Wanting to buy a (stick) welder but have no clue what size I need

[bears4x4]

I have a few projects I want to make, BBQ pit trailer with various metal thickness up to 1/4", skid plate, etc etc, I know paying someone to make them wouldn't be cost effective for me, but my question is what size stick welder do I need, the old style buzz box at Lowes for 299 will only do up to 3/16" and From there list is endless, I'm fine with a 20% duty cycle, i just need advice on which to buy, budget is the biggest thing.

 

[Smoky]

I have a Lincoln cracker box myself.

AC-225

I believe you can buy one for about $300 -$400 depending where you shop. I built a box blade with mine which was built entirely out of 1/2" steel. If it will weld a box blade out of 1/2" metal, I believe it will do everything you need to do.

Now to make you feel gooder about my cracker box welder, I paid $65 for it at a salvage store about 7 years ago. It was brand new but no box or manual.

 

[dpantazis]

Craigslist is your friend.
I would suggest ac-dc if you can afford it. fleabay too. You might be able to find transformer our wired tap machine s cheap as inverters are getting more economical.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[JLDickmon]

Craigslist is your friend.
I would suggest ac-dc if you can afford it. fleabay too. You might be able to find transformer our wired tap machine s cheap as inverters are getting more economical.

fat fingered from my OVERPRICED ELECTRONIC TOY using a battery-sucking app

fixed it..

FWIW.. a Lincoln 225 series is a pretty decent welder, and there is exactly one buttload of them out there new and used..

 

[Dogman]

I would go with the wire feed like the miller 250. You have no slag to chip off and you can weld up .0625 or 1/16" thick to almost any thickness steel. Plus you can do alum. if needed with no buzz box. I use 75/25 mix for steel and straight argon for alum.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

I would go with the wire feed like the miller 250. You have no slag to chip off and you can weld up .0625 or 1/16" thick to almost any thickness steel. Plus you can do alum. if needed with no buzz box. I use 75/25 mix for steel and straight argon for alum.

X2

The summer between my 2 years of aircraft maintainance school, I took a basic welding class. I've done some stick welding before but wanted to get some exposure to other types.

Compared to a stick welder, wire feed is so easy. If it were any easier the machine would do the welding all by itself. With a stick welder there are several things you have to coordinate simultaneously, arc length, rod angle, arc speed of travel all while feeding the rod while it is constantly getting shorter. There are a LOT of things to coordinate at once. Throw a curved welding surface into that mix, and you find out in a hurry if you're any good at it or not.

With a wire feed you adjust the wire feed speed on the machine. Once you get it set right, it's a breeze. You pretty much just hold your arc angle and move along at what ever travel speed you need.

In the welding class, I went from have never touched a wire feed welder in my life, to having all 8 of my project welds finished in 45 minutes. It is that much easier than a stick welder.

 

[bears4x4]

I found this - Miller Thunderbolt 225, Hi/Lo AC output range. Input 230V single phase, would this do it ??

 

[Roland_Jenkins]

Handyest thing I ever bought was a wire feed welder.

As for which one, you can turn one a little to big down further than you can turn one to small up.

 

[Dogman]

I found this - Miller Thunderbolt 225, Hi/Lo AC output range. Input 230V single phase, would this do it ??

Try this. Find your local miller or other shop and take a look at what they have. I got one of my welders from miller shop that had taken it back because the guy could not pay for it any more. I paid like $900 bucks for a $2500 welder. Also some of these shops will let you test drive the unit too.
I also have a miller 150 that runs off a standard house plug. It runs like crap with the gas for anything heavier then body work, But It will weld the hell out of something running flux-core wire with no gas if I change the power clips inside. Which is the way I use it in the Field.

 

[f100cleveland]

Wire feed is the way to go unless you are doing dirty or rusty metals then an old buzz box is better. Like whats been said a wire feed is easy to use. Try looking for a good used one, and get a good welding helmet too.