looking to start some welding
 

is this any decent??? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55060

# Duty cycle: @ 115V: 15% @ 65 amps
# Duty cycle @ 230V: 6% @ 95 amps

A 15% duty cycle is not that great, however if you are only using it for r/c stuff then you can prolly make due with it since you are going to weld in short bursts.

Honestly.....keep saving.

You're wanting a welder for this hobby or bigger stuff? If it's gonna be strictly for this hobby and little stuff,get the smallest MIG you can find. That'll be easiest to learn with.

If you buy a quality welder,you'll have it the rest of your life. Dads got a Miller in the shop he bought when he was 18 years old(he's 55 now) and it still works like a new one. All he's done to it was replace the fan and bearings in the fan. IMHO,Miller makes great stuff. I personally have a Hobart MIG welder. Miller makes the Hobart stuff and Hobart puts their box around it. I'd look into either a Hobart or Miller if you want quality.

Honestly, if you are planning on using this for rc's it will never happen. It takes a long time to develope enough control to stick weld very small things, most people don't bother to learn with the popularity of mig and tig. I can't tell if its an AC or an DC welder but with those dutycycles it won't run long enough to matter anyway. Also I think they are exagerating a bit on the rod size that is usable, AC or DC.

don't buy it and just send $60 to me and you'll still be $9.99 ahead. that thing is a piece of crap. in fact just about any 110V stick welder will be a big piece of junk. like others said, a low-cost wire-feed welder will be 1000 times better. i have a 110V stick welder. i don't recall the brand, but it wasn't a $69 piece of junk (it was a $130 piece of junk).

if you want a 110V welder, save up and go to home depot or sears and get one of these:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...gng.0&MID=9876

i bought one a few years ago and use it all the time. i can usually make nice looking welds with it, and i ain't no welder. :)

andy b.

look for a used miller 135 or 175. they are hard to find but absolutely worth the extra money. spend the extra coin on a good machine and it will probably never let you down.

would one of these work out better http://www.homedepot.com/prel80HDUS/...rchResults.jsp


or possibly this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93804

Get a lincoln electric weldpak 100 from home depot. Its a 110v wirefeed. I bought one 10+ years ago use it all the time. Can weld up to 1/4 in non mig mode.

I love it. Never had any trouble with it. I use flux core wire.

Built 3 crawler frames so far."thumbsup"

DO NOT buy a Harbor freight welder, buy a quality one or it isn't worth buying a welder. The first thing you have to decide is what you want to do with it, are you just going to build RC stuff, or are you building a 1:1 rig? If you're going to build a 1:1, buy a 220 volt machine, for tubers and such, a little weldpak like Nissan Nut suggested is just fine.

im looking to do some 1:1 stuff mostly......and possible some rc stuff

It all depends on how thick the steel is You want to weld. I can weld up to 1/4. But when using Gas I can only weld 3/16". Which enough for SAS swaps, trailers, winch bumpers, sliders etc.

Funny thing is My truck frames 1:1 and 1:10 are both 11gauge."thumbsup"

Check out my website for all the stuff I have made with a 110v wire feed. I might get a 220v one day so I can weld MIG 1/4. But for now its fine for 1:1 stuff.

All those harbor freight welders DO NOT list what they can weld. Download the owners manual and You will see.

I built my 1:1 Toyota with my Hobart 135. Exo,SAS,crossmembers,yadda yadda yadda.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...016_edited.jpg

There was a few things I had a buddy of mine burn together with his 300 amp TIG,only cause it was 1/2" stuff and I wanted to make sure they were solid. I could have welded double passes front and back with my little welder and it'd probly been fine,but it's probly stronger the way I did it. I've welded 1/2" stuff with my little 135 and never had a weld give or anything break,but it's only rated up to 1/4"

My boss bought a Lincoln weld pak to keep on the job to fix stuff at work. I'm the only guy that can weld so when something breaks or we need something modified,I'll usually get his Lincoln out. Compairing the Lincoln to the Miller/Hobarts...the drive set up in the Miller/Hobarts is alot better. Just looking at it,you can see the difference in the strength and quality. If your mainly gonna do 1:1 stuff,a 175-200 amp machine would be a better choice. You can always turn the bigger units down but you can't turn the smaller units up"thumbsup"

thanks alot for the info.....and sweet rig "thumbsup"

you can use most welders. it mostly depends on the wire size. if u use smaller wire you can do rc stuff, and larger wire for the big stuff.(its a pain teo swich the wire:-( "thumbsup"

i got a hobart 140 its a great machine have not come across anything i couldnt use it for yet ,i use mine for work on old harley choppers havnt had any failed welds neither ,i also like the fact that u can run it outa any household plug so it can go anywhere u could want to take it to

I started using a Lincoln 125 MIG 15 yrs ago, the basic ones they sell at Home Depot will do most of what you want. I built my first 1:1 sandrail w/ it, ATV trailers, car trailer...... I have a Millermatic 175 240V now.... But, the 125 did great for years. You can buy a 6# CO2 cyl from Harbor Freight stores for about $60 (I think that's what I paid for my portable one).

If you get one w/o the gas kit, let me know and I will give you a regulator/outlet line unit. It's a pre set unit that screws into a CGA-580 valve (I think the 580, it's at home). You will need to hit a welding supply store for the 580 to 320 adapter. I think most mfgs think you are going to use blue-shield or some other gas and not CO2..... It's pretty stupid on their part, who the heck is going to spend the $$$$ on a gas that uses a 580 valve.... We don't do stainless......

As for the Hobarts, My friend uses one and had his first one burn out after a few weeks. His new one has been going for a year now.

PS,
Yo, raptorman. Cool yota. I'll stick a pic of my 86 turbo - solid conversion on 35s up sometime.....