If you are looking at a name brand consider the price of upgrades. I regret buying a Millermatic because the spool gun attachment (required for aluminum) costs more than I paid for the welder. Adding one to a Lincoln runs <$150.
Gas can help but is pricey. For playing around and teaching I use straight CO2. The welds are not as good but it's dirt cheap. We refill a 50# tank for <$30. -Dave Walton On Saturday, September 22, 2012, Dieselhead <126die...@gmail.com> wrote: > I was going to buy one of those HF welders last year. After reading > reviews, I decided to look for used name brand. Put an ad on craizedlist, > and it turned up a Century, also set up for gas, but no tank, for $100. > Bought that. I have a friend who is a professional toolmaker, and he got > a used hobart handler (not sure wich model) but he told me several yeas ago > he uses it for 95% of his welding, and the expensive machines sit, except > for special occasions. > > The century is not as good as lincoln or hobart, but it does well enough > for the 2 times a year I need to tack some things together. I sold a John > Deere stick welder for more, so I bought this little 110 V FCW machine. I > am satisfied, and think it is a notch or two better than HF. It is NOT a > production machine by any stretch. > > I could not find new headgear for my old helmet for under $40, so I bought > a HF autodark helmet. CHEAP but still good money for a helmet. (compared > to a regular helmet) The autodark works and can be handy. But the hinges > and headgear are nowhere up to a good standard helmet. Does not stay up > well, and then flip down handsfree like a good ($100) helmet will. A good > helmet can actually make you a better welder, because you can get > everything set up and then nod your head, the helmet comes down and you > weld. > > > I'd still look for a $100 used name brand welder. Century is probably the > bottom of the name brands. > > > > Looks like I need to get myself a birthday present. I guess I would need >> to buy the helmet and gloves and all that stuff too. But for learning, or >> just hacking around, I guess that would not be much of an investment. I >> bought a book some years ago about learning welding, it seems like it is >> easy to do, but like everything else, harder to do *well*. >> >> Do those auto-darkening helmets work well, or just stick with the dark >> glass version? >> >> --R >> > > ______________________________**_________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives > http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
