Red Sparky Report post Posted June 13, 2018 The Harbor Freight welders for hobby welding is fine. Look at Youtube for reviews on them. I had one until it got stolen with my portaband. I still prefer stick welders but had no problem with the flux core wire feed for about $100 from Harbor Fright. I had the 120 volt set up but you really had to watch the duty cycle with it. Before that I was running an old stick Lincoln Pipe liner with a hand crank Dodge engine, after about 3 years I decided I didn't want to be a welder full time in 90+ temps outside. The other thing you want to get is an oxy/acetelene set up to cut metal. It drives me nuts to watch guys use a grinder to cut metal, especially when a chop saw would work much better. Get good gloves. Even though I am an electrician the worst shock I ever got was from a welder. I was building a gate and instead of using the torch I cranked up the welder to cut. I threw the stinger on the ground, grabbed the gate with my left hand and took the ground off with my right hand. I moved the gate right into the stinger so the full current went straight through my chest. I had taken my gloves off and was full of sweat. Basically a HUA moment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cjl2010 Report post Posted June 13, 2018 Get him some cotton long sleeves. Leathers will kill a guy down there hahaI tried to get some welding done Easter morning before going to services. My cotton/nylon blend caught on fire. Normally when I catch on fire welding I can pat it out without missing a beat, but this time it got a little hot. 100% cotton for me. We have an ongoing competition in the shop on who can get the filler rod the smallest when tig welding. We have a collection of gloves with finger tips burned off! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trophyseeker Report post Posted June 13, 2018 The Harbor Freight welders for hobby welding is fine. Look at Youtube for reviews on them. I had one until it got stolen with my portaband. I still prefer stick welders but had no problem with the flux core wire feed for about $100 from Harbor Fright. I had the 120 volt set up but you really had to watch the duty cycle with it. Before that I was running an old stick Lincoln Pipe liner with a hand crank Dodge engine, after about 3 years I decided I didn't want to be a welder full time in 90+ temps outside. Though I have used arc and acetylene welders over the years for minor projects, I'm not an experienced welder so have no knowledge of which ones are better for specific tasks, etc. but... A while back, I had a couple of gates built for the yard. When the guy came to install them, he discovered the shop had put the hinges of one on the wrong side. So he used a grinder to cut the welds. He then went to his truck and grabbed one of the HF cheapie 120A mig welders (usually on sale for about $90). He also had one of HF's $40 self-darkening helmets. He plugged a long extention cord into a 110 outlet on my front porch about 40 feet from the action. It took him all of about 15 minutes to reweld the hinges on the right side of the gate, clean the weld with a wire brush and touch up the paint with a spray can. It looked as good as the original welds to my uneducated welding eyes. So since I was thinking of buying a mig welder for minor tasks, I asked him about it. He told me he had been using the HF model for three years and never had a hiccup with it. Thus, I bought one about a year ago when it was on sale. I have yet to open the box, however. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edge Report post Posted June 13, 2018 The Harbor Freight welders for hobby welding is fine. Look at Youtube for reviews on them. I had one until it got stolen with my portaband. I still prefer stick welders but had no problem with the flux core wire feed for about $100 from Harbor Fright. I had the 120 volt set up but you really had to watch the duty cycle with it. Before that I was running an old stick Lincoln Pipe liner with a hand crank Dodge engine, after about 3 years I decided I didn't want to be a welder full time in 90+ temps outside. The other thing you want to get is an oxy/acetelene set up to cut metal. It drives me nuts to watch guys use a grinder to cut metal, especially when a chop saw would work much better. Get good gloves. Even though I am an electrician the worst shock I ever got was from a welder. I was building a gate and instead of using the torch I cranked up the welder to cut. I threw the stinger on the ground, grabbed the gate with my left hand and took the ground off with my right hand. I moved the gate right into the stinger so the full current went straight through my chest. I had taken my gloves off and was full of sweat. Basically a HUA moment. They don't call you sparky for nothing. I bought an Italian made 120 MIG from Costco around 1986 and put it to work for my fence business building gates, kennels, wrought iron. I put hundreds of pounds of flux core through it before it went tits up 15 years later. Replaced it with another cheap mig I found at the swap meet with cart and large bottle for $150 and it's still going strong, welds up to 3/16". For a hobby welder, buy inexpensive. You're going to need $ for chopsaw, grinders, clamps etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TOBY Report post Posted June 13, 2018 Off topic a little but when I had my certs back in mid 90s we had a real doper douche working for us. He always mooched sunblock from all of us. We were running dual shield .45 out of miller 600s welding fuel cells. Anyway Wife had made me some hand lotion from baby oil and some other regular lotion and put it in my empty sunscreen bottle. That POS never borrowed sunscreen again. His face was fried nice and crisp. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapshot Report post Posted June 14, 2018 Years ago I bought a Craftsman 110v flux core wirefeed welder.I think it was around $250. Not a bad little unit. The duty cycle was a little short, but it was o.k for light to medium sized projects. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sjvcon Report post Posted June 14, 2018 I own mostly Miller and Hobart....which is now the same company. Bought a little Forney stick inverter and Industrial Metal Supply and liked it for small 110V stuff. My framer (metal stud) had a Lincoln that crapped out and I suggested he look at the Forney machines for the price. He bought one a lot cheaper than those other brands and loves it. I ran some beads with it and it is really smooth. For a hobby welder I'd sure give that a shot. $169 for 125A Flux Core. Not sure the price on the 140A gas....but over $100 less than comparable Lincoln...and Miller is usually more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joe hunter Report post Posted August 13, 2020 Any small Lincoln or Miller will work just fine. Those are the only two I would buy because of the availability of parts and service anywhere !!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muledeerarea33? Report post Posted August 13, 2020 10 hours ago, JoeBakero said: Hey this story is really great. I want to know what welder did you bought? I also want to buy one but I am not really experienced with a lot of welders. I borrowed one for half a year to learn but I want one for my self. I have about 500$. The story is award winning!! What welder will you be buying joe? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HorseHunter Report post Posted August 13, 2020 Siwash, A ton of wisdom in the prior comments! Throw a dart at that list of welders and you won’t miss. I have a 40 year old Lincoln Buzz box (220 arc welder) for heavy stuff like used oilfield pipe and a cheap wire feed for light stuff (gate latches, horseshoe hooks, etc) only uses flux core wire with no bottles to fill but an uglier weld and (splatter) to clean up with a grinder. This will be the gift that keeps on giving! Lots of accessories to buy but agree, don’t skimp on the helmet. A cart that can be wheeled in and out of the garage / shop is super helpful too. It is a great hobby and before you know it you can put in an order for a new coffee table! Let me know if Dad needs some horseshoes and is willing to make the drive to North,North Phx, I will give him some. I PAY $25 a piece for them installed, so if I give him enough maybe I can make it up on volume..... Take care 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
