Originally Posted by
HandsomeRyan
I use a 110V flux core wire feed welder.
Pro's-
• I can plug it right into the wall in my garage (no need to wire a dedicated 220V plug)
• easy to learn
• relatively inexpensive (units start around $200 and moving north from there)
Con's
• messy welds, lots of spatter
• can't weld anything but steel (no aluminum, copper, brass, etc.)
• limited thickness of materials that can be safely welded
For a home hobbiest who just wants to play in his garage this is about the best thing you can get. It will allow you to fabricate or repair stuff around the house without the cost or inconvenience of larger setups. For 22 years I never needed to weld anything but in the couple months since i got the welder, I've used it at least a couple times every week. Amazing what you can do what you have enough tools.
I HIGHLY recommend an auto-darkening helmet ($50 at Harbor Freight or Northern Tool) makes welding so easy anyone can do it. PM me if you want more info about the setup I'm using.
If you want to get a little more ambitious there's units like my Eutectic Totalarc 270. It's a 415v 3 phase synergic-pulse machine. it does MIG, TIG, and stick. Has a switchmode power source, is programmable, and will interface with most industrial robots (I probably won't use that feature
)
In this picture I'm building a 25 foot plate alloy gamefishing boat (at home). To give you an idea of the power of this machine the transom doublers are 1/2" thick marine grade alloy plate and I had to stack 3 of them to get the right thickness. The rest of the boat is mostly 3/16" and 1/4" marine grade alloy plate.
And the auto darkening helmet is a must IMO. I love my speedglas!
