looking to buy my first welder

diymirage said
hey guys
im looking to buy my first welder

here is the thing, i know how to weld but i never owned one before
i think there is a welder plug in the downstairs garage, but honestly, all the places where i expect to be welding only have 110

at this moment there are 3 or 4 little projects around the house that need welding but nothing big, so im just looking for something affordable

while were on the topic, how do you guys feel about flux core welding?
does it make sense to go with fluxcore and not need tanks or does the wire cost more then the gas and tanks would?

im hoping to keep this under 500 dollars, and im not opposed to harbor freight

so, what can you guys suggest?

I'm not a professional welder (Journeyman Machinist) but have been welding for 40+ years. Most of the time ac-dc stick. Over the past 25 years I have dabbled in TIG and MIG. At present I teach Precision Machining and Welding at a 9th-12th career and tech school. Our shop uses mostly Miller but we also have a few Lincolns. I don't care for flux core and would rather use MIG as it is much cleaner. If you are working on .060" or less, MIG or TIG work great. If price wasn't a concern, Miller makes a nice 250 multi-process machine package for around 4k. These will weld MIG, TIG and Stick but are only DC. For all around Stick and TIG, a 350 Syncrowave is a phenomenal machine but pushes $5500. For me personally it would have been nice to buy one of these machines for my hobby shop, but I couldn't justify the cost. With that said, I own 3 welders; A Lincoln 250 tombstone (stick), a Lincoln 180 AC/DC/Stick/TIG and an Eastwood 135 MIG. All were purchased used and 2 were from CL. I have about $400 in all 3, less bottles. I have compared my Eastwood to a Miller 140 and generally they weld the same. The Eastwood however has plastic drive rolls and uses less expensive components; switches, knobs, etc. but replacement parts are also inexpensive. Also, the Eastwood has a short duty cycle (10%) at max heat.I am using my 135 with 75/25 argon/co2 mix to weld in panels and frame connectors on my 68 Dart. It puts down a nice bead and is easy to move around. I hope this helps.