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Welder ??'s

Welding is the way to go, but for thin sheet metal, at least consider brazing, although warping is worse with that usually.
For another option, consider a spot welding attachment for the welder you have.

Never used an attachment myself. All my spot welding has been done with a dedicated machine.
But, I have seen ads for add-ons.
 
kgblazerfive said:
Lincoln 110 ?

for sale locally for $250
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Thats fine for sheet, but will only weld like 1/8 in capacity. I welded thicker in more then one pass with my 100 I had before but a light duty welder and an old unit too. I'd go the Miller 140. That little bugger for a 110V unit will weld sheet to 3/16 nicely. Even 1/4 with slow feed. You will kick the duty cycle limit switch and it will shut off on you though for thicker stuff during long welds. Just don't weld really long welds. No need anyways.
 
I have never been able to kick the thermal switch in my Miller 135. I run 023 wire and 75/25 gas. I will use 030 flux core if I have to take it somewhere else. I hate flux core and stick. I like to tig if I can take the part in my garage and mig if I can't, or need it done faster. Tig is good for thin material, but it is real easy to put too much heat into a piece with a tig machine.

I can do some very nice looking welds with the Miller 135 and the fact that it runs on a 20a 125v circuit makes it far more versatile than other machines. I have run it on generators and shore power with up to 125 feet of 12ga extension cord. My brother has a 252 miller that is very cool. I wish I had a bigger mig, but I make do with what I have. My tig is a 460 amp Miller as well (330 abp sine wave transformer machine that weighs 1,000 pounds), and my plasma is a miller 375 extreme that runs 125/250 v. My hood is a miller elite as well. Yep..........I like blue. My reloading presses are blue as well, and my truck is blue, my sand rail..............I am getting a little tired of the color blue, but the equipment seems to be attracted to me.

The 135 will do 1/4" material if you do your part. It is happier with 1/8 and 3/16 steel. I have done some stainless as well with tri mix gas, when my tig torch sprung a leak. The passport miller is dual voltage and might even do stick if I remember right. I could have really used that in the past. I have done a number of small fab jobs and repair jobs that were not structural and needed welded on site. I bought my 135 because it had the infinite knobs. My neighbor let me borrow a lincoln, but it had the click knobs.
 
When I kicked the switch on my 180 I was running .035 & 72/25 but welding a 1/2 thick piece of steel to a 1/4 wall rectangle tube. Big fat weld about as much as a 180 will weld. When it stops feeding and the little orange light comes on you are done for a few minuted till it cools down.
 
If I had to pick miller vs lincoln for a 300 dollar price difference id pick miller hands down. My welder is 30 years old and welds like its brand new. Id stay away from eastwood (especially plasmas) as they are made over seas and QC is not up to par with blue or red. I have a buddy who bought a Hobart. Spent big bucks on one. Now wishes he had bought a older used miller for less money. He acutually just bought a 135 and is using that over his 220 Hobart.

As far as other miller products im not to interested (plasmas, and helmets).
 
ive never had a problem with miller or my Lincoln. I went with Lincoln cause you can use Tweco consumables which are cheaper than millers
 
shady said:
ive never had a problem with miller or my Lincoln. I went with Lincoln cause you can use Tweco consumables which are cheaper than millers
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you can just change the gun and whip on a miller to a tweco which is a much better gun. On mine I couldn't afford that gun so I went with the miller m-150 gun and I have no complaints. I got the gun and 12 foot whip with spare parts and new consumables for 100 bucks shipped.
 
I kicked the limit switch on my 180 autoset when welding up this bumper. Still would not hesitate to buy this welder in a second. I was just welding at max power so it just ran the full duty cycle is all. I'm hella glad Miller does have an auto shut off to keep it from overheating.

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194687
 
So ended up buying a Hobart 190 got it home rewired my extension cord. Plugged it in and was being a bit loud, no biggy. Went to get the trigger and :doah: did not have one.

So get to take it back in the morning and get one that does. It was a display model and their last so hopefully I can steal it off of a different one.
 
Well, lets see some BAD ASS welding pictures damnit! :D
 
That should work perfect for any truck related job you can throw at it :thumb:
 
Welders are one of those things where going for the most machine you can afford is totally worth it. Glad you're happy with it! :waytogo:
 
Yeah I should have ponied up the $$$ years ago. Would have saved me a ton of grief.

That being said I learned a bunch from my other welder. This one is so ice though.
 
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