wire feed welder -- harbor freight

[oldfox]

I bought one of those small wire feed welders from Harbor Freight. I'm surprised how well it works.
No doubt one of the handiest things in the garage. Sheet metal and up to maybe 1/4 inch.
Anyone else have one?

 

[lwarrior1016]

Yup, ive got the same one. Watch out though, when you use it for a little bit the machine will start welding like crap until you let it sit and cool off. Ive used mine to build exhaust, weld in subframe connectors, and various other projects. I can definitely say that it was a good $100 that I spent.

 

[ttocs]

I like to stay away from anything electronic in harbor freight myself. I agree that a welder is probably my most useful tool but knowing what it is and what it does I opted for a miller 210. Not sure that would get up to 1/4" with only 20 amps though I have to plug into the 210 outlet to do that thick.

 

[evilcw311]

We have a craftsman out in the garage that does a great job. If we need to weld anything thicker than 1/4" we get a bottle of gas instead of using the flux core. Works just fine then.


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[DeepList]

I too am leery about buying power tools or anything electric from Harbor Freight. The prices are certainly cheap, but the quality is also cheap. You get what you pay for. When I hired my dad to work for me at the warehouse, he brought up his Lincoln Weld Pak to use, and we've used the hell out of it. I think he said it was about $250. It's great for any 1/8" stuff. We've welded thicker stuff with it, but it requires a second pass sometimes.

 

[OLD H2S]

Make up a better ground clamp and it will make a much nicer weld.

 

[96blak54]

Solid advice there

Also use a clamp on the ground. Actually better off to cut that clamp off and crimp on a nice copper lug and use a clamp when grounding.

 

[98snakehorse]

Im spoiled. My family owns a weld supply shop in town so I basically have whatever I need to get my welding needs taken care of.

 

[Burninriverdiver]

I bought that harbor freight welder, it worked great to fix the metal patio chair my fat friend broke a few welds on lol. I loaned it to a buddy and he put Lincoln wire in it and said it works pretty well for $100. When I get it back I plan to weld some sheet metal into my bay where my battery used to sit.

Ill give a better review when I get it back and use it more

 

[95opal]

Three things you should now about welders...
miller...Lincoln and Hobart...dont waste your momey on harborfreight welders...