[AT] Mig welders for antique tractor sheet metal work??

[David Myers]

--- Dean VP <deanvp at att.net> wrote:

> About every 6 months I fall into lust attack for a
> Mig welder. Never have
> owned one but would like to some day. 
Dean, my opinion is that Hobart, Century, etc., are
names to stay away from.  Personally have used Miller,
and Lincoln commercial welders and own a Lincoln
Weldpac 100.  Also (unfortunately) have to use a
Hobart commercial type welder at work.  The Lincoln I
own is great for sheetmetal and other small stuff,
someday I will get gas for it but for now use fluxcore
wire.  BTW, flux core is fantastic outdoors where your
shield gas will blow away.  Also flux core penetrates
better and cuts through crud where solid wire wants
clean steel.  
The cheap welders like Hobart are NOT the same quality
as  Lincolns or Millers.  You may not be able to feel
the difference but trust me, you will always be
fighting the cheap ones, usually wondering what it is
that YOU are doing wrong.  The current or wire speed
varies and it is really aggravating.
I still like stick welders and use a Lincoln 250 AC/DC
at work for all heavy work.  At home I just have a
Lincoln 250 buzz box which does 90% of what I need.  
After all this dissertation I would recommend breaking
down and getting one of the small wire welders from
Miller or Lincoln (with gas buiilt in).  Also, unless
you really need it (probably not) don't spend your
money on tri-mix or similar gasses, just stick with
straight argon, much cheaper and will do 99.44% of
what you will ever do. 
The preceeding represents the views of only me and not
neccessarily those of the general list, to paraphrase
the hated info-mercials. <g>
    

=====
Dave Myers
Paw Paw, Michigan
The older I get the less I look forward to winter.


		
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