welder question ??
 

all,
i am looking into getting a welder & i have narrowed it down between a lincoln 140 or lincoln 180 welder. my question is are either of these welders "too much" to do the typical welding that i see on here related to cages, bumpers & such:oops:? i will be doing 1:1 welding as well & that is why my choices are what they are;-)....

thanks!!"thumbsup"
rc dreemer

I have an older Lincoln 175 Plus, and at times with my 1:1 work, it simply isn't big enough. 1/4" chamferred steel plate is about the thickest steel I can weld with enough penetration, and that is pushing the welder to its limit.

My vote is to buy the largest welder you can justify, especially if you are doing 1:1 work.

if your gonna be doing 1:1 welding as well,you'll need something that will do up to 1/4 steel or at least 3/16.

this is the one i have..
http://www.tractorsupply.com/welding...welder-3807126

I have a Miller 175 and I've welded spring perches, antiwrap bars, cages and RC down to 22g steel and .035 walled tubing. It's a great machine. We use Lincoln at work and I will say the Miller is more adjustable and user friendly, but if you're stuck on a lincoln got with the 180.

i have a miller 175... good machine for what it is... do all my 1:1 stuff and some of the R/C stuff... I like brazing better for the small stuff... "thumbsup" "thumbsup" "thumbsup"

I do almost all of my rc work with my 12 year old Hobart 135. I've done more than a little 1:1 stuff as well, but it was all thinner stuff. I recently bought a Miller 210 to be able to do all the 1:1 stuff I wasn't able to with the Hobart. I'd also say go with the larger model. If you can only have one welder, it's better to have more capability from it.

from the responses i am getting i guess that i could still do the "light" RC stuff with the 180 & as well do my 1:1 stuff?? although my 1:1 stuff is generally sheet metal stuff so i may go with the 140 & i think it would be able to cover both spectrums....

thanks!!

buy the biggest one you can afford you can turn it down to do the small stuff sometimes even more accurately than a small welder. I have a miller 175 and have done everything with it from bumpers, exhaust work, a-arms, i cant think of anything on a car that would be too thick. I've even welded some 1/2 inch with it you just have to use flux core cause it burns hotter and make multiple passes. One of the best deals out there is the hobart 187, hobart is a hobby brand made from miller but theyre still tuff welders my buddy has used one almost every day for the last 3 years building fences and never had a problem. Why is it that you want a lincoln?

atx-iroc,
i am not really buying because of a particular brand per-sey. i have found a great deal on a new lincoln/century model 180 with a cart, gas gauge, aluminum gun & a few extra tips and with wire shipped for $450 that is my main reason. in my research i typically have found that the "red" welder is generally cheaper then the "blue" or "tan" welders that are of the roughly same caliber. i am new to welding & i have experience in building 1:1 stuff, but i am now liking the 1:10 stuff so i was trying to find something that could do both.....:lmao: . i may end up just going with a 140 or similar model if the price is little less... i am mainly looking for suggestions/ideas from you experienced gurus on this wonderful board!!:lmao:

thanks!!

$450 thats great do it. my 220v welder the red one "thumbsup" is great for the thick stuff like 1/2 and i can go down to real thin too "you can't turn a little welder up but you can turn a big welder down" so go with the 180 i have the one that was before it and its perfect. i like millers to thats all i use at school but at home and work i have a lincoln and have done so for the past three years.

thats an amazing deal i payed that for a an old 175 Miller with a regulator, cart and a couple reels of wire. Just go with the big one its worth it one day you will need it. Once you start you will want to make everything. When you can make almost any car part for 50 bucks why not. Just a heads up your gonna need a grinder if you dont have one then buy a drill press and then a band saw and the list goes on forever, have fun with the new addiction. Red Tan or Blue ill even throw in esab but dont buy no name crap think PARTS AVAILABILITY.

i odered it from a place called "welding supply usa" they seem pretty good, we'll see i guess;-) thanks for all the feedback. it makes sense about the saying of being able to "dial down" but not up. i think this will work out good.

thanks again!!"thumbsup"

I use my Miller 140 MIG for the 3/16 steel tubing. Works awesome so far...

welder
 

I have the 110 lincon and for rc suff is good but if i do 1.1 welding i use a miller 240 miller matic and it is way nicer than the lincon but at 3500 bucks it pricey the holbart 140 handler is also a good choice.

I've tried all different welders, if you are going to be doing anything thick or want the welds to look good, i would get a 220 with gas hookup. you can weld thicker stuff with a 110 but its a lot harder to get good penetration.

i have a lincoln electric ac/dc 240v welder... stick of course... can this be used to make scale tube bumpers? im new to this thinking and trying to figure out...

i thought you guys used mig or tig.. not arc/stick????

oh yeah it was free.. and i weld on real axle tubes so havent tinkered with the light stuff!!!!

My guess is, that unless you weld a LOT, you will have issue with the small stuff used in RC. You need to dial the power back enough to keep from burning through, but then you have issues striking an arc and keeping it going.

IMO its the exact oppisite for me out of all the MIllers and Lincolns I've used. (and yea I am going to nationals for FFA in contest that invloves welding) I like how Lincoln accualy shows what values you are using for wire speed and voltage, while Miller just has numbers like WTF and you accualy have to go look at the little chart to see how to set it (or get it close to how you like it). I think that Lincolns are much more user friendly.

While I haven't used the Lincoln 140 or 180, I've used a bunch of welders, and the bigger ones are always better. Get the biggest one you can afford. And always go for 220 input power. Recently I've been using a Hobart 210 (?), and it will burn in crazy thick stuff, and will make some beautiful tiny spot welds on thin stuff.

thanks again for the replies, i am getting the "bigger" model. i had to postpone the first order:shock:, but will order the 180 real soon."thumbsup"