Gasless wire welder

[mowin]

Anyone have one? Fairy easy for someone that has never welded to make stuff stick together?

Not looking to fabricate elaborate stuff. Just fix simple things. Tacking the expanded metal on my landscape trailers gate for example. 

[Wolc123]

1 hour ago, mowin said:

Anyone have one? Fairy easy for someone that has never welded to make stuff stick together?

Not looking to fabricate elaborate stuff. Just fix simple things. Tacking the expanded metal on my landscape trailers gate for example. 

Have you considered a cheap AC arc welder ?  I paid around $ 50 for this old used Craftsman a couple years ago and it works very good for most repairs : 

I’m glad we got (4) straight days of rain coming up, because that gives me a good excuse to knock off a few welding projects.  I’ve got a mower deck that needs some  repair (one of the front wheel brackets broke off of it).  I also want to beef up the snowplow frame on my Farmall Cub, so that it will take the tongue weight of my boat with a trailer hitch ball mounted on it.  

[mowin]

22 minutes ago, Wolc123 said:

Have you considered a cheap AC arc welder ?  I paid around $ 50 for this old used Craftsman a couple years ago and it works very good for most repairs : 

I’m glad we got (4) straight days of rain coming up, because that gives me a good excuse to knock off a few welding projects.  I’ve got a mower deck that needs some  repair (one of the front wheel brackets broke off of it).  I also want to beef up the snowplow frame on my Farmall Cub, so that it will take the tongue weight of my boat with a trailer hitch ball mounted on it.  

I've heard wire welding is a little easier to get the hang of then stick welding, but I like that the wire ones I'm looking at run off 120v. 

Edited April 11, 2024 by mowin

[G-man]

A small flux core welder will  do exactly what you want and is easy to use. Arc would be to much for thin expanded  metal.   I have a simple flux cor and arc   the flux is used for anything under 1/4  in thick.  Restored 2 vehicles  with it patching thin body panels.  

Get A flux core and get a good auto darkening helmet.  You will do fine a couple of test sticking thin metal together to get feed rate and temp right and you will do  fine. 

[Jeremy K]

I have a Hobart handler maybe it's the 125? Yoy can do alot with the small wire feed machines . They work better if you plug the unit directly into the wall and not use an extension cord when possible. Also when using Flux core I take the gas cup off the gun and it seems to work a little better.

[Rob-c]

I would recommend paying the  money and getting a quality welder. Lincoln or Hobart make  good home/ diy welders.  Ive welded on everything from a $3, 000 Lincoln  ( work welder ) to a cheap Chicago electric 175 from harbor freight i cant tell you all the things i welded with it , but it was finicky and didn't have a wide range of settings so you had to kinda of know what you were doing . But that welder did not owe me a dime when it finally died . I bought a Hobart 185 to replace the cheap  chicago electric and like it a bunch . Now if you’re not welding thick material you can get away with a 110 volt welder .  The one nice thing for a newbie that  came with the Hobart was a metal thickness gauge and instruction on where to set your  voltage and wire speed settings depending on your metal thickness. Another tip is buy a high quality  flux cored wire,  it  will help a bunch in laying down a good bead . Ive used a bunch of different brands and found the yes welder store on amazon , its a quality wire for a good price i’m very happy with it . And always  make sure you have good ventilation when using flux cored wire . 

[mowin]

25 minutes ago, Rob-c said:

I would recommend paying the  money and getting a quality welder. Lincoln or Hobart make  good home/ diy welders.  Ive welded on everything from a $3, 000 Lincoln  ( work welder ) to a cheap Chicago electric 175 from harbor freight i cant tell you all the things i welded with it , but it was finicky and didn't have a wide range of settings so you had to kinda of know what you were doing . But that welder did not owe me a dime when it finally died . I bought a Hobart 185 to replace the cheap  chicago electric and like it a bunch . Now if you’re not welding thick material you can get away with a 110 volt welder .  The one nice thing for a newbie that  came with the Hobart was a metal thickness gauge and instruction on where to set your  voltage and wire speed settings depending on your metal thickness. Another tip is buy a high quality  flux cored wire,  it  will help a bunch in laying down a good bead . Ive used a bunch of different brands and found the yes welder store on amazon , its a quality wire for a good price i’m very happy with it . And always  make sure you have good ventilation when using flux cored wire . 

Great information.  Thanks. 

I definitely don't want to spend $3k, lol.  I've seen some at Lowe's that are around $300, but is that going to be noticably better than the $99 HF?  I don't think I'll be using it often, so I don't want to go overboard on spending, but then again, if I have one, I might find other reasons to use it.  

[Jeremy K]

If you plan on using it very little you can get away with a cheap one but you are always stuck with using it very little ,something about the duty cycle that was explained to me . 

[Rob-c]

11 minutes ago, mowin said:

Great information.  Thanks. 

I definitely don't want to spend $3k, lol.  I've seen some at Lowe's that are around $300, but is that going to be noticably better than the $99 HF?  I don't think I'll be using it often, so I don't want to go overboard on spending, but then again, if I have one, I might find other reasons to use it.  

I myself would not spend  3 grand on a home welder either . I assume you’re looking at the chicago electric 125 flux core welder ? If so i would avoid it , as the settings are very basic . You have a high low setting and then your wire speed . Same set up as the 185 i had , see my comments about it. Now the  Lincoln for $279 would be a way better choice . It has dial settings for both wire and volts so you can fine tune your weld . Plus it has a better supply of parts etc. 

4 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

If you plan on using it very little you can get away with a cheap one but you are always stuck with using it very little ,something about the duty cycle that was explained to me . 

As Jeremy said the better the duty cycle the longer you can weld for . The  Lincoln at Lowe's has 30% duty cycle . The $99 Chicago electric gas a 20% DC . Heres a link that explains duty  cycle.  https://dynaweld.com.au/what-is-the-duty-cycle-welding-experts/#:~:text=For example%3A A DIY welder,30% would mean 3 minutes.

Its your money but if it were me i would go for the Lincoln. The  only reason i gave the price difference in my first post , was to say I've welded with high dollar/ quality welders and cheap ones . And as the saying goes you get what you pay for especially with welders . 

 

[mowin]

12 minutes ago, Rob-c said:

I myself would not spend  3 grand on a home welder either . I assume you’re looking at the chicago electric 125 flux core welder ? If so i would avoid it , as the settings are very basic . You have a high low setting and then your wire speed . Same set up as the 185 i had , see my comments about it. Now the  Lincoln for $279 would be a way better choice . It has dial settings for both wire and volts so you can fine tune your weld . Plus it has a better supply of parts etc. 

As Jeremy said the better the duty cycle the longer you can weld for . The  Lincoln at Lowe's has 30% duty cycle . The $99 Chicago electric gas a 20% DC . Heres a link that explains duty  cycle.  https://dynaweld.com.au/what-is-the-duty-cycle-welding-experts/#:~:text=For example%3A A DIY welder,30% would mean 3 minutes.

Its your money but if it were me i would go for the Lincoln. The  only reason i gave the price difference in my first post , was to say I've welded with high dollar/ quality welders and cheap ones . And as the saying goes you get what you pay for especially with welders . 

 

Thanks for the link, and advice.  With anything, cheap isn't always better, lol.   I'm thinking the Lincoln makes more sense for it's adjustability.

[Rob-c]

7 minutes ago, mowin said:

Thanks for the link, and advice.  With anything, cheap isn't always better, lol.   I'm thinking the Lincoln makes more sense for it's adjustability.

Once you get it and get the hang of it , you’ll wonder how you went with out one . It will pay for itself in no time 

[mowin]

Just now, Rob-c said:

Once you get it and get the hang of it , you’ll wonder how you went with out one . It will pay for itself in no time 

Ya, buddy of mine does all my welding, but I hate asking him. 

 

[Rob-c]

1 minute ago, mowin said:

Ya, buddy of mine does all my welding, but I hate asking him. 

 

Invite him over for a beer , and then be like hey since you’re here . How about a few lessons on my new welder i just bought ..

[Jeremy K]

I'll be the sacrificial lamb here and say to look at the titanium easy Flux 125.

[mowin]

55 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

I'll be the sacrificial lamb here and say to look at the titanium easy Flux 125.

That's tempting.. unfortunately out of stock. 

Edit.. just called the store. They have them.  Soooo tempting.  The Lincoln at Lowe's is a much better brand, but is online only and estimated delivery to the store is the 19th.  

Edited April 11, 2024 by mowin