i searched recent and archived topics to find a good beginner welder recommendation.

im not totally new to welding. i have welded exhaust and a few other things with the 200 hundred dollar special from home depot.

it is a non gas flux core type.

from what i have found during my searching it seems that MIG welding is what im looking for, since it is easier than TIG welding, and less expensive and so forth.

also from what i have read i gather that buying a welder that can do both gas and non gas is the only way to go, because the non gas only type will really limit my options.

is all of that correct so far?

ok, so i read through all of these topics yet i got so mant mixed opinions that i am probably more confused now than ever before.

i am not looking to spend a lot of money. i am looking to invest very little into this, since i am just trying to see if i like it/ am any good at it.

i looked on harbor frieght and i found a 200ish dollar MIG welder that does gas and non gas.

now before anyone bashes harbor frieght i am fully aware that they are the payless shoes of the tool world. i am not looking to buy this thing and pass it on to my grand kids. i am not looking to fabricate my own airplanes or skyscrapers. i am simply looking for something that i can weld simple things with. i dont care about its resale value. i dont care if i will just have to upgrade later when i move on to greener pastures.

can you guys think of any reason that i shouldnt go with this welder?

and lets say i get really good with it. would a welder like this be capable of holding metal together under his stress, such as motor mounts or something to that effect? (please note i am not saying that i want to build motor mounts, i am simply using that a an example)

thanks in advance.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...=6271

this is the welder i was talking about

 

actually, i suppose i will have to go with this one since the first one takes 220 volts instead of 120

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...55247


i assume that the gas hooks up in the back somewhere?

 

i was going to get a cheep beginner welders than said expletive it and brought the syncowave 200, havent looked back since

 

HD and Lowes welders are a no no.. They are inferior to the companies usual product line.. so dont even consider them..

Personally I like the clarke and hobarts that northerntool.com sells. Well prices, quality machines and I havent ever heard anyone having ANY issues!

 

are you kidding me??

You can pick up a Lincoln welder at Home Depot for $400. Its a MIG with gas conversion. It can weld great, not quite 1/4 steel but does great. Know a couple people with them and they are great for your occasional welder.


I personally would not buy a Harbor freight welder. Double the budget and buy the Lincoln from Lowes or Home Depot...the resale value will hold if you decide to sell it and you will get a better quality weld to begin with.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8mpg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">are you kidding me??
</TD></TR></TABLE>

no. why would i be kidding you?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8mpg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">are you kidding me??

You can pick up a Lincoln welder at Home Depot for $400. Its a MIG with gas conversion. It can weld great, not quite 1/4 steel but does great. Know a couple people with them and they are great for your occasional welder.


I personally would not buy a Harbor freight welder. Double the budget and buy the Lincoln from Lowes or Home Depot...the resale value will hold if you decide to sell it and you will get a better quality weld to begin with.</TD></TR></TABLE>

also what specifically is wrong with the harbor frieght gas/ non gas mig that i posted?

im not being argumentative, im seriously curious.

does it just not last as long or something like that? or does it weld shittier?

 

i went to home depot and checked out thier welders. they had a lincoln mig for about 450 bucks. it did both flux core and gas.

i couldnt really see that big of a difference between it and the harbor frieght version as far as the amount of current and all of that goes.

again, im not looking for a long term solution.

here is a perfect example that sums up what im asking:

my friend is a mechanic at an upscale german car repair shop. the snapon tool guy gave him an informative video about the quality of snapon tool boxes.

they compared it to craftsman, matco, etc tool boxes. the snap on tool box was definitley engineered to last longer. it also has so many versatile solutions for common problems that it really deos make it the best. its stronger and everything. they showed it getting crushed along side the others and the snapon tool box could hold twice as much weight on it than the others. again, it was clearly the best tool box of the bunch. however, it cost twice as much as the others. i would never need that much tool box. sure if money was not an issue i would take the best of the best, but money is an issuae and so i would do just fine with a crafstman tool box.

when you say that the lincoln welder is better than the harbor frieght welder, is it similar to the tool boxes?

maybe the lincoln welder will last longer, maybe its easier to use, maybe it will wipre my ***, but if i can get the same basic result for half the price, im totally ok with going that route.

nikes are better than payless shoes. no doubt. but its not like payless shoes dont work. you see what im saying?

i dont need the best.

now if there harbor frieght version causes cancer, or it is incapable of holding two pices of metal togther, i would certainly wish to avoid it.

so with that in mind, can you guys think of any reason that the harbor frieght version would not be a good idea for me?

and for the record i am not saying that i think one is better than the other. i am completely open to suggestion. i just know that people get really particular about certain brands and other such things and i am not concerned about that.

 

not you man... that want2race guy sayin you cant buy a good welder from HD or Blowes

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8mpg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not you man... that want2race guy sayin you cant buy a good welder from HD or Blowes</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats funny man. Because my Girlfriends brother works in homedepot Corporate and his job is to negociate re-engineering of vendors products to minimize cost.

He told me never to buy anything like a Pressure washer, Welder, weed wacker etc there because while they insist on the metal casing, the internals are sub par!

But dont take my word for it.. your a big boy.. You can make your own decisions/mistakes

 

The gist is very simple.

If you want something thats going to work everytime you need it, dont buy HF,

In the 4 visits to that store, I have seen 4 people returning welders. Sure, they do sell a ton of them. But personally I would rather spend 10-30% more knowing I can recover it if I sell it.

Welders dont usually lose value that badly. if you look on craigs listyou will see Lincoln and Miller machines for maybe 20% less that are 3-4 years old. I've never seen that from a harbor freight unit..

im not saying it wont work, Im just saying the quality standards are far apart.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8mpg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not you man... that want2race guy sayin you cant buy a good welder from HD or Blowes</TD></TR></TABLE>

ahhh. my mistake.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Want2race &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The gist is very simple.

If you want something thats going to work everytime you need it, dont buy HF,

In the 4 visits to that store, I have seen 4 people returning welders. Sure, they do sell a ton of them. But personally I would rather spend 10-30% more knowing I can recover it if I sell it.

Welders dont usually lose value that badly. if you look on craigs listyou will see Lincoln and Miller machines for maybe 20% less that are 3-4 years old. I've never seen that from a harbor freight unit..

im not saying it wont work, Im just saying the quality standards are far apart. </TD></TR></TABLE>


i see what you are saying. my financial situation is kind of odd right now. i have just started my own business and deliberatly took a big pay cut to have more money to exapnd the business with. once we are finished with out test market in about 4-5 months my slary will more than double, not to mention that by that time (hopefully) my company will be profitable so i will have the resiual income form that as well.
i want to get an el cheapo and see if i like welding and see if i am any good at it, and then when my finances increase i will but the top of the line model (within reason).

if the harbor frieght version simply wont be able to perform as well then maybe i will save up and get the 450 dollar version. but if i can get started with the harbor frieght version in the mean time that would be ideal.

let me ask one more question. what would be better a fluc core name brand model, or a gas mig from harbor frieght.

both are about the same price. as i mentioned i had a 200 special from home depot that just did fluxcore and it was ok. (i eventually sold it along with everything else i owned to start my business) i would like something better than that as far as capabilities and the abilty to make cleaner welds goes. would the harbor frieght gas mig be better than that?