Picking out a small mig welder

[LeadFoot]

Been looking at a small 115v mig for a Christmas present for my Dad (and I, to be honest). The only one we currently have is a old A/C stick welder that is insanely large for our purposes, up to 300 amps. There has been a sale going on at Tractor Supply Co on a Hobart 140 for $420. It is flux/mig capatible, and also able to weld aluminum (I'm not sure if all mig's are capable of that though, might be a standard thing). He is into small airplanes, 3 of them in fact. He has a couple aluminum projects that would make the welder really handy. Being a 115v, it is easily transported to the airplane hanger and visa versa. It says it can do up to 1/4", so it will probably only do 3/16" for more than 10 seconds at a time.

Are there any other ones I should look at? I was also eyeing up the Lincoln 135 plus, but it is quite pricey! I am going to look around and see if I can find any better deals on that. What are you guys using? Thoughts? I figure I can use flux core wire for awhile till I get my feet wet, then worry about getting the argon setup. Thanks!

[TObject]

Before somebody gets hurt, let professionals weld airplanes, especially aluminum and titanium. Give your dad a gift certificate.

I, of-course, don?t weld myself, so wait for somebody who does to respond. Maybe newbie welding on airplanes is perfectly fine, I don?t know.

[Jeff Weston]

If that is your budget, I'd recommend a Readywelder. Not only will it put out more amps than any of the welders you mentioned, you can take it anywhere. The first time you need it offroad you'll be glad you have it.

[griswold]

Keep in mind that the Hobart or any other mig will not weld aluminum out of the box. You will need to buy a spool gun for that, at a cost of $200 and up.

[NAILER341]

Originally posted by griswold
Keep in mind that the Hobart or any other mig will not weld aluminum out of the box. You will need to buy a spool gun for that, at a cost of $200 and up.

where as the readywelder will
and reportedly does a fine job of it.

[Allen]

This is a bad idea.....

No inexpensive MIG welder has acceptable heat control for welding thin wall steel tubing safely. They tend invariably to overheat at both the start and end of the weld bead. Since most of the welds placed are only a fraction of an inch long, this burning of the base metal at the start and end of each weld is dangerous at best. Also the consistency of technique requires a lot of experience to gain before aircraft structures can be safely welded with MIG.

The best way by far to learn how to weld to aircraft standards is to start welding with an O/A torch. When you learn to do an acceptable weld with that, it is a relatively easy step to doing acceptable welding with a GOOD TIG rig. When you can do TIG well, you probably know enough about the metal and how it welds and flows to learn to weld it acceptably with MIG.

It is ironic that it is easiest to learn how to lay a bead with MIG, even a cheap one, but HARDEST to learn how to do consistent quality aircraft standard welding with a MIG.

Incidently, unless you have a VERY large oven available, you will need the O/A rig handy with a rosebud to do the normalization after the welding is complete with either TIG or MIG, not to mention a preheat to about 125 to remove moisture.

The Ready Welder, while fine for off road repairs and fab, is the last thing you'd want for aircraft.

Bottom line, if you want to successfully and safely weld aircraft, you'll need an O/A unit and a GOOD TIG welder.....and a few thousand dollars.

Follow FARs part 23, part 43, and the AC 43.13, or any others that may apply.

Allen

[Joe Dillard]

I have a feeling the "small airplane" thing, are the remote controlled type - right?

I have a Hobart 135 Handler & it's lived up to my expectations so far. It's by NO means a heavy duty unit - but it does the trick okay on small stuff (~3/16" & below). As a matter of fact I was doing some misc. welding last night.

I bought a small mix tank for it which is nice. Like the 140, the 135 is pre-plumbed for a mix tank. If you're swapping between flux-core & the mix tank, just swap the electrical leads & be on your way. I picked up a freebie cart to put it on so it's a little more mobile.

If I were to be doing it all over again - I'd be looking at a heavier duty welder, but this one does the trick for most on my small jobs.

If I get in a pinch - I ask Blaine about his 220V welder. Miller 175 IIRC.

[Allen]

Originally posted by Joe Dillard
I have a feeling the "small airplane" thing, are the remote controlled type - right?

Doubtful.

He wants portability so they can take the welder to the hanger.....

Must be some fancy RC airplanes to keep them hangered.

Allen