welders, come here

[scirocco at vintagewatercooleds.com (Eric S)]

Neal,

Those quality welds on that crossmember bar you got?  Yeah, 110 MIG.  A
good 110 MIG is fine for a person that knows what they are doing. (not
claiming I  do, but my fab guy does!)

-- 
Eric
www.vintagewatercooleds.com

1979 Dasher Coupe 2.0 8v
1981 Scirocco S (TDI swap project)
1990 Corrado TDI
1990 Fox Wagon (1.6 Heron head project)
1991 Cabriolet (2.0 crossflow 8v project)


nocones77-vw@yahoo.com said:
> "You get what you pay for" definitely applies when it comes to welders.
>
>  I bought a cheap 110v Campbell Hausfield MIG welder from Lowes a couple
> years ago. I think it was somewhere around $300. I've done a number of
> useful things with it. Replaced a floorpan, several iterations of boost
> tubes and exhausts, various brackets, and other things.
>
>  But I've *never* been able to get a good enough weld that I would even
> think about attempting to do anything my life would depend on. It was
> rare for me to accomplish anything without needing to grind the hell out
> of it just to avoid embarrassment. And many welds had less-than-great
> penetration. For a long time I just thought I must really suck at
> welding. I never took a class...just read books and practiced.
>
>  I finally decided that I can't possibly be THAT bad, and talking with
> some knowledgable friends confirmed it could just be a cheap welder. I
> borrowed a PowCon SM200 from a friend, and will probably buy it from him.
> This thing is an industrial quality inverter that can handle several
> different processes with the right attachments. It is currently setup for
> stick, DC TIG, and MIG. I just installed the 230v circuit last week to
> run it, and I've only laid down a couple practice beads so far, but hey
> Ma, I can weld!! So far, it looks like I really was having problems due
> to the cheap welder more than anything. I'm actually going to do another
> custom exhaust this afternoon, so we'll see what happens. The only bummer
> is that I can't do aluminum with DC TIG (need AC inverter) but as far as
> I know it should do great with stainless, and the previous owner says he
> has done some good things with aluminum using the MIG. I'm really looking
> forward to learning TIG, and the stick process will be awesome for some
> heavier stuff like building a tire rack for the car trailer or those
> shelves I've been needing in the garage.
>
>  So here's the bottom line: The cheap off-brand 110v boxes might be OK for
> real simple projects and learning but I've been told several times that
> even the nice 110v welders will struggle sometimes, so at least try hard
> to come up with the money for a good brand like Miller or Lincoln which
> will probably cost you at least another $100. If you can afford it, step
> up to a good 230v welder. Keep an eye out for a used one if you know it
> is in good condition.
>
>  Neal