i have been creating a lot of furniture and things in my spare time.
This has all been out of wood and concrete and a few other mediums. I
am looking to get into integrating metal working, and would like to
weld together some frames for some things, etc. I have very little
experience with welding. Can anyone recommend a decent welder to get
started? I would like to get the required amperage down as low as
possible as I will be running new power to my garage, but don't want to
get crazy with it. Thanks for any and all advice!

wrote:

i have been creating a lot of furniture and things in my spare time.
This has all been out of wood and concrete and a few other mediums. I
am looking to get into integrating metal working, and would like to
weld together some frames for some things, etc. I have very little
experience with welding. Can anyone recommend a decent welder to get
started? I would like to get the required amperage down as low as
possible as I will be running new power to my garage, but don't want to
get crazy with it. Thanks for any and all advice!


I strongly suggest you take a welding class at a local technical school first.
See if you can hang with stick welding. If so, buzzbox 220A welders are dirt
cheap - I often see Miller and Lincoln new-looking AC/DC 225/150A welders going
for just over $100 on my local craigslist - and they are also the cheapest to
run. No bottles of gas to store, you can run them off your dryer 220V outlet if
you need to with an extension cord (I did that for years) and they're compact
and easy to store. However, you do need to learn to stick weld. Not that it's
that hard, but a lot of guys seem intimidated for some reason.

GWE

I have done stick welding before, but it's been 15 years, and at that,
I didn't do much more than maybe 30-40 welds. However, I do remember
picking it up fairly easily all things considered. I will look into
classes here. Thanks a lot!


Grant Erwin wrote:
wrote:

i have been creating a lot of furniture and things in my spare time.
This has all been out of wood and concrete and a few other mediums. I
am looking to get into integrating metal working, and would like to
weld together some frames for some things, etc. I have very little
experience with welding. Can anyone recommend a decent welder to get
started? I would like to get the required amperage down as low as
possible as I will be running new power to my garage, but don't want to
get crazy with it. Thanks for any and all advice!


I strongly suggest you take a welding class at a local technical school first.
See if you can hang with stick welding. If so, buzzbox 220A welders are dirt
cheap - I often see Miller and Lincoln new-looking AC/DC 225/150A welders going
for just over $100 on my local craigslist - and they are also the cheapest to
run. No bottles of gas to store, you can run them off your dryer 220V outlet if
you need to with an extension cord (I did that for years) and they're compact
and easy to store. However, you do need to learn to stick weld. Not that it's
that hard, but a lot of guys seem intimidated for some reason.

GWE

Most welders require 220V, I run my 180 amp TIG/stick welder off a 50
amp 220V circuit. I think that you could probably get by with a 40 amp
220V circuit for most stick welders.

If you are going to be installing new wiring anyway to the garage
anyway, I would recommend 220 V 50 amp service as a minimum. Best to
put a breaker box in the garage and run individual circuits, 110V and
220V, from that breaker box. If it was my garage, I would run 220V 100
amp service to the garage. Most of the cost is labor, might as well do
it right the first time.

Richard


wrote:

i have been creating a lot of furniture and things in my spare time.
This has all been out of wood and concrete and a few other mediums. I
am looking to get into integrating metal working, and would like to
weld together some frames for some things, etc. I have very little
experience with welding. Can anyone recommend a decent welder to get
started? I would like to get the required amperage down as low as
possible as I will be running new power to my garage, but don't want to
get crazy with it. Thanks for any and all advice!



--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
Most welders require 220V, I run my 180 amp TIG/stick welder off a 50 amp
220V circuit. I think that you could probably get by with a 40 amp 220V
circuit for most stick welders.

If you are going to be installing new wiring anyway to the garage anyway,
I would recommend 220 V 50 amp service as a minimum. Best to put a
breaker box in the garage and run individual circuits, 110V and 220V, from
that breaker box. If it was my garage, I would run 220V 100 amp service
to the garage. Most of the cost is labor, might as well do it right the
first time.

Richard


wrote:

i have been creating a lot of furniture and things in my spare time.
This has all been out of wood and concrete and a few other mediums. I
am looking to get into integrating metal working, and would like to
weld together some frames for some things, etc. I have very little
experience with welding. Can anyone recommend a decent welder to get
started? I would like to get the required amperage down as low as
possible as I will be running new power to my garage, but don't want to
get crazy with it. Thanks for any and all advice!



--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals


I have a lincolin AC-225c 220v buzz box, and a licolin mig sp-85 110v with
gas..

These are small size welders and serve me well.

I did have the full size buzz box, but sold it cause I got real tired of
moving it!

I can pick up one of these welders myself, put it in the uhaul easily. I use
a shop crane/engine hoist, for moving my lathe and mill/drill. The movers
move the furniture...

These moves are for the crazy real estate market. I have been getting six
figures for just moving, my current residence has gone up a hundred thou
each year. Been in this place for 3 years...

good luck

xman

On 4 Jan 2006 11:37:50 -0800, wrote:

i have been creating a lot of furniture and things in my spare time.
This has all been out of wood and concrete and a few other mediums. I
am looking to get into integrating metal working, and would like to
weld together some frames for some things, etc. I have very little
experience with welding. Can anyone recommend a decent welder to get
started? I would like to get the required amperage down as low as
possible as I will be running new power to my garage, but don't want to
get crazy with it. Thanks for any and all advice!

For lowest cost, a buzzbox stick welder. However for furniture
building and art stuff, a MIG will serve you better. It will make
nicer-looking welds, is easier to learn and a 180-amp MIG can weld up
to 5/16" steel in a single pass with no problem. It can also do a
good job easily on metal that is too thin to do well with stick (down
to 22 gage or .032") unless you're pretty good with stick. It also
draws less line current than a buzzbox: about 25 amps of 220 for a
180-amp MIG.

I agree that you should take a vo-tech course. There you will be able
to run different kinds of welders. Your instructor can also help you
with decision making. Try to get some time on oxy-acetylene, too.

Pete Stanaitis
--------------------

wrote:

i have been creating a lot of furniture and things in my spare time.
This has all been out of wood and concrete and a few other mediums. I
am looking to get into integrating metal working, and would like to
weld together some frames for some things, etc. I have very little
experience with welding. Can anyone recommend a decent welder to get
started? I would like to get the required amperage down as low as
possible as I will be running new power to my garage, but don't want to
get crazy with it. Thanks for any and all advice!

You're exactly where I was about 4 months ago. I purchased a cheap
wire feed welder from Harbor Freight, like
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44567
Then bought a book at Lowes, and went from there. I'm having a great
time and have built some pretty neat things already.