Harbor Freight

[marhar]

I am a beginner; I can stick two pieces of metal together but I do not run a nice uniform bead. Has anyone bought and used HF sticks? How did they do?

 

[5030]

Not a clue. If I were you I'd get Lincoln sticks. I do know that the wire HF sells is INE which is Itallian made and dang good wire.

 

[Hay Dude]

I am a beginner; I can stick two pieces of metal together but I do not run a nice uniform bead. Has anyone bought and used HF sticks? How did they do?

I’ve used them before. They’re ok in a pinch, but not a go to stick.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I am a beginner; I can stick two pieces of metal together but I do not run a nice uniform bead. Has anyone bought and used HF sticks? How did they do?

What about the everlast welders. Seem yo be just a little more than HF.

personal I use a Hobart stickmate dc.

 

[GeneV]

I am a beginner; I can stick two pieces of metal together but I do not run a nice uniform bead. Has anyone bought and used HF sticks? How did they do?

Well I'm a fairly new welder as well, and I don't run nice uniform beads neither....and nearly all I ever welded with are them harbor fright rods.

 

[marhar]

Well I'm a fairly new welder as well, and I don't run nice uniform beads neither....and nearly all I ever welded with are them harbor fright rods.

Right now my skill is the limiting factor, not the type of welding rod I am using. And I am usually welding a small repair not fabricating a piece of equipment. All of that being said I am tempted to used a few HF rods. I have a lot more practice for my skill to exceed the rod's ability.

 

[Sebculb]

I think it's other way around. It takes more skill to make a cheap rod do its thing properly and a name brand rod is more forgiving. Stays lit better, puts down smoother beads, doesn't burn holes randomly as much. I think a cheap Flux coating really makes generic rods more unpredictable.

 

[fatjay]

I bought a HF stick welder and it sticks. Not enough current flows to keep the bead going.

If I were new, I would get a wire feed welder, much easier than stick welders. Even gasless you can still get 3/8" penetration.

90% of my repairs are performed by a lincoln HD 125 gasless wire feed welder from home depot and are faster and easier than any stick welder ever will be.

 

[GeneV]

Right now my skill is the limiting factor, not the type of welding rod I am using. And I am usually welding a small repair not fabricating a piece of equipment. All of that being said I am tempted to used a few HF rods. I have a lot more practice for my skill to exceed the rod's ability.

Their 7018 seem pretty good, the nicest weld I could produce is with that rod. Hard to restart (but that's the nature of the rod), so I've used their 6013 more often.

I tried their 6011, I dunno I think I just suck on that rod, the whip and pause thing throws me off. So I don't really use that rod at all.

More on the 6013...once you stumble on 7014, 6013 is a memory. But harbor freight doesn't carry 7014, so I just ordered on Amazon. And then the other day at Tractor Supply, I wondered to their welding section and OMG but all this 7014 they got!

 

[Sonny580]

Lincoln or Hobart are the best rods I ever used for general purpose welding. as for HF rods,---never tried them, so cant give opinion on them.

 

[5030]

get all my consumables from the local Air products retailer and they have a compressor station where I get all my bottles filled as well.

 

[WranglerX]

90% of your welding problems will be in not doing proper preparations.. Want pretty beads with penetration, practice, practice, practice.... But then I only do MIG....

Then there is this for stick junkies....

What Do the Numbers on a Welding Rod Mean? SMAW & FCAW - WaterWelders

The numbers on a welding rod or roll of wire can tell you a lot about how it should be welded. We discuss them in depth to help you understand and ...

waterwelders.com

 

[5030]

Even with a wire machine, proper prep is tantamount to a proper and physically strong weld. Proper prep is everything, always. The brand of the machine is really inconsequential so long as it can deliver the required current for the method you are using.

 

[alexpops]

I've used the HF sticks. OK ... a little more erratic than Lincolns & the flux (7018) doesn't peel as easily. Probably because of the humidity down here. Better when they are stored bone dry. The HF 6010's don't seem as violent as the Lincoln/Hobart, but penetration seems to be equivalent. For "pretty welds", I use Lincoln on top, for stuff that works, root pass with HF 6010 covered by 7018 of whatever flavor needed for looks. I have found the HF sticks do need the end to be brushed against a file or they don't always restart as easily as Lincolns.

 

[5030]

I rarely stick weld any more unless it's a field repair using my engine drive in the back of the truck. Much prefer welding in the shop today.

 

[arto98607]

Back in 1990 I bought used Lincoln Idealarc SP-150, just like the one in this photo from the web.
It has served me well on all kinds on projects.

Very good welder for steel from 1 mm to 10 mm thickness.

It also came with aluminum welding setup which I have yet to use.

 

[MrEvilPirate]

I am a novice welder, I own a nice hobart mig machine. I broke the thumb on my excavator and thought sticking it would be better since the plate is 1/2".

I bought the Titanium Stick 225 from HF. It is a 120/240V inverter style, I think it goes up to like 180 amps. I bought a couple pounds of their 7018 rod and went to town on some scrap 3/8" steel plate.

After about 12 rods I had the amperage dialed in nice and the slag was peeling off almost by itself as it cooled. Not always, but maybe 1/2 the time.

The machine ran great on my generator. I was able to fix the thumb, I did way more passes than I needed to but I've been at the lift limit of my excavator and nothing has broke or shown signs of cracking. I have never stick welded before.

I found that the HF 7018 put down a really nice bead. I did an excellent job of prepping everything, angle grinder with wire brush as well as grinding a chamfer where the pieces met so I could "infill" a bit on my first pass. The prep is important.

The 7018 was hard to restart, which I guess is the nature of that rod. In between striking arcs I would grind the rod down a bit by rubbing it on concrete or something, this made it real easy to restrike the rod.

Even though duty cycle on the machine is not great, I was able to burn two sticks in a row, in the sun on a hot day, and the thermal protection never tripped. The machine is not what you would want in a fab shop but for repairs in the field or around a farm or something, for the money, I think it is great. It is super light too! Cost is under 300 bucks. Sometimes they are on sale or their discount club card will apply.

 

[yomax4]

Back in 1990 I bought used Lincoln Idealarc SP-150, just like the one in this photo from the web.
It has served me well on all kinds on projects.

Very good welder for steel from 1 mm to 10 mm thickness.

It also came with aluminum welding setup which I have yet to use.



View attachment 756819

Back then I bought a 1989 SP-200 very similar. These were the smoothest transformer machines I have ever ran. Including dozens of other brands from the era and up to now.

 

[Deleted member 371759]

I have the Omnipro 220 welder and have used HF sticks 7018 and 6013 works fine. Its Vulcan branded. I keep the 7018 in a small rod oven so I have no idea how well it performs after sitting around.

 

[GeneV]

I have the Omnipro 220 welder and have used HF sticks 7018 and 6013 works fine. Its Vulcan branded. I keep the 7018 in a small rod oven so I have no idea how well it performs after sitting around.

They're fine out of the oven, I've used them like that plenty enough. They just loose their "low hydrogen" claim, but a dude welding at home doing the usual stuff ain't gonna see much difference.