bargain basement mig welders

I have a similar one from HF, 180 instead of 200 amp. It's "finicky" and overheats easily, but for most of my work, it does well. I don't weld anything heavy, 3/16 inch wall square tubing is about it for me. Not saying it won't do heavier, I don't do heavier. Unless they've changed vendors since I got mine, it's made in Italy, not china. I'd be surprised if that hasn't changed. Lennie the Lurker

I was in Home Depot at lunch. They have at least one Lincoln 110V MIG for $325. How much 1/4" plate will you be using? Should work fine on

1/8" mild steel.

On 08 Jun 2004 13:19:32 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Oakchas) vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!: remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I don't own the machine, but have some ideas from previous lives.

Both of those could be a pest, if you need to do that one big(ger) project. Duty cycle is important.

Non-replaceable tips? Sounds weird. Is that where they make their dough? I would check the cost of that option, and the work involved, if that is true. - You can ruin a tip by accident, not just wear, on a 180-200 A machine. - How do you adjust for wire sizes?

Is it gas/gasless, just gasless (flux cored), just gas? Personally if I coud not have both, I would go for gas.

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Sometimes in a workplace you find snot on the wall of the toilet cubicles. You feel "What sort of twisted child would do this?"....the internet seems full of them. It's very sad

I purchased one from

and love it. I loaned it to my dad who only did stick welding, and welded professionally for years and he won't give it back. If you go to their web site they have refurb ones. Which is what I got. Same as new but about $100 less. I think I paid $229 for mine and it'll do up to 1/4" and has the adapter for gas but comes with flux core.

Russ

(replace the entire

On 08 Jun 2004 13:19:32 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Oakchas) shouted from the rooftop:

If all you're doing is sheet metal, take a look at the Made-in-Italy Clarke MIG/"gasless" unit that Sears sells.

I bought one for some bodywork welding and it works just dandy- better than I'd expected. I've welded 1/8" plate and 22 ga sheet with it, all on gas. I haven't tried the gasless wire yet.

I looked at the HF machines, but the feed mechanism on the Sears unit looks to be a bit more robust.

HTH.

-Carl "If you don't have enemies, you don't have character"-Paul Newman

Thanks for your opinions, guys... I will occasionally want to do more than sheet metal. Hence the "desire for higher" amperage. Finiky.. I can live with... And I agree about the non-replaceable tips.. they've gotta be replaceable... but I can't find them listed in their parts etc...

So.. I am not pulling the trigger yet... but It seems like "such a deal"... ya know?

Do yourself a favor and spend just a little more, (less than $100) and get a Lincoln, used Hobart, used or new Miller, etc. You will want to change wire sizes, and you will need to change the tips at some point. Your welder will eventually need some sort of service and you'll not get it when you take a HF welder to the shop and ask for service.

I know of one Miller 110V wire machine thats over 12 years old, has had the shit run out of it, and it's still going strong, almost daily in some months. I recently saw a Hobart Handler 175 in the Thrifty Nickle for $375. I paid $550 for my new Miller-Matic 135. The deals are out there if you'll look.

$400 is a lot of money to pay for a tool that you may eventually have to replace because it's not serviceable. For another $150 you can buy a Miller, or for the same $400 you can buy the Lincoln, and your done...no more wire machine purchases, for as long as you want to use it.

Just my .02 worth...having learned the hard way.

I have a HF model 6271 (Dual MIG 151). I got it on sale for $199 but the cheapest I can find now is $239. For the occasional job it works great for me and you sure can't beat the price. This one does have replaceable tips. It doesn't come with a gas regulator so you'll need to supply your own.

Duty cycle at the highest setting kind of sucks but since I'm just an occasional hobby welder I have all the time in the world.

Robert