? about welding

[luckytat2]

I am looking at getting a welder to eventually bag and stockfloor my truck. I was wondering what size to get and some good brands? Also if the thickest material i wanted to weld was 3/16 for bag brackets and the notch would i have to get a welder that welds up to 3/16 or does it have to be as thick as your frame. Thanks in advance for your time>

[Daveman2]

Quote: Originally Posted by luckytat2

I am looking at getting a welder to eventually bag and stockfloor my truck. I was wondering what size to get and some good brands? Also if the thickest material i wanted to weld was 3/16 for bag brackets and the notch would i have to get a welder that welds up to 3/16 or does it have to be as thick as your frame. Thanks in advance for your time>

IMO from experience/what I've heard everyone who does frames say, is they want a MIG 220 for frame work or heavy duty shiot.
However if you're not doing any framework, a really nice 110 would probably work well.
I'll let more knowledgeable guys post up

[jcrazyjj]

if you have the money, buy a 220v welder.

if you dont, you can use a 120v welder, but multiple passes and beveling will be absolutely necessary.

you should be beveling anyway though.

[GET_LOW]

Get a MIG 220. Any Lincoln or Miller will be great.

Most MIG welders on the market have a max thickness of 1/4.

[1fast4by]

Im a fan of the Miller 220 myself. Byt yes, Id definately recommend at least a 220V Mig to anyone doing serious frame work.

[AssDragginSdime]

at least a 180 amp welder if you are going to be doing a stock floor., 220v welders generally start around 180 amps. For whatever reason everyone seems to refer to a welder's capability by its input voltage. But what you should be more concerned with is the amperage of the unit. You are going to want something that will weld at least 1/4" And to be honest id even bump it up to a 3/8" machine if you want to be extra safe...

Perosnally i like a big machine.. a 200 amp or bigger. When i buy a welder i dont go for anything that is rated for less than 1/2" because i feel like more is always better. I may never need to do single pass joints on 1/2" steel.. But i damn sure know i have the juice to get 100% penetration on 1/4".. Plus the duty cycle to weld 1/4" all day without overheating the machine. I also feel like the big ass 250-300 amp tweco guns are alot more stable than the small ones you get with say a hobart handler. I can sit there all day and lay welds one handed, and they come out better looking than alot of people using 2 hands on a smaller gun.

My personal suggestion, woudl be to hit up ebay, craigslit, Or your local welding supplier, and try to find yourself a used millermatic 250. I bought mine used for around $900 a few years ago. You can get them cheaper now. Matter of fact i just missed one on craigslist for 500 a month or 2 ago. They will weld from 22ga up to 1/2", it has the duty cycle that will allow you to run beads on 1/4" for long periods of time without overheating the machine. This is key when doing a stock floor. When you run a smaller welder at its capacity, it gets hot fast. And when you reach the limit of the duty cycle, its not going to weld as good. Your weld strength may suffer.

For the price of a good used Big machine, i see no reason to settle for a smaller machine.

[AssDragginSdime]

Quote: Originally Posted by GET_LOW

Most MIG welders on the market have a max thickness of 1/4.

i dont know where you got that from. Thats 100% false. Matter of fact miller makes more models that weld OVER 1/4" than they do models that weld 1/4" or less.

[GET_LOW]

Quote: Originally Posted by AssDragginSdime

i dont know where you got that from. Thats 100% false. Matter of fact miller makes more models that weld OVER 1/4" than they do models that weld 1/4" or less.

I worded that wrong.

I was just saying that most of the basic models on the market (like a lincoln that you could buy from the home depot for 700 bucks) can weld up to 1/4 inch.

But ya there are some big ass machines that can do 1/2 like you said.

[luckytat2]

Also do you guys know of any websites or videos that show how to bevel. I am just starting out so any help would be appreciated. Thanks for all the info so far guys. I seen a hobart mig that goes up to 3/8 of a inch and a millermatic 211 that welds up to 3/8. That would be good enough to weld the notch, link bars and bag brackets right? I want to eventually do a stock floor body drop. Z the front raise the floor and bed instead of reworking the whole frame.I think it woud be much safer just to worry about welding sheet metal rather then messing with my frame. Thanks for all your help guys.

[AssDragginSdime]

ya a 3/8" machine should be plenty to do what you gotta do.. Beveling is just dressing a joint in preparation for a weld. You grind the edges of the joint to an angle so that when you weld, You are welding into a "V" grove.. Basically by doing that, when you butt the two joints together, adn fill in the V, you are penetrating 100% on thick materials without a bevel you are not as likely to achieve 100% penetration.

[Daveman2]

the only problem I have with big welder is sometimes it's a little too much/too fast for smaller things, but you can always adjust the feed/voltage

[AssDragginSdime]

my millermatic 250 welded from 22ga, to 1/2" single pass. Turn down the voltage and run a smaller wire, and your golden. Your going to want to use a thin wire like .023, on any machine doing bodywork.

Right now i have an OLD systematics machine that does tig mig and stick, And it should be good for at least 3/8" if not more, I just spent the day welding a gas tank for a chopper i made out of 18ga cold rolled steel, and it was mint. As long as you get to know your machine, you can set it to do whatever you want.

[luckytat2]

so you guys bevel everything you weld? I would gretly appreciate if anyone could put pictures up to help me understand beveling. I think i know what you mean but i just want to make sure i am doing it correctly. Thank you guys all for all the great info. Sorry to keep bothering you guys . I just want to make sure that i do it correctly and have a safe truck.

[luckytat2]

Also would the lincoln 180 work for what i am looking for i have seen those for around $550 brand new. If not could you guys try to point me in the right direction i am just trying to find a good deal on a nice welder that will work good for what i want to do. Thanks again for your time

[AssDragginSdime]

you only need to really bevel butt joints. lap joints, t-joints, and corner joints are fine. And you really only need to bevel material thats 1/4" or thicker. The lincoln 180 will work fine. i have some friends that have it. Its not my personal choice, But it will work. Do a google search to see if you can get a better idea on how to bevel a joint. I cant really think of a simpler way to describe it. You grind your edges to a 45 and fill the channel with weld bead.

[DFitty]

i agree with everything ass draggin dime has posted. im runnin a Hobart Handler 187 and absolutely LOVE it. i have had it 4 ish years and havent had any problems out of it. i wanna say its a 185 amp machine,and welds up to about 5/16" in a single pass. its a fun welder and has been my BEST investment in the past few years. you can get them at a good price nowadays,i paif $900 ish when they first came out tho


they also have the Handler 210,which is the upgraded model,welds a little thicker,deff more thickness then anything you would see on ur everyday truck.

[sadexcuse4s10]

stockfloored my truck with a Miller 140 with 75/25 bottle.

i bag trucks with my Hobart 125 flux and do tons of other thick shit with it.




you can use a 110v welder for frame/suspension work and it will hold up just fine if you know how to weld properly. bevel the edges of your work, use the thickness of wire that will create the hottest pool as it burns.

but the mistake i've seen way too many times is people will plug the damn thing into a 10 amp wall outlet on a 10/12 amp extension cord.

I make sure to use at least a 15 amp outlet and 15 amp extension cord. as short of a cord as possible.

[luckytat2]

so assdragginsdime you are saying you only have to bevel butt joints but the rest you dont have to. thanks for all your help.

[luckytat2]

Can anyone tell what advantages the 180 hd has over the 140 hd? It looks like the voltage rating is the only difference. They look like they weld the same size steel.

[mattadams13]

i have a millermatic 210 and it says it can weld 3/8 metal in a single pass. ive welded 1/2 in a single pass. this is more than powerfull enough to weld a frame.

[AssDragginSdime]

yea you really only need to bevel butt joints. On thicker materials say over 1/4" its not a bad idea to chamfer your parts on a t-joint. But corner joints, and lap joints dont require beveling. As long as you are using ample heat and getting proper penetration.

the 140 and 180 are not rated for the same thickness. The 140 is rated to weld from 24ga to 10ga using the MIG process. and up to 5/16" using flux core wire.

the 180 is rated from 24ga to 3/16" with up to 1/2" with flux core wire.

Flux core wire works, But its more difficult to weld with, It makes a mess, and it is a much hotter weld than mig. so thin materials are a no-go. Or any materials where you need to be careful about heat distortion. Flux core needs to be setup perfectly. if your settings on the machine arent right, it wont weld for shit. Plus your gun angle is pretty critical to how well the bead flows. The flux burning emits a bright yellow glow so when you are welding its more difficult to see the puddle and exactly what its doing. Dont get me wrong it has its place in the world, but personally i wouldnt use it unless i had to. I bought a 10lb spool of .035 flux wire about 2 years ago. I still have at least 3/4 the spool left. i just dont like it.

the 180 will work for the frame. Its not rated for 1/4" on mig, But alot of people use them. I personally dont like them. I have used one on 1/4" box tubing before and didnt like the penetration i was getting. But thats just me. Some poeple dont mind them, Im not a fan tho. The one thing i do like about the 180 is that it is spool gun compatible, Which is great if you can weld aluminum.

[IRSd_mini]

Quote: Originally Posted by sadexcuse4s10

stockfloored my truck with a Miller 140 with 75/25 bottle.

i bag trucks with my Hobart 125 flux and do tons of other thick shit with it.




you can use a 110v welder for frame/suspension work and it will hold up just fine if you know how to weld properly. bevel the edges of your work, use the thickness of wire that will create the hottest pool as it burns.

but the mistake i've seen way too many times is people will plug the damn thing into a 10 amp wall outlet on a 10/12 amp extension cord.

I make sure to use at least a 15 amp outlet and 15 amp extension cord. as short of a cord as possible.

Most everything in my shop that gets mig'd is welded with a miller 135. pretty much the only time I use the 220v mig, is if I am doing a lot of welding, and I know I am going to exceed the 110V welders duty cycle. Which is when doing production work. Normal chassis suspension work on one car, doesnt exceed the small welders duty cycle. Also, it is VERY rare to need to weld anything over 1/4" thick when doing chassis and suspensin work.
My advice to the OP would be, if you only want to do one car/ truck, buy the smaller one. If you think you may want to do more of this, or weld in the future, buy the best one you can. It is not uncommon for a welder to last 15 years or more. So buying a good one now, is worth it... IF you plan on using it.

[luckytat2]

I am doing a traditional body drop and was wondering should i just tack weld the whole floor or tack the piece in then bead the rest. also any recomended settings i am going to cut up the truck soon but not start welding till i am pleased with my welding abilities. Also i am using 16 ga sheet metal to fill it in.

[AssDragginSdime]

Bead it, just be careful not to burn thru.. You want the whole floor sealed from the elements.