Welding at Home

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ive taken a couple classes and decided i wanna start practicing more and at, more for fabricating my truck. i just had a couple questionsim going to be welding stainless and dom tubing, no bigger than 1/4 insuggestions on a welder??will it raise my electric bill? do i need to set up a seperate breaker??thanks
Reply:buy bigger than you think the first time,youll be glad in the short run. more you weld the more power youll use ,inverters better than transformer on power cunsumption. also buy Lincoln or Miller stay away from cheap forign stuff ,no one for service laterwelding instuctor
Reply:Originally Posted by Blkrstr21im going to be welding stainless and dom tubing, no bigger than 1/4 in, suggestions on a welder??
Reply:What process/es do you know how to run? Have you got 220 volts AC for power? If you resort to 110 volts AC, use the highest amperage circuit available, and the shortest electrical distance from it. But what machine will run mig/tig on 110 volts that can turn out 1/4" wall? Sooner or later you may want to run aluminum; with tig, that means AC output. The light duty machines don't have that. If you use mig and want aluminum welds, then a spoolgun is called for. Does the machine allow for a spoolgun? Stick welding is a bonus of a tig machine, even though some will not run sticks from their expensive tig gear, just a preference, I suppose. If you want to run tig and mig, then you are really looking at two separate machines. Good luck in school! Last edited by tanglediver; 10-10-2009 at 11:23 PM.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Originally Posted by tanglediverWhat process/es do you know how to run? Have you got 220 volts AC for power? If you resort to 110 volts AC, use the highest amperage circuit available, and the shortest electrical distance from it. But what machine will run mig/tig on 110 volts that can turn out 1/4" wall? Sooner or later you may want to run aluminum; with tig, that means AC output. The light duty machines don't have that. If you use mig and want aluminum welds, then a spoolgun is called for. Does the machine allow for a spoolgun? Stick welding is a bonus of a tig machine, even though some will not run sticks from their expensive tig gear, just a preference, I suppose. If you want to run tig and mig, then you are really looking at two separate machines. Good luck in school!
Reply:You say stainless. I'm guessing exhaust tube from what you said. Most guys I've seen that do that use tig, you have more control and the welds look better. I never had much luck personally with SS mig on thin stuff.As far as a machine, almost any of the 220v migs from a good company will do ok on 1/4" steel..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan