Just buy the 220 machine and be done with it. Do all your welding in the middle of the day on the weekend when no one cares about hot water.

 

Yes, I want a 220. Power is my problem, I have 110v, thus the generator option.

 

buy the 220 and an electrician to wire your garage for 220. cheap and best.

 

Buy a 220 machine and properly add a line to your house.

 

I haven't regretted getting my first welder- a 110v 90a mig. I got five years of use out of it for $250. It did everything I needed up until that point, including everything needed for the FE engine swap. AAMOF 110v welders rock for things like the race track. Mine saved my *** more than once at the track. $200 for a welder so greatly extends an individual's fabricating potential, that it far outweighs any disadvantages IMO. By the time you're in a situation to get a 220v it could be your second welder OR maybe you'll be in for a TIG at that point?

 

I would love to start with tig myself, but the price differential between dc and ac/dc units is simply rediculous. I see myself wanting to do aluminum though, so I will get a cheaper mig since it can do both with just changing out the gun.

 

Just thinking today I could get two welders for the price of any of my options. A cheapie low power 110 for tacking in the gargage, and a nice 220 for welding with a cord by the house.

The garage has 110v and 20 amp breaker. Weak!

 

The Lincoln 180C i'm looking at has an option for spool gun attachment for $180, which is just kick-***.

m2:
I'm auditing the next TIG class just for the experience. It's not offered this summer which makes me sad, but the semester gives me a longer (painful) learning curve, good in the long run.

Off to browse harbor-freight..

y8: Serious about selling?

 

current list:

Harbor freight cheapie flux machine: $129
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44567

OR

Harbor freight cheapie flux/mig machine 2: $169
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55247

PLUS

Lincoln 180C 220 MIG: $715
http://cgi.ebay.com/LINCOLN-POWER-MI...QQcmdZViewItem

I'll Buy this later

Lincoln spool gun: $180
http://cgi.ebay.com/LINCOLN-MAGNUM-1...QQcmdZViewItem

I have 1K budgeted, but I can go a bit over with some random stuff new gloves, the tank, gas, and some 3" pipe

Opinions welcome. Better now than later.

 

I've only run a few beads of aluminum with my new spool gun, but I've got to say that it didn't look bad- far above my expectations, given prior mig aluminum experience. It will work, it's just not easy.

I'll have a TIG (with my new garage) when I retire.

I used the 110amp version of the HF mig/flux and it worked great.

I wished I had more time on the Clarke so I could give a reasonable review. I've used it to weld a stair landing frame in mild steel and a footing on a schedule 40 support column with flux core and it worked like any other 110v mig. Didn't take much getting used to the weight of the gun with the spool on top. As stated, I ran four beads on aluminum to make sure the thing worked right after I got it. The first two were "learners" and by the last two it looked like a weld.

 

for what it's worth, you can get different liners for non-spoolgun wirefeed welders to run aluminum wire. I ran it with fair success on my handy-MIG and made decent beads by just reversing polarity and keeping the cabling straight.

 

Having a cheapie flux machine might not be a bad idea if you are planning ondoing a lot of ghetto exhaust work. I've found for most of my ghetto work (luckily we don't have ghetto's up here-->we're just red necks)

It's just to easy to grab the mig with flux wire, go to town and be done with it. Once you start welding, your 'friends' will come up with all kinds of things to weld up, and most of them won't know the difference between a mig/tig or a coat hanger...

Do you an Oxy-torch set? You might want to spend ~$400 on one if you don't?
And buy a decent grinder 4 1/2"-7"
I have read lots of good reviews on this one as well...
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=6271

 

Happy birthday to me. Figuratively, and actually!

As for now, I'll be test fitting, marking, then walking back to the house to tack. Then, walk back to the garage to ensure correct fitment, then walk back and weld. Whatever. I'm looking at making a nice, beefy extension cord from the dryer room to the concrete slab on the side of the house. I'll put it together within the next couple days, and throw some test beads down.

Anyways, heres some pics:


Lincoln 180c MIG 220v

Tank: 75% Argon, 25% Co2

Jackson Auto-darkening helmet

 

Both of our lincolns have the nascar logo, it's because they are the offical welder of nascar..

 

Right. Learned that awhile ago, actually thought of this thread when I saw it. It's cool with me, I don't really care about the logo, although I still think it's kind of funny.















And that is one sexy bitch