Cant go wrong buying a Miller or Lincoln. Pretty much anything else has Chinese roots (except for Hobart which now has some tie with Miller) and will be next to impossible to find parts for if something major goes wrong. For some reason I was thinking Lincoln made some of the welders for Sears but uses aluminum windings in the transformer. Parts available through Sears and some through Lincoln but the aluminum just doesn't hold up compared to copper. Cleaver
Something very interesting happened this weekend. I was out visiting my grandparents in St. Louis who I haven't seen in about 10 years. (I know I'm a terrible grandson.) Anyway, I was talking to my grandpa who used to be a welder for westinghouse, and gave him my sob story about how I couldn't use my gift cards and blah blah blah. Then he asks me if I wanted a gas welder or an electric one. I was taken aback by this and told him that I was looking for an electric one. Turns out grandpa has a 220 Volt Arc welder in his garage that he doesn't use anymore and never really used in the first place. It's a craftsman something, and it's about 15 years old. I'll get the model number tonight. Anyway, he was always into wood working more than metal, and since he had his stroke he really can't hold anything with his right hand anymore so he's getting rid of all his tools to whoever wants them. So, I scored an arc welder, and a lathe. Plus I had a really great visit with them. All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Now all I have to do is run a 220 line off my box and I'm in business!!!
I'll bet any amount of money its a stick welder. Handy to have but almost worthless for sheet metal. Sorry, hate to bust your bubble.
Yeah, it's an electrode/stick type arc welder. I know it's not the best, but the price was right. It goes down to 20 amps DC, which should help keep the heat down. It know it's going to be messy and take forever and make some pretty ugly welds, but at this point I've got a lot more time than money. We'll see how it goes. If worse comes to worse I can always save up my money and get a nice 220 volt gas shielded mig and I'm still in the same position I was in before.
I have used both on thin stuff just rev pol and the heat is on the rod not the metal good to go keep it going. the argon is to put a sealer on the weld it is a good idea unless you will put something on it befor it cools.
Ahhh.....no As metal heats up, it oyidizes in an oxygen rich atmosphere. The argon displaces the oxygen to prevent the oxidization. Flux does the same thing. As the flux burns, it gives off a gas that displaces the oxygen.
