HF 90 amp flux welder?

ametcalf · Feb 26, 2012

I plan to introduce my 11 year old twin granddaughters to welding as soon as the weather warms up. I have an old Lincoln tombstone ac welder that has served me well for close to 40 years. I don't do much welding, mainly just sticking some farm equipment back together when it is needed. This welder what I had planned to use.
A friend gave me a couple of $75 gift certificates for Harbor Freight and I see that they have a 90 amp 110 volt mig welder for about $107 with the freight. I have never done any mig welding, the only welding experience I have is with my old Lincoln. Is buying this little HF mig welder something I should consider or should I stay with my Lincoln?

rhett · Feb 26, 2012

I will suggest using the Gift Certificates for something else. Perhaps a small grinder with spare abrasive disks and some electrodes.

Never bought a HF welder, a friend did and the wire feed was horrible, making it not very user friendly nor a good learning tool.

Learning to Stick Weld, the best lessons taught.

gwdixon · Feb 26, 2012

As a retired teacher my advice is to use something that you already know and can teach/explain when the opportunity arises. If the kids have a question about a problem and the answer is "I don't know" it is counterproductive. (However, there are strains of education that actually utilize that discovery technique. But it is often done with informed guidance.)

FCAW is easier to learn but you will have to learn it first.

Another issue is that after learning stick welding the kids will have a leg up on FCAW if that is the direction they want to go. Use 6013 or 7014 to minimize sticking. Sticking is a universal turn-off to new welders.

If you decided to go with a FCAW, the HF one is "iffy". It could work fine or not. The kids will rapidly lose interest if the machine is balky.

Tractor Supply has a Hobart for about 3X the price and you don't have a gift certificate on top of it all. You will likely find that you get what you pay for.

rankrank1 · Feb 26, 2012

I like Harbor freight for some things, but if that is the welder that I think it is then I would definitely skip it. In short, it puts out AC output which is an absolute "no no" for wire welding. To work correctly: wire welding requires both DC and constant voltage output. AC output is fine for stick welding but not so for wire welding. Stick welding also differs from wire welding in that stick is a constant current process.

There is a thread on "Welding Web" where people have tried to modify those crappy Harbor freight wire feeders by converting them to DC in an effort to get them to work properly. By the time you buy more parts and do the mod you could have bought a better welder.

If you feel you must have a cheap wire feeder then there are much better choices out there for not much more $.

shortthrow50 · Feb 26, 2012

ametcalf said:
I plan to introduce my 11 year old twin granddaughters to welding as soon as the weather warms up. I have an old Lincoln tombstone ac welder that has served me well for close to 40 years. I don't do much welding, mainly just sticking some farm equipment back together when it is needed. This welder what I had planned to use.
A friend gave me a couple of $75 gift certificates for Harbor Freight and I see that they have a 90 amp 110 volt mig welder for about $107 with the freight. I have never done any mig welding, the only welding experience I have is with my old Lincoln. Is buying this little HF mig welder something I should consider or should I stay with my Lincoln?

i bought that unit about a year ago and use it frequently. No problems at all with it for me and welds 1/4 inch just fine. I like the ease of operation with it since i was never a professional welder. Definately easier than the stick welder that i used to borrow from my dad

Low Bucket · Feb 26, 2012

ametcalf said:
I plan to introduce my 11 year old twin granddaughters to welding as soon as the weather warms up. I have an old Lincoln tombstone ac welder that has served me well for close to 40 years. I don't do much welding, mainly just sticking some farm equipment back together when it is needed. This welder what I had planned to use.
A friend gave me a couple of $75 gift certificates for Harbor Freight and I see that they have a 90 amp 110 volt mig welder for about $107 with the freight. I have never done any mig welding, the only welding experience I have is with my old Lincoln. Is buying this little HF mig welder something I should consider or should I stay with my Lincoln?

I say go for it!:thumbsup:- You can't go wrong on that welder for $99.97 (on sale).- A small welder like that is great for welding thin metal.

Here is a link for a 20% off coupon for any single item.- Someone had posted it in the "HF tools that don't suck thread."

Digital Savings- It's good until the 29th of this month.

Just click on the 20% off coupon so you can print it.

Now, Where did your friend get the $75 gift certificates for Harbor Freight? :drool::laughing:

Paul

ametcalf · Feb 26, 2012

Low Bucket said:
Now, Where did your friend get the $75 gift certificates for Harbor Freight? :drool::laughing:

Paul

I think he probably order them on line because they came in the mail. I can ask him if you want.

I appreciate all the feedback, please keep it coming. Spending the gift certificates on something else at harbor freight is not a problem with me as I buy a lot of stuff there. I was just thinking I would get something special that I would not otherwise buy but maybe this welder is not the right product for me.