http://www.weldingmart.com/miller.htm

BTW cages are not tough to build I have been in on several in the last few months and the hardest part is figuring out how much the steel is going to stretch during the bend, and setting up the dies and jigs so it is a consistent bend for any similiar pieces. The welding part is simple..just need to have good penetration to your welds and anyone can do it with a little practice.

 

my friend has a licoln from there that has a gas hook up i have never had a problem with it yet so. myself knowing what i know would never buy one from there but the weekend welder could easily buy one from there and have it support all of there welding needs

 

um ya. you are really going to have to learn how to weld if you get a tig. that takes a lot of practice to be good at it. a mig is a piece of cake compared to that

 

Tig welding is awesome for cage/exhaust/other piping work...awesome looking welds.

I've done a little mig welding, but I'd love to take a class and learn tig. Shit's expensive to buy though.

 

One of my friends recently bought a portable Tig welder for ~ $1300 used. It's pretty nice, digital current control, tons of options for DC and AC output, and it's the size of a briefcase so you can take it out in the field with you. Of course, his friends get to haul the argon tank around h:

 

Well after this thread I headed down to the welding shop here in town and looked at machines again. I am thinking about getting the Miller 175 for around $700 new minus bottle. It will be fine for me since I doubt I am ever gonna hit the 20% cycle especially since it is mostly for cage work, suspension, and maybe fab up a trailer or two. Basically hobby level stuff for now.

 

The shop I work at has the Miller 175 as the backup/bullshit welder. I was very surprised at what a nice welder this is. I think you will be pleasantly surprised that it will do what you need and more.

 

the passenger side front fender got bent in and bent the frame just a little bit where the door hinge bolts. So now my door is pushed back and barely opens/closes.

What i need to do is cut on 2/3 sides with my grinder, bend, and weld. I don't care if the welds are perfect or even if they look good.

What should a beginner get to do some simple welds? Something affordable and simple. all we are talking about is heating metal and getting it to stick together. Don't make this out to be rocket science.

I already have a bunch of welding sticks to melt on to there. Some welding worker was using these sticks to weld steel stair railings together.

So I guess all I need is a blow torch or something.

Can anyone give some welding 101. Please please I am trying to fix my car and the frame is intact except this small section where a hinge bolts in.

 

I bought myself a MIG about 3 weeks ago. I spent the last 3 weeks just welding exhaust pipes together and recently started my new charge pipes. Once you find the sweet spot for wire speed and heat it's pretty easy to lay down solid welds. It can get expensive though. Buying the welder led to buying bench vise, then a 14" abrasive chop saw, that led to an angle grinder.

I'm going to pick up one of those bitchen welding helmets that are almost clear and as soon as you hold it up to a light source it darkens. Things like 250$ though.

 

Sign up on www.homemadeturbo.com forums and go to their fabrication section. There's tons of useful information for beginers. I've picked up a lot of info on there.