[TheForge] MIG Welders

[Washington, Aubrey O.]

Bill,
 
I expect that most of my MIG welding will be in sheet metal up to 14 ga.  I have an AC stick welder I can use for anything heavier than the MIG will manage.  I'm not great with the stick welder.  My welds are ugly and I use more rod than a better welder would, but stuff generally stays stuck together.  My biggest problem has been burning though sheet metal with the stick welder, so I'm hoping the MIG will help with that.
 
Thanks to everyone for all your advice.  It seems like either the Lincoln Power MIG 140C or the Millermatic 140 would be good.  I gather I should avoid the current Hobart.
 
Aubrey

________________________________

From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net on behalf of Woolley
Sent: Tue 5/22/2007 8:46 AM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] MIG Welders



Aubrey,

My first question would be, what are you going to weld with it? No
question a Mig is a great choice for light sheet metal.  I bought a
Miller 140 which runs well enough but in a sense is a toy for a lot of
jobs.  The duty cycle prevents you from running a lot of wire at once. I
tried to weld some structural and it was a joke.  Also on some stainless
steel kitchen equipment repair jobs I struggled with it at times.  I
bought a Miller Maxstar 150 and have been more than happy with it. It
can handle all my stick and tig jobs like kitchen repair, railing
installs, light structural stuff.  If your stick welding is proficient,
I'd consider it. Tig is a good method of welding thin material.

Regards,
Bill Woolley






Washington, Aubrey O. wrote:
> Okay Folks, I know we've covered a lot of this territory in the past, but I'd like some specific input on my situation.  I'm not a great welder and don't do a lot of it.  But, I've owned a Lincoln 225 AC machine for many years.  I was thinking of upgrading to the AC/DC model to see if that would improve my welding in sheet metal.  (I get a lot of burn through or sticking.)  Then this weekend I got a chance to play with a Miller 135 MIG welder.  That got me to thinking about other options.
> 
> Now I'm considering keeping the old  AC stick welder and adding a MIG machine to my shop.  I can use the stick welder for heavy duty applications, so I'm thinking of getting a 115V MIG machine so it can take it with me to locations where 230V is not available.  In doing a quick internet search, it seems that 140 amps is the largest that MIGs come in for 115V.  Roughly in order of price I've found the following: 
> 
> Millermatic 140 w/ Auto Set
> Millermatic 140
> Lincoln Power MIG 140C & 140T
> Hobart Handler 140 MIG
> 
> I have several questions.  Why are the Hobarts so much cheaper?  (Are they boat anchors?)  Is there any real difference between Lincoln and Miller (besides color preference)?  Is the "auto set" feature of the Miller worth the extra $80?  What is the difference between the Lincoln 140C and 140T?  (I didn't notice any difference in specs and there is only about $5 difference in price.)  What other issues should I be considering?
> 
> Thanks,
> Aubrey
>  
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