Welding Tips and Tricks

Why do all my habits, I mean hobbies have to be expensive? I cant even think of what else I would be welding other than a bicycle. Do I need an expensive welder? I’m a firm believer in you get what you pay for but. So I have been shopping around for welders and I am thinking the 140 range ( not price) is good enough for what I am going to be doing. I have looked at Hobart, Lincoln, Northern Industrial and Miller. I can already say that miller is way out of my price range. The Hobart 140 has really peaked my interest as far as replacement parts and service. Also it can be used with flux or solid wire and gas. Any advice on brands would be helpful.

My experience with brands and opinions on them fall into the Ford, Chevy, Dodge category. I have had much success with off brands and poor success with major ones. You never know. One thing i go by is service after the sale, Are parts available? My neighbor welded a huge metal tubing fence using a 120volt flux core wire feed .

If you're being honest with yourself about the type and amount of welding you'll do, I think you'll be satisfied with the Hobart. If you were going to be burning wire for a few hours at a time, the duty-cycle would be annoying.

If you won't be using it regularly, be sure to have a dry place to store it. Nothing will ruin your day quite like suface rust on your wire spool.

I believe (someone may back me up here) the machine will come wired for solid wire & gas. To use a flux-core wire, you'll probably have to reverse the polarity. That should be covered in the instructions.

Good luck,

Steve

One of the nice features I like about the Hobart is that the consumables are the same as for the Miller of the same class. You can get the Tips, Nozzles, and other consumables at your LWS or at TSC stores on a week-end.
I just bought all my consumables in the Miller version from a LWS and think I saved some on the contact tips. They were 10 in a pack for $14.00. Our local TSC sells the Hobart version for $10.00 for a 5 pack.

Does anyone know if there is a third party supplier for consumables for these machines? I woud think there is.

I think its worthwhile to buy good name brand wire and such though.

The Hobart machines are nice quality for use at home. I don't know how good they would be in a setting like a shop which requires better duty cycles.

Thanks for the advice.

For 220 I have a Lincoln 180C set up with steel mix gas and an extra tank of argon to use with the spool gun I have with it. For 110 I have a Hobart Handler and use flux core ... both of these machines suit my needs quite well if I need anything hotter at this point I us my old dinosaur Miller 225 stick welder. I really like all three units ... For your Hobart 140 if you want to weld anything thicker than 3/16" you might want to make multiple passes.

I've got expensive habits myself, and sometimes my habits change, so money is always a concern, yaknow?

So here's how I approach 'investing' in a new hobbie/habit.

Buy the unit that will do MORE than you initially think you need (in case it turns into a real addiction), plus buy the unit that has the highest resale value later.

In other words, buy what EVERYONE would buy, not some cheap import with limited abilities and NO resale value later.

You will discover that with a little research and patience, you can buy a well known and popular used welder at a good price and still get your money back later if you decide to upgrade or quit the hobby.....If you instead expand your skills and spend more time welding than first thought, then you will appreciate all the bells and whistles over the basic model.