HF is phasing these out in favor of the new Titanium stick welder, so I took advantage of the $129 clearance price and grabbed one, along with some 1/16" and 3/32" welding rods. Had a 30% coupon that knocked the price down on the welding rods (coupon was for under $10 items). Did a couple of projects so far and have been pretty happy with the results. As long as you don't ask too much of it, it works and produces neat welds. Got pretty comfortable welding 1/8" stock with it. Struggled a bit more with 3/16" stock, and the 3/32" rods are tough to keep from sticking, but it does work. The inverter setup does a decent job of minimizing spatter. Produces neater welds than the Chicago Electric MIG welder I've had for a while now. The MIG welder is capable of welding heavier stuff, but the downside is sloppy welds from the inevitable the splatter of the AC current. It's also insanely portable. It's a tiny little box, smaller than a 2 slice toaster. Definitely worth having around.
Now find myself wanting to move up the welder food chain. Seriously considering selling off my first AC flux welder, and getting the Titanium 125 or the Titanium 140. The reviews are really good, and flux with DC would be a huge help for what I've been doing. Welding madness!
Follow up: The day I went to buy one of the Titaniums, pretty much everything was out of stock. Went back to the drawingboard, and was convinced that I should do as much stick welding as possible, and save other types of welding down the road, after I had mastered stick welding. Ended up buying an Amigo 200A 110/220v inveter stick welder. Turned out to be a great purchase, and I've done a lot of welding over the last six months with it. Ran a dedicated 220v/20A circuit to my garage (that was a project in and of itself). My first major project was a log arch for hauling logs to my new sawmill (more on that in another post). I converted an old Lachmiller category 1 dirt scoop into this log arch, using 2" square tubing for most of the rest of the structure. Really improved my stock welding skills with this project and the new machine.
