Portable Welder I made myself

Hey, still new here, so thought I'd post a link to my Instructable that shows how to make a portable welder. Same price as the Ready Welder, but you get a hell of alot nicer setup when you're done.

I've got a duel battery setup on my hummer, and a set of solar panels on top that keep the batteries charged up.

I installed an Anderson connector in the driver-side "air-vent" that this plugs into.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Welder/

Looks cool.

Love that roll cage! May have ta make one with my new welder. ;-)

very cool, if you ran flux core it would simplify things a bit since you wouldn't have to run any shielding gas or have a need for a regulator.....That said every time I run flux core I am annoyed with all the splatter that is a result of that process and spend a lot of time cleaning things up to make it look clean again.

But in the woods I'd prefer to have a simplified system with less stuff to go wrong than to have a "pretty" weld!

Yeah, it's a portable welder, but not intended for JUST "in the woods". Sometimes I don't wanna drag a project to my 220 outlet, so now I can just drive my Hummer to where I want to work, and I'm good to go. I'll probably be using this welder mostly with flux-core, but since adding gas for full MIG was a simple matter of adding a nipple, a piece of hose, two clamps, and the connector I decided to add it. That was the advantage of using the conductor block part that I ordered from Lincoln. It fit the welding gun perfectly, and it had the gas feed lined up already.

Gas shield gives more than just "pretty" as well. It looks pretty, because it's a hell of alot stronger weld. Also depends on what you're welding. Shield gas is pretty much required for Cast Iron, Aluminum, and Stainless; so having that flexibility for the same price as buy the piece of plastic that is the Ready Welder (which starts at $699, and then if you want the safety of trigger controlled power switching, you have to add another $100); building this one, I ended up with a hell of alot more welder for the money.

excellent points!

ZacWolf said:

Hey, still new here, so thought I'd post a link to my Instructable that shows how to make a portable welder. Same price as the Ready Welder, but you get a hell of alot nicer setup when you're done.

I've got a duel battery setup on my hummer, and a set of solar panels on top that keep the batteries charged up.

I installed an Anderson connector in the driver-side "air-vent" that this plugs into.

Click to expand...

You have got very nice set up for sure..It will allow your battery to last very long..I would love to have similar set up very soon

I didn't read the whole indestructible but nice work. As far as using gas, there are plenty of guys here carrying around tanks of CO2 for airing up tires. If you are using it for welding, it's just another perk. Splice another connector on the tank and you can make soda or run a keg for a beverage while you weld. FYI if you use mixed gas, I hear it doesn't make the best soda. :no:

this is a neat set up - and I seriously considered it; but I went a different direction mostly because of weight and flexibility. My diesel Chevy 4x4 truck has a 3500 watt inverter in it. I use an inverter welder plugged into it when I need to field weld. I've been welding for decades, so stick welding is as natural to me as MIG is to most, and if I need to do pretty welds (hasn't happened yet), I simply use my TIG setup. The advantages of an inverter - I can run any 120v electrical device such as saws, air compressors, welders (obviously), I run an air compressor too. The other advantage is I can run an extension cord if I need to weld further away. If any part breaks, I simply replace the part that broke.

On my H3, I don't carry a welder because in my years and type of wheeling I enjoy; I've never had the need for it.... but if I need it, it's simply a ride back to my truck which has all of that stuff in it.