Mig Welders
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mig welder
I use a miller 200, have been for almost 18yrs, new rollers , and more wire!! nuthin else!
and I've built over 50 trailers, (bike ,and car trailers) and way to many front and rear subframes. for hot rods.
you get what you pay for!
good luck
cruzn57
I use a miller 200, have been for almost 18yrs, new rollers , and more wire!! nuthin else!
and I've built over 50 trailers, (bike ,and car trailers) and way to many front and rear subframes. for hot rods.
you get what you pay for!
good luck
cruzn57
wistleofdeath
the noise in Illinois.
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2003
- Messages
- 193
miller is the way to go IMO
Blown&Injected
Active Member
- Joined
- May 31, 2001
- Messages
- 3,721
Miller makes a machine called a Pulser. It is like two machines in one with one power source.
It is like a Miller 200 or 250, plus it has a spool gun. With the Pulser technology it is possible to MIG weld .090 sheet aluminum. I have run beads about 6" long in thin sheet aluminum with no burn thru - could have gone longer too.
There is the heat range and wire speed knobs like any other machine plus, for the spool gun, a dial -5 to +5 to control arc length. This permits fine tuning for thin aluminum.
There is room for two tanks of gas (one for steel and one for aluminum) and it comes with two regulators. All on a nice cart with storage.
It is like a Miller 200 or 250, plus it has a spool gun. With the Pulser technology it is possible to MIG weld .090 sheet aluminum. I have run beads about 6" long in thin sheet aluminum with no burn thru - could have gone longer too.
There is the heat range and wire speed knobs like any other machine plus, for the spool gun, a dial -5 to +5 to control arc length. This permits fine tuning for thin aluminum.
There is room for two tanks of gas (one for steel and one for aluminum) and it comes with two regulators. All on a nice cart with storage.
I would recommend at least a 150+amp unit. If you are taking the plunge get one that is a dedicated 220volt setup like you are looking for.
I have a mini portable setup that runs off of standard outlet and it can't do much more than 1/8" mild steel and that is pushing it with how good of penetration you get. Can do exhaust work, intercooler piping, fix 80% of the things you need to work on. However when you need to do frame work or heavy guage steel it falls flat on its face do to lack of amperage.
I am not nearly as experienced as cruzn57 (not even close) but have been welding for a few years then took a welding class and strictly learned TIG for 4 months 2x per week 3 hours per session. Was able to weld nearly the whole time being the sole person on the machine and it was great. TIG is the sh*t..... but if you are mainly doing mild steel than MIG is the ticket and has a very fast learning curve. Dial in the current (for metal thickness) and wire speed with good prep making sure the bare metal is exposed with a grinder.... boom! You are ready to lay some nice beads.
I could weld aluminum like a champ after the class as long as the thickness didn't vary too much. Thin aluminum definately has a fine line between perfection and burning nasty holes or creating distortion....... this can be ugly to patch up.
At the school I was attending Miller machines were all the MIG setups..... and for TIG's they employed Lincolns, but had 1 booth with a Miller unit I believe. Miller machine has yellow housing and worked beautiful for me with everything up to 1/2" plate steel with a 250AMP unit. Any thicker welding than that and you are doing HD construction on skyscrapers
.
You could probably pick up a used setup with a little internet searching or a refurbished unit if budget is a concern and you don't plan on making it a side business or profession out of it. If you do.... then you can write it off
.
Welding is fun and the learning curve with good instruction can be very fast. If you have a local community college I would suggest signing up for a class if your skills are beginner or even semi advanced. I'm glad I did for learning TIG as it was only $33 including the gases and material for my time there. Essentially free!
TIG can be a tricky process and settings and learning the machine are crutial........ MIG I think can be mastered with some practice and common sense very fast. I taught myself MIG and am still honing my fabrication skills.... but the welding is very solid now doing the MIG process.
I'm looking to buy a TIG setup in the near future to do mainly s/s, aluminum, and a little bit of mild steel. It can do it all and can do it employing one cylinder of gas and only changing polarity and tips in the torch. The beads look sooo smooth and precise. No boogers like using a MIG with the splatter.
If you are doing 90% mild steel go MIG. If you plan to do other types of metal I would at least investigate TIG.
-GNX7
I have a mini portable setup that runs off of standard outlet and it can't do much more than 1/8" mild steel and that is pushing it with how good of penetration you get. Can do exhaust work, intercooler piping, fix 80% of the things you need to work on. However when you need to do frame work or heavy guage steel it falls flat on its face do to lack of amperage.
I am not nearly as experienced as cruzn57 (not even close) but have been welding for a few years then took a welding class and strictly learned TIG for 4 months 2x per week 3 hours per session. Was able to weld nearly the whole time being the sole person on the machine and it was great. TIG is the sh*t..... but if you are mainly doing mild steel than MIG is the ticket and has a very fast learning curve. Dial in the current (for metal thickness) and wire speed with good prep making sure the bare metal is exposed with a grinder.... boom! You are ready to lay some nice beads.
I could weld aluminum like a champ after the class as long as the thickness didn't vary too much. Thin aluminum definately has a fine line between perfection and burning nasty holes or creating distortion....... this can be ugly to patch up.
At the school I was attending Miller machines were all the MIG setups..... and for TIG's they employed Lincolns, but had 1 booth with a Miller unit I believe. Miller machine has yellow housing and worked beautiful for me with everything up to 1/2" plate steel with a 250AMP unit. Any thicker welding than that and you are doing HD construction on skyscrapers
.You could probably pick up a used setup with a little internet searching or a refurbished unit if budget is a concern and you don't plan on making it a side business or profession out of it. If you do.... then you can write it off
.Welding is fun and the learning curve with good instruction can be very fast. If you have a local community college I would suggest signing up for a class if your skills are beginner or even semi advanced. I'm glad I did for learning TIG as it was only $33 including the gases and material for my time there. Essentially free!
TIG can be a tricky process and settings and learning the machine are crutial........ MIG I think can be mastered with some practice and common sense very fast. I taught myself MIG and am still honing my fabrication skills.... but the welding is very solid now doing the MIG process.
I'm looking to buy a TIG setup in the near future to do mainly s/s, aluminum, and a little bit of mild steel. It can do it all and can do it employing one cylinder of gas and only changing polarity and tips in the torch. The beads look sooo smooth and precise. No boogers like using a MIG with the splatter.
If you are doing 90% mild steel go MIG. If you plan to do other types of metal I would at least investigate TIG.
-GNX7
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