Electric Arc Welder: How Big/Small Needed?

This iseems to be the case of if you have to ask, you need to learn more before you start.

Just a general rule to start with is it will take 100 amps for every .1 inches. If that welder you are looking at is truely 80 amps the thickest you will normally weld is going to be .08 ihches thick.

I would think the angle iron would be thicker than that.

While thicker material can be welded than that, usually it is built up in layers.

You did not specify if it was a wire welder or one that you use the sticks with.

Here is a great video on choosing your first welder

You probably should start with a $100 MIG machine. They are more forgiving than a stick welder.

A lot easier to make a good looking lousy weld with a MIG.

A lot easier to make a "grapey" weld that holds with a stick.

I'll take a stick over a wire feed ANY day.YOU have a lot more control with a stick.(without fritzing around with controls). Set your amperage, and the rest is controlled by your hand.

And for someone not familiar with an arc welder, mostly what's going to get welded is the stick to the work...

I found stick the easiest by far. Use the right rod and amperage - DC stinger negative is the easiest.

You are not going to find a DC stick machine in his budget. It will be an AC "buzz box" and I know real welders who have trouble using mine.

Aren't there any welding shops in your area? A business that makes the odds and ends that people need from time to time and fixes stuff? Are power outages frequent enough that you'd want a back up generator? There are welder/generators that would do both. This one is $3000. Example:

Per Ralph Mowery:

Sticks

I bought a good hardly used Lincoln 180 ac/dc "tombstone" box with about 25 ft of cable, and a real nice rod holder for less than $75.

They are out there. And you'll get your money out of it 5 or 10 years down the road if you decide you don't need it any more or move up to something better.

And if someone is a "real welder"he will not have a problem laying a good bead with even a straight AC Lincoln.

You want to make a boat trailer with a piece of worthless junk from Harbor Freight?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHA....

You should be arrested for even thinking of such a thing. Apparently you dont think much of your boat, nor the lives of the other drivers behind you, when that trailer breaks apart, spreading pieces of your boat all over the highway while you're doing 70mph.

I wonder how many people will die in the wreck? And how much damage will be done to the other vehicles....

Harbor Freight welders (like all their junk tools), are made to make a half assed weld in a broken hose reel, or fix a crack on your lawn mower handle. That's about all they will do, if they even do that....

That raises a question. Don't boat trailers need a state license plate (which might presume an inspection, or something along those lines)?

You need to work on your reedin' compehendashun, Jethro .. Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHaHaHaaa John T.

He said a "boat tdailer dolly" which I suspect means a rig to manually move the boat trailer around in storage - but not entirely clear.

He didn't say he was building a trailer - and it is trivial in most places to licencea home-made trailer in any case.

It's hard to believe that the insurance companies are content with that. There must be hundreds of ways to poorly design a trailer. ; )

I am always amazed that trailers don't get more scrutiny but I doubt they get inspected in most states. If we are talking about a salt water boat trailer they don't stay "new" very long no matter how well built they started out.