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I got some money for my b'day (happy birthday me) i am looking at buying a welder ozito do an 140 amp arc welder for $99 and a 90amp gasless mig for $299. which one would be better to buy myself a home handy man type?

cheers chris

go the arc to kick it off, all rounder and easy to use

Yeah agree, mig are awesome once you have them set up for the material, etc. Arc are way better for odd jobs/handiman work.

Nah i rekon the mig.

My dad always used a arc, but we bought a lincon 140A mig (gas or gasless) mind you it was about $1000

It is awesome, way better than the arc, much easier to control

arc doe's ugly work .

mig with is much nicer to look at .. just make sure if you use mig to follow the right codes for the application u intend the weld to stick to ...

all depends on the sort of welding you are going to do. For lighter guage stuff a mig would be better, but for say 2mm and up the arc would be the go. The gasless mig won't do as neat a job as a proper mig, and in the right hands an arc welder can do amazing things (not that i can use one). The other problem with migs is you can get a weld that looks great, but has no penetration and is therefore weak. Also for that kind of money you may be better off with the arc.

I bought a 'cheap' mig years ago (about $1000) and had nothing but trouble with it. Just recently I bought a new one for over double that... the difference is unbelievable.

Arc is easier to learn and can give great results with a little practice.
Mig is more flexible with material type and thickness.
I reckon buy the Arc now, then if your using it alot save up for a good Mig.
Cheap Migs seem to have more problems than cheap Arcs.
Daza.

Arcs allright if you know to use it.Every custom part on my wag has been made with arc .

I use welders maybe once or twice a week, I use arc & mig (gasless and gas types), I find using arc is messy but "quick" job use good for basic but using mig can "deep" (in thickness) weld which arc cannot do, such as ah... if you want to make a small plate to join together to lift over 1 ton using arc's weld will snap, mig wouldn't because it has been welded deeply, using mig is neater but you need to adjust correctly - but mate you need fair bit of practice to get it right.

For me, I'd rather use mig if i take my time and adjust for requirement, but using arc is quicker if you dont have the time.

Another thing i suggest you to look around more about welders in different brands/places etc..
Cheers
AP

If you dont know how to weld then buy the Arc, thay will do allmost anything you will wont to do around the home.
If you can weld and wont to do some body work on the car then the Mig is the only way to go.

Mig all the way. But 90 amp is a little piss weak. I bought a 135 and wish I went to 165.

I would definately go with the arc if you are new to welding. MIG welders are fantastic when used properly but without experience or (expensive) gas they can be troublesome and produce welds well under the standard of a good arc.
When I was going through this same predicament I went to a BOC gas and gear centre, they were extremely helpful and even performed demonstrations of the various gear they had in their welding/display booth in-store.
Let us know what route you choose.

i'd be very wary of a cheap Mig. Go the arc welder, but since you you got a spend to $300, get something with 160-180amp (or more).
arc welding needs more current to do a good job than Mig. extra 20amp makes heap of difference

Its the perfect tool for building benches from RHS, or beefing up your chassis ,steel bullbar, etc.

it may even be worth doing a tafe course on welding. will give you more of an idea on how the different types of welding work, and will take the trial and error out of setup.

If the MIG is cheap it has a very short life, gasless MIGs are very similar in applications to Stick welders and with stick the rods are cheaper. If you want to buy a good Stick (Arc) welder then you should think of going to a hire place when they are updating you will pay only a fraction of new cost and they are virtually bullet proof.


In short go the ARC

a m8 bought a cheap welder. when it gets hot (10 mins or so) the little mutha cuts out. we put a house fan near it to keep it cool . lol

i do a lot of welding and use a mig 135amp (gassless) cheap ass thing i weld up to 6mm with it and have never had a weld let go this is on a lot of earthmoving machinery so it is getting fairly worked it is all in the brand of mig wire that you get you will probably have to get a few diffrent brands before you find one that actually flows into the steel rather than sit on top (eventually when finances improve i will get a weldnpower 300amp)

For a home handyman type, spend $99 on the stick.
Save the rest and practice.

If you have a job for it, buy a good quality mig and hook in.