Wire-feed welders let you conquer the world of metal, whether you’re reattaching the feet to a fireplace grate or fixing the broken axle on a trailer.
I can divide my life into two distinct segments: the time before I owned a welder, and every day since. When I bought my first pickup, a 20-year-old Toyota with a rusty frame, my welder made it roadworthy. When I started my blacksmith business out of my grandparents’ garage, I used my welder to build a forge out of scrap metal. And when a neighbour needs a railing fixed, it’s my welder he wants me to use to fix it – usually for free.
My great-grandfather was the first welder in my family. He started out running a welding shop, and later, during World War II, a school named Wicks Welding in Queens, New York. In his day welding required a complicated set-up of machines and gas tanks that looked like they belonged on the set of a bad sci-fi movie. Whereas the usefulness of welders hasn’t changed a lot since then, the technology has. Now welders are accessible to anyone, regardless of skill, and you don’t have to break your back or the bank to use one.
We tested eight of the best new entry-level welders. They can be plugged into a normal electrical outlet and run without any gas tanks using a process called flux-cored arc welding (see opposite). And when you’re ready to buy some tanks, they can also be run as MIG welders. These four were our favourites.
WHAT WE PUT THEM THROUGH
This story is from the January 2018 edition of Popular Mechanics South Africa.
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This story is from the January 2018 edition of Popular Mechanics South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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