Lmao...that was my first project. A bunch of scrap angle iron, some purple Rustoleum and some wheels from Lowes. What the heck, it works!
............This is a no=brainer......buy a China crap or a good American made welder..........Better yet....How about buying a China car, food for you and your kids or dog.....Really.....when are Americans going to start waking up and start buying American products......
Like trying to weld with a half a pack of cigarettes and a bic lighter. There's a half price sale on thongs, no waist band though. I wonder what not being so frustrated that you want to jump off a bridge is worth in actual dollars and cents. Like buying rabid puppy and telling the wife and kids he'll grow out of it.
I've got a little bigger one, that you can also add gas too. I just use the better Lincoln wire, put a fan behind it, and it it works great. In fact I've never added gas to it so far and tacked up/welded a lot of stuff with it. That was 4 years ago. Michael
I agree with some of the other posts. Flux-core wire will work fine, once you get a feel for the technique. Personally I think welding with a MIG machine (with shielding gas) is the easiest way to get started for a beginner. Less spatter and more forgiving when you are just learning. I recommend Hobart welders. They are part of Miller, good quality for the price, and made in the USA.
If you can't spend the money for the welder, spend it on the wire. The wife bought me one about 5 Christmas' ago. I have stuck alot of stuff together with it. But nothing critical.. If I am doing important stuf I tack it toghther than have a friend with good stuff stick it together. works OK on floors, and patches. Gone through about 3 spools of wire with no trouble so far.
Honestly, I would say don't waste your time. For thin sheetmetal they are almost impossible to work with. They are great for doing anything like 12 guage and up, but for sheetmetal they will blow right through it!!
It will work fine for sheet metal work . Problem is will it finish the project . I have a Lincoln 100 with gas and it's really great for sheet metal . I used flux core .030 & .035 wire for 2 cars and did a good job . With the gas I use .025 and love it . Nice and clean and no blow outs ! That is all I bought it for anyway . I would say just look around on C/list . I see small Lincoln , Hobart's and some Millers all the time where I live . You can get a new Hobart 125 for around $325 ! Same with a Lincoln at you local home improvement store . So why waist $90 on a throw away welder . At least with a Hobart or Lincoln you can get parts for them most anyplace ! I would wait and find something that will last more than the shitty chinese crap ! Just my opinion ! Retro Jim
To each his own ,but I would never buy anything from HF that" plugs in" to a wall !!!!!! IMHO.Tom (Tired Old Man)
My wife gave me one of these Chicago flux-core mig welders for my birthday a couple of years ago and it works fine. Thanks for the tips about using a fan behind it and the Lincoln wire.
I read a bunch of threads on other forums about welders and found alot of positive comments about HF welders working really well for beginners and amateur hobbiests. I didn't put much faith in what I read here because there are so many people trying to be wise asses. Bottom line is (like the guy that started this thread asked) is it will get the job done and yes it is a throw away...but many people have been using theirs for many years. They will more than pay for themselves. I like the fact these are flux core which is better for outdoor welding like I do since wind blows the shielding gas away on a MIG. Because of that I will get a better unit later on that will do flux or MIG.
I have one I bought at a local farm type store 3 years ago thats the same type/price. Worked great for welding up chairs and bedframes when the kids broke them Ive used it on sheet metal alot and while it took some time to get used to I found it works perfectly fine for what I need it for. Never had any issues with it either as far as breakage.....
I just happen to be in a HF store yesterday to see what their welders looked like . Well I can really see why someone would really spend their hard earned money on one of those welders ! The so called cables are so small I can't see how it would carry enough current to get a weld . They were no bigger that the cheap shinny orange extension cords you find in the dollar store . The ground clamp was the biggest joke of all . That clamp is one of those tiny Cheapo clamps you find on those shitty battery jumper kits you find at the dollar store for $5 ! Hell I had that clamp on my finger and didn't even hurt ! The whole thing is so damn cheap , I just don't understand how the US government passes them to be used here in the US ! I honestly don't think they are worth $50 and really shouldn't be allowed to be sold on the shelf for people to buy . Pure junk and way too scary for me to even think about trying to use ! Retro Jim
in my experience, the wire is the biggest factor in welding sheetmetal. i have a licoln promig 140, for "normal" every day welding i use lincoln .035 flux core wire, burns hot enough ive welded frames, bumpers cages, and spring mounts on my off road truck. i can weld sheet metal with the .035 flux wire, but if i'm gonna be doing a lot of sheetmetal i switch to .025 solid wire and co2/argon gas. just my $0.02
The HF welder is probably ok to weld metal with lincoln innershield wire if you are welding thicker material. I checked them out at HF and the trigger and handle feel like junk, just does not feel good when I am use to the high dollar made machines. The biggest mistake people make with welding flux core is it is designed to burn very hot and is for thicker metal, Same principle as arc welding good penetration not for thin sheet metal or panels, you need a gas bottle and solid wire .025 or .030 to work the best. Most people make the mistake of trying to weld panels with flux core, not the correct application for thin metal or patch panels, it will burn through the thin metal easy.
i bought the welder your talking about, save your money and buy one with gas. i used mine for some brackets and such, throws out a lot of slag, not very nice looking weld. broke down and bought lincoln 140 with gas about 3 mo ago. difference is like nite and day. john
A little tip--- use Pam cooking spray to cut down on your welding splatter clean up. Cheaper than the splatter spray at the welding shop and works just as good.
I bought this same welder from a friend for $50 about 2 years ago. It was new and had never been used. I've used the shit out of it for everything from making shelving to welding in floorboards in my '56 Chevy. I started at 8 one morning and worked almost nonstop until about 4 that afternoon. Not the prettiest welds in the world but they looked good enough for the floorboards. And i figured for 50 bucks even if it lasted just long enough to get the floors welded in it was worth the money.
I bought one of the $90 units five years ago. Took it back because the two position heat switch only had "too hot" and "way too hot" on it. Traded it for one of the 220v units. After two of them broke, and couldn't be fixed, they traded me for a refurbished Hobart. They had recently dropped the Hobart line but had a few left. The difference in weld quality is night and day. I thought I was a hack welder before, but now I'm pretty decent. The welder made alot of difference.
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