Looking for a welder in Pleasanton, CA (selection help and battling being cheap too)

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sazzlefrats

sazzlefrats

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Pleasanton, CA
I don't know anything about welding, but I need to cut my transmission tunnel and patch it, I need to cut my front fenders and weld it back together, and I'm probably going to want to weld or unweld junk off my truck frame. And I have a mustang with rust, that I don't want to have rust so thats going to be cutting and welding as well.

What do I need? Also, I have limited space, no mask, no wire, no nada.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/tls/3687528152.html ?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tls/3687133169.html (more my price range, lol)

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/tls/3655410356.html (maybe?)

probably about 50 more welders to be found on craigslist, ..... so overwhelmed. TIG? MIG?
 
Buy MIG. I wouldn't buy the last two.

You are going to really need a gas bottle and regulator to do sheetmetal cleanly.

Look for a Lincoln SP135+, millermatic 135 or a hobart handler 130-140. Better machines and should at least have a regulator with it.

A $40 HF auto dark is easier to use than that hand held POS that comes with the Lincoln. If you aren't skilled, it's tough to one hand it while MIG welding. You're going to spend another $200ish above welder cost to get set up (bottle, mask, gloves, cart).
 
Shoot the top two sold already, the bottom two, are way out side my price range. I will keeping looking.
 
crackedback said:
buy mig. I wouldn't buy the last two.

You are going to really need a gas bottle and regulator to do sheetmetal cleanly.

Look for a lincoln sp135+, millermatic 135 or a hobart handler 130-140. Better machines and should at least have a regulator with it.

A $40 hf auto dark is easier to use than that hand held pos that comes with the lincoln. If you aren't skilled, it's tough to one hand it while mig welding. You're going to spend another $200ish above welder cost to get set up (bottle, mask, gloves, cart).
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+1
 
I learned to weld by watching my dad, much trial and error and this video:

http://amzn.com/B004GIPNCM

Turns out it is not that bad, and when you suck you just have to do more clean up. btw if you want this dvd you can have mine, I pass through p-town everyday going to work.

-Chris
 
Y'all forgot to mention the HF flux core welder, I built my whole car with it. No complaints. I can be picky.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Y'all forgot to mention the HF flux core welder, I built my whole car with it. No complaints.
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That's what I use at the moment. I got mine on sale for 99 bucks. It works well for what it is. I bought two rolls of wire and a self darkening hood with it. I think it was around 140 for everything.
 
X3 or is it X4 on Harbor Freight.

Buy a new one and get the warranty, used is a crap shoot unless you are already an experienced welder and you can test it out before buying.
 
That is a decent little welder and should be good for what you are looking to do with it as long as it works. You should be able to give it a test before buying it easily since it is running flux wire. The gas regulator is what connects to your argon/co2 mix bottle for mig welding. You will also need to change the polarity to have the positive connect to the gun when changing to mig.
 
sazzlefrats said:
I.. What is a gas regulator? Thought it was 110v?


http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tls/3700720701.html
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The "gas" is, read on.........You still need electric power.

"MIG" stands for Metal Inert Gas welder. The popular smaller, user machines come one or two ways.......

With "flux core" wire, which works exactly like "stick" welding rod---the chemical in the core of the wire vaporizes during welding and acts as the shielding gas.

But much cleaner, and with virtually NO slag, is to use inert gas. The common gas for most welding is an Argon/ CO2 mix, sold for that purpose. I myself have never used anything other than simple CO2, which is one heck of a lot cheaper, and still works for the great amount of my welding.

The welder has a hose fitting, so the bottle you get feeds through the regulator to drop to a very low pressure, and goes to a solenoid valve in the welder. When you pull the torch trigger, the welder starts to feed wire and turns on the gas solenoid. The low pressure gas then flows up to the torch head and is expelled around the outside of the wire, which forms a small "cloud" if you will to keep air out of the weld area.

Between "gas" which uses plain (smaller) welding wire, and "flux core" which is quite large, you need to change the innards of the welding cable/ torch, which is usually pretty easy. Any (new) machine that comes for both uses would come with the cable jacket for those two purposes.

I would ask if this welder comes this way or not.

I have to tell you I'm no longer a fan of Sears/ Craftsman largely BECAUSE of their parts dept. If for some reason they decide to no longer support that unit for replacement parts, you might very well be "screwed."

There's a good reason why most of us recommend such brands as Linclon, Miller, etc.

Some will tell you that Craftsman might be "made by" XXXXX but the fact is that ANY big box store, which includes Sears, Lowes, etc, often HAS THESE BUILT under a special cost cutting contract. This includes such things as John Deere lawn/ garden tractors, which typically, example, come with cheaper bearing assemblies in the mower decks, and other parts. I can assure you that the JD dealer does NOT want to talk with you. That's just one example.
 
67dart273 you have posted a good explanation of what mig is and how it works but there is also a little misinformation in there. True most box stores can and sometimes do spec out things to meet a price point but the main thing is they are made by a big name manufacturer and parts can be sourced from them *as long as they support it* Most big name welding manufactures are turning form that *we will support it forever* attitude to *we will support it for about 7 years* After that you are left to what they have in stock until it is gone. That is true for both Miller and Lincoln. Hobart is even harder because they were sold off several times so sourcing parts for those can be even harder. As for the switching from mig to flux, when a machine comes from the factory to support mig welding ie has a gas valve then you are good to go with some minor switching the biggest of which is switching polarity since mig is best run electrode positive and flux is best run electrode negative
The rest goes for switching between any type of wire when you change sizes. #1 you have to have the correct tip and #2 you have to chose the correct drive roll size. Most 110v welders come with a dual groove drive roll which has an .023/.025 groove and a .030/.035 groove. As for the line the only time you need to change it is #1 when it gets a kink in it because it impedes the feeding of the wire or #2 it is too small for the size wire you are running. The tweeco gun on that machine is a decent made gun and since they are already running flux cored wire (most common size you find in 1# spools being .035) you would have no issue running .023 or .025 wire in it. Don't mean to step on your toes just wanting to set the record straight. I have been running a welder repair shop for more than 20 years now so I have seen and worked on most of them.
 
So if I understand correctly... the fluxcore is used for gasless welding? Solidcore is for gas welding? What is the basic difference in quality of gas vs gasless welding?
 
I found a hobart 125 ez... would that be able to do the same things that I'm looking for? Worst thing I'm gonna do it truck frame mods. Or maybe a MAC WS 1300 WELDER

Please advise.

crackedback said:
Buy MIG. I wouldn't buy the last two.

You are going to really need a gas bottle and regulator to do sheetmetal cleanly.

Look for a Lincoln SP135+, millermatic 135 or a hobart handler 130-140. Better machines and should at least have a regulator with it.

A $40 HF auto dark is easier to use than that hand held POS that comes with the Lincoln. If you aren't skilled, it's tough to one hand it while MIG welding. You're going to spend another $200ish above welder cost to get set up (bottle, mask, gloves, cart).
Click to expand...
 
Dont know if you have purchased a welder yet and all the links are dead now so cant really see what your price range is...with that said

Have you looked at the eastwood units? They have a 135 that comes with regulator, starter spool of wire, 30 day money back guarantee and a 3 year warranty included for 299. Does 25 amps on the low side for your sheet metal up to 135 amps for your frame work. They say it can do 1/4 inch but I think thats stretching it for any 120 machine unless you were to bevel the edges and use flux core wire. Also has infinitely adjustable settings for both amps and wire speed where most machines at this price point are tapped units, nothing wrong with that, just infinite adjustable is a bit easier to get dialed in.

If it wasnt for the warranty and 30 day money back plus 109 reviews just under 5 stars I wouldnt suggest something I havent tried but it does look like a great little welder thats priced right.

I have used several different manufactures and IMO its blue all the way, my personal welder at home is a miller 211 and I love it but it also carries a bigger price tag that I couldnt justify today and would be looking at something cheaper as well.
 
sazzlefrats said:
So if I understand correctly... the fluxcore is used for gasless welding? Solidcore is for gas welding? What is the basic difference in quality of gas vs gasless welding?
Click to expand...

Did not see this answered so......the difference between the quality is welding with shield gas, one of the local suppliers calls the gas for mig welding "Stargon", is welding with gas produces very little splatter. Also allows for welding on thinner material. Obviously welding outdoors when the breeze is blowing presents a bit of a problem. Welding with the gas is fairly simple to pick up. Just get some scrap material and start messing with it. I have a couple of old wheels that I found on my property that I pretty much covered with the welder just screwing around.
 
I'm with Ducter. Check out Eastwood. They also are backed by a 3 year warranty. I purchased a plasma cutter from them and it works awesome.
 
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