At 11:02 AM 10/18/2008, scott.hall@comcast.net wrote:
>so I was going to buy the miller 180...because I thought that's the
one I wanted
>(clarke is a knockoff, apparently).
>so: which mig do you have, and which one would you get if you could do it
>again? I'm looking to do this just the once, and I'd like to make
it the last mig
>purchased.
Scott,
I guess that depends on what else you have in the way of welding equipment
and what you want to do with it.
I have a Lincoln SP100, which appears to no longer be made. The now have a
140.
My 120 is a great little machine with what I considered a lot of
features. It's
big advantage is it's 120V and not 220V. It's small, light weight
relatively, has
continously variable speed and current controls. It also accepts the large
(20# ish) spools of wire. I have the gas setup for it and use it as
a MIG welder
not just wire feed (flux coated) welder. I paid about $800 for the welder,
the sleeve for the feed, a spool of .023" wire, the gas bottle,
regulator, gloves,
and helmet. I also purchased an auto darkening insert for the helmet.
I've welded on the chassis of my Bricklin, practiced on various scrap fenders
and trunks lids to see how it did on sheet metal. It's has meet most of my
welding needs. But I'm not trying to weld anything very thick. When I took
a MIG welding class at the local community college, we used a very big Miller
machine that was 220V. These monsters weren't cheap by any means. We
were running .043" wire and I could not get the hang of welding thin sheet
metal with it. I kept burning through the metal. But on large (1/4"
and above)
plate, I didn't have any problems with the big unit.
I also have access to O/A and a stick welder for doing thicker
stuff. So I just
needed something that would do sheet metal, not 1/4" and above stock.
Also what metals do you plan on welding? These small welders work great
on steel, but can be problematic on AL. While most say you can weld AL, you
really need a different gun that pulls the wire, instead of just pushing it.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair1948@cox.net
Va. Beach, Va
Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1106)
75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887) 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
65 Rambler Classic
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
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