MI: Welder
 

Thinking of buying a mig welder to fill several holes that have been drilled in the box of my truck by PO over the years. In talking with my buddy who owns a body shop, he tells me not to buy one that uses flux. He says the flux will pop through bondo if it next to it. Has anyone had this problem? I'm not sure what to buy now, I'd like something that runs on 120 volt.

Re: MI: Welder
 

[QUOTE=old51sedan;8014860]Thinking of buying a mig welder to fill several holes that have been drilled in the box of my truck by PO over the years. In talking with my buddy who owns a body shop, he tells me not to buy one that uses flux. He says the flux will pop through bondo if it next to it. Has anyone had this problem? I'm not sure what to buy now, I'd like something that runs on 120 volt.[/QUOTE

All I can offer is having welded and will be welding today with a mig welder near bondo, the bondo does melt/pop when you weld, but I was told it's the heat of the welding.

Re: MI: Welder
 

Bondo is flammable as hell. You don't want flux for body because it's messy and hotter thank hard wire.

Re: MI: Welder
 

Flux core welding is not what you want for bodywork. Too hot, you'll wind up burning holes in sheet metal and have more problems than when you started. Get a mig machine that will run solid wire and argon/co2 gas. All manufactures now offer dual voltage 110v/220v mig machines. 110v power will get you by for sheet metal, and if you ever need to weld heavier stuff, you'll have the 220v power capability.

Re: MI: Welder
 

[quote=my56chevytruck;8014868]Thanks guys for the replies. I was talking about doing the body work after welding with flux. I was told if you apply bondo over flux weld there is a chance that the flux could pop the bondo over time. I like the idea of using the co2, it sounds a little more expensive, but may be best in the long run. Thanks again

Re: MI: Welder
 

I have several welders but in restoring my 72 k10 I'm using my Hobart 140 with gas. Works great. When I bought it I checked all over the web for the lowest price and it was Northern tool. But the bottle will set you back some also. I'd look for a used bottle that has been certified and filled

Re: MI: Welder
 

[quote=old51sedan;8015194]As has been stated previously, you don't want to use flux core, period. Or stated another way, no flux core. Haha. I'm sure there are other applications but the only thing that I can think of is outside in inclimate weather when the shield gas is affected would be an application for flux core.

I use .023 wire for sheet metal. I have a small Miller 180 that i just run .023 in all the time. I keep .035 wire in my Miller 251 for heavier stuff.

As far as the gas bottle is concerned, either get the bottle from the place you plan to get it filled or make sure if you buy one it is from a legitimate place to get it filled. At least where I am, one vendor won't fill another vendor's gas cylinder.

Re: MI: Welder
 

I second the Hobart 140. It's a great little welder and it's perfect for bodywork with .023 wire.

Re: MI: Welder
 

For tin you don't need a big welder. Even a 90 is bigger than you need for just tin work. No flux core. Use 023 wire and 75/25 gas. I use Esab easy grind wire as it's softer and will hammer out to stretch the seam easier with less chance of cracking. It also grinds easier and that puts less heat and less additional shrink into the panel as well.

Re: MI: Welder
 

I agree with what others have stated, if you want quality you'll need a decent 220 volt Mig Welder. I started on a 110 buzz box Arc welder and I was blowing holes through my panels. I used my cousins Hobart 210 MPV with .023 wire and the quality and ease of use was like night and day. Needless to say, that day, I sold mine and picked up a Hobart 210 MPV and I haven't looked back since.

Re: MI: Welder
 

Id see if you can find an used Miller 135 or 140, miles ahead of any Hobart.

Re: MI: Welder
 

A bit of a history lesson, but Illinois Tool Works owns both Miller and Hobart. 98% of the parts to build either one are Miller. Lincoln filled a lawsuit after Illinois Tool Works acquired both brands, claiming a monopoly. The fallout resulted in Miller being targeted toward "commercial" customers, and Hobart being targeted toward "residential" customers and Hobart can't build a machine bigger than their 230.

All in all, you can't go wrong with either brand as they're both quality machines that use mostly the exact same parts . . . made here in the good old US of A :flag:

The American made "big three" include:

- Hobart
- Miller
- Lincoln (although they are now assembled in Mexico) :buh:

Re: MI: Welder
 

Again, what everyone else has said, flux core is for welding on bridges out in the wind, for auto body, gas is the ONLY way to go. It's a few more dollars and you will find it useful over the years after you are done with the truck. A 110 135 am welder will do about anything you ever could need with sheetmetal. HOWEVER. a 220 volt 200+ amp welder will weld anything you want (realistically) now and in the future and it's nice to have.

Brian

Re: MI: Welder
 

of course gas is preferred but flux core should be fine also. just has to be CLEANED good

Re: MI: Welder
 

I started out by buying a basic 110v flux welder. It was hard to control the weld on sheet metal and I got a lot of burn through (then huge globs I had to grind off). For thicker metal it was fine.

I sold my flux welder and bought a 220 gas and changed the wire to .023. That brought my skill level way past amateur. I was able to make many small little tacks over and over again on the sheet metal with no burn through and as long as I spaced them out, no warpage (it took me a few times to re-learn that lesson)

I was going to buy the 110 gas versions, but since I already had a 220 plug in my garage....I figured why not?

Re: MI: Welder
 

What can you do with proper equipment? These are photos of what my 7 year old daughter did after 15 minutes (I don't even think it was that long, more like 5) of instruction. She is now 16 and helps building sets at school for spirit week and things like that. Yesterday I helped with a bench the made from scratch in my back yard, pretty impressive.

But check out those welds, a few of them would pass the ASE welding test!

Brian

Re: MI: Welder
 

I had never welded before attempting to smooth the firewall on my truck. After reading a bunch of threads I bought a Hobart 140, Esab easy grind .023 wire and 75/25 gas.

It works great and I think the key to learning how to weld is starting with good tools. You will save yourself a lot of frustration. Don't forget a good auto darkening helmet.

Re: MI: Welder
 

Thanks for the history lesson, am well aware.

The KEY part of that is some of the parts are the same, not all but some.
The controls on a comparable Miller 135 and Hobert 130 and even the newer 140 are not the same.

Basically put, the Hobart welders have course adjustments, the Millers have fine adjustments.

On the Miller 135 and 140 you had 8 heat settings and could place the selector in between the numbers. On the Hobart 130, if memory serves me right had 4 settings and you could NOT place the selector between settings. As goes for the wire speed.

You simply have far more control over the weld process with Miller machines then one does with a Hobart.

Re: MI: Welder
 

Thats awesome! I wish my two daughters could lay a bead like that. Hell, when I started welding, I look like I recently developed Parkinson's decease. Currently my welds looks good from a far but far from good.

Hey Brian, sent your daughter by so she can weld up my rig, I'll PM you the address, rofl.