In market for budget welder

[PoTreeBoy]

Little late to the thread. So is the mig-250ds at 319 a good deal? I am also starting out mostly 1/4 steel bar/flat/angle with some sheet in the future. Short term is to fix some cracks on my zero turn canopy brackets and weld hooks on the 3301 bucket. Dont have 220 in shop yet so 110 only for now. Thanks

Yes, but I think you mean 205 - the 250 is 220v only. I was going to post that Amazon price of $319, in case anyone was interested. $349 on eBay was the best price I saw a couple of weeks ago.

BTW, I received the rod holder cable with the correct connector in the mail today, which was pretty prompt, so I feel good about them. Just be aware that this is a Chinese deal, and minor changes are sometimes made. These things have been out a couple of years, so you'd think they'd have it all worked out.

For me, the Yeswelder fits the bill since I don't anticipate needing a TIG torch or spool gun. [rant on]I got frustrated yesterday (it was hot) trying to touch up a frame I'm making out of 3/4" IMC (intermediate metal conduit) with 0.035" FC. After I checked the wall thickness later, I saw it was thinner than I was thinking. The gasless setting only goes down to 1.6mm and 80A, and others have said it runs hot on the uncorrected settings. I'm wondering if I can just use the MIG settings. I'm not used to controlling voltage and current both, I thought stick was constant current and MIG/FCAW was constant voltage. It would help to see at least a logic diagram or an explanation to understand what the settings do. For example, are the voltage and current settings upper limits and the power is limited by which one is reached first? Does it dynamically change wire speed to try to meet both current and voltage (surely not)? When you manually override the voltage does it change anything else (I'd hope not)?[rant off]

I laid some good beads with FC and stick, so I know it's capable. I just need to spend some time getting used to it.

 

[Code]

Yea 205. Fat thumbs on mobile and tired. I think ill be picking one up

 

[Freeheeler]

I've been reading along because I've been looking for a welder myself. Mainly wanting the Miller 220 multi process for Mig, stick, and both a/c and d/c tig. Not exactly a budget friendly option, but it does it all. My son ended getting the Esab rebel which has the same functionality. He chose it over the Miller because it can use standard torches while the Miller uses Miller torches which are proprietary and can be more costly/less options. So now I'm hoping to 'borrow' his and avoid buying one altogether

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Did y

I've been reading along because I've been looking for a welder myself. Mainly wanting the Miller 220 multi process for Mig, stick, and both a/c and d/c tig. Not exactly a budget friendly option, but it does it all. My son ended getting the Esab rebel which has the same functionality. He chose it over the Miller because it can use standard torches while the Miller uses Miller torches which are proprietary and can be more costly/less options. So now I'm hoping to 'borrow' his and avoid buying one altogether
View attachment 86435

Did you consider the new Lincoln I mentioned on post 75?

 

[Freeheeler]

Did y

Did you consider the new Lincoln I mentioned on post 75?

I looked at it but marked if off the list because it only does DC tig, no AC tig. He wants to tig aluminum for some reason and I didn't argue. I'm looking forward to messing up some aluminum

 

[Code]

My yes welder was delivered today. Down the rabbit hole i go. Any Youtube recommendations?

 

[PoTreeBoy]

My yes welder was delivered today. Down the rabbit hole i go. Any Youtube recommendations?

I like Mike Festiva, but I don't remember if he does Yes specifically. Let me know what you find, I need all the help I can get!

 

[m-m-m-myKubota]

My yes welder was delivered today. Down the rabbit hole i go. Any Youtube recommendations?

Study metallurgy - a large part of sticking two things together is knowledge of what's being stuck! Here's a list of free PDF books on the subject.

20+ Welding Books for Free! [PDF] | InfoBooks.org

Looking for Welding books? Here we present more than 20 books that you can read for free and download in PDF.

www.infobooks.org

Youtube has some amazing welders. I like this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+weld+kevin

and this channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/Welddotcom

I got started sweating copper joints with my father using propane. Later got into jewelry making (silver, sterling, nickel, etc.) and shortly after high school got my first Oxy-Acetelyne torch. I learned to weld many metals (including aluminum) with a torch and did a bit of bodywork and fabrication with it. Later got a mig (use gas - migs with the flux core miss the "ig" that makes it so much easier), and just recently found an unbelievable deal on craigslist for a Lincoln Tig. I'm not a great welder, but I can make things stick, and at this point that good enough!

 

[OntheRidge]

My yes welder was delivered today. Down the rabbit hole i go. Any Youtube recommendations?

I like TimWelds, he also has a video series you can purchase, $60 if I remember correctly.

 

[Code]

Thanks for all the links . Much appreciated

 

[dan_m]

Thanks for all the links . Much appreciated

There are a lot of welding videos online but I haven't came across anything specific to yeswelder, other than reviews.

Weld.com has some good videos as well. Good one that comes to mind is one explaining welding rod choices/numbering.

I C Weld is fun to watch, he's a heavy equipment welder and he does a good job explaining the why's of how he approaches jobs.

Get some scrap metal or start some small projects - you'll learn as you go and there's nothing wrong with that! One of my first welding project was 3 guide brackets made from 3/16" x 1" flat bar for a rolling gate I made for my front porch. I did more grinding than welding but they are still in use after several years and they allow me to sit in a rocker on the front porch with the pooch, wave at the neighbors and sip an adult beverage while watching the sun set. Not much better in this world than enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Dan

UPDATE :
I forgot to mention Weld D. I like that the wrong and correct ways are illustrated.
Also allistairc123 has some interesting videos to watch of heavy equipment repair. Similar to I C Weld but doesn't give as much detail. Both I C and allistairc123 give some good insite in how to approach repairs regardless of size.