

I need to do some sheet metal work................ :glare:

I want to get a 115v mig

The Lincoln from home depot is $359.99 and can weld without gas using flux cored wire

 

Hobart has 115v migs for $406-$628

 

Miller's cheapest 115v mig is $798 and $809 for the millermatic 140 with auto-set

 

How much does gas cost???

How much are the tanks to rent vs. buy???

[moparvwfreak]

that reminds me, i need new cables for my welder. tehn i can get back in the swing of welding again. maybe mae some bumpers or brush guards for the datsun.

[Z-train]

Ya'll REALLY want a gas rig.Much cleaner & user friendly

[rat tail dragger]

i use a lincoln 110 v welder wire feed with argon co2 o35 wire welds like a dream i told you datsunfish i have a wire feed you can borrow needs trigger fixed welds good to but whatever you never listen to the crazys hahahah

[datsunfish]

i use a lincoln 110 v welder wire feed with argon co2 o35 wire welds like a dream i told you datsunfish i have a wire feed you can borrow needs trigger fixed welds good to but whatever you never listen to the crazys hahahah

 

Yeah. I just gotta come get it. I listen,I just dont get around to things in a timely fashion.

[Guest DatsuNoob]

I need to do some sheet metal work................ :glare:

I want to get a 115v mig

The Lincoln from home depot is $359.99 and can weld without gas using flux cored wire

 

Hobart has 115v migs for $406-$628

 

Miller's cheapest 115v mig is $798 and $809 for the millermatic 140 with auto-set

 

How much does gas cost???

How much are the tanks to rent vs. buy???

 

DONT DO IT!!!!!!! Dont ever buy a home depot welder! The model HD.... etc. They're made in Mexico exclusively for Home Depot and they suck! I've used one and they really are no good. I went across the street to Lowes and got one that didn't have the HD prefix. It's a Lincoln Pro-mig 140. It came with a spool of flux-core wire (garbage can), and some .025" stuff, gun tips, etc. Right around $600 with a hood. Pretty decent little machine, but I wished I would've bought the 180 for the versatility of doing thicker metal. A week after I bought it, they came out with the same machine with all aluminum internals instead of ABS plastic ones. Get out your phone book and call your local welding retailers for the best price. Pacific Welding Supply is the cheapest on a bottle refill I've found. Anyway, I had to crank up the heat to the full setting and mess with the speed control until it felt right to do Zuum510's mounts. Thankfully he had a X-member I could use as a test piece. They advise multiple passes with a 140. anything less I think is a waste of time unless you're buying it exclusively for sheet metal work.

[rat tail dragger]

DONT DO IT!!!!!!! Dont ever buy a home depot welder! The model HD.... etc. They're made in Mexico exclusively for Home Depot and they suck! I've used one and they really are no good. I went across the street to Lowes and got one that didn't have the HD prefix. It's a Lincoln Pro-mig 140. It came with a spool of flux-core wire (garbage can), and some .025" stuff, gun tips, etc. Right around $600 with a hood. Pretty decent little machine, but I wished I would've bought the 180 for the versatility of doing thicker metal. A week after I bought it, they came out with the same machine with all aluminum internals instead of ABS plastic ones. Get out your phone book and call your local welding retailers for the best price. Pacific Welding Supply is the cheapest on a bottle refill I've found. Anyway, I had to crank up the heat to the full setting and mess with the speed control until it felt right to do Zuum510's mounts. Thankfully he had a X-member I could use as a test piece. They advise multiple passes with a 140. anything less I think is a waste of time unless you're buying it exclusively for sheet metal work.

my lincoln welder is definately not from home depot and its 220 welder and i use it mostly for sheet metal and excavator trailers i bought mine from pacific welding about 5 yrs ago ,i also have a 110 lincoln mig welder that has no problem at all laying down a nice bead you and ive been welding for sometime now ,the ones from home depot have lincolns name on them and kinda the same parts but there like the fake honda bikes you buy at shucks so if you want something that works good have to pay for the real thing

[Figbuck]

I wanted a welding machine for years but my spare money always went into woodworking tools. I tried to do my homework, talk to welders, read stuff in the library and online, so when I did spend hard earned cash, I got the biggest bang for the (fig)buck.

 

I spent about $1600 on a really nice Miller machineand auto-darkening hat. Most of the people that I talked to said don't mess around, Miller is the hot-set-up. Wether it is or not, that is what I hear the most and there is a industrial welding supply right down the street that had decent street prices. It is a joy to use and maybe I spent way more money than I might ever recoup through it's use. But, having invested thousands of dollars in tools and equipment through the years, I look for a low level of frustration.

 

I have bought lots of cheap harbor freight type tools that I knew were only going to last to produce the job and were just a cost of doing business when I killed them. However, many times these tools had a high lever of frustration. The were hard to use, broke or what ever. You get what you pay for... if you are lucky.

 

I heard nothing good about the Home Depot Lincoln wire feed machines. Still, all anecedotal. I looked on craigslist for months and these machine come up on a regular basis. You don't see that many pro quality machines and when they do get posted, they get grabbed up fast.

 

I was doing finish carpentry and millwork installation for a commercial contractor in August. I met this guy who was fabbing a intricate ornamental iron hand railing for stairs. He rolled up to the job in a tricked out Mazda sports car. Just kidding, I said, nice work truck man. He said he was the next door neighbor to the contractor and it was just a side job to help his friend out. He used to be a certified welder on exotic aircraft metals and got injured on the job and disabled. For three or four years he has been working as a bar tender and said he made good money, it was clean, not dangerous and easy work.

 

He didn't have any tools anymore, so he went and bought a new Miller machine, pulled the box out of the trunk of the Mazda and set it up. He laughed and said, " I should probably do a test weld but there is no scrap" and just started arcing away. After a few minutes, he said he was really impressed with this tools autoset feature. He did a really nice job and I think he got an auto-darkening hat too for less than $600.

 

I got to say that he was working outside and I am totally spoiled by gas. Go for the gas if you can manage it.

 

Hindsight is 20/20, but this line of autoset machines didn't come out until months after I got my machine. I probably could have got the welding capabiity that I really needed for a thousand bucks less... oh well, what can I say... I'm just a figbuck.

 

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_140_autoset/