Recomendations for a basic all around welder?

[glock 357]

There's been a few times I've been tinkering stuff all around the house and debating on getting a welder. I've been eye balling the harbor frieght welders for a while since they are around $90-110 for an arc or wire fed welder which I'd prefer. Any suggestions on if these wire fed welders are worth the hassles?

Uses:
welding cheapo aluminum/steel mags
welding a bent bolt together
welding a steel press bench
tweaking or customizing scope mounts
maybe a steel fence
maybe a gun cabinet cage style
etc.

Any thoughts?

[kmca]

A cheap Harbor Freight welder won't do most of what you're asking.
If you have the time, you might consider taking a welding course at one of the junior colleges in your area before you buy your welder.

[stilly]

I agree. I am not a welder although I helped build a metal framed trailer by hand on a garage floor and some of the things that were brought up were: shielding gas is needed for different metals, a good power source of CLEAN power is needed if you do not have the dedicated outlets. Generators with CLEAN power come into play here.

Basically you should take a class at a JC and learn the basics and fundamentals before you just run out and BUY one. I ALMOST did that on fleabay but I am glad that I waited and saved me $600.

BTW, a DECENT welder is gonna cost you about $1500+ and FORGET about those all in one POS you will see all over fleabay... Of course it is YOUR money.

[kmca]

Oh, most of what you want to do can be done with a gas torch. You do have to know what you're doing to weld aluminum though.

[Dan FS71]

Uses:
welding cheapo aluminum/steel mags
welding a bent bolt together
welding a steel press bench
tweaking or customizing scope mounts
maybe a steel fence
maybe a gun cabinet cage style
etc.

Any thoughts?

Kinda like asking for an all purpose hammer to do everything from tap pins into ar receivers to breaking up concrete slabs.

The most versitle 'welder' is oxy-fuel. It could be used to do all the things listed and more. It is relatively cheap to buy. The smaller the rig the more you will spend on gas. It is relatively dirty and slow. It is your all purpose hammer.

Mig wont do alum. unless you spend lots of money on the setup. Cheap harbor freight machines will take a practiced hand to produce quality welds. It is fast, and relatively cheap.

Tig (inverter) will do it all and do it well. It is relatively slow. But portable. You will be considerably north of $1k by the time you make your 1st weld.

[NytWolf]

Most entry-level good quality MIG welders can do all of what you listed, except aluminum. For about $200 more, you can get it to do aluminum, but most of it will still depend on you.

[SJgunguy24]

I am a weldor and what you,want to do will cost bucks in a single machine. If you get a MIG machine you can weld aluminum but you'll need a spool gun and Argon. Actually you'll need to change to a different sheild gas for stainless, and carbon steels. Any thin aluminum material will need AC TIG (with balance control and pulse preferred). The plus with TIG is you can have better control of the heat and arc. Also only Argon is needed for most materials (unless you push a small TIG with alumnum, then preheat and helium but that's later)
If you want,to dip your toe in the water with the TIG process, i'd look at Everlast. Looks like some decent machines for a good price. If you want to get something that has a great reputation, Miller or Lincoln are the way to go.

You'll need to expand your budget. My miller MIG was 1600$, and the Evetlast i'm looking at will run close to that if not more. If you get a TIG, make sure it has high frequency start. Much easier to light up by just flooring the pedel.

[BigfootHunter]

I'm no pro, but I'm pretty happy with my Miller Passport as a hobby welder. Best part is that it can use 120 or 240 power. Looks like they're a little more expensive than they used to be (I payed around $1500) a few years ago. Maybe look for a used one? Can't go wrong with a Miller.

[tujungatoes]

I'd say you're going to need at minimum a decent stick/tig machine to complete the list of chores you've got there. Not to mention a fair amount of skill. The suggestion of some professional instruction is probably the best advice so far.

Stay away from the $100 welders at HF. They used to have a decent 220v mig that was $250ish, but it's been replaced by another model. No idea if it's as good as the old one. If you want to get an intro mig machine for light steel work you might look on craigslist for a used lincoln 135 or similar. They're good little machines, just don't expect to weld anything heavy with it. I picked up my miller 175 on the list with tweco torch, hood, reg, bottle, and spool for I think $400.

The miller passport is a VERY cool machine, but alot of what you pay for is portability. If it's just gonna hang out in the garage/yard the 180 will do the same job at probably half the price.

[rokcrawla]

I borrowed a couple of the cheap Harbor Freight type wire feed welders before buying my first welder. My biggest beef with them was that the electrode was always hot. I usually touch the wire to where I want to start my bead and then flip down my hood by nodding my head, the hot electrode was a problem for me. I would also get flashed any time the wire would accidently contact grounded material. Any decent machine will have a cold electrode when the trigger is not pulled.

A Lincoln 135 is a great starter welder, but your desire to work with multiple materials complicates the issue. You can buy setups to allow the Lincoln to weld aluminum, or buy a TIG welder that will do both but is much more expensive and more difficult to learn how to operate. Honestly, since you are asking, I am going to assume you are a novice and recommend dropping the Aluminum requirement for now, getting a nice Lincoln or Miller machine. If you do not anticipate welding thicker than 3/16"-1/4" often, a 110 volt machine like the SP-135 will be fine.

[kcstott]

I know that everyone else has given you good advice So I'l going to hit you with some reality.
Lots of money is what you need. Then you need to hit your local weld supply.

For your fabrication needs you will need a Mig welder of at least 200 amps
Then for your scope base needs, You will need a tig machine and like toes said a bunch of skill.

So in reality you are asking for two machines. and a total of about $4000 in machines and supplies.

I will give you some advice though. Get a Miller 211 or 212 to start with.
Then look into a Miller Syncro wave 200 or a Dynasty 200. That would cover your aluminum needs at least for sheet metal aluminum.

Now just because it's aluminum doesn't mean it will weld worth a darn. Lot of aluminum alloy is a royal pain to weld on.

Now If you have any questions please PM me I'll answer any question you have and give you real world experience on the type and use of machines to look at.
But first thing is get Harbor Freight out of your head as a place to get a welder.
You will be frustrated as all hell. I know this was not the answer you were looking for but it is the cold hard truth.

I was in your position years ago an finally realized that having the tools to do quality welds requires an investment. I've gone broke and live on ramen noodles for months to get my machines. But I'll never be unemployed

[Carzy Driver]

Miller Dynasty 200 DX.

I use Dynasty 350's and 700's just about everyday, great machines. The 200 DX is also a great machine and can handle the work you've listed since it can do both TIG and SMAW. Do not waste your time with Harbor Freight welders as they have very low Duty Cycle.

[wash]

I guess TIG might be a little slower than MIG or going all out with stick.

I'm not a good enough welder to make much of a difference in speed but my TIG welds come out a lot cleaner and I can see what I'm doing more than MIG which gives me more confidence in the penetration.

For versatility, I think TIG is the best option. There are some less expensive inverter boxes that I've heard work very well (Thermal Arc I think) but I've mostly used Miller and Lincoln boxes. I have heard some horror stories with cheap Chinese inverter boxes so research before you buy.

[SJgunguy24]

I guess TIG might be a little slower than MIG or going all out with stick.

I'm not a good enough welder to make much of a difference in speed but my TIG welds come out a lot cleaner and I can see what I'm doing more than MIG which gives me more confidence in the penetration.

For versatility, I think TIG is the best option. There are some less expensive inverter boxes that I've heard work very well (Thermal Arc I think) but I've mostly used Miller and Lincoln boxes. I have heard some horror stories with cheap Chinese inverter boxes so research before you buy.

Any TIG machine will stick weld, just put a rod in, floor it and light up. The chinese have upped their game and while i'd love to get a dynesty DX200 they are a bit too much for me. The Everlast seem to be decent machines and the price is right. Also they're located in south city so if I have any issues, I have a front window to throw it through.

[wash]

Well for me, any TIG machine will stick...

I've never gotten stick to do anything except stick.

My experience goes like this:

Zap, expletive, break off the rod, zap, expletive, break off the rod, zap, expletive...