Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello all,

I am new to this site, and was referred by someone over at the miller forums.

I am brand new to welding, in fact I havent even started yet. I am trying to find a welder that I should buy to get me started.

I have a guy from craigslist selling a used lincoln weld pak 155 for 300 bucks and was wondering if that is something you would buy if you were me?

I dont want to spend over 1000 bucks to start welding since I never welded before. I am actually a finish carpenter by trade and closest thing I did to welding is soldering water lines. I know thats not welding but its as close as I have done.

Also a guy has recommended the longevity 140 mig welder, it seems to be an off brand name and watched the comparison video to the hobart. Anyway I was looking at the longevity line and saw the longevity 200s mig welder, that also lets you do stick welding it think up to 200 amps. Would you consider a longevity or stay away from them? I would really prefer a miller(which seems so expensive), a lincoln or even a hobart. So I am really confused, and would just like to get something to get started but I dont want to just get garbage say like harbor frieght, and I dont know maybe the longevity is in the line of the harbor frieght type.

Please help,

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Pat M aka PMAC from Pittsburgh, pa

Hi there,

Heres some info I found regarding smaller mig welders, Lincoln v Hobart. I can not vouch for any of these machines but that doesnt mean they are bad.

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=58331

Also, one of our Brethren, on this forum, CraigLam bought a little lincoln recently. Im sure you could Personal Message him for details. This is a link to his posts.

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... 8816#p8816

Jody has done a number of videos with a Hobart MVP. A little welder that packs a good wallop.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/hob ... 10mvp.html

Lastly, Artist, Kevin Caron, now uses Longevity products in his videos on youtube. This is a link to his vids for you to sift though.

http://www.youtube.com/user/kevincaron/videos

I hope this helps and doesnt muddy the water too much,

Mick

Thanks for input,

Ya I asked kevin about a welder. And since I have never welded before and for me to get a used lincoln weld pak 155, i am not comfertable.


But with never welding before, I think I will just get the new longevity mig 140. I just want to get something that will last. They have a 5 year warrenty and in time I am sure I will move up to a much better machine. So I think instead of beating my head anymore. I am going to go with the longevity mig 140 and start practicing. I never welded anything in my life. I am a finish carpenter. So this is all really new to me, but its something i really really want to get learning on.

I did see Kevin is using longevity, I saw the videos of the longevity compared to the 140 hobart. I mean anything will work for me. I am interested in building a welding table, welding cart and a stand for a grinder to start off. After I practice just on some scrap metal pieces for a while.


So longevity it is, I have nothing to compare it to, feel wise, bead wise nothing cause i never welded.

Thanks for response I really appreciate it!


PMAC

Hey,

Pleasure mate. Welcome to the forum and I hope you keep coming back. Put up pictures of your progress, we'll be keen to help you out.

Mick

I ordered the Miller MM211. Any input on that welder, I have got alot of people telling me its worth the $1195 bucks brand new?

I will be around here alot getting input on well most likely what am doing wrong on my beginning welds.

I kept beating my head on what cheaper welder to get, and many told me not to waste my money and get the MM211 so I put it on a credit card.

ANy input about the MM211??? I will post the first things i start with which will be some practice on scrap, then I will build a cart, and upload pics to have input on what I did right or wrong. I am excited to get it here. SO excited. GF Pushed for me to get the good one. She knows me to well, and I wouldnt have been satisfied with a low cost welder.

I cant wait for it to get here.

Again I really appreciate the help. What do you think about the MM211?

Its late here and I am so excited I am having a hard time getting to sleep. But ya the MM211 for me. And now I have to get, a nice grinder, and many other things. ANy input on what helmet I should go for or input on other tools I should get. First thing I will Need is a tank for the carbon dioxide/ argon. I need helmet and so much other stuff.

I will be doing alot of posting and soon as I do my first project I will get pictures up.

Hey
Good on ya. Never heard of that model, Miller welders arnt particularly mainsteam in Australia. Im sure you'll go great.
Mick.

While I have little experience on machines of any kind that aren't "heavy-duty" or industrial in nature, you really can't go wrong with Miller, as they currently have the best customer service in the industry, and the consumables are available practically anywhere.

At work, we have four Miller sychrowave 250s (TIG/stick), 3 Miller 251's MIG, and two odd Lincolns I can't name. They are all used almost daily, and usually all day, and I have no complaints with any of them.

We have occasional trouble with the synchrowaves, but that is a maintenance issue. Nobody ever takes 20 minutes to pull the cover and blow all the crap out of them.

Enjoy your new machine, and post back when you have some burn time in.

Steve S

The Millermatic 211 is a solid machine. Great for small stuff and is used by one of my buddies who build race cars(hobby, not professional) also it's the GOTO welder for a friend who works for a municipalities public works dept mechanics garage.. It'll do almost anything you need it to and with the ability to go dual voltage is also a plus.. I was strongly considering going with the 211 before deciding on the 212 (Dedicated 230v and higher duty cycles)

The Millermatic 211 is a good machine ... you'll love the dual voltage capability if you ever need to weld on 110V. Pretty sure there's a direct-connection for a spool gun attachment in case you want to upgrade to aluminum in the future. The machine is easy to use - like most in that category. Under the side door where the wire is intalled is a parameter chart - which is a good guide for machine settings based on material thickness, wire diameter, etc.

Have fun!

im a Miller guy (being thats all we had at the school i went to so its a biased comment) but i crossed paths with a Lincoln idealarc 150 for a song (a price i count refuse) and after having burned a roll here at the ole homestead i see no difference between the Miller i used in school and this Lincoln i payed for out of pocket and i got a can of 75/25 in the deal too .... now im sure the Miller was a much more expensive unit but if you can grab one of these ideal arcs for 600 bucks (US) id say your rocking it and theres a pile of them on ebay in that range

i should have double checked that before i said that, there WERE a pile of them in that price range ... sorry