Thread: welder recommendations?

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hey guys, I am getting ready to buy a Mig welder for body work, mostly for filling holes, patch panels, etc. any recommendations? I'm currently looking at the clarke mig welding kit that eastwood carries, it looks like the best for the money. Any tips, ideas? Also, I must mention that I have never welded before, so I want something easy enough to learn with, but good enough not to outgrow as I get better.
thanks
Rob

Buying from a catalogue,or discount store makes good economic sense,until you have a problem or want to ask questions. My local welding supplier is also a highly skilled welder,will answer questions,sells quality equipment, even used, and if you bought it from him,takes your old stuff in trade for new,plus my money is staying here in my community. Hank

Try these people: http://www.cyberweld.com/ We have bought 3 or 4 welders and plasma cutters from them so far and they are superb in price and service. On our Tig they were $ 500 under the local guys. We love Miller equipment, our Mig has literally welded thousands and thousands of welds without a problem.

Spend a little more money and get a 220 volt mig, you will quickly find you will be able to do more with it, and also get the bottle of gas as opposed to fluxcore. Less splatter, hence cleaner welds. I know everybody looks at the 110 volt units because of price, but the bigger one will be an investment and something you can use for heavy stuff like frames.

Don

You've already gotten some decent comments so I'll just add some thoughts on Eastwood. First off this isn't a wrap on them, they are an honest business that has served the hobby well. That being said, they are basically a reseller. They've done a good job of marketing stuff that's not particularly unusual to the commercial trade, but generally unknown to the hobby/enthusiast market. As such, they're not the place to go for the "best price", you're paying them for having done the "search" for the products they sell, for the packaging, and the ease of getting things in one place from the keyboard on your lap. Most of their body repair products can be bought in just about any town that has a decent paint supply jobber that deals mostly with body shops, and can be had cheaper. I'd guess it's the same for the welder. I've got both Lincoln and Miller in small mig welders, like them both. One I bought like Don did, the other was from a local welding shop that had a "sale" going.................but I had to ask in a way that let them know that I would get it from a competitor if they "couldn't" do the deal. They all can usually buy wholesale for the same deal (unless they're really a small time outfit), so can deal if they want to.

good points, I guess I need to find a local place that sells them to compare, I just figured from my experience that usually local independant places are always more expensive than chains or catalogs like eastwood. I also thought that clarke was one of the top names, and considering that it comes with a cart, helmet, gloves, wire, regulator, is setup for gas or gasless welding, etc. that 400 was a great deal. some of the online places that carry miller and lincoln are around 600 with no accesories. although they are probably a little better quality. So is there any specific feedback on the clarke unit? If there is something better for around the same price i have yet to find it. Does sears carry any name brand welders? I always prefer buing locally in person, but not at $200 more.
thanks
Rob

The advice to go to your local welding supply shop is sound advice. You might check out he Hobart site, weld talk for ideas. I bought their HH187 after studying the alternatives, figuring that having more power & flexibility was right for me all considered.
http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/

Here is a link to a Miller I bought less than 1 year ago. I have been very happy with it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MILLER-MILLERMAT...QQcmdZViewItem