[Vwdiesel] Welder?

[Keith Family]

For welding body panels, my preferred welder is a Lincoln SP-135 
with MIG.  Hobart has a similar rig with the only real difference 
being one has plastic wire motor parts and the other has similar 
parts made of pot metal. (I forget which is which.)

I also own a 225 amp Lincoln "Buzz Box" (AC Welder) and I can 
attest that while I can stick things together (more or less) with 
this, I truly became a weldor (note the correct terminology) when 
I purchased the SP-135.  You just can't see the puddle with an AC 
welder since the AC rods have so much shielding flash.

I preferred the Lincoln brand since my local welding store 
handles Lincoln and parts and supplies were readily available.

If you persist and buy flux cored wire for your welder, you will 
get better welding results using gas even with the flux core 
wire.   There is something about the flow of gas which flattens 
and cools the weld and add materially to your welding skill.  .

You'll know you're doing your best welding when you get that "fat 
frying in the frypan" sort of sound with a MIG.  And for welding 
the real thin stuff with the finger trigger you can go 
spot/spot/spot/spot and guarantee you won't have a burn thru. 
And if you inadvertently do, you can go spot/spot/spot/spot and 
simply close it in.

I worked at a local farm and they have the Lincoln SP-125 which 
is an older version of the SP-135.  Functionally (and probably 
internally) it is the same machine and these machines are readily 
available used on Craigslist or the WantAdvertiser at 
considerable savings.

I would tend to steer clear of Cambell-Hausfield, Century, 
Chicago Electric or any other of those aluminum wound transformer 
machines.

Happy welding,
Joe