Harbor Freight Cheap welders
Are they any good at at all for a very infrequent use? The sell for near $100 a flux/no wire mig that may save me some trouble one ina while. I know the real ones cost hundreds more, but it will mostly sit around the shop. I'm new to welding and wouldn't know if it was me or the unit. Thanks. What are you going to be welding with it? Do you know what the tools you are looking at's duty cycle is? Just as a general rule for all tools, it’s best to get more tool then you think you will need. So a lot of it depends on what you plan on doing with it. As with any electric device that dose not include a warranty and that you or no one you know can fix, there is a chance of wasting the money you spend on it. Personally I wouldnt haul one home if someone gave it to me. Bite the bullet here and buy something decent and it will last you the rest of your life,,, and if it works well you will find many more uses than you imagine for it. My choice for home use would be Hobart Handler 140 or 180. The 180 is a 230V unit,,, but thats a good thing. It keeps it from being plugged in where it shouldnt be and allows work up to 1/4 inch material. Paid $200 for my 120amp 220V 151T duel mig welder and it kicks ass. Is it as good as a hobart/miller.... Well.... No... But I have $476 total in: The welder, .30wire, cylinder+argon, gloves, auto-dim helmet, wiring/plugs for the house, and regulator... Has plenty of power, and seems to do a great job... As far as parts go, I'm not so sure about, but the tips and little things are stardard and cheap... The Miller mathmatic at work kicks ass, but its a $2300 machine.... what brand is it and do you know anything about the smaller 110volt migs for a lightweight welder like myself in a garage? thanks. Good luck if you need parts. If they are back ordered you are in for a long wait. I have been waiting fo a lathe part for three weeks and was just informed it will be at least another four. Go name brand and you will probably do better with service, it is worth it. They're not the best tools...but they are cheaper than the real deal (Durable Goods meaning). I have bought some tools because I had left what I needed at home and my friend has zip for tools. My garage is an auto/wood/metal shop. His is more like a detailer for a car type. I don't like to lend my expensive tools to people who either don't know what it is or don't know use them. My friend has some CCD/TV raincheck from them and it's been two years...lol You can get it faster by ordering through EBAY. I believe if your going to pay for a tool and your not sure how often you need it. I'd still buy the better brand as far as practicality. You buy some tool with not enough HP and you end up buying extra things just to compensate for the lack of something else. Besides the job say is supposed to be a real quick 15-20 minutes. With the wrong tool...you can spend all day and just end up thrashing whatever you had planned to do. A small 110V MIG using flux cored wire is a good place to start for thin mild steel. I still use my Lincoln SP-100; very portable. However, you will need to plug it in on a dedicated circuit, such as the one installed for a washing machine. If it shares a circuit with a refrigerator, the arc will be erratic when the compressor starts up. Once the job at hand exceeds what is possible with a 110V wire feed, you must consider how much to spend and how often you will perform that job. The helmet, gloves, clamps, etc. can usually be used with either machine. Keep the 110V and rent/borrow/purchase the larger welder for the job. hey Mitchella , I have a chicago electric mig welder from harbour freight . I just hooked up the gas to it . works much better than flux cored. I bought mine for household projects. Just starting to use it . works great so far . so what model did you get and what are the details of your gas set up? Did you buy one of their cylinders and regulator and get it filled or what? I heard about a minicylinder like a propane torch cylinder, but don't know where to get em. Mitchella , where do you live ? I live in Toronto. bought the 132t dual mig . I had to go get a regulator , then go to another place to get the gas . the reason for this was that the place that sold the reg was selling it cheaper than the place selling the gas . they didn't sell gas anyway. As far as the gas , I ended up buying a tank of c-25 for $140 (filled) . its gonna be $35 to refill , but I don't think I'll be needing it for a while . I was going to rent one , but for the price I decided to just buy it (it turned out cheaper )
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