The key phrase is " a good 110v MIG".  Hobart makes excellent welders, as
does Miller and the higher end Lincolns.

IMO, buy the best welder you can afford.  If you end up going cheap, buy one
of those Harbor Freight welders off of Craigslist or eBay.  You can usually
find a few disgruntled buyers who have one for sale.

Cheers,

Jeff
Miller Millermatic 35 MIG
Linde Heliarc 250HF TIG

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Karl Mullendore
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 11:06 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: MIG welding.

FWIW, I've been using a Hobart Handler 120 110-volt MIG for fifteen
years in my shop, welding everything from thin sheetmetal to 3/16" plate
to even thicker small stuff, it has performed perfectly and the welds
have always had great penetration and strength. I will go against the
naysayers and recommend a good 110-volt MIG as perfect for what you will
likely be doing. If you were to get into production work where it was
used heavily every day on 1/4" material, then yes, go with 220-volt. The
beauty of the 110 unit is portability and usefulness almost anywhere you
can drag it that has power.

Karl

neil N wrote:

> So I will need to install a larger breaker in the panel. At least that
> way I'll have a "dedicated" circuit.
>
> Maybe I'll get into something a little more skookum the 110V setup.
> Like a 220V. Especially If I'm going to the trouble of running a new
> circuit. But then I'll need two open spots on the panel..... hmm....
> we'll see.