Hand held portable welder?

[callbob]

Ok I get the gimmick but…. I don’t do hardly any welding, haven’t done any really since high school back when I walked 5 miles to school in the snow uphill both ways. So I learned on a stick welder, this was was before mig and tig. So I just saw an add for a Saker hand held. Looked on Amazon and there are a bunch of them that all look alike, same spiel . Has anybody used one or know anything about them? Real time usage not what a professional welder said. Just thinking about it for hobby welding around the house and shop for a Christmas present for sil.

 

[Bajastu]

Don't waste your money. Buy yourself a used Miller, Hobart, or Lincoln 135 / 145 mig welder. Stick welding has little value these days unless it's structural. Even in the heavy equipment world we use Flux-cored mig wire feeders.

A small mig welder with 75/25 gas will make your smaller home projects so much cleaner.

I keep a small Lincoln 135 mig welder loaded with .035 flux-cored just to weld small stuff outside. It works pretty good. Inside the shop, I have a Miller 211 mig welder loaded up with .035 & 75/25 mix. Then again, I mostly just tig weld everything with my Miller Syncrowave 250DX.

 

[monkeyswrench]

I have a small Lincoln 125. It runs pretty comfortable for most small stuff on a 20a circuit. It's a wire feed, and I switch between gas and Flux core pretty often. She isn't light though.

The small 110 stick welders I have used, but they just don't have the "oomph" of an old "Tombstone". Probably good for tabs, ornamental fence work and such. I've used a couple like that for trail repairs. No matter what, always came out more "farm weld" than I liked, but made it back.

A 110v wire feed is much easier to get a good look with, especially on smaller items. A 10" stinger, while holding a work piece with pliers, amplifies how unstable your hands are.

 

[Gramps]

I have a Hobart 140 that is great for occasional use

https://www.northerntool.com/products/hobart-handler-140-flux-cored-mig-welder-transformer-115v-25-140-amp-output-model-500559-15165

 

[lbhsbz]

I've seen videos (real ones, not marketing wank) of those little hand held gun POS stick welders and they're pathetic at best....save your money.

Even this little POS is a very capable machine for thinner sub 1/8" material (if it works right). https://www.harborfreight.com/flux-125-welder-57798.html. Patching wrought iron fences and fixing little shit is where this thing shines. Back in my younger days, I even built a T-bucket roadster with one of this (1/8 wall round tube frame). It a bit messy for body work, being flux core, but if you have the patience...it'll get it done.

A 120A class lincoln, hobart, or miller 120V machine (I'm not a miller fan....Lincoln is my go to) is 30 times better than any of these $100 specials, for only about 4 times the price....and you'll end up buying one anyway, so you might as well just buy it outta the gate.

 

[DLC]

I have 2 Hobarts mig welders

Older 110 Hobart Handler 135
250 Hobart Iron man

Both work great! I use the smaller 110 more often

 

[BHC Vic]

@Big B Hova to the white courtesy phone

 

[Mini Kat]

I run my Miller 211 Millermatic dual voltage with gas excellent welder. You could do aluminum just swap out the gas. You can weld pretty much anything. You could change the wire with flux cord Run 110 as just a little buzz box if you like.

 

[callbob]

Well we have a small mig already but this just looked handy as hell for no more than we weld.

 

[Elgato]

A small Lincoln 110 is great for small jobs around the house. Will probably do 95% of anything you come up against. With heavy industrial welding stick is king for the most part.

 

[mjc]

I have seen Matt's Offroad Recovery use them to fix broken stuff that he needs to tow out. Seems good for that use.

 

[McKay]

We have 4 or 5 different stick and mig welders of different sizes. Recently picked up a battery powered welder made by Karnage out of Nevada if I remember right. That thing is so slick for small little quick projects. Can’t believe they work as well as they do. About the size of a small shoe box. MiG gun and cable all roll up inside of it too. Uses 2lb spools of .030 flux core.

 

[srttruck]

I have a pretty nice miller machine, I bought a harbor frieght titanium 125 Flux core. I'll be honest, for junk around the house, fences, angle iron stuff, etc. I'll grab that before I pull out the miller. Just to let let people know, I'm not building tatum or funco cars with it. Or docks where hurricanes strike often, or speed utvs. Or the house that was graciously provided for the people who's house burned down in havasu. Just a let's stick it together and move on, ya it runs off a honda 2000 btw.

 

[Mandelon]

I bought a green Titanium Harbor Freight welder for Xmas. It's paid for itself in fence and hand rail repairs. Works damn well. Lots of reviews and demo videos on Youtube.

 

[monkeyswrench]

We have 4 or 5 different stick and mig welders of different sizes. Recently picked up a battery powered welder made by Karnage out of Nevada if I remember right. That thing is so slick for small little quick projects. Can’t believe they work as well as they do. About the size of a small shoe box. MiG gun and cable all roll up inside of it too. Uses 2lb spools of .030 flux core.

I just looked those up. Not cheap, but not bad for what it could do. That's now on my tool wish list...never heard of them before. Lot's of times I wish I had a wire feed, mostly for pulling races or broken bolts...jobs I wasn't expecting to snowball.

 

[Big B Hova]

Ok I get the gimmick but…. I don’t do hardly any welding, haven’t done any really since high school back when I walked 5 miles to school in the snow uphill both ways. So I learned on a stick welder, this was was before mig and tig. So I just saw an add for a Saker hand held. Looked on Amazon and there are a bunch of them that all look alike, same spiel . Has anybody used one or know anything about them? Real time usage not what a professional welder said. Just thinking about it for hobby welding around the house and shop for a Christmas present for sil.

Get the lincoln 90. Bad ass lil welder. I use mine between work and home. Up to 3/16" thick metal I believe.

Works great

 

[RadMan]

When I bought my Miller Mig I shopped for 240 volt single phase power supply and plug it into my dryer outlet. Worked for me as mine was in the garage.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

No electricity required...

 

[coolchange]

No electricity required...

View attachment 1438038

Built a lot of shit with a gas axe.
Airplanes to trailers.

 

[JDKRXW]

No electricity required...

View attachment 1438038

And a coat hanger will work as filler in a pinch.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

And a coat hanger will work as filler in a pinch.

Built a gate once using that method.

 

[coolchange]

And a coat hanger will work as filler in a pinch.

In a pinch. Coat hangers are high carbon

 

[DLC]

I always thought one if these would be cool to have on my jeep!

 

[Sportin' Wood]

I always thought one if these would be cool to have on my jeep!

View attachment 1438122 View attachment 1438123 View attachment 1438124

Pat and more so his son Max were good friends to me when I was in he OffRoad industry. I found his front license plate in the Hammers trails and held it ransom for years before trading it back in Moab for a purple pimp hat at a GrandPa Grimes Garage party. A good reason I don't drink these days.

I have a lower cost competitor to this product called a ReadyWelder, that was basically a plastic spool gun that you connected to a couple batteries in series. I liked the cost and flexibility better since you rarely need to weld something on the trail. That ReadyWelder saved a few people at the Hammers, Rubicon and Moab. That Premier Power Welder is a good product, I've never heard a complaint.

 

[callbob]

Had one of those on an old cj I bought. Didn’t have the leads or the ho alternator. Buddy bought a portable welder at Easter jeep safari . I think it hooked to the battery but it’s been awhile and I have crs.

 

[callbob]

Had a pickup painted in Algondones mex for step son many years ago. Got a discount for bringing the guy a shit load of wire hangers.

 

[Ol Man]

I have a Premier in my buggy. Great product. Have welded lots of trail breaks, including my own rig.

A couple of people in my club have Ready Welders and they work well also.

 

[Mini Kat]

I just saw this pop up on my Facebook they look like they have a stick welder by Lincoln and have a MIG wire feed by Lincoln.

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[traquer]

Those cheap chinese welders on Amazon for $100 are surprisingly good for thin stuff, at least that's what the welders on youtube say. They got all the big Syncrowaves in the background when they review these little chitty ones. But maybe they're just trying to get some affiliate commisions on the side, who knows..?