Stu,
I have a little 110 VAC wire feeder that I got from my wife for Christmas 5
years ago. Its a cheap little off-brand model that was sold by Harbor
Freight for about $275.00. It is capable of both flux core and MIG (Metal
Inert Gas) welding. I have it set up at the moment to run a 75% CO2/25%
Argon mix. It will weld up to 1/4" material. It actually works pretty well.
The biggest gripe I have with it is that the welding lead/handle is too
short (only about 6 feet long). The box has to be within 6 feet of the
work, so its a bit of a pain to get to the middle of the car.
Depending on how much you want to spend, you can get a very nice 110VAC
model from Lincoln, Miller or Hobart for around $500.00. I looked into
getting one of the name brand units, but for the small amount of welding I
do at home, the Harbor Freight special met my needs. Most of these small
welders do not include the gas bottle and regulator for the MIG set up, so
the price is going to be about $600.00 to $700.00 by the time you get out
the door with the gas rig, spool of wire, gloves and a hood.
By the way if you do decide to purchase a welder, get a hood with a
speedglass viewport. The speedglass viewport is photo-reactive so the flash
of the arc causes the glass to immediately darken to the proper tint for
welding. When the arc stops, the glass returns to normal transparency, no
tint. About $100.00.
Also, if your going to get a welder, don't consider anything other than a
MIG for general use. The plain flux-core wire-feeders that don't run a gas
shield leave splatter and slag that requires a lot of clean-up.
MS
|