86toyota

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=55210

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44567

I was looking to buy a 110V mig welder. I allready own a 220V Lincoln mig and arc welder, but was looking for something for portability.like taking to someone's house that doesn't have 220 outlet. Anybody own this welder from harbor freight? Any suggestions?

934rnr

Have you been to home depot lately?
They sell this beauty for $199


Campbell Hausfeld
Flux Core 85 Gasless Wire Feed Welder Kit
Model WF2010

30-80 amp welding range. 115 Volt. Welds thin 20 gauge sheet metal through 3/16 in. steel. Dual heat setting. Includes welding shield, 0.035 in. flux core wire And hammer/brush. 5 Year limited warranty.

For a little more you could have the 100pk Lincoln mig flux core welder. I think it is close to $300.
For $427 they sell the Lincoln HD3200 it's not too bad for a 135 amp mig welder it even comes with a gas hookup.

86toyota

My home depot stopped carrying welders.I would like the choice of using gas or not.

Flygtenstein

You get what you pay for on welders.

What do you want to do with it?

Is the only goal cheap?

Have you looked at the little Miller 135 machines?

Napoleon047

honestly, i wouldnt get anything that doesnt have either: lincoln electric, miller, or hobart on the side. anything else, and you wont be able to find parts, tips, fittings, etc for very easily.

ravencr

We've been using a lincoln 135 welder for welding my entire rear bumper together, and it's working great. We are using all 3/16" material, and the penetration is excellent. We aren't using gas, because when using gas, the thickness it's able to weld drastically decreases. I've found that in order to weld 1/4" with gas, you need at least a 210 volt or greater machine.

Chris

86toyota

After listening to all the good comments I decided to not cheap out and I'm going to buy a lincoln 135amp,might as well ,it will match the other two lincolns.thanks for the help.

Napoleon047

is that a 4runner top on your truck? if so what are you doing for the front and the back glass? does it match the cab height? do you have any pics that arent on crappy imagestation?

lcopelan22

I'd definitely go with something that you could hook the gas up too. Welding with gas is the shiz. It's makes welding easier and the weld looks 3 times as good. Ya'll all know that I'm sure. As far as that Lincoln, it's a good one, I did everything on my SAS and it's still holding strong! I do recommend that for learning to weld, just start with a mig, figure out how to melt it together, then after some time, get the gas. Once you can make them strong and half pretty, get the gas hook up and it's a whole nother world.

kyle_22r

i probably wouldn't trust any of that harbor freight junk. better to spend the cash and get a miller or lincoln

i'm not much of a mig guy...i like stick welding

86toyota

It's a fiberglass cap that is designed to look like a 4runner. It sits up a lil' bit higher because of the over the rail bedliner. Here's some pics if you really want to see .....I just signed up for imagestation,why don't you like it?, and is there a better one that I should know of. I'm here to learn anything new.

Cap:http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4287581745

ravencr

So here's the question of the day for all the welding experts on here. My buddy has been using his Lincoln 135 welder to weld my bumper together. My bumper is all 3/16" steel, and according to his welder, multiple passes may be needed for anything over 1/8" material up to 1/4" material. But, when using gas, it can only weld up to 16 gauge metal while using gas. So, here's my question:

1) Would it be possible to use flux wire in combination with gas so that we could get the better looking welds by using the gas, but still get the penetration needed for the thicker metals?

Chris

4x4Lamm

Why not get a mobile premire power welder, those are cool!

Lamm

Poul D'eau

Sadly no. The flux cored wire welds will look the same with or without gas. One plus for using flux cored wire is that strong winds wont blow the shield gas away. So the gas coming out of the nozzle won't have a chance.

What size wire are you using? Sometimes thinner wire can give you a little more penatration. The arc will spend less energy on the wire and more on the base metal. Also keep your wire speed low for the same reason.

Also using a heavy gauge extension cord that is as short as possible will give you the most power out of 110v welders.

BruceTS

I've own mine for more than 15 years and used it on many different projects and it's still going strong. Getting replacement parts hasn't been a problem.....

As for capability, you can't reverse the leads to use flux core but it'll handle up to 1/4 with gas. On my bumper projects, I've been using 3/16 and getting good penetration. The wind is a killer, so I usually set-up a tarp to prevent those high gust. Once I get a chance to wire in 220v I'm planning on buying my neighbors Miller for shop use...

Back when I got mine, no other company had portable MIGs that were affordable.

Shane

Is it possible to use them in comination? Sure, many people do when welding outdoors in the wind. Will it make a difference in the welds? No.

Flux core welds can look as nice as solid core welds, just takes practice. But, it's not the look that's important. A pretty weld can be weak, and an ugly one can be very strong.

kyle_22r

you could always use dual shield...much stronger than mig, but i believe you need a bit more juice than most little home machines...