Homestead mailing list

[Rob <becida AT comcast.net>]

I have to agree about the auto darking helmet, that made a WORLD of 
difference in my learning.
I did a survey on the Vanagon list about the Harbor Freight auto 
darking helmet and no one who was using it (several people) had 
anything bad to say about it.

A welder is one of those tools that I had to think about, if it's a 
once in awhile tool (once I learn to weld) a Harbor Freight welder 
would work fine. If I turn out to use it more than that or get into a 
big project then a better quality would have been the way to go.
That gets back to Don's advice about getting the best you can afford. 
HF is good for a lot of things, USUALLY low usage or low budget 
(right now) tools. A wire welder might fit that criteria or give to a 
price range to look for a used 'brand name' one.

Rob
becida AT comcast.net



 At  12/23/2008 11:03 AM,Don  Bowen wrote:
> > My biggest suggestion, no matter what kind of welder/welding you decide
> > on, is to buy an auto-darkening welding helmet.
>
> They are nice but don't go for the cheapest ones.  The response speed on
> many of the cheaper ones is a bit low.  Another problem is that you may not
> be able to get replacement covers or batteries in the future.  I have a
> decent quality auto darkening and at the time I also bought a kit with
> several plastic covers so I will always have one on hand.
>
> > Inexpensive wire welder
> > http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=94056
> >
> > Inexpensive helmet
> > http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91214
>
> I am not a fan of the cheap Chinese junk sold by HF.  On a wire feed the
> mechanism is very important.  So far from what I have seen the feed on the
> units sold by HF does not look very good and I have been told that they are
> prone to snarls.  Like any tool, buy the best you can afford so it will
> provide good service and you only have to buy it once.
>
> Don Bowen  KI6DIU
> http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html