What welder brand(s) are you using?

[Kartorbust]

Bringing back from the dead a bit. Somethings to note: most of the issues you'll have with a welding machine happen within the first few uses, especially right away. Get a replacement soon as possible. I wouldn't shy away from Everlast welders. One I was recommended from good old Chucke2009 recently is the Everlast Power iMig 230, it's a stick and mig machine, starts at around $1039. Dual voltage machines are great because even if you lack 240v right away, you can still use it on 120v in the mean time.

 

[madprofessor]

I bought a 120vac inverter stick welder from Northern Tool with Tig function (if that kit were purchased separately, I did not). Name brand is Klutch, but they've now replaced it with their store brand name Ironton, identical unit of different name and color, currently $140. The 80 amp rating of it has been sufficient for everything I've tried to do with it from 11gauge square tube steel to sheetmetal.

 

[Kartorbust]

My current machine was what Northern Tool had before Klutch replaced it, Northern Industrial 140i. Though mine was their MIG version that can accept the spoolgun, however they discontinued it all together.

 

[Denny]

Hobart handler 140 mig, Snap Off 205 amp mig, and an old Lincoln tombstone.

 

[madprofessor]

an old Lincoln tombstone.

Basically taught myself how to stick weld on one of those 240vac tombstones, in the middle of the night. Saved NBC Sports from having lost half of their camera coverage of the TPC that year.

 

[Kartorbust]

Those old LE Tombstone and Buzz boxes I think account for the most of where people learned to stick weld. They work pretty well. Can't go wrong with any 240v machine.

 

[madprofessor]

Can't go wrong with any 240v machine.

That's a factual fact. Learned the more basic forms of stick welding from a Lincoln tow-behind machine with 300' of stinger lead, welding on bridging angle and wall angle hanging iron out of Miami Beach. Just 240vac, but with leads as big around as my thumb and the dial turned up to supernova there's no loss. Get rained on and touch it to your jeans you'll get an instant thunderclap, the sound of your backdoor slamming shut.

 

[Kartorbust]

Speaking of long welding leads, the new Fronius TransPocket 180 battery portable stick welder can use 100m (about 330ft) stinger leads. It was also designed to run 6010 reliably. Which not every stick welder can do. Majority of us will probably never need 6010s.

 

[TNThomas]

Titanium Flux 125 from Harbor Freight. Great little machine for what I am using it for. It has splatter, but Im not bothered too much by that. I don't think I would have started welding if I had to buy any more equipment. Its really nice just having the little unit, and no external tank.

 

[RLS_Underground]

I've got a Chicago wire feed, ironically enough converting it to full MIG would be easy because the gun head has the regulator and nozzle vents, just needs the line and a tank of gas

 

[cswansen12]

I bought a Lincoln electric 140 mig, and it is great for small projects like go karts

 

[Redneck Packrat]

~35 year old Lincoln tombstone and ~25 year old Chicago Electric Italian made flux core. I prefer the Lincoln though, even on thin stuff.

 

[gmotz]

I am looking for a welder/process to weld cast aluminum. From a quick search, TIG or DC stick seem to be the way to go.

So i mostly do 2 stroke stuff, and a lot of that involves welding up cases to put on cylinders with bigger transfers. About 15 years ago i got pissed off that 'professional' welders told me this couldn't be done... and figured out how to do it myself. I'm not a pro welder by any means but i've talked to some people and beat my head against this long enough that i have a method that works for me... are there better ways to do it? i'm sure, but since nobody else responded to the question... most pros will say 'it cant be done'... this is how i do it.

1) clean clean clean clean. you need to bake the aluminum at 500 degrees for 2-3 hours to cook all the grease out. I usually get it as clean as i can in the parts washer, then use oven cleaner, then bake it, then wash it again with dawn dish soap.

2) prep the weld area. The key to welding cast, is as LITTLE penetration as possible. you want to float the pool on top of the base metal, not burn it in. The more you burn it, the more impurities you'll dislodge and poison the weld pool. If you need to get a deep weld you need to V it way out so the first layer of rod is setting on top and 'wetting out' on the casting.

3) preheat. I use a cheap good will special hot plate, i don't like having to mess with torches. The aluminum cools off pretty fast so you gotta put a lot of heat to it. you can use a temp stick,but the hot plate makes things really easy since you just run it full bore.

4) when you do actually get around to welding, remember the part about laying the weld on the base metal, you only want to get it hot enough for it to 'wet out', i usually try to get the puddle going a little off the rod, then just gently lick at the edge of the pool until it flows into the base metal. It will want to pop and spatter, which only gets worse the deeper you melt into the base metal


also... watch the back side, once the aluminum gets hot enough it will get soft and can sag, before the weld actually gets fluid enough to wet out. I've recked several engine cases by deforming them. You can get them hot and bolt them back together sometimes and pull them into shape but its not ideal. better to just not have it happen in the first place


also, the 'alumiweld' product works really well, and for a lot of things i will use that instead, its much lower risk if you are welding something delicate since you don't need to melt the base metal at all.


Here's the finished result on a cast aluminum hydraulic manifold from a 1957 ford tractor that broke in a really tricky spot. I welded this in 2018 and it's still holding pressure. You can see how wide I had to grind it out, over 1/2 inch for the 3/8 (approx) thick flange. Then just a matter of blobbing up enough molten ALU until its all filled in.

 

[gmotz]

For 99% of the random junk i weld around the shop, its the Hobart Handler 135 i bought in 2001 in high school. Its paid off the $450 investment a few times over and probably run over 100# of wire.

It does run out of breath if i'm doing something like a big trailer where i'm running it 100% duty for more than 20-30 minutes.

I'm looking at one of the china multiprocess machines... Forney, yeswelder, etc. I would like something that can do 220V AC/DC TIG and Wirefeed all in the same unit. Having to keep two bottles of gas around is kindof a pain but for ~$1000 its the welding capacity that would cost like $5-6000 from a miller or lincoln.

anyone running one of those?

 

[Kartorbust]

How about an Everlast? https://www.everlastgenerators.com/product/mig/lightning-mts-225-tig-package

 

[Denny]

I have heard lots of good things about the Everlast machines. And a few bad. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Kartorbust]

I have heard lots of good things about the Everlast machines. And a few bad. Your mileage may vary.

I have heard in recent times, Everlast's customer service has been quite helpful, especially where warranty is concerned.

 

[Willie1]

In my current garage I have an Eastwood 135 that is about 10-12 years old. Seems to be a knock off from a Lincoln and uses Tweco consumables. 110v 135a with a gas valve. I like that it has smooth rotary controls and not the stepped ones that the Lincoln had. It works great for sheet metal and will weld 1/8 wall tubing very well as long as you respect the duty cycle. After I bought mine several friends used it and bought their own. I have access to a 240v Miller if I need more.

 

[Dingocat]

Tig welding for work now, using a lincoln square wave tig 175 with a CK torch and Furick cups. Weld .049 and .065 stainless all day.