harbor freight tig welder??

[Makohon]

what do you guys think about this??  http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=91811    ya ya its harbor freight but not all there stuff is junk so i was wondering  about this tig welder?? what is the thickest material you think i can weld with 130?? and should i just spend an extra 1000 bux and get a name brand?? just want an idea how this will hold up???

[KYOTA]

Well its your $$ but you get what you pay for. Think about things like, where are you going to get replacement parts like consumables for it? where would you take it to get repaired if needed. It probably does its job but theres a reason a Miller is $1200 and that one is $200.

[Makohon]

yes  i know a miller ect will be much much better, replacement parts will me much easier to get.. but if your going to use it maybe 3-4 times a year is it still nessary to spend 1k more? im not worried that much about quality.. as long as it makes a decent weld and gets good penetration.... its kinda like tools... if your not a mechanic and use your sockets ect everyday then why spend the money on snap-on..''unless you got the $$$$''just go to the auto store and get a decent set of sockets ect.. for 95% cheaper and they will last you a lifetime for the ''average'' garage mechanic.. let me ask my question  a diffrent way.... if you dont have much money and plan on using it maybe 3-4 times a year and dont think you will use it enough for replacement parts should i just get it? or should i spend 1k more to get something better i may use 3-4 times a year?basically if it wont get nearly as much penetration as something that costs 1k more then i will spend the extra 1k but if it will penetrate nearly as much and the welds look decent... then the 300 dollar tig is good enough for me basically how do you think the penetration is and will it lay a decent bead?? i dont know if i worded that good but hope you guys understand it!!  

[Mike D]

they usually will tell you the maximum penatration in the stats for the welders

[KYOTA]

You need to look at the specs of what that welder will do, and remember one of the most important things to look for is duty cycle, I'd be willing to to bet that welder has a low duty cycle like 20% . I'm not knocking the cheaper welder if thats what your budget is, big tool purchases should be thought of as investments, something that will last you a lifetime (or should). Why do you need TIG? MIG is much easier and versatile to use. Another option is to look for used equipment ,you could find a decent welder probably bigger too for a little more. BTW I use Crapsman wrenches 

[KYOTA]

edit: just looked at your link again 35% duty cycle, not too bad.

[Makohon]

i already got a mig... i love it... but just want the tig for small projects.. projects that i want to look really clean.. im not looking to weld my  front end on or n e thing like that with it.. but that is a good idea i will check out some used ones.. but still dont have alot of cash! by the way what is the duty cycle? i knew what it meant before but i forgot???

[Willy Mammoth]

Do you want to weld aluminum? It says DC output. I wonder if you will be able to use it for aluminum, I use a square wave AC for aluminum that will ballance out the cycle to more positive or negitive depending on if you want pennatration or cleaning. Normaly you use DC negitive to weld steel. It would be good for welding cages, Exhaust and other small stuff, but I would use the Mig for anything heavy. The duty cycle at 30% meens you can weld for 3 min and have to wait 7 min for it to cool down before you can weld another 7 min if you use high. You will only need to use about 10 to 20 amps for steel maybe 30 and much more for aluminum. You will also need an argon/co2 75/25 bottle for steel ( same as Mig ). Pure argon or helium for aluminum.

For the price you can't go wrong so long as you don't use it too heavy. you can learn on this and later buy somthing larger if you start using it a lot. Decide first if you can or want to do aluminum.

Mark

[Makohon]

whanx willy!!!!  

[MidgetMike]

Dude get a mig welder, you can get flux core ones for a couple hundred at home depot   

[To The Floor]

buy a millermatic 210 and get a spool gun for it so you can weld aluminum.     that's what i've got

[Willy Mammoth]

buy a millermatic 210 and get a spool gun for it so you can weld aluminum. that's what i've got

Unless you plan to weld all new aluminum like awnings or pontoon boats a mig is not the way to go. Most aluminum is dirty or heavy and needs to be pre heated before it will weld wright. A spool gun works better because the wire does not bunch up like it would trying to push though a long liner, but they are for assembly welding not custom fab work.

TIG (tungston Inert gas) is an electric torch that shields the aera being welded to keep it clean while you add fill rod just like Oxy Acy. You can useuly weld anything with a tig with the wright settings. For sombody that allready has a MIG this is the next step.

Just stating the facts and trying to help.