Small mig welder

diymirage said
i picked up an eastwood welder on craigslist a while ago, and i love it

as far as learning, i started with a 220 miller unit with gas at my place of employment
they had put in a mezzanine without pulling a permit and as a result someeone had to weld trusses in to make properly load bearing
i got volunteered to weld that up, and though i wouldnt stand under the north east corner of it, by the time the project was done i was pretty decent welder

as far as the eastwood is concerned, i havent found a cheap bottle yet so im using "shielded wire" also knows as flux core, and i like it

as others have mentioned, when you weld with gas you need to put in a little more prep time to get a good weld, but it will be a nicer looking weld when you are done

flux core, you clean the ground and the very first spot and then weld through paint rust bondo, whatever is on there...all while there is a lever 4 hurricane blowing

Not to knock you but a inexperienced worker welding load bearing truss with a mig welder doing short circuit mig is about as irresponsible as a contractor could ever get
This is my biggest concern today ever since mig welders became more compact and showed up for sale literally everywhere
While welding in field conditions often had less than desirable conditions but doing a structural weld through paint or trying to weld through heavier rust is dead on wrong
Body filler? No
I’ve had to correct more crap weak dangerous welds done by guys with Mig welders than I care to recall
No qualified welder I’ve ever known over the last 40 years would weld anything load bearing or anything were strength is the primary factor with short circuit mig
Flux cored is something else but again there there is no shortcuts for experience