Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

hmm...my home-depot is where i got my lincoln

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

werd? I'll go check, on their website they only had the camble and hausfield or some crap like that. which one did you get?

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

---- whats the number....mig pack 110 or something...the base model wire-feeder. I just recently converted it to gas, but i havent gotten the chance to mess around with it yet

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

it didn't come with the gas reg on it, did it? how did you convert it to gas? how much did it cost?

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

they sell kits at homedepot but i got mine off a friend , i think they are like 99 plus the tank

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

for that price I might as well get it gas ready from the factory since it's $100 more, I guess the extra $1 covers the warranty. I don't think it would be too hard to put together a conversion kit, you'd just need regulators and air fittings.

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

Just get one of these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=45031
Why play around?Just a few hundred dollars more.I use to have the maxstar 140 and it worked great till I upgraded to a syncrowave 180sd.You'll be much happier with a tig.Think about it.

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

I have a mig pak 10 110 volt. I would recomend it. It welds up to 1/4 inch mild steel, i bet you could do 1/2 with a couple passes. I got it for 500 cad. The only thing i'm complaining about is the bottle of argon that i need to buy. A local welding gas supplyer quoted me 400 bucks for a cylinder(big one) :-\ Oh yeah, get a good angle grinder and die grinder. They really helped me get good welds. Making a "v shaped dip between both the peices of metal helps pool the filler wire making a strong weld. Also, grinding off any corrosion or oxidation before welding makes for less splater, stronger nicer looking weld.

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

damn, I hate when I have to decide like this. the tig would be alot nicer than the mig, but the mig is much cheaper. I want to be building an LS motor, not buying a tig, so I will probably just get a sp-125 plus, then maybe get a tig later. I don't know, if all my money adds up to $775 I might get this tig. and wtf, if I get it and get decent at welding I could make money on manifolds or doing exhaust ---- for local people to buy the LS and build it. I love/hate your suggestion shitbird.

How long do you think it would take someone with no welding experience (me) to learn how to tig weld by myself? How thick do you think that thing could weld in each of the modes (115 stick, 115 tig, 230 stick, 230 tig)?

Re:welders (the machines, not the people)
 

TIG welding is an artform and its one of those things you can't just jump right in and run nice beads. With no prior welding experience this is the last thing I would reccomend for you to get. A mig welder is fine for what you need it for. With a mig welder you can pretty much start weldling in a few days practice.