Is flux core wire solid? or do I need carbon steel wire?

 

There aren't two bottle set ups. Flux core is just that and solid core is for using gas. The flux set up will definitely melt metal. I like MIG just because the welds are prettier. The bottle I have is 80 cft and cost around $250 for 10 years plus fill ups. After you experience welding better you'll understand. Look into the Lincoln 120 or 140. They come with the regulator. They might be more though IDK. The welder you were looking at was a 220V which I didn't understand because its small relatively speaking.

This one is $390 and comes with both wires and regulator. All you'll need is a mask and a bottle.

 

I like that lincoln, if I wait awhile I can afford to get a nice one like that maybe even a cheap miller. What do you guys recomend? waiting another month and getting a good welder or just getting the cheapo harbor freight one?

 

If you want to save money you wont go for a lease or rental bottle of argon mix! I bought my 80 cu. ft. outright for $160 with a full tank. After that it costs me $35 for an exchange fill each time.
If I don't weld for awhile the tank is still there and not costing me a thing. It only costs me when I fill it and it's always mine to use or not, and if I sell it the next person owns it too.
Lease bottles make sense for big companies that weld every day and use lots of gas, but otherwise it's like leasing a car and not driving it much.
As for waiting to buy a good welder, I'd definitely say wait if you can get a good welder that will use gas, not flux core. Don't buy a mask that's not auto darkening. You'll weld much better with an auto darkening. I had a HF auto darkening mask I got on sale for $35, but let others talk me into replacing it with a spendy Speedglass auto darkening. I gave the old HF mask and welder to my son in law, and now I'm sorry I did. The HF mask was far superior in every way to the Speedglass!
Also, don't buy a welder that doesn't use 10 lb. rolls of wire, nor a tank less than 80 cu. ft. The small rolls cost about $11-$12 ea. for a 2 lb. roll, where a 10 lb. is under $30 at most welding suppliers. A 10 lb. roll will last about the same time as a 80 cu. ft. tank if you run the regulator at around 15 lbs. for welding. You don't need higher than that unless you're welding in the wind outside.

 

Wow I wish it would have been 160 for a bottle here. The guy talked me out of buying one because its useless after ten years. I only know of one supplier here too. I asked at work about borrowing one. My boss was cool with that because we have a large supply and I told him I wouldn't keep it. I just wanted to use the gas. I used to date his daughter so were cool.

 

Well I'm fine with waiting to buy a better welder so that's what I'll do. My dad has been nagging me not to buy anything till later cause I still haven't got a job and he is always paranoid about having to move if the railroad slows down. In the mean time I'll continue cleaning it up and stripping it down.

 

They must do things different back there Damon. Out here it doesn't matter the age of your bottle if you own it. I never get the same bottle anyway. Each time I go down to have it filled I hand them mine and they give me a different bottle filled. Takes about 2 sec. to do the exchange if you own it.
They also told me if I came in with a lease/rental bottle they check when it was leased and if it wasn't leased to me they confiscate them. I bought a used oxy/acetylene setup this year and I called them to make sure the tanks were not leased or I'd lose them.

 

I would do the same on torches. Then again I would probably ask the boss again. I will swap at work not at the supplier. I have always wondered what guys do who get torches at a yard sale though. What if they're stolen?

 

No way to tell if they're stolen, but if they're lease/rental they're marked with a company's name, so they all know. The guys I buy from said they just confiscate anyone's, and every so often they do a "prisoner exchange" with the other companies to all get their's back.
I bought my oxy/acet. setup used, but checked with my supplier to find out how to tell if I was buying rental tanks or private. Once I knew what to look for I passed on a couple setups, just because they looked suspicious. I had them double check what I bought, and they gave me thumbs up on being private tanks.

 

Thats good advise, thanks. I have wanted torches for a while but am leary of used for that reason. On another note. I wired the welder tonight. After making a cord I got carried away and had to see if it made the real welder sound only found in a 240V set up. Yes, its there and I couldn't be happier. The first thing I welded? A piece of 1/8" plate and did my initials. I set the voltage high to see what she had. It burned a hole in it.

I'll post a pic in my progress thread tomorrow.