Anyone have welder recommendations- anyone have one for sale?

[XJ_ranger]

But the next thing you know someone that don't know no better, will be building a .120 wall cage with a 110 gas welder for his/her first welding project. Thinking it will hold up just fine because "Opie said it would work . . ."

I think we should teach or "Preach" the right way, then you can do what you like on your own. I might trust a 110 flux core .120 wall cage but that gas really cools down the welding.

Definitely.

If the scrilla is there, buy the better unit that can do all the jobs you might want it to do.

 

[buzzbombxj]

I have had really good luck with my miller 140. It is only a 120 machine but I routinely get good penetration in .188 plate/tube. I run co2/argon so that helps, but the real thing is I prepare every joint properly, and then I flap wheel the shit out of everything. With it, all pretty and shiny you can look at the HAZ to see if you got a good weld or not. 1/4 is pretty much out the window though, just can't get it hot enough, it might help if I had a thicker wire so I could slow the wire speed down more but whatever. The way I see it though, is if you are welding 1/4 inch plate to a Cherokee you are doing something wrong anyways. That being said I wish I would have gotten the 220 machine, for axles and whatnot.

Cliff notes; 120 machine is good for 90% of the stuff you will need, but if I did it again I would get a 220 and never look back.

PS flux core is dirty and nasty!

 

[Letterman]

I run co2/argon so that helps

It helps it look better maybe, but you can get deeper welds with fluxcore out of the same welder.

 

[srmitchell]

I like this thread. haha.

Hey mike, yeah, let me know when you're available.

 

[buzzbombxj]

It helps it look better maybe, but you can get deeper welds with fluxcore out of the same welder.

If I can penetrate 3/16 fine with c02 argon and have it look all purty, why would I want to go to flux core and have it look like ass? I still wouldn’t be able to weld quarter, I say screw it. Maybe if it was windier around here. I see what you are saying though, if I had not been welding for 4 years now It would probably be much more difficult to get good welds on a thicker material with my machine.

 

[Letterman]

Sorry but 4 years of welding and you can't make fluxcore look good? And you have never welded 1/4 or bigger to your jeep and you think it is wrong to do to an XJ?

3/16 mild steal without gas is the limit for the top of the line 110 welders and that is at a 20% duty cycle.

I just don't get it, buy a cheep welder and then spend more to make it look good but not work as well as it could/should?

I think if you are new and not sure how deep you want to get into it, go get a cheep 110 fluxcore or a cheep 220 stick and just weld or use a friends welder as much as you can. Don't dump all the extra money just to make a 110 box a gas welder, you will grow out of it or you will under build your junk and break. Also trail welding is stick or fluxcore, might as well get good at something you might really need one day.

Maybe I am way wrong here, would be cool to hear more thoughts. Also was thinking "Did Opie build his cage with a 110 welder?" and "was that "Sierra Fest give away cage" built with a 110?"

 

[srmitchell]

I agree with the 110 thing.

Im not looking to weld huge amounts of tube or plate. I only might do-
Frame stiffeners, maybe a prerunner hoop, some axle mods (no brackets or anything), and maybe some tube on my rock sliders. No big deal.

I just want to say I've built something! (And I refuse to pay for labor on stuff i can learn to do myself)

 

[XJ_ranger]

Maybe I am way wrong here, would be cool to hear more thoughts. Also was thinking "Did Opie build his cage with a 110 welder?" and "was that "Sierra Fest give away cage" built with a 110?"

My initial cage work was done at Rigwerks with the bling bling high end Miller 220 MIG with all the doo dads...

most of the repairs and additional front end work was done at Phil's house with his 220 MIG.

All of the boatside work on my junk that I've done since moving up here was with my 110 unit - but all that material was .120 or less - and I was able to burn through in a few spots - so I know it was hot enough.

The give-a-way cage had 3 welder machines there - my 110 mig (which was used mostly for the sheet metal (12 and 14ga) plates that were welded to the chassis to support where the tubes stopped.
Billy's (JeepFreak21) and Phil's 220 Millers MIG's were there (though I think we only used Phil's) and used for welding the cage to the rock sliders (which I think were 1/4" material) and the majority of the tube (because Stephen and I were doing fit up, and Phil was doing most of the welding).

I do remember the 110 being used on some of the bracing pieces, but couldn't tell you which ones.

Dave - I agree that advice to someone getting into a welder should be to get the 220 unit. If for nothing else, but because when welding with a 220 unit is much easier to throw down stronger, better looking welds than it is with the 110 unit.

 

[tgoff]

I have a Hobart Handler 140 with no complaints. It will do 3/16" no problem. It says it can do 1/4" with multiple pass but I would trust my life to it. In my opinion its the best bang for buck welder out there only $449 at Tractor Supply right now.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/welders/mig-welding/mig-welders/hobart-handler-140-welder-3812040

 

[jpcherokeekid]

ive got the lincoln 180c runs on 220v, great little machine, i have welded up to 1/4in with it and it works great.

 

[buzzbombxj]

Sorry but 4 years of welding and you can't make fluxcore look good?

My welding classes had no flux core machines for me to practice with, I would have if I could have, just to be more familiar with it, but I knew I wanted gas anyways for my own unit.

And you have never welded 1/4 or bigger to your jeep and you think it is wrong to do to an XJ?

I have never welded 1/4 TO my jeep I have made a crossmember out of it though. I think that with some thought and engineering I can figure out how to make the unibody stronger without just making it 4 times thicker. I used 3/16 around the steering box area, and the track bare area will have it too, but the rest is all 10 ga or 8th. Maybe I am just paranoid about weight.

3/16 mild steal without gas is the limit for the top of the line 110 welders and that is at a 20% duty cycle.

I just don't get it, buy a cheep welder and then spend more to make it look good but not work as well as it could/should?

I think if you are new and not sure how deep you want to get into it, go get a cheep 110 fluxcore or a cheep 220 stick and just weld or use a friends welder as much as you can. Don't dump all the extra money just to make a 110 box a gas welder, you will grow out of it or you will under build your junk and break.

Cliff notes; 120 machine is good for 90% of the stuff you will need, but if I did it again I would get a 220 and never look back.

so really we agree right? get the 220!

Also trail welding is stick or fluxcore, might as well get good at something you might really need one day.

Maybe I am way wrong here, would be cool to hear more thoughts. Also was thinking "Did Opie build his cage with a 110 welder?" and "was that "Sierra Fest give away cage" built with a 110?"

I agree I will have to get good at both; I’m pretty bad at arc welding. For the record though I have welded up one cage with my machine, it’s had a 3/4 roll and a few flops, but only for a samurai though so I may not count

Really most of our argument seems to be this: I think I can get a good weld on 3/16s with my machine, you think I cannot cause the manufacturer says I should not be able to. Well that’s fine, maybe someday you can look and see if you think they are legit, until then, I hope nothing breaks!
:cheers:

 

[Letterman]

I hope nothing breaks for you, but I don't think you are getting deep enough. I used to think the same way, I only had a 110 flux core welder back in 2004. We ended up in Barstow, at a Denny's parking lot stick welding my shock mount back on because the welds broke:

Not that thick, I burned it on with a 110 as hot as I could put it:

If we did not come along with an on board welder this zookie might still be at Spider lake, weak welds failed on the cross member, lucky he did not break both driveshafts:

This Toyota had a weld break that ran all the way across the front end, body wanted to leave the axles:

Maybe you like trail welding? Not me I would rather be at camp having a cold beer.

What I am really sick of is people who tell Noobs that it is ok to make bumpers with tow points or cages with a 110 welder, this is how people can get hurt. I think everyone should learn 220 Stick Welding, if you can get good at that, then you really can weld.

Build it right, don't be that guy . . . like I was!

Also Denny's knifes don't work for welding:

 

[srmitchell]

Good advice. The only reason why I think a 110 would ok for now is because I'm not welding bumpers, or tow points. I have my rigidco, and c4x4.

And i don't see why you'd need a huge welder to burn some frame stiffeners on. It's just sheet. (But Im going to get help to do it)

 

[buzzbombxj]

Letterman- I defer to your experience, and in the future I will exercise much caution (I do try to think things through properly already though) with my consideration of material and tools to use. Being busted and blocking the trail would make me feel like a kidney stone in the middle of a good long drunken piss. :scared:

one question though, when you say 110 isn't enough for a cage, is that because most people reading it not do a good job with a 110, rendering it unsafe, or because you don’t actually think it will work? It is within the parameters of the machine.

 

[Letterman]

one question though, when you say 110 isn't enough for a cage, is that because most people reading it not do a good job with a 110, rendering it unsafe, or because you don’t actually think it will work? It is within the parameters of the machine.

Look your no noob so I know my advice is numb to you, I am just posting for other people to think. Most think they can weld after a few hours under the helmit, but if you think about how much welding you do it is not much, 2 hours of mesureing, 5 hours of cutting and grinding and fitting, all for just 15 minutes of welding it all together. I have a few hours burn'in metal, but I would never build anything that my life depends on with a 110, and I think that is just some good advice.

You can talk about how deep, or get into the BS of weakining the metal with over heating it with tripple pass, but it is all just a 110 surfice burn. It might work good for the first few times out, but as we find out, it is not the first trip or the second, it is the 14th time you go out and find the weak spot, or find the weld has finaly cracked after getting hit again and again. Find that the weld was not 100% clean, paint was in it, or had a nasty little air bubble and it was not as deep as you thought.

 

[DanNJeep]

While I agree for the most part...

Too many guys simply go with the "bigger is better" theory on welders for no reason.

I have owned a Miller 110 machine for ten years, made many a bumpers, tow points, spring perches, etc... and NEVER had anything fail EVER. My work has been beat and pounded on to the point of breaking tow straps, and nothing has EVER failed. Never even a crack. I've dragged my crap all over the Dusy, Con, Fordyce, etc. and I mean drag as I only recently went with 33's. I've been stuck in the snow to where the doors wouldn't open, two other jeeps hooked up at two seperate attachment points and nada. Yanked it out with no worries.

This being said, if you have the money and the 220 in your garage then the smart thing is to go bigger. BUT if you don't, it's not as big as a deal as some of you are making it.

 

[DanNJeep]

One more example to those dis-believers out there. My XJ's bumper with it's integral reciever, that we built in 99' with the afforementioned Miller 110v machine, towed a 4000# trailer across the country, TWICE.

If that doesn't say what can be done with a 110 I don't know what would convince you guys.

 

[Phil]

I was ok with it until you pointed out pulling the trailer. You think pulling a 4000 lb trailer puts 4000 lbs of force on the hitch?

 

[DanNJeep]

I've looked over my post Phil and I don't see where I stated that. Could you quote where I said that?

Simply giving another example. Please don't read anything else into it. The fact remains not only are there no cracks from road use (280K) it has withstood severe abuse in off-road circumstances.

But like I said, if one has the $ and 220 in their garage, go for the 220. Without a doubt go for the 220. I find it funny though how guys knock the lil 110 machines without really knowing what they are capable of.

 

[Phil]

I just don't think towing a trailer on-road is a very high testament to the strength of the hitch. Not compared to vehicle recovery.