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HybridZ

Buying Millermatic 175, what consumables should I get also?


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Before you go the ebay or online route, check with your local welding supply. I don't know what you have in lake chuck, but I went with national here in Baton Rouge for my 135. They quoted a price that was right at what I could get online after adding taxes and shipping. So I got it from them. I had to tell him what I could get it for before he came down on price. While you are there you can figure out the bottle cost. It is high upfront, but argon is cheap and it lasts a long time. While you are there I would cost a oxy/acetylene rig. Mine has saved my but more often than the mig. Oh, and it will take a while to go through the consumables that come with the welder. I would also get a roll of flux core for welding dirty stuff (not the z of course). I agree that the 135 is plenty of welder for a z car.

 

Sam

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the 175 is a beast....my nieghbor welded a mechanical thumb for my excavator with some scrap steel, used a grinder to take the paint off my excavator, didn't even clean it after, and he welded it to my excavator in 2 minutes, and that thing has held up to all the power of my hydrolics (which is alot). So i'm sure anything u need it to weld for a Z it will do great. I'm gonna get a 135 when i get more money, but in my opinion either one is a great choice for ur home shop. Just practice on sheet metal so u get comfortable with the thinness of it.

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I have a Hobart 175 which is a Miller with a Hobart cover on it. I love the unit and if I remember correctly I got it for $550 dropped shipped to my house. Now that was a few years ago but the extra money for the 220 vs 110 was worth it. Because for some reason now that I hve the bigger unit I can weld pretty much anything that I want to weld and I have. Now if I can only find the time and space to start building my new car trailer, hum!!!

 

As for practice get a few good welding books and start reading. Also see if you can find a scrap metal dealer and get lots of little peices of metal different sizes and thicknesses and have fun! You know weld them and then try and brake them apart.

 

I got a 80 series C25 tank and it works just great. Another thing that I did was that I found a old metal 2 drawer cabinet and I used it as my body for my cart. Now I have room to store stuff with the welder and I built the rest to fit my needs. Not to mention it is a good first project! Also something else to get from HF is magent holders: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=1938 you can never have enough of these and you can always find them on sale.

 

Happy welding!

 

HB280ZT

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