Should I learn to weld ?

[Gabriel]

Unless I know where a used welder is coming from or it has some sort of warr. on it from a reputable dealer I will pass. I have seen the way people treat these machines especially if not owning them and even then they get beat up. For the difference you can buy new. Unless you possibly get one from a friend and know the history. JMHO. I am sure many have done this with good results.

I, of course, like new stuff better. I just keep coming across posts for used ones and that got me thinking. There are a lot of things I wouldn't buy used, maybe a welder should be one of them.

 

[churchmouse]

I, of course, like new stuff better. I just keep coming across posts for used ones and that got me thinking. There are a lot of things I wouldn't buy used, maybe a welder should be one of them.

Absolutely your call.I looked a Genny's for ever. I did buy used but knew the history as I bought from Ingo people I knew. Smoking deals. Good equipment.

 

[Rookie]

The biggest thing I would be worried about is duty cycle. If someone has a welder, and they're constantly hitting the duty cycle limit, I wouldn't be interested in buying it no matter how cheap it was. Unfortunately, you'd have to trust the seller to be honest with you.

 

[2Lucky]

You ask a very broad question. There is stick,mig,and tig welding. You dont have to learn them all or buy ALL the equipment on day one. The best thing you can do is take a welding class at a trade school or high school after hours. That would give you back ground and instruction to see if you are really interested......

 

[churchmouse]

The biggest thing I would be worried about is duty cycle. If someone has a welder, and they're constantly hitting the duty cycle limit, I wouldn't be interested in buying it no matter how cheap it was. Unfortunately, you'd have to trust the seller to be honest with you.

Bingo.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

The biggest thing I would be worried about is duty cycle. If someone has a welder, and they're constantly hitting the duty cycle limit, I wouldn't be interested in buying it no matter how cheap it was. Unfortunately, you'd have to trust the seller to be honest with you.

I have serious reservation about most home shop welders having much burn time on them much less some one hitting the duty cycle of a commercial quality welder that would be up for sale. A huge amount of home welders have virtually no run time on then, most home shop folks get frustrated with the mig or Tig they buy and it's shortly a new coat rack in the corner.
I do production welding body n my shop, if I am running say, 8" x 8" dirt or asphalt tampers they have over 48" of weld on each one, and I would run a hundred at a time.
I used my Hobart 170 which is 220 to tack them together and one of my Esabs ( a 250 and a 260 ) for the main welding I never once hit the duty cycle and had a machine shut off or not work for being to hot and needed time to cool before good ng back to work.
Now the 250 amp guns would get hot to hold, but at replacement time just replace with a higher rated gun. The worst problem with 350-500 amp guns is the excessive weight.

Back to a huge amount of home and uneducated welders,
That's one of the reasons that modern mig and tig welders have done away with a hand full of knobs on the front and now have set programs that are easy to pick for the welders needs.

 

[Dead Duck]

Welder Quality.
Between the 2 that are competitive with each other.

Pick them up - Heaviest Welder Wins.



Now take home your Miller.

 

[thunderchicken]

I've always veen a Miller Welder man. First welder I ever used was a Miller Thunderbolt stick welder. All the serious welders/fabricators that I know all use Miller...except one who has a Hobart mig unit.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Welder Quality.
Between the 2 that are competitive with each other.

Pick them up - Heaviest Welder Wins.



Now take home your Miller.

I have a Miller 250 Bobcat, most folks that weld for a living tend the buy what the retailer stocks and has parts for closest to where they live or work.
Thermal Arc plasma and tig machines are hard to beat, so many high School and welding trade schools are stuffed full of Thermal Arc 185's and 186 Tig machines.
That is true until you look at electronic machines, if you ran my 260 Esab it would change your mind. And Esab consumables are top shelf, especially be their cored mig and their tig wire.
If I can't get Esabs 7100 Ultra dual core 045 and 1/16th mig wire I use, I go to Lincoln ultra core wires. Both are cored wire and use mixed gas also. Super Super clean and great flowing with almost non existent spatter.

This is the same as Sig over Glock or 9 over 45..

 

[Dead Duck]

Sig 9 of course. 45 is only for 1911s.

Glocks Suck!

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Sig 9 of course. 45 is only for 1911s.

Glocks Suck!

One would tend to think with those believes you would own Esabs and Thermal Arcs.

 

[Sigblitz]

My suggestion.
I'm a certified welder. I don't weld at home.
The small welders are cheap enough. You'll use 9mm flux wire and you won't have to go on the bottle. You can weld 1/8" plate, fencing, exhaust.
For serious welding you'll need a serious welder, a bottle, and a 230 hookup.
For stick, you can get an old used stick welder cheap and you'll need a 220 hookup. You can do some serious welding with this on a budget.
You'll need at the least a welding mask and gloves.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

My suggestion.
I'm a certified welder. I don't weld at home.
The small welders are cheap enough. You'll use 9mm flux wire and you won't have to go on the bottle. You can weld 1/8" plate, fencing, exhaust.
For serious welding you'll need a serious welder, a bottle, and a 230 hookup.
For stick, you can get an old used stick welder cheap and you'll need a 220 hookup. You can do some serious welding with this on a budget.
You'll need at the least a welding mask and gloves.

What certs do you carry and do you send in maintenance forms?
And how much 9mm wire comes on a 33lb spool?

 

[MrSmitty]

As a welder, I say go for it, useful skill, and doing for your self is fun and satisfying, Good luck!

 

[Sigblitz]

What certs do you carry and do you send in maintenance forms?
And how much 9mm wire comes on a 33lb spool?

I'm certified in 110, 230, whatever it takes. There's 33 lbs of wire on that spool.

 

[Sigblitz]

I'm certified in 110, 230, whatever it takes. There's 33 lbs of wire on that spool.

Did I pass? Can I answer the OP's question? I hope I passed.

 

[churchmouse]

Did I pass? Can I answer the OP's question? I hope I passed.

I got my stick Certs through the hall. Welding pipe can be pretty boring.
I was taught mig/Tig by some very stellar individuals. Been a while since I put any heat in my machine.
I promised my SIL I would school him in brazing this winter so he can be more useful on our projects. He also wants to know how to use the Tig/wire machine. It will be his when my time ends on this rock so I should warm it up and get him started.

 

[Sigblitz]

I got certified in mig through work to weld the train couplers. It was an all day test to see if I tested out. I brazed for 14 years as an industrial electrician. My stick is stellar. As for tig, I've used one at work to make parts I don't want to buy.

 

[churchmouse]

I got certified in mig through work to weld the train couplers. It was an all day test to see if I tested out. I brazed for 14 years as an industrial electrician. My stick is stellar. As for tig, I've used one at work to make parts I don't want to buy.

Watching people I consider masters with the Tig never gets old. I can weld. But on something tedious like repairing A part for a pistol that is no longer available I take it to one of them. Know your limits. If you want to expand them you need pedal time.

 

[Sigblitz]

I also took a 4 week class, 8 hours a day, and got certified EPA type 3 for heating and air. Got the electric certification also.