Marks2000XJ

Thinking about buying a cheap stick welder for around the house. Can anyone tell me if the the Harbor Freight 120 amp arc welder is worth the $89 they will have on sale this weekend?

It claims to weld up to 3/16" thick steel. Would 3/16" thick steel be thick enough to fab up a bumper if I got the notion?

What amp settings and electrode sizes to you use for 1/8", 3/16", and 1/4" steel?

If the $89 120 amp arc welder won't be adequate enough for fabbing a bumper I can get the next level up they carry which is a 135ac/105dc arc welder for about double the price. Trying to stay cheap here though.

jkrause

You will not get quality pretty looking well with a stick welder will the welds be strong you bet as long as you get hot enough

Marks2000XJ

Not real concerned with the look of the welds to an extent. I have seen some pretty clean welds tho' with a stick welder.

The reason for wanting a stick welder is I don't want the hassle of having to buy reels of wire and putting them on and also dealing with gas bottles.

PingPong

NO it isnt a good welder. The duty cycle is so low it will **** you off. You will have to max the amps out on it and get crappy performance. If you have a dryer plu/stove you can make a welding extension cord and weld with 220.

Marks2000XJ

I guess I should have made some clarification on that. Yes I will be wiring it up for 240 volts. So now, does it become a decent welder?

Still hoping someone will give me some specs on what size rods to use with what thickness metal and the associated amp settings.

dfm_13

mig is much more forgiving.

mtparker97

are you kidding? one you dont have to run gas with MIG, although i would suggest it but thats just me. even a 2LB reel of wire last much longer than you think and its so easy to change its retarded. thoughs are the worst reasons to not want to go to MIG i have ever heard lol. but the price would be a good reason.

i did have one of them welders and hated it, like mentioned before the duty cycle sucks, its one of them you get what ya pay for things. wait and search craigslist or ebay. my buddy got a good deal for an really nice 220 lincoln welder for 100$ off craigslist. thats where i would spend my money if i was looking for a cheap stick welder

Marks2000XJ

So if I was going to look for a cheap MIG, what is the lowest amp machine you guys would recommend (and yes it will be wired up for 240 volts)? I am not looking to weld up an Empire State Building. A bumper fab would probably be the biggest job I would do. I definitely want whatever I get to weld up to a 1/4" on a single pass (only because I don't know how to do multiple passes, don't even know how to weld yet). <=== that is another discussion.

I guess my thing about MIG is if I am going to do it I would prefer using gas as I have read it is better than using flux core wire. And I don't want to fool with gas bottles. But I am not totally opposed to MIG.

Marks2000XJ

Forgot to mention, I have parts for a roof rack laying around that I want to weld up. It is pretty basic. Conduit frame with 3" wide x 3/16" thick steel welded to the sides of the conduit.

How do you weld thick metal to thin metal or vise versa? Which welder is better to use on this, arc or MIG? Yeah I know the conduit is galvanized. I will wear a respirator when welding it.

mtparker97

i have a hobart handler 140. its a 120V 140amp mig welder and i love it. basically any 220v welder you should be fine as most of them have higher amps than mine. there is one thing to remember about welding with gas and flux core. you will get hotter better penetration with flux core than you will with gas solid wire. the gas makes nicer welds nicer looking welds that is with less crap to clean up. but you already stated you wasnt worried about your welds being clean and nice looking when you wanted to get the HF el cheapo welder so you should be fine running flux.

i say get the highest amp running welder you can afford, i still wish i would have went 220 but am fully happy with the one i got. welds 1/4 just fine as my bumpers are made of it and are plenty strong. another thing is welding with MIG is about 10x easier than welding/learning with ARC.

mtparker97

you want to concentrate your weld more towards the thick material when do thick to thin. allow the molten to move to the thin to connect the metals together. my rack if made the same way and no i didnt use a reperator and survived. now if i was welding galvinized for a living then sure. but saftey first as always so please be as safe as you wish to be or feel the need to be. nothing wrong with being safe man.

also with thin its nice to be able to run lower amps to keep from burning through. either welder will be just fine for the job just depends on what stick/wire and settings you use.

XJPRO

i have the flux core mig welder from harbor and i have built about 4 bumpers with it i got it for $89 with a coupon... i have upgraded since then but it did pay for itselfs and also did my rockers

d50

id look for a used welder before i bought a harbor freight welder. but then again i care about my tools more then most. and i do alot of welding. and a mig is way less of a hasle then arc.

Marks2000XJ

[QUOTE=mtparker97;1241451]i have a hobart handler 140. its a 120V 140amp mig welder and i love it. basically any 220v welder you should be fine as most of them have higher amps than mine. there is one thing to remember about welding with gas and flux core. you will get hotter better penetration with flux core than you will with gas solid wire. the gas makes nicer welds nicer looking welds that is with less crap to clean up. but you already stated you wasnt worried about your welds being clean and nice looking when you wanted to get the HF el cheapo welder so you should be fine running flux.

i say get the highest amp running welder you can afford, i still wish i would have went 220 but am fully happy with the one i got. welds 1/4 just fine as my bumpers are made of it and are plenty strong. another thing is welding with MIG is about 10x easier than welding/learning with ARC.[/QUOTE
I am fond of the Hobart welders. How much did you pay for yours? How bad is the splatter with flux core?

smoothlandin

I have a Lincoln power mig 140, best investment in years. It runs off 110 household current, so I dedicated a breaker for it. I bought a 4 gauge extension cord for moving it around and it hasn't tripped a breaker since. I can run it mig or flux core, and its easy to set up. And I've made money with it since day 1. I am a firm believer in "you get what you pay for".