Mig welder recommendations

[Real Rayzor]

Sorry Brian I don't know what welder he uses. I'll ask him on his thread!

[Real Rayzor]

Hi Brian. He uses an Auto Star 180 gas mig welder. You can see his post on his thread.

[Merlot man]

Thanks for that Ray I must look into that make , I've seen his work and it very good
Brian

[Ventaril]

I understand that I was a little late for the party, but I have some interesting observations that I want to share.

Don't even worry about TIG until you meed to weld stainless or aluminum. It will also be much further from your price range than any of the above.

You're pretty much looking at wirefeed (MIG and flux-core) or stick welders for your criteria.
MIG is vulnerable to shield gas getting blown away, so don't try to use it outside on a windy day. You'll also need to buy a tank for the gas (~$150-200 for the tank, and ~$40 per fill up). MIG generally produces faster and cleaner welds than FC or SMAW (you'll have to chip off slag and spatter from the latter). The only difference between MIG and FC machines is gas and polarity. Fitted with the right wire and polarity setting, a MIG machine can do FC, but a FC machine may or may not be adaptable to MIG with the addition of a gas solenoid. Both MIG and FC will limit you to working within ~6' of the machine (there's a limit to how far the machine can push wire through the torch umbilical), but a SMAW machine would allow you to work much further from the machine just be adding longer clamp/electrode wires (ever seen service vehicles with gas-powered welders on the back and ~100' of cable hanging from them? yeah.). Skill-wise, MIG and FC are the same, stick is much harder--in any case it's very easy to learn how to weld, but takes a good deal of practice to learn how to do it well.

A helmet and gloves are critical. You will suffer instant and serious injury without either. $50 for a helmet/$15 for gloves will suffice. If you're not doing a huge amount of welding then there's no need to buy higher end helmet and gloves. You might want to spring for an auto-darkening helmet since it makes things much easier, but that's about it. Other than that, PPE depends on your application. If you're doing all your work on top of a table at a comfortable height, you'll probably be fine with natural fiber long sleeve shirt and pants. Once you start welding at chest or head level or overhead or in other positions you'll want to invest in a jacket and/or hood.

Last time I looked, the cheapest new 120V MIG machine I found was a Hobart for $420 shipped (so around $700 once you gt a tank and safety gear). Harbor Freight sells Chicago Electric machines much cheaper, but you absolutely get what you pay for and personally I wouldn't even consider them. I've personally only used Miller and Lincoln machines, and of the two I'd go for Miller. They'll start around $600 retail. Not sure about buying used equipment other than craigslist/ebay.