Need help with minor welding - Vancouver WA/Portland OR area

1968FormulaS340 said
Like I said, take a class and use their equipment.

Yeah ok. A lifetime skill with no equipment to perform said skill. You can't weld without a welder. Most beginning welding classes don't start with MIG welding, and you'd still have to convince the shop to let you bring in your own stuff from home and spend hours welding on it using their equipment and supplies. I'm guessing you haven't tried taking one of these classes recently.

GeorgeH said
$450 plus freight both ways? Not much more to be in a 130A machine with a tank of gas and have it when it comes time to do connectors, patches etc. There's enough resources on youtube, welding sites, and here to get somebody who's seriously trying to learn going. The settings chart inside the lid is a good starting point and you're not going to burn up a 10 lbs of wire and a 40lb cylinder before you can pull beads.

Did you notice what city the OP lives in? There's no freight, he literally lives in the same city as Firm Feel. And yeah, it's going to be more. If he has a bunch more welding to do, it could be cost effective. If he doesn't, well, it won't be. Pretty simple.

Like I said, I tell people to take welding classes all the time. But that doesn't mean you can have a fully functional MIG welder in your garage with the ability to use it well enough not to ruin your car for under $450.