If I wanted to cut rust away from my fenders and doors and I wanted to weld replacements pieces back on what kind of welder am I looking at? How many amps?
Thin sheet metal can't be arc welded. You need a MIG welder, preferably a good one that produces a stable arc at low amperage. A wire welder produces too much heat and won't work on sheet metal either.........only MIG or TIG. TIG welders cost much more than MIG and are more difficult to learn. Tig makes the least amount of heat though. You have to control the heat or else you'll warp the sh** out of everything. That means welding in small areas at a time. I keep my hand near where I'm welding, and when I feel the heat I stop and let things cool.....sometimes with a shot of compressed air. I have a Miller 185 that works excellent, but it was expensive. Well worth twice as much IMHO. I use the .023" wire and it will weld metal as thin as 22 guage.......anything thinner easily turns to swiss cheese, but then again I'm an amateur welder. Most sheet metal on older cars is around 20 guage.....metal that thick is very hard to shape but it's easier to weld without burning holes. :bglasses:
Best info for welding is at: www.hobartwelders.com I've got a Hobart Handler 140 :TU: , it is a 110v mig, welds down to 24Ga sheetmetal. You would need to run a gas kit for sheetmetal as the flux core wire won't work very well.
if you have a DC arc welder allready you could get a spool gun attachment and a bottle of Argon mixed gas and you basically have a hanheld mig welder, thats what I use, the attachment that I have was made by READYWELDER, you can also hook it up to car batteries for at track repairs, works pretty good cheers Jeremy
Let me just say, don't buy the cheapest welder you can find. Spend the money and buy the Lincoln or similar. A lot of the welders end up being made by the same few companies but you will have problems with wire feed etc. if you don't buy a good one. I got a good deal on a Campbell Hausfeld a few years ago and it does work well for smaller welding jobs it is very picky about wire feed. Thats what seperates the men from the boys when it comes to mig welders.
That is very true, a cheap welder will weld, just not great, and it dosen't take much to burn through body panels, it has to be a mig with the gas attachment not just a wire feed with flux core wire, if your gonna try the flux core you'll spend more time cleaning up the mess than fixing the car. The very first time I tried it I got all the patches held in place with a couple of pop rivits and then went and RENTED a good welder and practiced on some scrap before I even touched the car with the welder. Any decent rental shop should have a good one, make sure it is full of wire and the gas bottle is full before you leave the rental shop, other wise it'll cost you when you run out.
Couldn't have said it better myself. My Miller 185 was expensive, but has paid for itself tenfold in the 5 years I've owned it. I haven't needed to replace any parts on it yet (besides tips). Once I learned how to weld, I weld all kinds of things I used to just use bolts, rivits and screws on. I've extended drill bits, made tools, you name it. Not just that, if you have a hole in sheetmetal from a screw thet's stripped or you no longer want, you just fill it in and grind it out. You'd never know it was there afterwards. I don't know how I ever got by without my welder for the previous 35 years since I began working with my hands. If it dissappeared today, I'd buy a nother one tomorrow without even having to think about it.........but it wouldn't be a cheep one. :bglasses:
What about Hobart? Is it a good name like Lincoln or Miller? And what size tank would be appropriate? 20, 40, 80 cu.ft.??
Yes, Hobart is a good name. I did a lot of homework before I bought mine. Basically you have the big three Lincoln, Miller and Hobart. For a 110v MIG I found the Handler 140 to be the best for my use. Made in the USA, the best high and low end performance, comes with the gas regulator (optional at extra cost on many others), price was $549 Canadian. I upgraded from a "cheapie" brand and should have done it years ago. If you have 220v power available I think the best would be a Miller 210 but you are getting into a lot more money. The 110v MIG's are great for portability and will weld sheet metal the best (in my limited experience),the HH140 is also rated for up to 3/16 with a single pass. Buy a good welder now and you will never regret it. A "newbie" weldor with a good machine can, with some practise, turn out some nice welds. An experienced weldor with a cheap machine will have difficulty turning out good work. My old Clarke was ok for slapping metal together but for sheet metal there seemed like nothing I could do to get a good weld. I would just end up p***** off and frustrated. The wire feed was extremely uneven at slow speeds while my new Hobart is silky smooth. DON'T go cheap. I'm sure you don't work on your Buick with cheap offshore made hand tools, consider your welder to be an investment too. As for tank size I would go with the 80 cu ft tank. Use a 75/25 mix (Argon/co2) and you will probably have 4 or more hours of actual weld time before you need it refilled.
What if I want to weld something substantial, like say 1/4" or 3/16" steel plate? Will these welders work for that? I've never welded before, as you can tell. Is there a welder that "does it all"? I don't mind spending a buck. I'm a firm believer in buy once, buy right.
My Miller will weld anything from 24ga sheet metal (although I have difficulty with metal that thin) to 3/8" thick plate. I run the smaller .023" wire, for the thicker stuff you will need thicker wire. I tried welding some 1/4" plate with the heavier .035" wire and I like the thinner wire better. You not supposed to weld really thick metal with thin wire though. Don't kid yourself, these welders can crank! So far the .023" wire has worked great for me. I don't think the cheaper 110 volt jobs make enough current to weld thick steel. Keep in mind I had to run a 30 amp 220 volt line for this thing, but it only uses all that power when I'm welding the heavier stuff. :bglasses:
What Joe just said. :TU: I bought the 110V because I have no plans of welding steel more than 1/4" thick. 99% of my work is less than 3/16" down to sheet metal. This is in the last 10 years that I have owned a MIG. The Hobart 140 will weld up to 1/4" with "multiple passes" and flux core wire but really shines on sheet metal , which is why I bought it. I looked at the 220v machines but could not personally justify the extra cost ( double) so I bought the absolute best 110v machine I could find. If cost is no object and you want a welder that will do it all then a 220v machine is the only way to go. I have heard very good comments about the Miller 210 welder. Other considerations are portability and "duty cycle", the 110v can be carried and used virtually anywhere but a 220v is larger, heavier, and needs a good 220 circuit to operate. This may not be an issue if you plan on doing all your welding at one location, just make sure you either already have a 220v circuit to the garage or you can install one easily. I just upgraded the panel in my old house to the tune of $1200 (installed A/C) so that would add significantly to your costs. "Duty cycle" is where a good 220v welder really beats a 110v. Most 110v welders have a 20% duty cycle. This means that after 2 minutes of welding the machine needs 8 minutes of "cool down" time. This has never been an issue with me as 2 minutes of steady welding would make a veeeerrrrry long bead........and I find that personally it takes me enough time to set up, clamp etc that I've never had a problem with it. I also have become a believer in buy it once, buy it right. I'm more than happy with my 110v Hobart but also realize that yes, there are some things I won't be able to do with it, but I can live with that. I've owned a 110v MIG for 10 years and haven't needed more yet. You will have to make your own decision on what you want a welder for. Hopefully some of this :rant: has helped.
welder blue's Hello and welcome to the page. I'm a welder for a living. So believe me when I tell you that your best bet for repairing body panels is with a good quailty 110 mig welder. The work your looking at doing will turn out alot better, especially if you don't have alot of true welding experience. An arc welder will work to, but if you don't have alot of experience with one you'll end up blowing alot of hole's . Then your really going to get upset and discoraged. I wish you the best of luck on your project. Trevor
