which MIG welder

i've been working for the last 20 years with a $225 made in USA century 120v wire feed welder that came with the regulator to run shielding gas, but i've never actually done that and have used flux core exclusively. last year i bought myself the alphatig 200x and love it. however, it's hard to beat the one hand operation of a good mig welder for tight places and making quick work of things. i have seen a good machine used at the hands of a good welder and the results are so much cleaner than the flux core wire even if the weld itself. the older i get the less i feel like cleaning splatter off of everything.

so with a budget of $800 or so, i have 240V in the garage, knowing i already have the tig, which would you pick? or would you not pick at all and tig most things and use the little wire feed box for the rest? i bought the ahp tig welder as the recommendation of you guys and am very happy with the machine so far. i'd prefer to keep to one of the big 3 american companies for a mig that'll probably get the most use. i like wire feed welding for frame work and exhausts, but i gather i could get used to using the tig for all that.

i'm unsure so i am looking to you guys for guidance. the only other option is to win the challenge and get a free miller, but it's probably easier to buy one

I can't weld for E36 M3

I have tried and it looks crazy.

That is why I am a fan of aluminum extrusions and glue. :)

I have a Millermatic 140 that has done everything I've ever needed to do and is as reliable as an anvil but since you have 220 available ... I'd buy the Millermatic 180 and call it done.

Buy as powerful a machine as you can afford. Stick with a "name" like Lincoln, Miller, or ESAB. Now you can buy Miller quality @ a reduced price if you shop for Hobart it is a Miller brand. If you have a Tractor Supply near you, they carry Hobart at a reasonable price.

mtownneon wrote: Now you can buy Miller quality @ a reduced price if you shop for Hobart it is a Miller brand. If you have a Tractor Supply near you, they carry Hobart at a reasonable price.

+1 on all this. Hobart is to Miller as Blue Point is to Snap-On. I can't really tell the difference.

However, with a $800 budget, I might think about getting your old 120 set up for gas and solid wire, and pocket the excess. Century is not garbage. A decent 110V will do anything up to 1/4"

Last point: I'm not sure what $800 will buy you in a 220V (haven't shopped that segment in a while). A Hobart 115V will run somewhere around five bills at TSC. For what it's worth, I think TIG plus MIG= everything you need in a shop. TIG alone= some time, and efficiency wasted(no one handed tacking).

Why not install the gas kit on your 120 volt welder and save $800? That should be good up to at least 1/8". If you need more power TIG it or get a stinger to run stick electrodes with your TIG box, edit: and if you can run a TIG you'll be running a stick perfectly fine (little to no spatter) without much practice.

I use a Miller 220v at work and it's awesome.

I've used the Eastwood 110v welder and it's really, really good, but does have its limitations for the thick stuff.

My point is, a great 110v does 90% of what you want to do, but there is value in having a 220v setup. If you mainly want to do sheetmetal work and some bracketry, I agree with the above, get a tank full of 75/25 and some .023 wire and call it good. If you want to weld axle tubes and other thick stuff, you really should have a beefier unit.

Sloppy guys seem keen on the Hobart handler 140.... less than $500 and does must everything a mig should do.

If you don't need the aluminum spool gun you can get the Hobart 190 in your budget and have enough left for a used 220v stick welder. The Hobart is a great unit, and the stick welder gives you a real option for thicker and heavier welding.

Hobart, miller, Lincoln, ESAB. One of those.

I may find the gas kit that came with the century and see how that works at first. Don't need a stick, the alpha tig machine does that too. I actually sold my lincoln stick welder to help fund the alphatig machine.

Now, if only i can remember what 17 year old me would have done with an argon regulator

I've had a Millermatic 180 for the last 8-9 years and I still love it.

If you can't find the kit, there is a GRM solution for adding gas:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xjPLTpl04j0

My Lincoln 140 welds 1/4 inch. I have done it. Most recently for welding leaf spring brackets on to a trailer axle. I have also made trailing arms for several ford trucks this year with out issue.

I really love welding with gas but 99.9 percent of the stuf I need to weld seems to need me to bring the welder to the thing being welded flux core is the answer. I had a tank and my 140 set up for gas when I first got it but found that I kept changing over to flux core to go fix somthing. I sent the tank back after a couple years. I do miss it but I could not justify the expense.

I will say it is a treat to use my friends snap on gas shielded unit. It is almost identical to my Lincoln. I can almost make the welds with that machine look like a tig weld.

I too had a circa '94 Century. I used it for years and it never failed me. I didn't hook up the gas either. What I like about it is that if you stick to the flux core, you can unscrew the nozzle and get into some really TIGHT places you couldn't weld otherwise. The older I get the less likely I am to spend money on stuff I don't absolutely need. I vote for hooking the gas kit up on the Century unless you just need something heavier

Ok dumb question.

Can you weld with gas and flux core? Never thought about that before. I always hated changing the wire more than attaching the tank.

In reply to dean1484:

Yes, you can. Apparently there are some times where you want to do that, too. I first heard about it in the context of filling stud holes in axles in preparation for redrilling.

It's called dual shield MIG welding, there's lots of info about it online, instructional videos, etc.

As hideously expensive as flux core wire is, I'd want to use it as little as possible, myself.

I think the cost of flux core is likely offset by the purchase of a tank and keeping it full.

I've run hundreds of pounds of wire through the century and it's yet to need more than a new tip once in a while. I read it already has the gas solenoid inside so all that is needed is the regulator and hose.

Maybe I'll take the big shop tool purchase money for this year and get a roll cage tubing bender instead

I try to get one good tool every january to make my life easier or my work better. This year was the tig machine, last year was the tire equipment.

I'm looking at: Lincoln Electric Weldpack, Tractor Supply Jobsmart 125, Harbour Freight 90 (it's $84.99 this weekend), Eastwood 135.

Jegs has a plasmacutter now also for 300 bucks

i have a hobart plasma cutter already. that was the big shop tool purchase the year before the tire machines. i put cash away to get something every year.

the tractor supply jobsmart one is probably the same as their previous store brand (it was green). i got one of those on clearance for $60 just because it was $60. i did not like that the wire was only hot when you were pulling the trigger so it was hard to start for me. i sold it to my buddy for $125 and he uses it for bodywork on the crap cars he buys.

Personal experience- Lincoln Weld-Pak is a cheaply made unit for big box stores. The one Lincoln product I would not suggest. Too many plastic innards.