Chainreaction
New Member
I thought some might like to hear about the $400 tig welder that Harbor Freight has. They also offer 2 $200 models, those don't have too many reviews and I can't imagine a model that cheap being much good. The $400 model has a lot of reviews and a 4.4 star rating.
On Ebay there are quite a few tig's in the $200-$300 range, some of them sound like really great machines for the money. Ahhh but what about warranties and shipping charges? Not so good there, I can imagine paying for shipping a few times and waiting for the Fed Ex man, suddenly that dirt cheap price isn't all that important.
So I bought the HF machine, took it home and it wouldn't work, not unusual for HF stuff. Took the cover off just to see if there was something obvious wrong, I was surprised what how complex and all the stuff inside, nothing like a $99 cheapo mig. Took it back and this time got the 2 year warranty for $79. Man does this thing weld nice, it's worth every penny. Nice smooth arc welding, welded some 1/8 steel to bicycle tubing at low amps. Then the tig, never have used tig before but it was easy to get going on. Beautiful welds. I found a place that sold me a 150 tank for $200, got to shop around for this stuff, another place wanted deposit, yearly fee and a credit check, seriously?
One more thing, get the auto darkening helmet, you'll be 100% better welder instantly, not to mention you won't burn out your eyeballs.
On Ebay there are quite a few tig's in the $200-$300 range, some of them sound like really great machines for the money. Ahhh but what about warranties and shipping charges? Not so good there, I can imagine paying for shipping a few times and waiting for the Fed Ex man, suddenly that dirt cheap price isn't all that important.
So I bought the HF machine, took it home and it wouldn't work, not unusual for HF stuff. Took the cover off just to see if there was something obvious wrong, I was surprised what how complex and all the stuff inside, nothing like a $99 cheapo mig. Took it back and this time got the 2 year warranty for $79. Man does this thing weld nice, it's worth every penny. Nice smooth arc welding, welded some 1/8 steel to bicycle tubing at low amps. Then the tig, never have used tig before but it was easy to get going on. Beautiful welds. I found a place that sold me a 150 tank for $200, got to shop around for this stuff, another place wanted deposit, yearly fee and a credit check, seriously?
One more thing, get the auto darkening helmet, you'll be 100% better welder instantly, not to mention you won't burn out your eyeballs.
