Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

Go to Harbor Freight dot com and find the best welder there in your opinion for cheapest price.

I don't need to weld anything thicker than 1/4" I don't think, evar.

But I've got something I have to fix STAT and I need to go get welder in the AM.

Tell me why this one sucks

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55525

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

you don't have the skills to weld scale springs...

I have an HF ARC welder that I've used like 20 times and it works like crap but if you are really a good welder you can get by.

I also have a Lincoln like the little one you posted from HF and I never fuckin use it cause I left the gas on like 3 years ago and I haven't got the bottled filled. If the thing would run on booze the bottle would be filled but NO they gotta make it difficult.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

cheap flux core welders suck. period. i won't even use flux core wire in my small hobart 140 amp. watcha gotta weld? can it be brazed? you gots a torch? don't waste your money. buy a small 110v hobart or miller. then spend more time and money running a 20amp circuit to your garage.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

dont know if i got here in time, but i would never get a flux core welder, and i really don't think i would get any sort of welder from harbor freight. see harbor freight thread.

BUT. that thing is only $150 and you can hook up a bottle of shieldpro and mig with it so maybe it's worth it since it's so cheap and you probably only need to use it a couple of times. it might be a worthy $150 experiment to tell me if i should buy it. :)

if you want a GREAT little mig, there's a little lincoln (the same one rooflechikken is probably talking about) that we used for all our on-site weldering and that little thing was AWESOME. it's labeled NASCAR and the machine + wire + gas and everything should run about $500. obviously far more expensive than what you posted but i will vouch that it is an excellent machine. it's rated at 5/16" steel but we welded 1" square solid stock after chamfering all the edges. this is the welder i would like to own.

also it runs on 110v so you can weld in the kitchen.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...ctId=100093231

^ that one

ALSO we got badass auto-darkening face sheilds from harbor freight for like $30. i say badass because good luck finding autodarks for less than $200.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

hell yeah. the lens isn't big but i'll never weld without an auto darkening helmet after owning one of these

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

motherfuckers for $450 I can just replace the busted thing and be welderless.

Also I already have teh 220 in teh garage.

Should I just get a a stick welder like the $255 Lincoln AC225 one they have at teh homo depot?

What's so horrible about flux core?

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44568


?

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I don't want to braze, I don't like to braze, and this thing cannot be brazed.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

i hear stick welders produce shitty ugly welds and are generally worthless these days since you can easily get a mig. unless you're on a farm and want to run stingers out to the field to fix the old tractor.

the first one you posted was a $150 mig, and i'm super curious to see how well it works, but knowing harbor freight and their tools, it is probably a $150 piece of scrap metal.

the $500 lincoln is more expensive than your part but fucking up the welds with a shitty welder means you dropped $150 on a piece of shit machine and now you have to replace the part. the lincoln will last forever and you will always be able to make perfect welds.

for your applications, you shouldn't ever need a 220v welder unless you're taco and you're building rock crawler trucks or repairing cranes.

have you ever weldered?

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

That's not entirely true.

Little wire feeds that don't have enough current can fuck your shit up real quick.

A stick welder run by somebody who knows how to use it can weld anything. A $250 stick rig can weld 1/2" plate if it's chamfered and pre-heated (well maybe not half inch but fucking thick)

And "easily get a MIG" means big buxxors.

Maybe I get the $150 cheapo wire feed and the $99 MIG kit for it.

I rented a cheap wire feed one time and it didn't have enough current to do anything but make little blobs of weld. I have 220, why not get a 220 rig?

Yes. My pa has a stick welder and a ox-acetylene setup. He weldered big boats for teh Navy in Brooklyn Naval yard.

$10 he can make better beads on 1/4" plate with a cheap stick welder than you will ever make w/ a MIG.

Of course years of practicing all fucking day might have something to do with that.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

agreed all around, but it's just been my personal experience that stick welders are to be avoided if possible.

i hope you do so you can tell me if it's worth it cause i want a little mig welder too.


all i know is our little lincoln was a badass little wirefeeder. i can't answer for any other model as that was the only little one i used. as far as 220 goes, i just assumed that it would be 1) too expensive and 2) more power than you need since i am also assuming you are going to weld once every couple of years.



i'd bet you ten grand he could make a better weld than me using jb weld (lol hondo) than i could with a mig. i am no pro welder by any means.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

Hay where's the

*joke about Mal sitting on the metal to mash it together*

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I have a kick-ass welder. His name is John. My last kick-ass welder - at my last gig - was named Benny. In the rare occasion I need something welded, I bring it to work.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I got this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55525

It did the job quite well even with the shitty flux core wire and no MIG attachment.

It was "on sale" for $200 at the store from $269.

Well, notice that on the website it's $149. They gave me that price in the store - the website says they are reconditioned, not sure if the one in the store was or not. You have to tell them it's $149 on the website or you pay $200. Also they had to go digging for it in the back- all they had out was a similar machine, newer model or some shit that was more money.

Maybe I'll get the MIG setup sometime. For now, I got teh job done for cheap.

They had auto dark masks, too. Fucking killer. I will never use a regular one again holy shit that auto darkening is teh bomb.


PS fucking thing didn't have a plug on it. What's up with that, I had to go get one at Homo Despot on the way home.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I am now in my head thinking of welding projects.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I must know what you broke and had to fix.

Cause there's a joke there I'm sure of it.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I got into my car too fast and broke all the wheels off.

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I was going to go with bridge girder and the county is threatening to sue

Re: Paging Dr. Swanson or anyone else who burns metal
 

I ran over to the corner office and broke our office building