The ls1 swap is going to be starting very soon, so I am looking for a good welder. The harbor freight flyer has this welder advertised as half off, so 200 dollars. Is this a good all around welder? What are the main things that I should look for? Thanks for the help. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...unction=Search

 

You posted the wrong url, do you mean this one?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=6271

Would be a nice little welder for little welding jobs, kind of a low duty cycle at 120 amps though and 120 amps isn't that much at all.

If I were to buy one from HF and keep it reasonable cheap I would buy this
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43025

They all have pretty low duty cycles and not even at max amperage, 16% @ 155 amps where it's a 170 max unit kind of sucks but that's probably why they are so cheap. Expect to pay in excess of 1000$ for a good quality mig welder that has a decent duty cycle and power.

This is starting to look like something decent
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43550
The real nice part is the stepless adjustability of the feeding speed, I consider that an essential property of a good welder. Evyone welds at a different pace and the wire feed is a key means of controlling the heat you put into the welds, the amp range is pretty good and the duty cycles on high amps aren't terribly low. The only thing, why do all those welders come with such wimpy ground clamps?

 

hmm, try the item number 43028/6271 I cant figure out how to link to the page. lol TT, 1k is kinda out of my price range. I can handle 2-300 though, 400 tops. Sucks being a poor college boy,

 

For hobby usage there are a few I can recommend:

Hobart handler 135 or 140
Lincoln
Miller

Miller actually bought Hobart a few years ago and most of the Hobart guts are Miller. Funny thing is the Miller version of the welder is usually atleast $100 more than the Hobart.

A 115V model will be OK upto 3/16" steel and can do 1/4" if you're good. I just picked up a Hobart 140A and really like what it does.

Also recommend you use gas and skip the flux core. I'm running 80/20 Argon/CO2 and it makes very clean welds.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43028

That one? Where's the wire feed speed control?

 

yeah, thats the one TT. I suppose it doesnt have a feed speed? So TT, if you were to buy a welder for $400 or under no matter brand, would you pick this one, or something else? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43025

 

Count on another $50 for a gas cylinder, $50 minimum for a
HF auto helmet. $50 for a regulator.

I like my 130 amp Clarke - runs on 110v. 130 amps is good for most
auto work. It has a decent duty cycle (20% @ 130A)
due to fan cooling. Cheapo units are just free-air cooled.

http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/we...ot/WE6523.html

They have packages, but I think you are better off getting
the cylinder locally. Helmet at HF. The regulator - either buy
with the welder or at local gas/welding supply. The cart is
a nice "first welding project".

 

wow, these clarkes seem to be much better then the harbor freight. This one looks nice too. http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/we...ot/WE6524.html Would any big stores sell these or is it mostly internet orders?

 

That's a flux core welder, I can assure you, you do not want that. I would pick gas above duty cycle any time, I'd rather have it slow than ugly. For working on the car you are mostly welding small sections so my choiuce would be in order of importance:

GAS
as many amperage settings as possible
preferrably a stepless wire feed control, at least some control is highly desired
160+ amps max to get a decent duty cycle at lower settings


I didn't buy mine new eiter, I just shopped around for a recently serviced unit that I could get spare parts for easily (some of those uncommon brands are a pita to repair since spares are hard to find). I would think that over there you should be able to get a pretty nice unit for 500$ if it's a used one, I'd rather have a decent used model than a cheapo new one that wouldn't suit my needs withing a year or so, maybe sooner.

I always feel that you can only do a job as thorough as the tools allow you to do it, no one will be able to pull of a first class job with crappy tools. If you are serious, and I think you're still snooping around, I suggest saving up a little more and only buy when you find something that satisfies your needs.

 

I had one of these . The rubber "hose" carrying the wire feed and the tube for the CO2 was little better than a garden hose. After a year or so 100+ hours of welding the hose spit at the case and it was very difficult to manuever the hose after that. I bought a Miller at Lowes with a cart for 450. 50 for the cylinder and gas and I have been a happy camper ever since.

 

my son just bought a lincoln mig welder .he paid 1,200 but the thing is a caddy, runs fat beads on 3/8''E/z- we were used to a small one like your lookin at and there,s no comparison,,, i'd spend a little more if i were you

 

Here's the one I have:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/products/handler140.html



I'm very happy with it. It comes with all the stuff to do gas shielded welding except the bottle. I got it off ebay for $430 and free shipping (new). You can find the previous model, the 135, for about $375.

 

is there any real difference between the hobart 135 and 140? Is it really worth the 60 bucks extra?

 

I couldn't find free shipping for the 135, so once I added shipping the difference was only $30. Hobart recommends the 135 up to 3/16" steel and the 140 upto 1/4". I figured for $30 I get the newer model.

 

I own one the HF easy mig machines, it does just about any job on the car you could want to do. I have built a 6’ finish mower with it out of 3/16” carbon steel. It is a core flux machine. My buddy just bought two HF machines he got a good deal on them; he bought a 220 volt 151 dual, and a 90 amp 120 volt. Both will weld fine for automotive welding. They are by no means fab shop machines but I do not think we need that grade machine for our hobby. But I would defiantly buy as much machine as I could afford. My buddy had never welded before and I wanted to see how easy it would be for a novice to use one of these machines so he brought it to my house to set it up. After about 10 minutes I had it set up and he was welding with it, now this does not make him a welder but he could make a decent pass with it. The difference in the flux core and the gas will be the clean up of the weld after you are through welding. The gas shield machine will make a clean weld while the flux core will leave a flux cover on the weld after you are through. This will need to be buffed off before final prep.


Neal

 

i have an inexpensive Lincoln MIG welder that you can use gas with or go with a flux wire, can't remember the model right off the top of my head something like mig pak 110 or 125 its a 110 volt 15-20 amp unit, its sold locally at home depot, its inexpensive allows you to upgrade later on etc..Just now after about 10 years i'm thinking of putting gas on the unit (mostly cause Twin Turbo calls them gorilla welds... and after seeing his welds he may be right) .... mine regulates wire speed and amp setting, the one i used at the local high school auto shop (adult ed) was a gas unit and had a pulse setting...having said all that was my unit the right choice at the time...absolutely... i have taken mine to peoples homes for quick repairs and it plugs in easily...i would say make sure you can upgrade and add gas later on ...I also had an arc welder and oxy/actelyene when i purchased mine so I wanted one only for sheet metal....If i were to only have one welder i would probably get one a couple steps up from mine... good luck....

oh and i almost forgot...get a clear full face shield and two 4" grinders one to use as a grinder and one to use with a cupped wire brush...

 

That's the one I have, except I think it is a 125? It came as flux core, but I bought the $80 upgrade kit after a while. Infinite wirespeed adjustment, 4 level settings.

That one that you guys thought didn't have wire speed adjustment. The dial is wirespeed, level settings are in two switches 1/2 hi/lo. Saw one at Northern Tool recently.

I would definitely go with a good name brand, lincoln/miller/hobart.

-Chris

 

Flux Core is fine for everything you want to weld on a car. Unless you want to weld 1" thick steel beams you'll be fine with a $150 welder.

i bought mine for $180 on Ebay almost two years ago, no problems with it and welded everything from exhaust to frame ... the wire is available at lowe's and Homedepot, I think I even saw it at WalMart ... it's about $9 for the wire, stainless is almost $40 for one roll.

Of course the $1200 welder is better - but how good of a welder do you really need ?

 

I wouldn't weld anything you're risking your life on with fluxcore... gas does a better job of purging, creates a cleaner weld.

 

I just bought the welder you are looking at, have not had a chance to use it yet. Figured it would be a good entry level welder that can be upgraded to gas in the future or be sold for $100 if I do not like it.