Harbor freight 399.00 tig welder?????

[mtgrizzlymn]

Is this machine any good just for use on small stuff like frames and bumpers or frame repairs? Would be using steel or brake line.Do i have to use gas for the small stuff like this?

[THX_138]

Originally Posted by mtgrizzlymn

Is this machine any good just for use on small stuff like frames and bumpers or frame repairs? Would be using steel or brake line.Do i have to use gas for the small stuff like this?

A link to what machine you refer to???

Is budget a huge factor?
I tend to live by, "Buy it once"
Do you ever have aspirations of doing anything but brake line, and RC frames & bumpers from steel?
You surely get what you pay for when it comes to welders, MIGs, TIGs, plasmas etc... Again, not sure what make & model you are looking at, but there is a LOT to be said for brand name machines.
Especially when it comes to purchasing the consumables for it, and or parts & service if it has issues down the road.

Skip the practice purchases and go right to a nice little square wave Aluminum capable AC/DC TIG with an external water cooler





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[mtgrizzlymn]

Well with 20 percent off its 320 i better do a practice welder 1899.00 is out of the question for me:(

[SMR 510RR]

I got an everlast welder for roughly $1200 but they have other cheaper options. You will want something with high frequency start and if you only want to weld steel then you can get a DC only machine. You also dont need anything special like pulse or anything like that. I really like my everlast, it does everything that a miller will do at roughly 1/2 the cost, I dont weld all day and I dont need it to make money so I think it was a solid purchase.

You need gas while tig welding no matter what you are welding, there is no option to use a coated wire like with a mig because the wire is not the electrode in a tig setup.

If you have never tig welded it will have a good learning curve so be prepared to spend quite a bit of time practicing before welding anything you want to show anyone.

[THX_138]

Which welder are you looking at?
Can you post a link to it?
We can better help if we know what you are referring to.

[3jeeps]

My GF works at HFT and you can't apply the 20% coupon to welders, it's in the very fine print. If you do buy one from HF be sure to get the extended warrenty so you can get a new one IF something goes wrong with the 1st one.

[Coal_burner]

If it's the digital readout model on HF, the only one for 399, it is dc only. if you want to weld aluminum you will need an ac dc inverter machine and you will have to have 100% argon to weld anything. i would look the classified adds or craigslist and try to find a miller dynasty series welder. they are expensive but well worth it and for your application you do not need a water cooled handle. your amperage will be way to low to get your hands hot.

[JohnRobHolmes]

The HF welder you speak of has very good amp control. I have one (along with a diversion 160, a 120v mig, and gas torches). It only goes down to 10a, but you can use very small tungsten to control the heat better. Can you weld tiny tube with it? Depends on your skills. It won't be the easiest, but it is a lot more feasible than a wire fed machine. Anything 1/16" solid should be no problem.

The one gripe I have with the HF welder is the lack of heat control. You have to pulse it. It has a great high frequency start though, strikes an arc super easy.

[mtgrizzlymn]

Im not looking to weld alum yes its the 399 one. I just wanted to make small stuff!

[trwelds]

I know this thread is a bit old but I just want to point out a few things. One is that you don't need AC to weld aluminum. It can be done in DC just fine. And even if you can get a AC unit the high freq is also not needed. The HF is used only to provide ionic bombardment to the oxide layer on aluminum. The oxide layer has a higher melting point than the pure aluminum in the center which without cleaning usually means by the time the outside is hot enough to weld the middle is already liquid and gravity takes over at that point. a small stainless steel brush is enough to take away this oxide allowing a weld. also the AC provides better heat control but with a foot control on your TIG you can mimic a pulse and maintain a nice weld in DC.

I always try to get the best bang for my buck and the tools that allow the most options. While you might only want to do small stuff right now you might decide to build a hand rail or something down the road for your deck or weld a friends bumper and buying too small of a machine could be a waste of your funds. while on the other hand some of you would never think about doing such things.

Also for use in general welding and with in this hobby a water cooled unit is a waste of funds. generally you use that for going over 200 amps which even welding sch 80 8 inch stainless pipe I still don't need one usually taking a 5-10 minute break every 30-45 minutes is enough cool down time for my torch and hands. which is also helps limit the exposure to the argon that fills in your lungs. Not fun.

For doing very small welds or thin materials I greatly recommend getting a unit with a hot start or high freq start. this allows the arc to jump to the work piece when starting a weld. The other option is a lift start which works well on bigger and more secure objects but usually on the small stuff your electrode will short out onto a part of it and it can become a pain in the butt usually the 3rd or 4th attempt.

I just hope this gives some insight to anyone buying a machine on what you will need and how some of it works. speaking from my own needs and hobbies and my job I run a torch off my 305g engine driven machine in my work truck and when i need to get even higher quality I run a Dynasty DX machine but up here that machine runs about $7000 and would be way overkill for most people, how ever the dynasty SX 200 amp runs $3500 and is a very capable machine, the DX offers controls that allow you to tweak everything such as the length of pulse, the %of time spent in the negitive and positive half cycles, to the pulses per second which is way more than most people will need to weld but on the same hand with the machine set right almost anyone can weld two beer cans together with ease.

[rmdesignworks]

Originally Posted by trwelds

I know this thread is a bit old but I just want to point out a few things. One is that you don't need AC to weld aluminum. It can be done in DC just fine. And even if you can get a AC unit the high freq is also not needed. The HF is used only to provide ionic bombardment to the oxide layer on aluminum. The oxide layer has a higher melting point than the pure aluminum in the center which without cleaning usually means by the time the outside is hot enough to weld the middle is already liquid and gravity takes over at that point. a small stainless steel brush is enough to take away this oxide allowing a weld. also the AC provides better heat control but with a foot control on your TIG you can mimic a pulse and maintain a nice weld in DC.

I always try to get the best bang for my buck and the tools that allow the most options. While you might only want to do small stuff right now you might decide to build a hand rail or something down the road for your deck or weld a friends bumper and buying too small of a machine could be a waste of your funds. while on the other hand some of you would never think about doing such things.

Also for use in general welding and with in this hobby a water cooled unit is a waste of funds. generally you use that for going over 200 amps which even welding sch 80 8 inch stainless pipe I still don't need one usually taking a 5-10 minute break every 30-45 minutes is enough cool down time for my torch and hands. which is also helps limit the exposure to the argon that fills in your lungs. Not fun.

For doing very small welds or thin materials I greatly recommend getting a unit with a hot start or high freq start. this allows the arc to jump to the work piece when starting a weld. The other option is a lift start which works well on bigger and more secure objects but usually on the small stuff your electrode will short out onto a part of it and it can become a pain in the butt usually the 3rd or 4th attempt.

I just hope this gives some insight to anyone buying a machine on what you will need and how some of it works. speaking from my own needs and hobbies and my job I run a torch off my 305g engine driven machine in my work truck and when i need to get even higher quality I run a Dynasty DX machine but up here that machine runs about $7000 and would be way overkill for most people, how ever the dynasty SX 200 amp runs $3500 and is a very capable machine, the DX offers controls that allow you to tweak everything such as the length of pulse, the %of time spent in the negitive and positive half cycles, to the pulses per second which is way more than most people will need to weld but on the same hand with the machine set right almost anyone can weld two beer cans together with ease.

Good post...