Starting to do BUSINESS ON MY OWN

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ok i work for a very small company right now that does a lot of fencing and some gates.  I Am building an arsenal of equipment to do my own work.  Yesterday I bought a chopsaw and blades, a bench top drill press, hammer drill, nad some other odds and ends.  I am now looking for a welder that will treat me right.  At work we have a miller 175,  a miller 230,  and a lincoln 135,  I have my eye on the craftsman welder with the wire feed and amperage control,  I want a gas sheilding set up,  but am trying to keep the price down. I was looking to either get the craftsman one I listed, or get the hf chicago electric dual mig 151=$150 (factory reconditioned )  and then get a buzz box for on sight welding.  But I am unsure how either of the welders qualities are.  but I want to keep the price down if possible,  and build up to a bigger better welder in the near future and maybe help a fresh new entrepenuer out by selling the used one cheap to them.  I love the miller 175 and the lincoln 135 I have used at work but I just cant afford $550 or more (+plus accessories)for a welder at this point.  I have plenty of fabrication experience and I am looking to build custom gates and entry ways as well as automotive parts such as , strut tower braces, and roll cages and such.
Reply:Ebay and word of mouth got me most of my machines. I started out with a miller thunderbolt buzzbox I repaired from a junk heap after the n.j. flood of 92'. Question is how are you going to power a buzzbox in the field? Back in the day I used to keep three different kinds of 220 plugs and a long cord with me so I could use peoples dryer outlet or whatever or I'd even loosen the three wire screwdowns going into the main and ram my welder wires in alongside and tighten em back up (kinda nuts). These day I have a Bobcat welder/generator, which made life easier except for the putting it on the truck part (530 lb.s).
Reply:Look for a re-conditioned Hobart or buy a new Clarke. Both are great welders for the money.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Originally Posted by mr2turbo7ok i work for a very small company right now that does a lot of fencing and some gates.  I Am building an arsenal of equipment to do my own work.  Yesterday I bought a chopsaw and blades, a bench top drill press, hammer drill, nad some other odds and ends.  I am now looking for a welder that will treat me right.  At work we have a miller 175,  a miller 230,  and a lincoln 135,  I have my eye on the craftsman welder with the wire feed and amperage control,  I want a gas sheilding set up,  but am trying to keep the price down. I was looking to either get the craftsman one I listed, or get the hf chicago electric dual mig 151=$150 (factory reconditioned )  and then get a buzz box for on sight welding.  But I am unsure how either of the welders qualities are.  but I want to keep the price down if possible,  and build up to a bigger better welder in the near future and maybe help a fresh new entrepenuer out by selling the used one cheap to them.  I love the miller 175 and the lincoln 135 I have used at work but I just cant afford $550 or more (+plus accessories)for a welder at this point.  I have plenty of fabrication experience and I am looking to build custom gates and entry ways as well as automotive parts such as , strut tower braces, and roll cages and such.
Reply:The Hobart Handler 140 MIG is a pretty trusty tool. I got it when I still lived in an apartment, and I had to carry it out of the basement every time I wanted to weld something (I welded in the basement, too.  ) I could run it off an extension cord to a 110V plug in my kitchen at the time (I think it was a 20A circuit).  I welded up a new exhaust on a picnic table for my wife's car when hers rusted out. The nice thing about that machine is that it's about as "portable" as you can get, you can find new tips for it anywhere (Sears or Lowes or Home Depot in the welding sections), wire is easy to come by, and it's fairly stout. Your limit is about 1/4" carbon steel on the highest setting, but if you bevel and weld both sides when possible you can make it work.Hobart Handler 140 MIGHypertherm Max 43 Plasma CutterA Bernzomatic Torch, and some solder.
Reply:i have a lincoln 140 that i bought at home depot. works really well and has held up really well. not very good for much over 3/16. it will weld 1/4 but not like the miller 210 or any 220 volt machine. the upgrade between 110v mig and 220v mig is a night and day difference.
Reply:I really Appreciate all of your comments and suggestions,  I bought the $400 Craftsman welder from sears yesterday.  it came with a stand, spool of wire, it is set up for gas all i need now is a regulator and a bottle, I may just get a spool of flux core whil I wait or I may just go and spend the money on the gas.  I was told this is a good hobby/ mild duty welder by a reputable source and it was a lincoln model badged as a craftsman,  I love the craftsman hand tools so I may be kind of biased but this machine even just looks and feels much better built than a hf junkbox. I cant believe I was considering one of those but i guess when its that cheap it is almost tempting, but hey I am sorry for my temporary stupidity. (can I weld you a cage w/ my craftsman Rojodiablo? ) I have some other stuff for the job such as a bench grinder, chop saw yada yada yada.  But again thank you everyone for the help.  I undersand that this wont weld extremly thick metal but I dont plan on welding much thicker than 3/16 and if I do I understand beveling edges and all that good stuff.Last edited by mr2turbo7; 12-03-2006 at 01:08 PM.