Louisiana Classic Truck Club

I wasn't real sure which area to post this, but welders and compressors come in real handy for doing paint & bodywork, so I'm putting it here.

I'm getting ready to buy a compressor and mig welder for the house. I'm tired of not being able to do any work on Oscar's truck without having to go to my dad's or somebody else's house.

Just so ya'll know, I'm pretty anal when it comes to major purchases like this. If I am going to spend a butt load of money, I want to know that it will last and do everything that I "might" want to try before I or it dies. That being said I have a few requirements for each unit.

For the welder... I would like to be able to weld on some of the newer thin sheetmetal like my 2004 Silverado has without blowing through, and up to at least 1/4", multiple passes are fine. Because in my little dreamland that I live in, I would like to build a road-race chassis from scratch to race in the Silver State Classic one day. I have a buddy that says I shouldn't waste any money on a mig and just go straight to a tig, but I've never tig welded and I'm not so sure that Brandi will let me spend that much. I've heard good things about the Hobart brand welders and have been looking at the Hobart Handler 187. LINKY

For the compressor... I think I want a 60 Gal. upright compressor. I know that you should look for a high cfm rating @ 90 psi or above, but what I don't know is how many cfm @ what psi should I look for if I want to try my hand at painting one day. From what I've seen, if you want to spend 2 G's on a compressor (I don't want to ) you can start a hurricane in your own backyard, but what do I need? Also, which manufacturers do you guys recommend? Would Ingersoll-Rand be decent enough to hold up for say 25-30 years, maybe longer? I've found what I would think would be a good one, it's the SS5L5. Ingersoll Rand SS5L5

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Both of those look pretty good for what you want. I have not used or had much dealings with Hobart, but I know a few folks that are more than happy with them. I think as a hobbiest you can't go wrong with MIG. I gave thought to tig, but just not worth it in what I am/will be doing.

That is a good compressor too. I don't think you can go wrong with that. I was going to suggest a Harbor Freight one. I have one of their replacement compressor's on mine and so far, I like it. We'll see in 20-30 years.

I have a Craftsman professinal 60 gallon. Forgot what horse power and cfm rating it is. I use in my cabinet shop and every thing i do it does a real good job. It runs on 220 and it was about $650 or $700.

Steven,

I would stay with a Mig, it's so easy to pick it up and weld like a pro in a few days, the tig could take a long time to practice and get good with, and after all it is a hobby.

I'm a real big fan of Miller welding machines. They cost more but the thing is they are about the only machine that has a copper wound transformer these days, Lincoln and most the rest have went with Aluminum wound transformers because of cost. The Hobarts are a good machine, they are Millers cheaper line just be aware of the transformer. For a hobby machine they would be fine. Also the Miller has all steel rollers and linkage that feed the wire, most of them have went to plastic so look at that too when you buy. Another thing I like about the Miller is it has infinite adjustment on the wire speed and the voltage, most of them have a selector switch with only a few choices where you can set it. With the Miller you can put it where you want. These are all little things that may not matter to you but I just wanted to make you aware of the choices out there. I felt the Miller would be with me a lot longer because of the better construction, but no more than I use it it probably wouldn't matter, it's one of those anal things. I have a 135 miller 110 volt machine that I love, it's the best welding mig for it's size I have ever picked up but I don't think they make that exact one anymore but they have others similar. It does thin sheetmetal very well and I think they say it will do 3/8" with multiple passes, I do know I have welded 1/4" with it. Kevin has a real nice 220 volt Lincoln 125. It is an older one with the copper wound transformer before they made the switch and it's bad a$$ too. For doing what we do the 125 to 140 amp machines are fine but if you want that awesome chassis you mentioned go with the bigger one.

I have a 220 volt 6hp 2 cylinder Craftsman with a 35 gallon tank that you can paint with fine or run a DA no problem but it's a little small for sandblasting. You can do it but you have to wait for it to catch up every few minutes.

Anyway that's my 2 cents, hope it helps.

Mike

I dont know much about the welding machines but I do know that the one I have is not enough. I should have went with the bigger amp. Go with the biggest amp machine you can get.

The compressor you are looking at is a single stage. For the fastest buildup you want a two stage compressor. A 6hp or higher, 2 stage and 60 gallon would be a good choice.

Ditto to what everyone else said. I'm with Mike, It's hard to beat a Miller MIG, It's what we use at the shop. It's like Mikes' a 135/110 volt. Good machine.

Keith's right about the compressor, avoid a single stage if at all possible, you'll be standing there pulling your hair out waiting for the compressor to build up. 2 stage is the way to go. Years ago I bought a Black Max compressor from Sam's, 2 stage, 220 volt, 80 gallon tank and it was only about $700 bucks. Might check at Sam's and see what they have, and pick up some of that good brisket while you're there!

Get the 2 stage for sure Steven.

Back in '96/'97 I bought a brand new Craftsman Professional Series Compressor (the black and gold ones). I bought it because at the time it was all I could swing but I didnt really want an aircooled compressor but I did it anyway. The one I bought was a 220v, 7.5 hp, 2 stage, 60 gallon. 175 max psi. I realised that it wasnt going to put out the air I needed for blasting long periods and since they were alot cheaper than the better oiled compressors I bought another one. I think that at the time they were about $700.00 for both of them. I hooked them inline with each other and had more than I would ever need. Basically what I have is a 15 hp, 120 gallon capacity. The plus's of using these are that they are cheaper to purchase and you dont ever have to worry about oil in your air supply. The downside is they are rediculously LOUD, the create alot of heat when running which in turn creates more moisture in the air flow.

Within the last month they both finally died BUT they have been worked VERY Hard over the years. I have never looked at them before but when I had to get the model # off them to order the rebuild kits I saw that they are DeVilbiss compressors. I have the parts coming to do a complete rebuild on both of them for about $100.00 so all in all I cant really complain since they are cheaper to buy, cheap to rebuild and did last for 11 years without failure BUT, if I did have it to do over again, I would go with the oiled compressors.

Hey steven ... i did some searching on welding machines... just about any of thew small ones now have a selector switch for the heat levels....unless you want to pay real money.... I just bought me a hobart 140 because my or machione went out after being 15 years old... it all depends on wat you want to use it for... i have been welding some thin stuff on a bed panel and it seems to work pretty good... I have a stage 2 air compressor that came from home depot one of the real big ones and it works fine for shop work.....

Thanks Guys! I appreciate all of the advice.

I looked into the Miller welders, I had never looked at them before because they are typically way more expensive than the hobarts and such. Right now, Airgas is offering the 140 (110V) for $650 normally $810, and the 180 (220V) for $788 normally $990. Now I just need to figure out if I need the 180 so I can weld up to 5/16" steel or if I can get away with the 140 so I can weld up to 3/16"... Decisions, decisions...

As far as the compressors are concerned are there any brands that any of ya'll have had bad experiences with? Any brands that I should stay away from in other words?

Hey steven if you go Hobart check at tractor supply thats where i bought my 140 at.....and they have tips and all the parts... when i unboxed and was looking the mig gun had miller on it.....lol


Eric

On the welders I've had a miller 110v, and now have a hobart 110v. Both are nice welders, but the miller may have welded just a touch better than the Hobart. I also have a old cracker box stick welder, so on the rare occasion that I need to weld anything thicker than 1/8" or so, I use it. The Hobart 110 will weld the thicker stuff too, it just won't penetrate as well.

Did you see this? http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/show ... p?t=360444

Slim chance, but if you could somehow get it to Concord, NC by thursday, my brother in law could haul it here. He's planning to make a trip down here this weekend, and is bringing me a rearend, so he should have room in the truck.

That's a pretty good deal, but unfortunately I have to wait about a week or 2 to come up with the money. That's why I was starting my comparison process now.

Steven, that Miller 140 if I'm not mistaken is an auto set machine, in other words you strike an arc and it automaticly sets itself. That is a good price on it but you may be want to talk to someone who has welded with one to see how it does. All the write ups I've read on them have been real good and they rant and rave over it.

Mike

Right now, I'm really leaning towards that Miller 140, and it does have the autoset feature on it. I know when my dad bought his Lincoln mig years ago, they offered a trial run. If he didn't like it they would take it back for a full refund. I'm thinking if I go to a local welding shop that they will still do that sort of thing nowadays.