Which welding machine to buy?

[Fruit Trader]

1 hour ago, Cashboy said:

I know this is an old topic but found it useful and shall tell you what I think having just bought a welder. 

 

I bought an Arc (Stick) welder after watching ChuckE2009 as recommended by "Impulse" on this thread and seeing that most Thais only use Arc (Stick)

But if you were doing mostly mild steel frame and tube work in the shop you would have chosen a Mig or a dual purpose Mig/MMA right?

 

Don't really need a sponsor pimp like ChuckE2009 to make the decision when tomorrow he be screaming MILLER MIG MIG MIG.

 

Most down in Soi Thai shops use basic stick and sun glasses for everything. Construction workers use the same but with much less refined strike and blob technique.

[kickstart]

My welder, well, ome from my local hardware shop, m y second one, first one went pop and that was it ,second one 4000 baht come from China 200 amp, bugger weighs a lot soild cast iron core ,it is in my shed, wired back to the main  breaker box in the house, with a 32 amp breaker, being a farmer my welding is mending things, useing mainly secondhand steel ,but  both welders have made 2 gates ,a rear end loader for the tractor ,cultivater   for the tractor ,a cattle handling race with entrance and exit gates ,plus lots of odd jobs .

It does me when I did the bucket on the loader it was working at 200 amp with 3.2mm  rods for a long time, but it kept going, got a bit hot though, breaker did not go, either.

A shop near me had a mig welder, not that expensive, they had the wire but only CO2 gas, and I thought I am not going to do an 80km round trip to buy some gas  , that is if they had not run out when I got there                                         I looked on the internet about inverter welders 2 uk sites said cheap one does not last, maybe an old site newer models  better quality, a farang near me has just got one ,his old one went pop ,that is after he welded all the steel for a large garage, and type of guest house, with steel posts and steel roof joists.it did a lot of work, a  4000 baht 180 amp Chines thing.                                                                                                                                                                                   Thai's use ark welders because they are easily available, rods easily available mig welders, need wire, gas not always available, maybe Homepro ect sell them, I never go they to far, and I can get what I want very locally.                                One thing, on one or two occasions I have needed some stainless steel and cast iron rods, my local hardware shop at our local market sells them 10 baht/rod, better than buying a pack just for a small one off job.

[impulse]

32 minutes ago, kickstart said:

One thing, on one or two occasions I have needed some stainless steel and cast iron rods, my local hardware shop at our local market sells them 10 baht/rod, better than buying a pack just for a small one off job.

 

I buy 308L rod in 2.0 and 2.6 mm diameter from Lazada in various lot sizes.  True, it's a PITA to buy 250-500 grams, but they're factory sealed.  I'm not convinced the local shop keep them dry very well.   And it's tough to find a rod oven, even if there's room in my jam packed apartment.

 

Oh, and it's still only 300-400 baht for 500-1000 grams- delivered, around $13-20 per kg.  I'd pay that much just to keep from spending hours traveling to and scrounging through the local shops in hopes of finding 2.0mm (good luck) or finding any at all, because they ran out.

 

[impulse]

1 hour ago, Fruit Trader said:

Don't really need a sponsor pimp like ChuckE2009 to make the decision when tomorrow he be screaming MILLER MIG MIG MIG.

 

Say it isn't so!!!  Please?

 

He didn't used to be a pimp.  (Pimply, yes.  Pimp, no)  In fact, I couldn't even tell where his sponsorship came from.  At the time, all he reviewed was off brand stuff, for which I figured he was making a pittance, and making it on pay per click.   I do recall the episodes where he moved from Ohio (?) to Texas to start doing YouTubes full time.   That'll wake you up when the rent comes due and you don't have a real job. 

 

But I'll have to tune in for some of his recent vids to see if he's been corrupted by lobby sponsor money.  While that would be a shame for the welding public, I'm glad if he's making decent scratch since YouTube is hosing so many of their smaller and more controversial channels.  Off the record, I have most of his old stuff archived via Freemake or 4K Video Downloaders.  They were very helpful.

 

And if he's gone off the rails, there's hundreds of others out there.