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Wed May 01, 2024 2:29 pm

I've owned. few Lincoln MIG welders over the year, some worked perfect some had quite a bit of miles on em'. There are so many brands out now, what's a good budget MIG or FLUX welder preferably through Amazon, I have a gift card. I'll be welding in floor pans and repairing a couple door hinges.

Thanks in advance, links encouraged :)

Wed May 01, 2024 4:23 pm

I would check your local Craigslist, FB Market place, or, if you have a local paper, the classifieds. Also check yard sales, estate sales, and barn sales.
I say this because to me the best budget welder is a good used welder. I bought a Mac Tools 135, made by Miller, for $200 off FB market place, picked up an empty mig tank to exchange for $50, and an amazon regulator and hose kit for about $30.
You can buy any cheap welder, but with cheap cheap Chinesium welders you get what you pay for. Many budget welders can be very limited in use, hard to get a proper weld bead with, and can cause much more headache than their worth. I'd stick to the brands like Hobart, Miller, Lincoln Electric, or Everlast welders. Everlast has some good welder kits for around $400-500 and with a lot of videos that show their capability, I think they're a great entry level if you want new. Otherwise find a used unit, even checkout body or machine shops that are closing as they could have everything you need to start.
I would definitely use MIG over FLUX as mig is cleaner, produces far less spatter, and gives a larger range of use, like .024 wire that's great for welding thin and rusty metal. Flux is going to be easier in that you don't need a bottle of shielding gas, but you're going to get a lot more spatter, a LOT more fumes that you must wear a respirator for (you should always wear one while welding though) and you can't make a pass over a welded spot without cleaning off the slag first. Hope this helps!

Wed May 01, 2024 4:53 pm

Lincoln is for welding, and Miller afterwards...

Wed May 01, 2024 7:13 pm

Go to the Paint / Body Forum. There you will find a sticky dedicated to welding equipment.

Wed May 01, 2024 9:12 pm

70’DerpyDerby wrote: I would check your local Craigslist, FB Market place, or, if you have a local paper, the classifieds. Also check yard sales, estate sales, and barn sales.
I say this because to me the best budget welder is a good used welder. I bought a Mac Tools 135, made by Miller, for $200 off FB market place, picked up an empty mig tank to exchange for $50, and an amazon regulator and hose kit for about $30.
You can buy any cheap welder, but with cheap cheap Chinesium welders you get what you pay for. Many budget welders can be very limited in use, hard to get a proper weld bead with, and can cause much more headache than their worth....

Thanks, yeah I tried my hand at Flux for the first time in 20+ years, I always used mig argon, while I was shocked at the "ok" welds running flux, in a bind, MIG has always been impressive.

Wed May 01, 2024 9:14 pm

Abscate wrote: Lincoln is for welding, and Miller afterwards...
Haha, I think I get that? Are you implying you don't like Lincoln and Miller comes in to save the day? I've had 4-5 Lincolns since the late 90's and not once did I ever had an issue with them. Thanks guys.

Thu May 02, 2024 3:56 am

electronictofu wrote: Abscate wrote: Lincoln is for welding, and Miller afterwards...
Haha, I think I get that? Are you implying you don't like Lincoln and Miller comes in to save the day? I've had 4-5 Lincolns since the late 90's and not once did I ever had an issue with them. Thanks guys.

Miller beer!

Thu May 02, 2024 4:27 am

The Vulcan unit at Harbor freight is a great welder, especially at its price range. It outperforms my Hobart. I use flux core in both units.

Thu May 02, 2024 9:58 am

I would not buy a Chinese welder. That said, HFrt. has been trying to be more competitive w/their top of the line stuff (They make like 3 lines, do NOT buy their lower priced electric stuff)

I have a Hobart Handler 140, it is Flux-Core. It was about $250....like 20 years ago. To the prior poster...why did you need 4-5 machines in only 10 years?

I had a Century, that had a constantly "Hot" tip. It last about 5-10 years. It was sorta inexpensive. I don't remember what happened to it (working wise).

I had a Lincoln....possibly from Home Depot. It had a circuit board go, after just a few years. The welding shop could fix it, for more that the Hobart above. The shop told me that their "Hobby Line" (not sure whose definition that is) are not normal Lincoln quality. The machine is on my shelf and still looks new. They carried a 110V wire-feeder that was, LIKE, $300-$450 (it was 20 years ago, don't quote me).

I weld a bunch of stuff that is 1/8" thick. I weld exhaust to trailer hitches (My Nissan 720, and the heaviest thing that it has had hooked to it is my Suburban when its motor blew). If you are doing something like that, use the "More" principle...the more you put, the more it holds. I stuck the hitch thru the bumper, and added gussets on the inside. You have a 2" tube, 8" of weld, front and rear, then another 10" of support welds....which brings it to almost 30" of welds.

Anyways, I weld exhaust to 1/4" (which is stretching it). The wind blows here. Therefore, a MIG might not work. so good.. I've welded dune-buggy frames, suspension, all kinds of stuff. When I altered the hitch on my Suburban, I welded it together, an inch or so in several places, and then went over to my friends and used his 220MIG. Again, it has 20" of weld, on both sides (L & R).

I use .030 wire from Harbor...and yes, I can tell the dif between Forney (from Truevalue) and Hobart and Lincoln wire. I did not like .035 wire, but my friend thinks that it is the way to go. I think that it burns hotter w/the thinner wire.

You'll need a good extension cord....thick, and expensive. The machine knows the difference.. BTW, I assumed that you meant a 110V machine.

I grab a cord, and the welder and the weldor welds all over the yard.

All that said....I like my 110V Hobart Handler Flux-Core

Thu May 02, 2024 11:34 am

electronictofu wrote: Abscate wrote: Lincoln is for welding, and Miller afterwards...
Haha, I think I get that? Are you implying you don't like Lincoln and Miller comes in to save the day? I've had 4-5 Lincolns since the late 90's and not once did I ever had an issue with them. Thanks guys.

They are both good. It’s a beer joke

If you are in a smaller town it might be easier to find parts locally for one or the other spending on whose rep is local

Thu May 02, 2024 12:37 pm

Stinky123 wrote: I would not buy a Chinese welder. That said, HFrt. has been trying to be more competitive w/their top of the line stuff (They make like 3 lines, do NOT buy their lower priced electric stuff)

I have a Hobart Handler 140, it is Flux-Core. It was about $250....like 20 years ago. To the prior poster...why did you need 4-5 machines in only 10 years?

I had a Century, that had a constantly "Hot" tip. It last about 5-10 years. It was sorta inexpensive. I don't remember what happened to it (working wise).

I had a Lincoln....possibly from Home Depot. It had a circuit board go, after just a few years. The welding shop could fix it, for more that the Hobart above. The shop told me that their "Hobby Line" (not sure whose definition that is) are not normal Lincoln quality. The machine is on my shelf and still looks new. They carried a 110V wire-feeder that was, LIKE, $300-$450 (it was 20 years ago, don't quote me).

I weld a bunch of stuff that is 1/8" thick. I weld exhaust to trailer hitches (My Nissan 720, and the heaviest thing that it has had hooked to it is my Suburban when its motor blew). If you are doing something like that, use the "More" principle...the more you put, the more it holds. I stuck the hitch thru the bumper, and added gussets on the inside. You have a 2" tube, 8" of weld, front and rear, then another 10" of support welds....which brings it to almost 30" of welds.

Anyways, I weld exhaust to 1/4" (which is stretching it). The wind blows here. Therefore, a MIG might not work. so good.. I've welded dune-buggy frames, suspension, all kinds of stuff. When I altered the hitch on my Suburban, I welded it together, an inch or so in several places, and then went over to my friends and used his 220MIG. Again, it has 20" of weld, on both sides (L & R).

I use .030 wire from Harbor...and yes, I can tell the dif between Forney (from Truevalue) and Hobart and Lincoln wire. I did not like .035 wire, but my friend thinks that it is the way to go. I think that it burns hotter w/the thinner wire.

You'll need a good extension cord....thick, and expensive. The machine knows the difference.. BTW, I assumed that you meant a 110V machine.

I grab a cord, and the welder and the weldor welds all over the yard.

All that said....I like my 110V Hobart Handler Flux-Core

If I dont use something for a few months I just sell it, and rebuy if needed. I dont like owning many things. Ive had 40 cars in 26 years so I go through alot of tools I need and dont need at times.Great tips from alll thanks!

Fri May 03, 2024 11:41 am

electronictofu wrote: If I dont use something for a few months I just sell it, and rebuy if needed. I dont like owning many things. Ive had 40 cars in 26 years so I go through alot of tools I need and dont need at times. Great tips from alll thanks!

While I would like to live in a tiny house I would need a tiny house for myself, another one for my automotive tools, another one for my wood shop, yet another one as a clean room workshop (no woodworking in there!) and one tiny house each for my VWs.

I suggest buying a brand name welder and avoiding all the "Brand X" hassles. I bought one of the first Lincoln SP100s going on 30 years ago. That machine has made me conservatively $100k over the years. I bought another one. I'm currently refurbishing my old machine with a new liner and a rebuilt gun. Lincoln wants over $400 for the complete wand assembly. I bought a new feed roller. I used that machine to death. It's ain't dead yet, maybe halfway.

Buy

Lincoln

Miller

Hobart

in approximately that order.

If you ever need consumables and welding is all about consumables... you won't be SOL over some little part. I would say "nickel and dime" part but there's no such thing anymore.

The right gas and the right wire are as important as the right machine. Use ESAB Spoolarc .023" "Easy Grind" and "C25" 25% carbon dioxide / 75% argon.

.
.

Sat May 04, 2024 4:26 am

TDCTDI wrote: The Vulcan unit at Harbor freight is a great welder, especially at its price range. It outperforms my Hobart. I use flux core in both units.

They also live long , and prosper, if you don’t mind weld…..

Sat May 04, 2024 9:35 am

TDCTDI wrote: The Vulcan unit at Harbor freight is a great welder, especially at its price range. It outperforms my Hobart. I use flux core in both units.
The problem with the Vulcan is you cannot get parts for the gun ... you must rplace the entire assembly. Stripped diffuser threads? replace gun. Bad trigger? replace gun.

The museum bought the Vulcan and we are on our second gun because the diffuser is easily stripped when replacing tips. I recently had to chase the threads on the latest gun, and it still is hard to replace tips, so will probably need to replace thatone too.

There is a company out there that makes a replacement gun assembly using industry standard parts, but it is more expensive than the Vulcan assembly.

My Hobart Handler has a lot more hours on it than the Vulcan, and still on the original gun/diffuser/trigger.

Sat May 04, 2024 9:49 am

I was thinking hobart too

Sun May 05, 2024 1:25 am

We've got a Hobart commercial meat grinder, heavy sucker.

Sun May 05, 2024 8:13 pm

this is a steal and when you're done you'll get every bit of that back if not more. If I were still in Sac that would be in my garage already

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/tls/d/west-sacramento-millermatic-140-with/7742062100.html

Sun May 05, 2024 9:16 pm

I bought a new eastwood 135 about ten years ago, liked it so much I bought the eastwood multi-process 250 welder last year. I've saved a ton of money and time with both, but there's a catch that several other people have already mentioned:

Consumables, and
Sub-assemblies only available as an entire assembly

The 135 welder broke shortly after I got it new, when the drive motor stopped driving. Eastwood immediately replaced it no questions asked, and I was welding again within two weeks - just fine for a hobby timeframe. Last year the trigger wires developed an intermittent open, and my only option was to replace the entire gun and cable assembly.

The 250 welder (not a budget welder) is a little different; my only real complaint is that I thought the wire was catching on the gun liner or the tip, causing a bird's nest at the drive rollers and burned back wire at the tips. Eastwood quickly sent me a new gun assembly, because the liner was not available by itself. As it turns out, the issue was simply because the machine has a built in lag between trigger pull and wire feed. It's annoying but I can work around it.

If I need parts for either welder, I already knew up front I'd likely have to order them online.

That's my experience.. I don't personally have any hands-on use of other machines so I can't give any kind of reasonable comparison. The last thing I'll say is shop around for a good used gas cylinder and get the biggest one you can afford.

Mon May 06, 2024 9:03 am

Ohhhh, here is something is still true. My Professor in college said that you want it to be heavy, as that indicates a lot of copper in it....as in a lot of wire. They didn't skimp.

Mon May 06, 2024 9:52 am

I too have an Eastwood 135 Mig unit. it replaced my 20+ year old Airco that had very limited adjustments. Can't go wrong with and Eastwood.