ok, new guy here, i registered awhile ago but rarely post, more of a lurker if you will, soaking up information. anyhow i am looking into buying a welder, i am an aspiring agricultural diesel technician, so i wont be welding every day but weld more than the average joe, i have also taken welding classes in highschool, in this class it covered oxy- actelene welding, stick welding and mig welding, so i have some experience with multiple processes. i have mig welded more than stick but i have more confidence in my welds when stick welding, i know all to well that you can get good looking mig welds that wont even hold a mailbox on its post ( long story of an incident at work that i still get crap over lol).
to be clear this welder is not going to be for work, we have a miller mig welder that handles all the duties we need done there, this welder is going to be for home, where i will make occasional repairs and build some stuff. i am going to college in october and am entertaining the idea of building an enclosed trailer, as i am having a hard time finding a trailer that is built to the specs that i would like. after college i want the trailer to be built heavy enough to haul wood in, and all the trailers you can buy will not be built heavy enough for that, i have also thought about buying a used trailer and adding heavier axles and beefing up the frame, which would still include welding more metal in the frame.
i have noticed everlast and longevity welders sponsor this section, i am wondering if these welders are well built or if they are typical china grade welders, i have also looked into eastwood welders as well and have heard good and bad.
as for which process i am going to be buying that is still up in the air, i could make a stick welder work, and i could also make a mig welder work. mig welding is easier, and can also be more productive ( not having to switch electrodes all the time and ease of getting good looking beads) but on the other hand stick welding while harder to get good looking welds is also easier to spot bad welds, and like i said earlier i feel more confident while stick welding, but even that is slowly changing as i mig weld more at work. just this Thursday i did a little custom fabrication with the miller mig welder. We had a shelving unit that had a damaged leg that osha was not too pleased about, i cut two 3 inch pieces of angle iron and welded them together to make a 6 inch c channel, one side was welded to the leg of the shelve and the other side i fabricated an L bracket from some flat stock that i welded to the c channel and then anchored to the cement floor. i painted the whole deal black and since i spent considerable time prepping the angle iron and grinding down the weld the other mechanics and even the manager couldnt tell the c channel started its life as angle iron lol.
hopefully with all my ramblings you can gather enough info to help make a recommendation, if not just ask some questions i will be more than happy to answer.
to be clear this welder is not going to be for work, we have a miller mig welder that handles all the duties we need done there, this welder is going to be for home, where i will make occasional repairs and build some stuff. i am going to college in october and am entertaining the idea of building an enclosed trailer, as i am having a hard time finding a trailer that is built to the specs that i would like. after college i want the trailer to be built heavy enough to haul wood in, and all the trailers you can buy will not be built heavy enough for that, i have also thought about buying a used trailer and adding heavier axles and beefing up the frame, which would still include welding more metal in the frame.
i have noticed everlast and longevity welders sponsor this section, i am wondering if these welders are well built or if they are typical china grade welders, i have also looked into eastwood welders as well and have heard good and bad.
as for which process i am going to be buying that is still up in the air, i could make a stick welder work, and i could also make a mig welder work. mig welding is easier, and can also be more productive ( not having to switch electrodes all the time and ease of getting good looking beads) but on the other hand stick welding while harder to get good looking welds is also easier to spot bad welds, and like i said earlier i feel more confident while stick welding, but even that is slowly changing as i mig weld more at work. just this Thursday i did a little custom fabrication with the miller mig welder. We had a shelving unit that had a damaged leg that osha was not too pleased about, i cut two 3 inch pieces of angle iron and welded them together to make a 6 inch c channel, one side was welded to the leg of the shelve and the other side i fabricated an L bracket from some flat stock that i welded to the c channel and then anchored to the cement floor. i painted the whole deal black and since i spent considerable time prepping the angle iron and grinding down the weld the other mechanics and even the manager couldnt tell the c channel started its life as angle iron lol.
hopefully with all my ramblings you can gather enough info to help make a recommendation, if not just ask some questions i will be more than happy to answer.
