So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

Here are some quick pics i took; keep in mind while looking at them i have ZERO tig experience and pretty much just picked up and ran with this after reading only a few articles on the net and it a few books. The uglyness is mostly the weldor not the welder. Cleaning and preperation of the metal was minimal at best; i mostly used just a wire brush; and on the mild steel in the last pic i didnt even bother knocking off the aluminum coating; with more practice and real prep i know this little welder will perform.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZkMzF5NTQx.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZkMzF5NTQx.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZkMzF5NTQx.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZkMzF5NTQx.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/we...ZkMzF5NTQx.jpg

Overall i'm quite impressed with this little machine; we nicknamed it the "Rescue Toaster" after an episode of sealab 2021. My friend saw it and didnt think it was worth a ---- then i showed him and he used it and named it that :P
It's really not a bad machine; the scratch start is annoying but i've got to the point where i can start the arc with minimal effort and not get the tungsten stuck. It has a built in gas valve so you dont need to worry about opening and closing the valve on the torch and it has a 2 second post flow once you stop the arc.

For $200 i couldn't be happier with it

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

awesome thats really good to know. I was leaning more toward a smiley tools one, i hear you can add a pedal to em.

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

thats what i've heard too; i bought this because i have a project coming up that should pay for itself :) and if it goes better than I hope then i'll probably buy one of smiley's 200 amp ac/dc welders when he gets some more in.

Even if you can't hook up a pedal to the welder you can take it apart and figure out how the pot works controlling amps and build a pedal out of that ;) Thats what i'd do if it turns out untrue I mean come'on we're hmt ffs :D

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

i emailed him about it and you can get a pedal for it but it is only an on/off function. you cant control the power. ut if you set it up right it should work great

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

wtf is a scratch start?
You have to touch off the metal to make an arc?

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

correct sir

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

My smiley tools unit has a start button on the tig torch. Its not scratch start.

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

how does it have a button start. how does this work, do you know?

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

the mitec (smiley just put a smiley tools sticker over the mitec label) tig welder uses high frequency start. it superimposes a high frequency high voltage signal on top of the weld circuit and acts as a pilot arc for the tig; that way you dont have to touch the tungsten to the metal to start the arc.

I haven't ever used a welder w/ it but I imagine its a very handy feature. The scratch start isn't so bad; if you stick the tungsten it'll probably break or erode the tip but if you're careful it won't stick and won't erode the tungsten as much. Scratch start still erodes the tungsten but its not too bad.

I can't complain for a $200 welder :)

Re: So I bought a harbor freight tig welder (pics inside)
 

Oh i didnt know it had HF.