[Philsworld]

Ping to Elsie (and check your mail).

[Arlis]

Have old Lincoln buzz-box stick welder & Hobart 135 Mig welder.

Know why welding is my favorite hobby?

#1. You don’t gotta wait for the glue to dry.

#2. If you mess up - which I frequently do - you just pull out the cutting torch & grinder and nobody knows.......

Both came to me on a project after I’d been welding for about 5 years......

[Yo-Yo]

It sounds like you're trying to go from zero to 200mph all at once with welding.

What do you want to weld all of the sudden after all these years? Do you have a specific project in mind?

Don't laugh, but I would suggest you start with a small stick or MIG welder from Harbor Freight. Many of the smaller ones can use 120V.

Then if you find yourself really into welding, you can spend the money to run dedicated 220V to your garage and upgrade to Lincoln or some other name brand welder.

You're not going to weld car frames on 120v, but you can do a lot of maintenance welding on trailers, or hobby welding just to get your feet wet without too much expense.

[ABN 505]

Good choice on the Everlast, I have a multi purpose inverter Arc and tig from them and it;s every bit as good as my Miller that cost over 2,000 more. It has the same 110/220 input and runs super smooth. Unless you are doing major commercial welding you don't need anything over 200 amps, I have a Lincoln 300 that I would use occasionally for shooting studs or welding 1” thick steel but it was a monster to move around plus you had to change up the transformer for your currant input. I got rid of all my machines when I retired except for the Everlast and I don't regret it.

[iontheball]

I learned to stick weld in vo-ag in high school years ago and it still is my go to machine. Stick selection is varied and they are the only consumables. Prep before welding is minimal. Flip the switch, grab a stick, set your amps and you are ready to go. I also have a gas set up which I use for light welding with brass. If I went for something else today, I would look into a combination unit that would have plasma and tig capabilities. Unless you are doing heavy or production welding, I can’t see spending all the money you are planning to spend on a high end unit. They are nice, but I would view it as overkill. Everlast sounds like a decent choice.

[faucetman]

Just bought a Hitbox MIG-250DP 5 in 1 welder.

I am just starting to learn how to use it. Using it so far with flux core wire and very happy with it. I used it on a 115 volt 20 amp circuit with no problems. Welded continuously for minutes without it shutting down for cooling. Never tripped a breaker for the whole project.

It is also 230 volt with adapter cord, but I bought it to be portable so not going to install a dedicated 50 amp circuit for it.

Bought it at Amazon although today I see Walmart.com has it $20 cheaper.

I have no plans to mess around with gas as I am NOT a welder and don’t really care what my welds look like. I just want to be able to fix things that break and fabricate small items as needed.

Don’t know if this is what you want, but it works for me.

Mine came with solid wire. Bought flux core wire at Amazon cheap. Doesn’t come with the TIG set up. Instructions on how to use/adjust it are poor. Figuring it out on my own.

I had minimal experience with arc welding, zero experience with MIG welding.

[waterhill]

I’m a dauber. Got a Lincon and a bobcat.

What you need to know?

I did 30years fuel. Above ground and underground fuel systems.

I tacked stuff for welders.

I was a designer.

[VTenigma]

Unless you are building bridges or air arc gouging there is no need for a welder that heavy. Something that will run up to 250 amps is way more welder than most people will ever use. Heavy fabrication is done with 1/8” 6010 or 7018 all the time running below 120 amps. I run a 220 amp mig machine, a 210 tig machine, and a 175 amp stick welding transformer.

They never get utilized at full throttle, and they all run off a 50 amp breaker on 75’ of 8ga conductor. Remember, welder specific branch circuits are rated differently than other branch circuits in the NEC. I fabricate with some type of welder nearly every day. Unless you are running a very heavy fabrication shop you don’t need all that welder.

[Zuriel]

Migs are great, used them at fab shops I worked at in the 90s.

I have a 110v suitcase fluxcore wire welder, and an old Lincoln stick welder. Don’t need anything else for what I do.

First welding project was a mini bike when I was 13. Through the years I made, modified, and repaired some of my farm implements.

Made a full scale t-rex skeleton in 98, (and some smaller dinos after that (not a dino or ‘arteest’ type person. Just was trying to add income).

[carcraft]

I gt a harbor freight 220 volt welder, wire feed and the gas gauge to run Aragon, helium or ami . I have a separate service panel hooked a 220 with. The welder works ok. Learned stick welding. I like that I can weld aluminum. There are a lot good price point welders now.

[Track9]

I made a bandsaw wood mill with a harbor freight flux core welder. Still works great.

[Hot Tabasco]

Kind of off topic but my nephew’s son graduated from the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology about a year and a half ago (after two years of after school training while in high school). Right after he graduated, job offers came pouring in.......

[joe fonebone]

The key words, when looking for a machine, are Duty Cycle.
This is how many minutes in an hour you can actively lay metal.
The higher the duty cycle, the better the machine

[wjcsux]

Later.

[axxmann]

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-180-amp-mig-welder-and-60-amp-plasma-cutter-combo-deal.html

Eastwood mig/plasma.
Inexpensive. Works on 110 or 220 (I run mine on a 220v 30a circuit and it has never blown). Welds steel and aluminum (spool gun was included)

[FrozenAssets]

I have used a 120v Lincoln 140 MiG welder here on the homestead for years. I’ve done repairs, fab work and hard faceing. All I ever run is FCAW. (flux cored wire) Don’t let people especially salesmen tell you that you need a great big welder to do things. It is mostly a matter of time and duty cycle. Multiple pass is actually stronger because succeeding passes anneal the passes below them. It is mostly a matter of time and duty cycle. I have used that small MiG machine to weld 2X3X1.5 inch steel blocks that hold carbide teeth onto the rotor of a crushing machine that slams into frozen ground and wood at 340 rpm. I never had a weld fail.

The main thing is to clean the metal properly and clean between passes. I keep a wire wheel on a 4 inch grinder for this. It is much faster and more effective than dinking on it with a slag hammer. I also preheat big stuff and make sure that large welds do not cool too rapidly. This avoids the dreaded “tink”

[x]

Slavery was abolished a long time ago ...

[right way right]

I have a Lincoln 180 that can be used with 120 or 220 volt power.
I mostly do automotive panel replacements with it but it has enough heat to weld some thick materials too when needed.

I knew that I wanted one that ran off 220 but also wanted to be able to take it and use it where only 120 was available.

[logi_cal869]

Forney 190 MP. Dual power (120/220), MIG, Stick & Tig. Mine's an older model, but essentially the same as that at the link (got it used, but literally like new).

https://www.forneyind.com/forney-pro-323-190-mp-mig-stick-tig-welder

LOVE IT!!!

[logi_cal869]

Oh, and neglected to mention:

I pulled off my oven range circuit to install outside power on the side of the house for the welder, which just so happened to be exactly where my work area happened to be (directly opposite the range). My total out of pocket expense for wiring the welder was under $100, iirc.

Since our range is little used and only 2 of us in the house, it’s not going to be a problem.