Originally Posted by Gee oh Dee

Not trying to be a dick or anything, but I have to disagree. The HF welder is by no means the best welder on the market, but for $90 you can't go wrong.

I'm not an expert welder, either. I've never taken any real classes, I've read a few books, some info on the net, and I've done back-yard learning.

I have found plenty of use for my cheap welder, and all have been successful. Like I said I put it to use on my metal garage shelf. My landlord used it to weld tabs back onto the blower housing for the wood burning stove. I've welded three exhausts on three different vehicles. I welded an ear back onto a gun safe shelf for my best friend. I'm currently putting floors into my 87 XJ with it, and all is going well.

Yes, there are indeed better welders. Plenty of them. I'd LOVE to have one, and one that is more powerful. But I can't. I don't have the ability to run 220 to my garage, and I won't spend the money to do so because I'm renting. So for now, this one is perfect.

Also, if you have a 220v welder, you can't use it in near as many places as the HF welder. You've always gotta have a 220v source. That limits the use of more powerful welders, in a very odd way. With my welder, I can use it just about anywhere. In my bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, your house, my house, work, lots of places. Places that don't always have 220 available.

If you are limited by budget and other factors, don't hesitate to spend the $100 on a decent welder that will get you started.

But if you can, always go with the better option. I just can't.

Originally Posted by brutalxj

I could not read to much of those posts. I like Hobart almost as much as Miller and I wish i had a small welder like that. I could do 1/4' easy. and 3/8ths with an extra pass. Not to menchen that u can use a convertor and take it off road for repairs. I would use a bottle though. flux core is messier and a little harder to dial in. Thats just me. All i have is a Miller 210 its to big for most jeep stuff. Im state certified for stick welding but am much better and more experienced with mig. but thats just my 2cents.

Originally Posted by ZachsXJ

As far as where you can use it goes, give me about $60 and a couple hours and that would be a non-issue at pretty much any house within the united states.

Its super super easy to make a 100ft extension cord for a 220v welder(not that I plan to be rolling my 220lb beast anywhere) Basically, you get a 220v drier plug of the type that is common in most households, get 100ft of thick strand 4 gauge machine wire and an outlet with a box that matches the plug on your welder. Anyone with any common electrical knowledge could do it, the cord would reach pretty daggon far and make it so any house that has a dryer outlet u could use a 220v welder at.



A 210 Miller is just about perfect for Jeep stuff. It'll do up to 3/8ths in a single pass, yet can be turned down far enough to use on thin steel. Covers all the big and little stuff you'd do on a jeep plus everything in between.

Originally Posted by Swamp Donkey

Dont waste your time with a cheap welder. Buy you a Hobart or Miller. I have a Hobart 187 and ive done up to 1/2 thick steel with it. i love it and it has Miller stamped all over it. I taught myself how to weld, best thing to do is gather up scrap metal, get your bead technique down pat along with penetration with diffrent gauges of steel and just practice practice practice. Patients is also key. Running a squirt gun(mig welder) is simplest of all, a real welder is someone who has stick welding down to a t. Make sure your steel is clean/shinny and debry free. Theres so many tips and tricks you can be told, when its best to take in idea's but let your learning be all hands on 1st hand.

Originally Posted by retreaded jeeper

go back to harbor drieght web site and download the manual, it has some information in it.I like the dumpster metal best but sometimes I just have to have some from hardware store or central steel. have fun

Originally Posted by retreaded jeeper

don't start with a bumper build, start with something not involveing safty or serious humiliation.

Originally Posted by Gee oh Dee

Unfortunately my drier plug and circut breaker box are on the opposite end of the house that the back door/garage are on, so it'd take about 80ft of cord to get that outlet to the back hallway, not to mention outside and into the garage.

This place is also not mine, I rent, so I'm not able to modify the house in any way, nor would I want to. I'll save that for when I have my own place.

Originally Posted by Sooner XJ

For all you that don't think you can weld with the HF 90 amp mig, I bought one just a few weeks ago because I dont have the extra cash sitting around to get the Miller I really want. So I found a coupon for $89 and grabbed it. So far I have welded a lot of 3/16" and some 1/4". Other than my beads looking like crap (I havn't done any welding for 25 years) it has worked good. First thing I did was chunk the .30 fluxcore wire that came with it in my scrap pile and got a roll of .35 lincoln brand fluxcore wire. Changed the tip to a .35 tip and started laying down practice beads. As long as you slow down and get the wire speed set it does a fine job. Best thing is that if I burn it up I take it back to the store and get a new one. The in store warrenty at HF is great. I will one day save enough to get the welder I want but in the mean time I will use my pos as some of you call it and finish building my Jeep.

Originally Posted by wolverine 00 xj

Here's a pic of a "mountaineer" rack I made for the back of my XJ with my HF welder. I'm pretty happy with it. I put in several hours of practice on scrap, and then put this together with some square and round tubing I had. I had never welded before getting the HF, and I thought that for about $90, it was a good starter welder. I used some polypropylene webbing to make the horizontal surface to keep the weight down. I can pull it out relatively easily.

Originally Posted by ZachsXJ

see now thats an example of a perfect project to do with a little 90amp welder. Its a non-critical part, great for practice and infinitely function.

Originally Posted by DaveD

sounds good...you know what its like when you got your license ...i am 36 and feel like I want to go nuts with this thing and take every opportunity to use it...lol....I have a small roof rack...I think I will cut it in half and make it longer...where does everyone get there metals?

Originally Posted by ZachsXJ

You don't have to modify anything, you get a plug that plugs into the drier receptacle and then enough wire to reach to wherever you need it(properly sized) and have a receptacle box with the proper plug to plug the welder into at the other end. Basically its a super heavy duty home-made extension cord, the nice thing is you can make it as short or as long as you need it.

BTW, if your house is 80ft from the panel to the garage that thing must be HUGE or a ranch style house.

Originally Posted by Gee oh Dee

The drier plug is on the front of the house, the garage and everything else is on the back. Its actually a duplex with the 2nd place empty. The house is much longer than it is wide, which is the reasoning for the seemingly mansion like house dimensions. You also have to add the yard length onto the distance as the garage isn't attached, and the yard is between the house and garage. We're on an alley, so the garage faces the opposite direction which makes it worse. I'd either have to run 150ft of cord to the garage, or move the drier plug to the side of the basement the door is on.

Either way, this seems like alot of work for someone renting the place.