Grassroots welding Kit

I saw one of these in my local Home Depot tonight and wanted to find out what you guys think about it.

http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-136639/Detail

I've taken a beginners welding class about 10yrs ago, but don't remember much. Not having a shop yet, or adequate power source is this item worth buying for basic welding projects?

RUN from that unit. It doesn't put out the heat at all.

You can buy a cheap chinese torch set (I have one, a victor copy) for about $150.00 and bottle rentals go for about $10.00 per month for a real oxy/acetylene rig.

Shawn

I think I'm looking for something alittle cheaper as it won't get much use. Do you have a brand for the model you have?

That kit is mostly for bronze and other very soft metals.

The Oxy rig is only about $30 more than the Bernz-O-Matic setup in the link you posted. Trans is absolutely correct, that kit will NOT get the heat high enough to "weld" mild steel of any thickness.

My bad. Its late and I wasn't clear. The setup I found was only $50 at Home Depot. I'll keep looking though. Any suggestions for units under $80? Or am I being too cheap and expecting too much?

To do any welding of mild steel, you're probably being too cheap and expecting too much.

This is the absolute worst welder available for purchase anywhere:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=55525

This is a passable Oxy/Acetalene rig that can easily be used to weld:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92496

The problem with welding is that you'll ultimately spend more on necessary accessories and consumables than you'll spend on the welder itself.

Once you buy a welding jacket, gloves, helmet, wire and C25 gas, you'll easily double the cost of a decent welder.

In this economy, you're better off scouring Craigslist for a reputable machine to get good quality AND save yourself some money.

I found this in about 5 seconds:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tls/1078596421.html

I own the "absolute worst" welder, you can have it for $50.00 plus shipping.

I also own a very good buzz box and a very good miller mini-mig.

Stay away from the "absolute worst".

The victor style kit I have is the same as the Harbor Freight kit above, it's passable and more than enough for a home user.

I'd recommend ~50 cube cylinders for home use, they're small and light enough to be portable but not so small you run out of gas right away when using the rosebud.

Shawn

i have the HF welder 110 non-gas welder.. I can make some very decent welds with it.

I have to run 220 to the garage still.. Then I can break out the big arc welder :)

ww wrote: This is a passable Oxy/Acetalene rig that can easily be used to weld: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92496

I'll start my question by saying I don't own a welder and don't know the first think about welders.

Where is a good place to buy/rent the tanks for a set up like this? Also, is it better to rent the tanks or buy if you can find a good price on used tanks?

Thanks for all the info. I don't have anywhere that I can run 220 right now, that's why I was considering gas. Is that suitable for a beginner? We spent alot of time mig welding in the class( it was a welding class for the engineering degree I was working on at the time ), so I remember that the most but I'm sure that I can pick it up. I've seen mostly mig setups on our craigslist, not gas. I'll check again today.

If you don't have any knowledge about welding and have no equipment, take a welding course at a community college or Vo Tech. This will svae you a lot of aggravation and expense. You will learn the basics the right way, you will get a good idea what kind of welder you want to use, and probably meet some interesting people. Probably won't pick up any chicks, though.

That kit you show above is ok if you only need to cut thin sheetmetal and you are in a place w/o a real torch and there is no electricity (like a pick-n-pull junkyard grabbing a quarter panel). The bottle will last approx. 5 minutes. Otherwise it is a waste of money.

Yea, that kit shown is a waste of money. The worst of it is the oxygen bottles are very expensive and last minutes, as walterj sez.

I have the 110V version of that HF MIG welder and it works for me. Don't expect to do 3/8" steel, and 1/4" is probably beyond it's capabilities besides tacking, but for 16ga, it's fine. I used a Hobart Handler once on the road and my HF beats that one hands-down. I will also note that my HF MIG welder is 15 years old and was made in Italy and the ones they sell today are Chinese.

I also have a 230 amp Miller AC SMAW box that I use for anything 1/4" and up and a torch set.

I've got a HF 110v mig. It works fine & has held up for the last 3-years without issue. You can weld 1/4" steel fine, but it only has a 10% duty cycle on full power, which gets annoying if you much to weld.

Someday I'll get another pole with 220v dropped to my garage & get a real mig, but I've been happy with this one for now.

Hey Pete, I've welded 1/4" with it, but I find it to be pretty much at the limit and the big welded handles 1/4" and up very easy. I had that same duty cycle issue too. I completely resolved it like this: Take a 110V muffin fan salvaged from some electronic equipment. I think the one I used was 6". Place it inside at the back of the box blowing out. Wire it in to the power switch. I've never had another thermal overload since. Before I mounted it inside and wired it to the switch, I just layed it against the outside of the box at the back and ran an extension cord to the plug. Worked fine. Without the fan, I found I could only weld about 3" at a time at full power.

Thanks for all the info. I needed to make a cheap vw spring compressor and found one online that required minor welding. I'll do more research b/4 picking up the welding equip. I can do w/o it for now. Anybody have a compressor for the vw OHC engines for sale?

Back around 1978-1979 my buddy wanted to do some brazing of body panels and bought some wierd setup from Kmart.

You had a cylinder that opened on one end and you started some charcoal piece that smoked and you quickly shut the cylinder and connected the hose. the other hose connected to propane and mixed with the fumes to burn hotter?

I still laugh at how stupid this setup was. I think he then invested in a real set of oxy/act tanks.

petegossett wrote: I've got a HF 110v mig. It works fine & has held up for the last 3-years without issue. You can weld 1/4" steel fine, but it only has a 10% duty cycle on full power, which gets annoying if you much to weld. Someday I'll get another pole with 220v dropped to my garage & get a *real* mig, but I've been happy with this one for now.

Unless your house was built before the 50's and never upgraded since, it's unlikely you've only got a single pole coming to your house. Most residential service from the late 60's on have 100amp 2 pole service or they wouldn't be able to run an electric clothes dryer or air conditioner.

If you've got the service, it's only a matter of getting a 230v breaker and running 10ga wire to a new outlet.

I added 220v circuits for my UPS, MIG/TIG, Garage A/C and 2-post Rotary Lift (not yet installed...damn it!)

WW

Dr. Hess wrote: I used a Hobart Handler once on the road and my HF beats that one hands-down. I will also note that my HF MIG welder is 15 years old and was made in Italy and the ones they sell today are Chinese.

Hess,

That was probably a great buy back in the day. Unfortunately, HF is now stocked with virtually entirely Chinese manufactured products with huge variations in build quality.

Their deep sockets I like, because they're extremely over built and I can abuse the hell out of them, but they don't have the precision of a MAC, Matco, Snap-On or even a Cornwell piece.

Their electronics leave a lot to be desired. You can probably limp by with a current HF MIG for cheap, but you'll be making a lot of compromises and dealing with some frustration as a beginner if you can't figure out if the problem is your technique or your equipment. I still think getting a used Lincoln, Hobart or Miller off Craigslist is a better way to go if you need to preserve the cash during these crazy economic times.

WW

That's a MAPP gas torch. I have one exactly like it, it's OK for brazing small stuff but that's about it.

Jensenman wrote: That's a MAPP gas torch. I have one exactly like it, it's OK for brazing small stuff but that's about it.

It wasn't like this................... It was made by Bernzomatic though. One was a cylinder of gas and the other had charcoal tablets you burned inside a small tank. It was really odd...

Woops, sorry. I was referring to the OP's link to the Home Depot thing.

jwdmotorsports wrote:

ww wrote: This is a passable Oxy/Acetalene rig that can easily be used to weld: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92496

I'll start my question by saying I don't own a welder and don't know the first think about welders. Where is a good place to buy/rent the tanks for a set up like this? Also, is it better to rent the tanks or buy if you can find a good price on used tanks?

It's easy to find good deals on tanks if your patient. I bought my tanks off craigslist and have them filled at a local welding supply store. Tractor supply also fills cylinders. They are a little more expensive, but I've used them on the weekends when other places were closed.

ww wrote:

petegossett wrote:> Someday I'll get another pole with 220v dropped to my garage & get a *real* mig, but I've been happy with this one for now.

Unless your house was built before the 50's and never upgraded since, it's unlikely you've only got a single pole coming to your house. Most residential service from the late 60's on have 100amp 2 pole service or they wouldn't be able to run an electric clothes dryer or air conirioner.

Unfortunately, the house was built in 1878 & wired sometime in the late 70's with 60-amp service, 20 of which are routed underground to the garage. My plan is to drop 100-amps to the garage someday.