Bought my first welder

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So I decided against getting the ever-popular cheapo Harbor Freight welder or any other "cheap" brand (Job Smart, Everlast, etc) and bought what is probably the bottom of the barrel Lincoln welder, Lincoln Handy Mig. It should work great for me to learn and tackle my small projects.I had a 15% off coupon for Lowe's so I walked out the door with the welder for $312 including tax. Not bad in my opinion for a welder that should be able to tackle smaller aluminum tasks along with the general steel as well as stainless.Now I just need to pick up some gas and stop by the local scrap yard and pick up some metal to practice with.I have a roof rack for my truck I want to modify to install, mounts on my ranch hand for off road lights, a cold air intake box for my car, etc etc. This should be a good welder for those tasks. I won't be building any bridges with this welder, but once I get comfortable with the welder, I'd be curious to see how thick it has the ability to weld.
Reply:312 and it does aluminum???
Reply:it might if it'll feed the wire through the mig cable...usually wads up real quick.have to use different gas for aluminum and steel
Reply:Originally Posted by Michael ray312 and it does aluminum???
Reply:sounds neat... I tried aluminum through a couple wire drives then went to a spool gun then tig...watch out..buying welders can be addicting....
Reply:Originally Posted by DDavisIAMTSo I decided against getting the ever-popular cheapo Harbor Freight welder or any other "cheap" brand (Job Smart, Everlast, etc) and bought what is probably the bottom of the barrel Lincoln welder, Lincoln Handy Mig. It should work great for me to learn and tackle my small projects.I had a 15% off coupon for Lowe's so I walked out the door with the welder for $312 including tax. Not bad in my opinion for a welder that should be able to tackle smaller aluminum tasks along with the general steel as well as stainless.Now I just need to pick up some gas and stop by the local scrap yard and pick up some metal to practice with.I have a roof rack for my truck I want to modify to install, mounts on my ranch hand for off road lights, a cold air intake box for my car, etc etc. This should be a good welder for those tasks. I won't be building any bridges with this welder, but once I get comfortable with the welder, I'd be curious to see how thick it has the ability to weld.
Reply:The output of that welder is way low for aluminum, unless you are taking extremely thin sheet.  Then there's the wire feeding problem.Carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum all require a different shielding gas for the MIG process. $$$.http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...t-welders.aspx"USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:Originally Posted by WNY_TomB.my miller mig with spool gun needs about the full 200 amps to mig weld aluminum with .035 wire.usually for price you paid you would not have enough amps. i bought a miller cricket mig welder that runs on 120 volts. good for welding garbage cans and sheetmetal definitely under 100amps. about same as the HF mig that sells for about $90......... not really good for anything but sheet metal
Reply:Originally Posted by Michael raythat's what I was thinking also..it may do decent on really thin aluminum like the new Ford truck body panels. I'd kinda like to know how it does myself..I hate dragging out the big machines to do sheet aluminum. the spool gun is ok but its size isn't the best for tight spots and my tigs are older heavy machines with tons of cables and they are just a hassle to move around all the dead cars in the shop.  I'd like to know how well it works..I'm considering trying aluminum wire in my millermatic dvi. it has a spool gun 3035 but tight spots get in the way especially in door jams or inside corners
Reply:I agree...the size of the wire is what concerns me...I usually spot in a new or replacement panel to help with warping.I really prefer the tig but I'm the only guy at the shop that welds...so if I am welding in a panel or patch it's for our paint and body guys...neither one of the 2 can weld aluminum.  I'd like to find a solution for the tight spots where the spool doesn't fit good. tig takes longer and we are commission paid so on work like that I'm always open to faster or easier methods
Reply:You are going to be very disappointed if you think this will mig aluminum,.
Reply:Originally Posted by BrianCYou are going to be very disappointed if you think this will mig aluminum,.
Reply:Davis, to have a better chance on aluminum with limited horsepower, see if your local welding supply outlet can get a bottle of Helium/Argon mix and rent it to you for a month while you try it out. Talk to him also about the best rollers for aluminum, and see if he has a Teflon liner for your cable/gun.  Then with the cable stretched out pretty straight from the welder, you'll have the best chance at doing some work. As always with aluminum, you simply must clean off as much of the oxide layer as you can right before you weld; the oxide has a lot higher melting point than the base metal. There should be some on-line videos that show you what spray-arc looks like (lots of voltage, not so much wire).  I don't know if the thing is possible at all, but this combination will give you the best shot.(EDIT)  (I just took a quick look at your machine. Lincoln lists it as being good for steel only. With the limited control they give you, I don't think you can set up any kind of spray arc . . . ). With steel, for a little less trouble with burn-through and doing vertical welds on the thin guage stuff you'll be working on, C10 or C15 is better than C25 (if the LWS can get a bottle), and S-3 wire (.030") is a little better than S-6.The reaction of the regulars here, even if they don't say it, is, "Why do these newbies always buy the smallest machines? Those little welders look so simple and unintimidating to the general public, which is ironic because WE know they are actually harder to work with, and take MORE skill!!" But don't worry about that, Davis. To have ANY kind of welder in your garage puts you waayyy ahead of the average do-it-yourselfer.  You'll have great fun with what you bought, and within its limits, of which you are obviously aware, there are lots and lots of jobs you can do with it.Here's one:  I doubt you knew this when you were looking at that little MIG welder, but you have bought yourself the world's best tool for removing broken-off studs and bolts, one which every auto machine shop in the country has on hand just for that purpose. Instead of bothering with left-twist drillbits and EZ-Outs, they go straight to the MIG welder. Triggering the gun for very short bursts, you build a pile of weld-metal atop the broken end of the stud, pausing a couple of seconds between each burst. When the pile is high enough, you grab it with a Vise-Grips and work it back and forth until it starts moving. You might break off your piled-up metal a few times, but you just build a new pile and try again until it works. The heat input from building that pile is a big part of the trick, and it doesn't matter that you are mainly heating the fastener instead of the metal around it. Do a few of these jobs for yourself and your pals and you will be VERY happy you bought that machine!!Okay, here's another:  I've got a new-to-me little gig welding old horseshoes into "art" for a neighbor lady, and the guys here have been advising me on this. Your little welder is entirely capable of doing this, so maybe you can pay for it with some horseshoe-art sales  .  .  .  .Last edited by old jupiter; 05-16-2016 at 11:23 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by DDavisIAMTSo I decided against getting the ever-popular cheapo Harbor Freight welder or any other "cheap" brand (Job Smart, Everlast, etc) and bought what is probably the bottom of the barrel Lincoln welder, Lincoln Handy Mig