Looking for advice on welder to grow with...

admin

Hey everyone,It's long past time where I shoudl be looking for my own welder as I've been involved in motorsports heavily for the last 5 years and am moving from the local to regional levels of competition. So far I got by on borrowing other people's welding skills to keep my cars racing, but it's time to move on. I have a good sized garage and have 220v available. I'm looking for a welder to meet my fabrication needs and to continue doing so as I move to a higher level of competition. On average we build 1 new race car each year (weld full roll cage out of .120wall tubing and seam weld chassis), and do basic sheet metal, mounting brackets, and other small items on a weekly basis.I have the opportunity to get a MIG Pak 10 for what I consider a steal at $450cdn cash, but I've been told I should really look for a more powerful  (220v) welder.I also have an old school John Deer arc welder that I just got donated to the cause... haven't had a chance to play with it yet.I'm looking for opinions on wether the MIG Pak 10 is a good purchase or if I should pass on that one. And also how benificial the arc welder would be ( is it worth my time to become proficient in both stick and wire feed welding?)Thanks!-Noel-
Reply:I'm looking for opinions on wether the MIG Pak 10 is a good purchase or if I should pass on that one.
Reply:And good experiences using a stick welder to do roll cage fabrication? All mine have been done by a local welding shop using a good sized mig welder.-Noel-
Reply:I've never heard of a professional or serious amateur using stick or flux-core for roll-cage welding.  I don't see why anyone would want to, as both process are most well-suited for getting good penetration on thicker materials and roll-cages usually aren't that thick.  Also, cleanup is a bear.If I recall, correctly, the Mig Pak 10 is a 100A welder.  I'd recommend taking a pass on it and getting something that you could use to do .120 wall tubing.  You're going to need 140-150A to do that in a single pass.  It'd be difficult to do with any 120VAC welder, so that leaves you with a couple options.  Get one of the smaller ~180A units that runs off of 240VAC which will cost around $700-800 or shoot for something that you'll never want to replace, like an MM210 which is well-regarded in the world of motorsports.  For use on sheet metal, one of the smaller 180A units with continuous voltage control instead of taps, might be more useful.  I'm thinking of the MM175 or the Lincoln SP-175Plus.-Heath
Reply:I thought i read somewhere in the NHRA rulebook that you could NOT weld roll bars/cages with a stick welder? However i have been away from the track for a while and i dont stay current on that stuff now.  Anyone know?  Might be differant in other racing organizations too.
Reply:Originally Posted by blownnovaI thought i read somewhere in the NHRA rulebook that you could NOT weld roll bars/cages with a stick welder? However i have been away from the track for a while and i dont stay current on that stuff now.  Anyone know?  Might be differant in other racing organizations too.