Thinking I want to buy a welder. I'll never get to serious about this. Weld some exhaust together, maybe box some control arms and more likely just stick shit together to make ugly sculptures.
I've been told not to bother with cheap welders, but I'd rather not buy a top of the line welder just to screw around with.
What a good enough welding set up out there? I'm guessing it's not the $89.99 special from Harbor Freight.
What do you want to weld and what is your budget? What power do you have available?
My personal opinion is 99% of the 110v mig welders out there good for 1/8" steel. Sure you can weld 1/2" with it but you are almost better off using super glue at that point. So 1/8" with no bevel. Flux core is considered a "hot" process. Meaning you can probably get about 3/16" thick with some nice penetration.
I would not recommend any 110v machines for 1/4" and up. Can it be done? Sure but you really have to know what you are doing. I had a bunch of kids come in looking for some .035 solid wire for a 110v mig to build a 1/4" steel bumper and I sent them packing. Stupid idea, no idea what they are going, and they are just going to hurt someone.
220v or dual voltage 110/220v welders are the best IMO.
Gas (c25 which is argon/co2) is generally preferred. It welds cleaner, a LOT less smoke, no slag to chip off and more forgiving for most people. A little more costly up front seeing how you have to buy a bottle. You will also run .023 or .030 wire. If you run flux you want .035 wire.
The issue with most of the HF or cheaper no name welders are build quality and parts. HF generally (older stuff, not the new vulcan stuff from what i can tell) uses a shit gun. Nobody sells a liner replacement, it's super short, it uses a plastic wire feed assembly that isn't even lined up right, no internal cap (smoothes out the arc) and no extra controls. It's basic and you will probably hate it.
Things to look for:
Cast aluminum wire feed assembly
Easily source parts. Ones that use a mig gun that has a back end that is tweco style or euro connect.
A welder that accepts gas. Some flux welders will not have an input for gas and not have a option to reverse the polarity which you need.
Ability to hold a 10lb spool of wire. Buy a larger 10lb roll vs the small 1-2 pound rolls, it's so much more cost friendly and will last a lot longer
I don't want to dig into to much but if you have any questions let me know.
I have a nice sale going on now for a mig/spoolgun and helmet for $949. And have less expensive options too.
I have a Hobart 190 Handler 220v works great. Hobart is a parent company of Miller. Love it, have lots of hours on it and have Zero complaints as of yet.
I also have a cheapo Campbell and Hausfeld 110v for thin sheet metal, it has worked pretty good surprisingly... though I don't use it a hole lot maybe 10 hrs on it and have heard that it's just a matter of time with these.
Hobart and Miller are owned by ITW (Illinois Tool Works) and they own about 100 other companies. ITW is HUGE.
You want pretty welds or strong welds?
Flux core welding wire can stick a turd to a chrome bumper. Amateur MIG - not so much.
I have seen many gorgeous MIG welds just 'fall off' because the welding gas doesn't do shit to clean a contaminated surface just before the weld like flux will.
I have a Lincoln 120V wire feed welder that I use for light duty 'stick anything to anything' welding and I use NR 211 flux core wire from Lincoln.
Results are not often pretty but always bite like a pitbull.
What is most important first? Welds that hold strong or welds that win a beauty contest? As a beginner, you are NOT going to make the perfect stack of tipped-over-nickles TIG weld for years.
Gas does not clean the surface. Gas protects the weld, the same thing that the flux does. Welds that look great and 'fall off' were most likely welded too cold or by someone who welded vertical down. You get no penetration.
With flux wire the saying is "if there is slag you drag", don't push it.
Dimes, the term is dimes. Nobody that knows anything about welding will say nickels, pennies or quarters.
Lesee here, I've had a HF DUAL MIG 171 (earlier one than the newer ones) and a Clarke 140EN. The Clarke is an Italian made welder of decent quality, and the HF one well it's been frustrating because parts have been a pain in the dick to get. I had it lose a roller and couldn't buy one. I've been modding the fuck out of it on and off, and when the weather gets warm again I'll probably have another go at it. My advice is get something you can at least get some parts for in the future even if you CL it.
Also gas is great, I prefer its welding over flux although the flux can be more convenient.
Welding with C25 gas is the way to go. So much less smoke to deal with an no slag. The 140en is decent at best but the wire feed assembly is weak. There is no internal capacitor so you can start with adding one but it's not really worth it for those small machines IMO.