[WVJay]

Ok I am curious! What was your first welder and why did you pick that particular one? I am new to the forum and haven't seen this question in my reading. Was it Stick Mig or Tig? What brand? Was it for business or just feeding a desire? Just curiosity!

Jay

[Otto Nobedder]

I've never purchased a welder, though I own two. I don't need to own any of them; The only one I actually use I use at work.
I let the employer buy the tools. If I need one of those tools, I'm permitted to use it to my heart's content.

Steve S

[Rudy Ray]

Syncrowave 250.
Started my business with it. I still use it 16 years later with not one problem other than the operator, but that will change as soon as I get the new Dynasty 280 DX hooked up on a cart.

[wormworksfab]

Just recently got my first one. Everlast 200 ST stick/tig. Just using it for stick so far though. Got it because I am in tech school for welding, and want to be able to practice more at home/ work on my own personal projects, and choose this particular one because it was cheap and i could afford to get it now, I am saving for a square wave 200 but it is going to be a bit before i can save enough money to buy one, and thanks to advice from the welding tips and tricks video, realized it is better to get what i can afford now, and get started, and i will get my next machine when i get the money. I was able to pick up the machine off amazon for 350. Came with everything i needed to stick weld except rods and metal. It was the cheapest and easiest way for me to get started welding at home.

[Farmwelding]

Haven't bought mine yet but the first two I used were a millermatic 252 and an old Airco stick welder. Of o were to buy one right now I would probably by either a Lincoln sqaurwave 200 or power mig 210mp

[PeteM]

My first one was (and still is) a Lincoln sp-175. I found a pallet of them behind a bunch of other stuff in the LWS I worked at, so the company gave it to me at cost.

I got it for my wife so that she couldn't complain about it. That didn't work. I also needed to learn how to weld to get a better understanding of what customers needed (besides a discount).

I've since used it to become the guy that will weld just about anything for $20.00 around the neighborhood, taught my niece and nephew how to weld, and keep technique sharp during layoffs.

I also got one of those chinese stick/tig machines for my wife and she didn't like that either. It worked well enough to get my niece and nephew running plates with 6010 and 7018, and I like to play around with the tig feature, but thats my second machine.

[sedanman]

The first one l bought was a tool truck 140 amp mig 120 volt machine. 31 years and a dozen or so machines later, l still have it. It still has some value.

[Poleframer]

Airco Wasp IIe bought in 86. Have had generator welders since.

[ldbtx]

A Lincoln tombstone buzzbox. I was 16 and wanted to learn how to weld, so I bought the welder, which came with a hood and a book, and 50 pounds of 1/8" 6011 from Big R farm and ranch store. Picked up a used torch set from the classifieds on the way home, leased some bottles the next day and I was off and running.

My dad had just bought a piece of property adjoining the home spread and there was a lot of scrap on it. I got a lot of torch practice cutting it up, and taught myself to weld sticking pieces of it back together. A neighbor who was a "real" welder saw the arc in my garage one evening and came over. He gave me a lot of tips and really helped me achieve quality welds.

[exnailpounder]

Dad brought home a Lincoln buzz box when I was about 7 or 8 and I claimed it as my own. My first welder i bought for my self was a Miller 250 mig machine that I really wish I still had.

[cornmuse]

First was a Miller (AC only) Thunderbolt. Got it used in the early '70's, still have it. Still have a sealed 50lb can of rod that came with it. Copper wound, weighs a ton! Not used for 10+- years.

-c-

[xwrench]

Lincoln buzz box. In the late '70s
I wonder what ever happened to it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[noddybrian]

SIP 140amp buzzbox bought just after 13th birthday with money earned working on friends farm - used for general repairs & welding up go kart / bike frames !- it ended up at school when I got a better one ( Oxford 180 amp oil cooled AC ) and got left there - a few years back I was given it as they did'nt know what to do with it ! since then it's run through a big ballast resistor to drop the volts a bit & is used to passivate stainless with a home made paddle covered in fiber glass exhaust wrap dipped in dilute phosphoric acid - did run a couple of rods with it just for kicks & it still welds as badly as it did new ! not bad - got a Condor Mig bought around age 18 still in use which shows how well the old stuff lasts with little or no widgets inside as I'm mid 50's now.

[AndersK]

I bought an Esab Miggy 125 in the 80's.
Mainly for autobody work. Still got it but needs some work to fix a probable gas leak inside.

[electrode]

Miller Swinger 180 AC.

[Poland308]

Lincoln 225 ac tombstone

[LtBadd]

Miller Swinger 180 AC.

[exnailpounder]

Miller Swinger 180 AC.

Anything you want to talk about?

[electrode]

Miller Swinger 180 AC.

Miller Swinger 180 AC.

Anything you want to talk about?

Whaaaaaat!? It was a real welder and it was AC only. It welded a lot of stuff and the only reason I sold it was because once I got my new SW250DX I was afraid to scratch it and kept using the Swinger 180. Here is a pic I found on the new of my trusty old welder.

swinger.jpg (25.99 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

SCHWING !!!

schwing.jpg (13.98 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

[WVJay]

That's really awesome people! Kind of neat thinking back to the good old days for some of us older folk, and lets the younger ones think of what it was like before electronic controls. I myself still don't own a welder yet but I am thinking since my friends already have MIG welders I may invest in a TIG for working on race car chassis repairs. I just hope the learning curve for mild steel tube isn't too difficult. Thanks people for the trip down memory lane and the wishes of all the new guys keeping dreams alive!

Jay

[Notapro]

I think I tried welding around 8 or 9 years old, my father had a welder and welded since he was younger. A salesman stopped one day I think in the late 50's and sold the family an old forney that you switch your lead to the amps you want to weld with. I started on that machine, when I was about 13 he traded it for a century ac/dc buzz box. Photo is a reference of unit we had.

[Jim FLinchbaugh]

My first was the Snap-on FM140A MIG machine
Bought used as a demo from the dealer.
!00% duty cycle, new liner every once in a while.
Solid, dependable machine. Still have it

[ex framie]

My first welder was a CIG trans arc 140 stick welder, I had that for over 20 years.
Used it for hobby work, building work benches and shelves, general repairs and even welded up a few cracks in an ex's motorcycle frame.
Sold it to a mate when I bought an AC/DC tig that also did stick.

[Bill Beauregard]

First electric welder I used was not one I owned. It was a Westinghouse 320 Amp engine driven one. In 1972 Arc was steady, with coaching I welded well. I fell in love with it tried numerous times to buy it. 20 years later its owner was dying and gave it to me. It had sat unused outdoors all those years. I overhauled the engine, but never did weld with it again.
My first owned welder was sold by a hot shot salesman, who did an evening show at the local farm store. A 20th Century 295 amp AC unit with 100% duty cycle. I still have it, I bet it still works. I built a lot of stuff with it, and thawed a lot of frozen water lines.

Bill

[Granddaddy]

Lincoln 225 AC, because it was what I knew. I had an uncle who I watched build a 50 foot steel hull trawler in his back yard as a young kid, 1st or second grade, that's when I knew I wanted to weld. in high school farm mechanics that's what we used, plus it was cheap. I still have one and still use it, I am no fan of 6013's so I burn 7018 ac, 7014 and 7024 but in the early days I made a lot of smoke with the 6013's, a lot it was white smoke because I had no clue the fumes from zinc was bad for you. maybe that's why I have CRS so bad now.