Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[jjeff]

Today's email "Savings on Welders So Bright, You’ll Have to Open the Email to See" -

Don't bother reading it. The black flux 125 AC 'mig' is offered at $150! Recently was $129, no?

I paid $72 with coupon for the 15 years ago same thing and discovered those are near impossible to do decent work with.

AC, only two voltage settings, would need a 30 amp 110 volt circuit to do the claimed output.

Probably a repeat post/experience but a buddy bought a HF flux core welder a while back, had me come over to help him on his project it involved using his hf flux core welder. The lead for the torch touched some hot steel melted right through it. I was familiar with Lincoln, even higher end Hobart's, the liner the wire travels through is steel, not a freaking cocktail straw. I've posted a bit of HF stuff I use and like on a diy basis mostly but I'll never buy or own a HF welder.

 

[gstrom99]

I've posted a bit of HF stuff I use and like on a diy basis mostly but I'll never buy or own a HF welder.

Same here. I have a bunch of HF stuff that work great, or at least "good enuff", but welding something (usually important) should never be "good enuff". If it's worth welding, it needs to be fixed right.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Their welder prices are silly now, the Titanium welders are a far cry from the blue or black versions of old... when I was broke I made a 100A Chicago Electric flux core welder work and once I figured it out it did just fine but you had to know that welder and ignore normal settings... I ONLY had good luck with .035" wire, too much voltage for .030" wire... but you could do whatever with that, need to weld up a rusty muffler? go to the min and crank the wire speed up, need to weld single pass on 1/8"? go to max and crank the wire speed down... like I said, backward, but it worked when I didn't have any other options... is it worth $150? no, I paid $50 from a coworker and got more than my money out of it. For the money the Titanium MIG 170 isn't bad though, I've beat the SNOT out of mine and it keeps asking for more, all the welds sound like cooking bacon. But if in the market check the used market first...

I love my US General boxes, other than the latches on the 56" box, I could live without those... for the money I'd probably go with the Husky as two of my friends did in the last couple years, same money with more better features and seems same metal thickness, unless you are dead set on a color other than black...

 

[Gregster613]

rangerfredbob, Where did your friends find/buy the Husky boxes? Home Depot or Lowes? I'll go look at some if so. Thanks.

 

[California]

Wow - I see a lot of great Black Friday discounts on welders at Amazon. CamelCamelCamel shows lowest prices ever, by a substantial margin, on ones I looked at.

 

[sea2summit]

I generally hate most HF tools, but the 4 ton Daytona jack is very well built and works well. Not a problem lifting the front or rear axle on my F450.

That's what I use for my F800 as well, amazing jack for the price.

 

[jjeff]

Their welder prices are silly now, the Titanium welders are a far cry from the blue or black versions of old... when I was broke I made a 100A Chicago Electric flux core welder work and once I figured it out it did just fine but you had to know that welder and ignore normal settings... I ONLY had good luck with .035" wire, too much voltage for .030" wire... but you could do whatever with that, need to weld up a rusty muffler? go to the min and crank the wire speed up, need to weld single pass on 1/8"? go to max and crank the wire speed down... like I said, backward, but it worked when I didn't have any other options... is it worth $150? no, I paid $50 from a coworker and got more than my money out of it. For the money the Titanium MIG 170 isn't bad though, I've beat the SNOT out of mine and it keeps asking for more, all the welds sound like cooking bacon. But if in the market check the used market first...

I love my US General boxes, other than the latches on the 56" box, I could live without those... for the money I'd probably go with the Husky as two of my friends did in the last couple years, same money with more better features and seems same metal thickness, unless you are dead set on a color other than black...

Not saying hf welders can't weld, I was saying you need to treat some of the darn things like fine china. Repeat of a comparison I probably mentioned before. I accidentally ran over the lead to torch on a cheaper Home Depot big box store Lincoln mig with about a 3.5 k forklift to my disbelief it still shot wire out of it like nothing happened. To me anyway the higher quality components used on some brand-name recognized tools with more than 2 moving parts is worth the extra cost. Plus imho if your just learning to weld the extra cost if you can afford it is worth it. Not to mention resale if you ever upgrade. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[newbury]

Wow - I see a lot of great Black Friday discounts on welders at Amazon. CamelCamelCamel shows lowest prices ever, by a substantial margin, on ones I looked at.

Post links please.
/edit
I bought a YESWELDER Digital MIG-205DS MIG for $319 (after $70 coupon) on Oct 25th, now it's only marked down to $329.
For some reason CCC shows "We can't find data for the requested product"

 

[jjeff]

Wow - I see a lot of great Black Friday discounts on welders at Amazon. CamelCamelCamel shows lowest prices ever, by a substantial margin, on ones I looked at.

Whoa some of those 3in 1s on Amazon look to good to be true at that price, haven't looked at welders in quite awhile but if I can't even pronounce the welder manufacturers name I'll pass.

 

[jjeff]

Here's a 200 amp $hitbox??
3 in 1 for less than $200 on Amazon with prime.