bought me a welder

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dusterdon

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bought a mig welder today from a friend. Its a Hobart 135 amp. runs on 110ac. He bought it a couple of years ago and has used it maybe twice. I've had my eye on it for a while. Been wanting one for a while, just couldn't justify the expense, but got a good deal on this one. Any tips? got a line on a co2-argon bottle too. I think I'm gonna have some fun with this.
 
Good score Don. I bought a little lincoln recently, and have been having a blast with it. I've played with gas, and flux core, and I'm going to buy an aluminum feed for it next.
Lots of smart members here to ask advice from.
 
Hey Nemo,I bought the same Lincoln on sale at CrappyTire,I,ve wanted one for years,great for making all the little things I couldn,t without the welder.Today I seen that they have the auto-tint helmets for $99.Gonna have to get me one.
 
I have a small Hobart also ... Love it..... As far as advice... Make sure you turn your bottle off after every use or you will be needing a refill pretty quick....
 
and if you get an auto darkening helmet, get a solar powered one that doesn't have replaceable batteries. i have one made by ARC ONE that's decent.
 
I just started welding myself, it's a great thing to know. It's like being able to speak another language.

The auto flash helmet is worth it, not sure how anyone ever welded anything without one. Make sure to get a good regulator for the bottle too.
 
I bought a Hobart welder a few years ago. Now if I could just figure out how to use it! LOL Actually I bought it to tack weld a couple little jobs I needed done. I've always asked or had someone do the welding for me. Now when I need something welded, I try to do it myself. I'm not an expert by any means, but I can tack weld with the best of 'em.
 
rmchrgr said:
The auto flash helmet is worth it, not sure how anyone ever welded anything without one.
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Lift hood, line up gun or stick with area, nod head so hood flips down, weld, lift hood, realize that you lined up with the wrong spot, cuss, line up, nod head, weld, repeat. I love my auto dimmer!!!!

I'm running a Millermatic 135 with a 75/25 bottle set at about 26psi. On average I use .035 wire it works pretty good for brackets and sheet metal work. Get some "Nozzle Dip" and save your tips. The local Safeway grocery store has these small 2 tiered grocery carts that I keep eyeballing as they would make a great welding cart :snakeman:
 
I too have a small lincoln and i use the hell out of it. i have a small one car garage and all i have are 110 outlets. the auto-helmets are great, just be carefull if your doing alot of tacking like for a patch panel. you can get welders flash if your doing it for awhile as the auto-helmets are quick, but not that quick. also keep a spool of the flux core stuff around because it will penetrate the thicker stuff better than the mig wire because it burns hotter. also that stuff is great if you get stuck welding something outside when its windy. get yourself some scrap steel in different thicknesses and have fun!
 
glad you found a welder its a very good tool to have! like some have adviced i can strongly recomend a autodarkening helmet once you have worked with one there is no turning back, dont know if you can find Speedglas masks in USA but they are very nice and adjustable i use one all the time at work and if you have the money for it its a great addition!
 
MtNemoMopar said:
Good score Don. I bought a little lincoln recently, and have been having a blast with it. I've played with gas, and flux core, and I'm going to buy an aluminum feed for it next.
Lots of smart members here to ask advice from.
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When you go for the aluminum weld kit remember 2 things.
#1 always keep the gun as straight as possible. It is a long way to try and push aluminum and you will run in to feed problems
#2 always change out the liner to the steel coil one when you go back to mig welding. Nothing will tear up the teflon liner faster than mig wire.
If you really like or need to do aluminum welding look in to the spool gun they have available for the little lincoln migs now, once you use it you will not want to go back to the long gun.
 
toplscuda said:
If you really like or need to do aluminum welding look in to the spool gun they have available for the little lincoln migs now, once you use it you will not want to go back to the long gun.
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Is the spool gun really that great? I was looking into getting one for my Millermatic but they just look cumbersome.
 
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