Renting a Welder

If money is really an issue, you'll be better off (In my opinion, obviously) to just pick up and old Lincoln tombstone on CL for $100 or so if you're going to weld material that's out of the range of a HF welder's power range.

Old, cheap arc welders are, well, old and cheap. But a $100 tombstone arc welder will burn through 1/2" plate if you want it to.

That said, you can build a single tier brew stand with 16ga steel tubing. WELL inside the service range of a 110v HF wire welder. Ultimately if the 110v welder is your choice you need to change your material of choice.
My local steel shop sells 2" 16ga mild steel for a couple bucks a foot - And you know your welds will penetrate that. Also, full penetration on 16ga steel tubing is going to be FAR stronger than a hot-glue weld on a piece of angle iron.

Just my $0.02

(By the way, I'm baaaaaack!)

I second the stick welder. I learned to weld on an old lincoln arc welder. If you learn to sick weld well, a mig will be cake. Takes some skill to weld thin material with rod but your options are WAY bigger than with a little 110 v buzz box. I used a little lincoln 110 once. . .I hated it. Flux core wire is hell compared to gas. We have a 240amp mig now and the old tombstone hasn't been really used in years, but the old girl paid her dues.

Hell, if you're desperate to weld, get a couple car batteries, some jumper cables, some light rod and giver. . . It's saved my ars on the trail before.

modenacart said:

I welded some scrap, clamped it and hit the crap out of it with a hammer and the metal bent and the weld did not break. I figured it was good enough for what I was doing. By the time I weld everything together, there will be so many welds that if some arn't up to snuff, there will be plenty holding it.

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that should be good!

That thing does suck on inside corners though. I wish I could afford a tig.

I've been wanting a welder for a decade and finally splurged on a Mig/Tig/Stick welder. They start at about $800 and so far I'm happy with my purchase. I used my tax return and just kept telling myself that buying it will actually help me make more money. Tig is really fun but takes a lot of practice to get that stacked dime look and an art to weld 20 gauge SS. Getting ready to use the Mig for the first time to build a nice work bench in the garage.

ajwillys said:

Welding is one of those professions/hobbies where its literally a minute to learn, a lifetime to master. I'm a hobbyist welder that has a decent Lincoln welder. If someone asked me "do you know how to weld", I'd say yes. If someone asked me "are you a welder", I'd say no. My general rule is that I'm willing to give it a shot for anything where a busted weld won't cause injury/death. I don't weld/fix trailers or structural steel, but if I want to live a 55 gallon drum off the ground and put a tippy dump on it, I'm doing it (and have).

The point is, there's lots of things that span the experience scale and there's no reason to get upset if someone is less/more experienced than you.

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+1, except I don't have the Lincoln welder. I learned to weld with a stick welder and I own a crappy flux core welder and hate it, my work has a mig so I take whatever I'm welding to work and weld it there.

A flux core welder is cheaper but harder to learn and way more grinding, the welds look like a bird **** all over it and you are grinding for hours to make it look good.

Spend the money on a half decent gas mig welder you won't regret it, the welds look so much better and it is much easier to learn without getting discouraged.

Everyone says tig is harder, but I found it the easiest.

I'm with StainlessBrewing

I finally broke down and bought a used Lincoln PT 225 and Jet bandsaw.

TIG isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be on mild steel. Aluminum, is a whole other ballgame. Aluminum SUCKS!
I built my welding table from 2" square 3/16 wall mild tubing for practice. It weighs about 500 pounds and hasn't fallen apart yet

The next project is a brew stand from mild steel. If that goes well, I'll sell that one and make one from stainless.
I also picked up some 18ga stainless sheet and 1" tubing to practice before I burn holes in the Blichmann's

Tig rocks! But it's overkill for OP I think. If you want to make a stand, buy a welder that's good at mild steel.

some people just click with tig, some don't. I absolutely love it, for steel... Detest it for aluminum... Steel talks to you as you tig it... Aluminum just gets shiny.........then blowthrough. Bah.

Yeah, tig is prolly overkill for stands, but that doesn't mean it ain't fun!

This Welder is on sale right now locally for 99 bucks
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/mig-flux-welders/90-amp-flux-wire-welder-68887.html

WHAtyou think

"Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)"

Daver77 said:

This Welder is on sale right now locally for 99 bucks
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/mig-flux-welders/90-amp-flux-wire-welder-68887.html

WHAtyou think

"Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)"

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I started on that welder. I learned on the welder. I would not recommend that welder. There was almost no controllability with the welding. Also unless they fixed the issue, the wire is always hot. So if you touch the tip to anything with the welder turned on it will arc. Flashed my eyes a few times, not fun.

Well, you're limited with this for a few reasons:

1. It's flux core - which is one reason why you don't use it for Stainless. It would make a mess! FC is fine, but definitely not for fine work. I can't wait to get a gas cylinder for my Lincoln. It also doesn't show a fitting for gas to make it a MIG at some point, so you'd be stuck with FC forever on it.
2. It's Harbor Freight. I am NOT a snob - but you do realize you get what you pay for. With HF, you will be fussing with it to get it to work the way you need it to. I did a bunch of work for a horse boarding place nearby and that's what they had to work with and, yes, I fought it constantly. It worked, but it was a constant futzing with it. . . Will it work? Yes. Would you be much happier with a Miller/Lincoln/Hobart off Craigslist? Yes.
3. It's 120vac - the 3/16" max they give you is optimistic. 120VAC just doesn't produce enough penetrating heat to really do a lot. 1/8" (.120) Yeah and that would be about the max I would do with it.

Now, since it's only $110, it's not like you're putting out a ton of dinero. . . so it may be everything you need. Just don't go into it without knowing the limitations. You know?

I hope this helps.

Daver77 said:

This Welder is on sale right now locally for 99 bucks
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/mig-flux-welders/90-amp-flux-wire-welder-68887.html

WHAtyou think

"Weldable materials: Mild, low alloy steel (not suitable for aluminum or stainless steel)"

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That is the welder I have. It works well with mild steel, but it is messy. If you can get a gas shielded one, I would. Your welds will look a lot nicer and you will spend less time cleaning flux off of your work.