<VV> Mig welder

[Bryan Blackwell]

On Feb 4, 2015, at 6:10 PM, Rnojunkmail at aol.com via VirtualVairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org> wrote:
> 
> I know it sounds amateurish, but for the money, if you don't use it too often, HARBOR FREIGHT is the way to go. I bought a 65 fred flinstone monza and mig welded 4 clarks floors, trunk holes, and quarter panels. With a 20% off coupon it cost 185. Six months later I'm still using it. It's a good store to patronize, but you have to live nearby in order to keep returniing the tools that break. They're good about exchanges

Sometimes it takes a little prodding to get the light bulb to come on in my head :-)

So the unit I'm using now I got from HF many moons ago.  I did a fair amount of "ok" level welding with it.  After reflecting on my recent issues, it dawned on me that it used to work pretty well, and that's the frustration - I do kinda suck as a weldor, but not *this* badly.

In particular, the wire drive doesn't quite seem to work as it should, needless to say you get nasty welds when that happens.  What I finally realized is I've reached the "chuck it and buy a new one" part of the cycle.  I'd care to bet that the quality of even the HF stuff has gone up considerably, but of course there is the parts issue - I'm going to toss this one where I could likely fix a better unit.

Anyway, thanks for the thoughts on the subject.  I have a little time to the next project, so I can shop around and decide.  Maybe a screaming deal on a Miller will present itself on CL :-)

--Bryan

Bryan Blackwell | Springfield, Va. | bryan at skiblack.com | http://autoxer.skiblack.com/  
  Corvairs: '62 700 Wagon, '64 Greenbrier, '65 Corsa, '66 Corsa
  '69 Road Runner, '99 Neon R/T, '00 Miata SE, '09 Ford F-150
"Why do something if you're not going to obsess about it?"