The 4 Best Welders for Sheet Metal – Reviews 2023

best welder for sheet metal

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If you do sheet metal work as a hobby then you know how important it is to have a welder at your home. And if you do professional sheet work, it’s an absolute necessity to own your own welder.

Fortunately, there are many welding choices for you in the marketplace that can handle the task of sheet metal welding nicely. On the flip side, there are also many welders that claim to work well on sheet metal but really don’t. This is why we have taken the time to review several different model welders to come up with this list of welders that are terrific when working with sheet metal.

So below are our recommendations for the 4 best welders for sheet metal (and after our reviews, we delve into the criteria that make a good sheetmetal welder). So, let’s begin:

LOTOS MIG175 175AMP Mig Welder

Lotos is a very reputable name when it comes to welders and this nice MIG welder is a great example why. It is medium priced but you get many features with it that more expensive MIG welders in its class have.

One of the best things about this welder (see full specs) is it has so many different adjustment settings for welding various types of metal. It is a great sheet metal welder for doing such materials as stainless steel, mild steel, and aluminum.

It is not super portable at 85 pounds and it only runs on 220 volt electricity but everything else about this product is solid to say the least. It comes with everything you need to start welding right in the box (including a spool of wire) and most people can have it up and running just a few minutes after it is taken out of the box.

LOTOS MIG175 175 Amp MIG Welder Installation Guide and Demonstration

Hobart Handler 500554001 190

The different types of welding jobs you can do with this welder make its somewhat higher price well worth it. It is manufactured by Hobart, which is one of the strongest names among all welding manufacturers. It’s another very versatile welder to say the least.

It is a full 150 amp welder (see full specs) that also has seven different voltage settings and other adjustments that can be done for doing various different types of welding. This Hobart handler package also includes a handy dual-groove drive roll that is designed to make quick changes so you can keep welding virtually uninterrupted.

The nicest thing about this package is the fact that the 10 foot MIG gun handle and the 10 foot spool gun are included right in the kit and that will make it convenient for you to start welding with this machine right away. Hands down, it’s one of the best welders for sheet metal on the market.

Hobart Handler 140/190 Review and Advice

Forney 309 140-Amp MIG Welder

This is another fine MIG welder that is highly rated by both us and other users that have purchased it. Like the LOTOS MIG175 is a medium priced welder that has many outstanding features that are found on much more expensive welders.

It is a welder that was designed to handle tasks that are done by both MIG welders and flux core welding machines. It is rated up to full 140 amps and at 60 pounds and able to run off of 110 volt electricity it has some portability too. It can handle both 4 and 8 inch wire spools.

One of its premium features is the fact it has a cast aluminum wire feeding system. That will help this unit operate efficiently and last longer than many other welders. All of its parts are fully replaceable and it designed to be set up simply too.

Forney® 140 & 190 MIG Welders

Pro-Series MMIG125 125 Amp Fluxcore Welder

This is the last welder to make our list of excellent welding buys. Weighing in at just a little over 10 pounds also makes it the most portable welder on our list too. It is solidly built for it size and can run at up to 125 amps to produce some nice heat for welding.

It is not built to take on thick heavy metals but it works great on most all types of sheet metal. There is a little splatter because it has a lot of flux core tendencies but that is an acceptable trade off given its portability.

It comes complete with a clamped grounding wire, a spool of welding wire and a face shield. It takes less than 5 minutes to get this nice little mini MIG up and running. For the money, it’s likely the best welder for sheet metal.

Sheet Metal Welder Buying Tips

• A MIG welder is a good sheet metal choice

Stick welders, TIG welders and others welders all have the ability to weld sheet metal but those in the know concede that a MIG welder is best for that job in most cases. MIG welders are easy to work with, do most sheet metal jobs rapidly, and leave a nice finished product too. They are also the simplest type of welder for beginners to do good sheet metal welding with.

• Make sure the welder has multiple amperage settings

There are many welders in the marketplace that will do a good job on sheet metal work but the key to that is having a unit with multiple amperage settings. Why is this you may ask? The reason for that is not all sheet metal welding tasks require the same amount of heat. For instance, aluminum is a much softer metal than stainless steel and the amperage setting is critical to making a satisfactory weld on it. The more choices you have in amperage the better the chance you can make a near perfect weld every time on all different types of sheet metal.

If you take your time when looking for the best welder for sheet metal, you will have no problems finding one. They are out there but beware of models that are not what they claim to be. Follow the tips in this article when searching for a sheet metal welder and make sure you check the reviews on any welder you are thinking about purchasing. Most of all, remember that any of the models we reviewed here will be excellent sheet metal welding choices and do a good job for you each time you use them.

  • Founder of Mechanical Caveman, Beau is an unrepentant tool enthusiast and, sporting deadlift-callused hands and an incongruous beer belly, all-around macho guy. When he doesn’t know re tools, he consults with his handyman and car-repairman buds to give you well-reasoned and cutting-edge info.

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