What welder will work?

[solomon]

Hey guys, Im planning on doing some work to a go kart frame i have. its made of all steel and i want to weld a cage on it and add seat belts. Anyway, will this welder work? HERE

If not what will, i need something cheap

 

[vgk]

looks fine. i like lincon welders because they last
you can tell from the photo
also looks like a good deal

 

[vgk]

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/tls/1606047340.html
looks like I found a good deal too
same welders

 

[joshpit2003]

50 Amps??? i dont know much about stick welders but I do know about Tig and Mig, and 50 amps for a tig machine is enough to weld .050" thick steel, which I dont think is thick enough for frame welding.

if you are new to welding I would suggest you take it to a pro or take the time to learn before welding on some seat belts... wouldn't wanna be a darwin award winner by having your first welds be on a seatbelt. dont get me wrong, buying a welder is a great idea, but a first time welding project isn't a frame for a go-kart... its a bench for your angle grinder, or a cart four your new welder, maybe a new work bench, not a kart frame. not tryin to be a jerk, just tryin to keep it safe.
and for welders, you should always ask the person selling it if you can throw down a test weld before purchase. Its way better to buy a used Quality machine than it is to get some harbor freight junk... so good find on the name-brand Lincon, just double check on that amp #.

 

[ccrane]

I think the 50 amp is the top draw on its breaker---not 50 amps of welding. it's a 220 unit and will be plenty big enough if you have the service for it.

 

[bajagokart]

that 230 V and 50 Amp will be MORE THAN ENOUGH for welding a frame together, doesnt look like too bad of a deal either!

 

[joshpit2003]

I think the 50 amp is the top draw on its breaker---not 50 amps of welding. it's a 220 unit and will be plenty big enough if you have the service for it.

thats strange a welder is advertised like that, typically they are advertised w/ their highest Amperage output. (180, 200, 250, ect.)

look up that model, if it doesnt max out at at least 150 amps I wouldn't get it.

 

[chetcpo]

Stick welding frame components together is a royal pain in the ***. I'd recommend buying a cheap MIG machine from HF or something along those lines. The flux core variety can be had for around $100.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=98871

Although I would spend the extra money and get the 220V model that will allow you to upgrade to gas. Nothing wrong with flux core though, it makes good strong welds. It just requires a lot more cleanup and produces a lot more slag, spatter, and smoke.

Oh and I feel like I should mention that if you weld a cage on a kart with no suspension you will likely spoil its handling. Most "un-caged" karts are designed to have a fair amount of flex in the frame to allow it to conform to the contours of the road surface. When you install a cage you remove most of the ability of the kart to flex and that can lead to a decrease in performance.

 

[motor_head]

nothing wrong with a stick i like them better if not welding thin metal, great penetration and if there's some rust or even a little paint it won't affect the weld like mig
older 220 welder can be had cheap

here's a vid with general info at the end he says some advantages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTwEoFw4Yic

 

[KartRacer695]

i would go for that deal %100, $50 for that welder is really decent.

 

[rgvkid]

Stick welding a go cart frame, not good. You will hate it. Look for a hobby mig welder. Easier to work with. The arc welders are made for heavier structural material. It will most likely blow through the thin walled tubing used for karts, plus if you have never welded before then your welds are going to look like crap. They won't be clean connecting, most likely have holes in them and will probably be a hazard on skin if rubbed up against. Save your money and purchase a used mig. You can use gasless flux core wire or get a tank and use CO2 or CO2/Argon mix for a cleaner weld then flux core. Trust me, you will have a hard time just trying to teach yourself how to use an arc welder on thinner walled material.

 

[devino246]

Im with rgvkid, stick is alot harder. A mig would be better all-around use too

 

[joejoeguns]

I agree with most about the mig being easier to do better faster but there is nothing wrong with that welder for 50 bucks I have the same one in my garage.If you use a 6013 by eighth inch rod at 70 amps you can make some nice solid welds with a little practice.I cut my teeth welding 17ga fence gates together with a stick.When I got to use a mig and then a tig I felt like I was cheating.IMHO learning ARC first will make you a better welder.

 

[ccrane]

Nothing wrong with that rig. I've welded with both stick and mig.

I presently have a 110 volt lincoln mig that works very well and use nothing but flux core. using gas, you can not weld outside---and i have found that if you spray the area with anti splatter spray the weld looks very good!!

 

[rgvkid]

Yes the welder is a good price, and yes the arc will do the job. But by the time you get your practice down and finish grinding off all your bad welds then you will most likely wish you had bought a mig. The welding steel you really don't want to grind down your welds too much because it weakens the bead unless you know you had good penetration. But if some kids want to ride your kart and reach in to grab the frame they could potentially cut themselves pretty bad by slicing there skin on a bad weld.

But then again for that price, you could just buy it and if you don't like it just sell it again.

Ccrane, I have recently become a firm believer of Anti Spatter.

 

[motor_head]

that welder is a good price and stick really isn't as hard as everybody makes it seem
spend a day or two practicing figure out where to set the heat and you'll have decent welds in no time

as far as grinding just don't take off much material just the edges and getting smooth welds isn't hard either

and with stick rod type changes are easy with wire you have to pull it out and feed new in

i hate how everybody says arc is so hard and mig is a million times better sure mig is easier to learn and get nice beads with, but stick is cheap not that much harder and sooo simple

now the vid shows up not just a link

 

[chetcpo]

that welder is a good price and stick really isn't as hard as everybody makes it seem
spend a day or two practicing figure out where to set the heat and you'll have decent welds in no time

as far as grinding just don't take off much material just the edges and getting smooth welds isn't hard either

and with stick rod type changes are easy with wire you have to pull it out and feed new in

i hate how everybody says arc is so hard and mig is a million times better sure mig is easier to learn and get nice beads with, but stick is cheap not that much harder and sooo simple

now the vid shows up not just a link

Stick is really great learning, it's not at all impossibly hard and beyond that, it's downright useful for welding bridge girders and heavy beams together. hat being said I can't imagine it being very useful when welding together the type of thin tubing these lightweight vehicles are made of. Like the guy in the video said, "these types of welders are best for welding steel over 3/16" thick and they don't arc well with thinner material." Sure you could use it for kartbuilding, you could also paint your car with a paintbrush, but why would you when a spraygun so cheap and handy.

For 99% of my fabrication I use the same 12 lb spool of wire in my welder so the argument about arc's superiority due to the inconvenience of wire changes is a bit silly when you consider that for arc you have to keep that box of rods at arm's reach and constantly change them. Someone said earlier that you can't Mig outside which is utter nonsense. It would be more accurate to say you can't weld outside when there is a stiff breeze. Hey, I can MIG weld in my garage with the windows and doors closed all day and it doesn't smoke me out. Just try that with your ARC welder and you'll have the hangover of a lifetime.


I'm mostly just stirring the pot here, I really have nothing against arc welding. I just don't want you to get the impression it is the ideal machine for all your needs. It's useful for sure and that's a good price on that welder so like others have said, go ahead and pick it up and start practicing. Like motorhead said, the setup is the important part. Try different amperages with different rod thicknesses and find out what works best for the job at hand before actually tackling the kart project. Learning to scratch start the weld when arc welding can be challenging without an auto dimming mask so you might save up for one of those too. Wire it up and post some pics of your experience with it.

Good luck!

 

[motor_head]

no it's not ideal but for how much the average kart builder is going to use it i just don't think it makes sense to buy a mig when arc is so much cheaper, if your building lots of karts and thinner metal then a mig is a good choice, most kart builder will build a few karts and maybe reweld them every now and then thats, to me atleast, not enough to justify a mig welder