Thread: Anyone use low budget tig welders?

As the holiday is upon us, my girl is pressing me about what I want for xmas since I'm not easy to buy shit for, lol.

Anyone have experience with the Harbor Freight tig welders? They always run specials where she can get the 400$ tig welder 20% off or more. I've read good and bad. Its been a while since I welded since school where we would weld random shit. I am looking for something to just play with over the winter. Not trying to become a master fabricator. Mainly exhaust shit, etc. Not sure if the harbor freight can do aluminum.

Another option for 500$ is the Eastwood tig 200 welder but I am trying to not have her drop too much on me.

Open to opinions but would prefer to hear from people with experience with them. Don't want to hear "Oh its Harbor Freight, its junk" or that it will fail. I have one local and they always stand behind their warranty so not worried. Like I said, it will be more of a toy than anything.

My man don't do it try to find a good one first spend the money trust me on this one

I have had the $90 HF flux core wire welder for years, it works great for little stuff and has proven surprisingly reliable. That said, I would have a hard time trusting a TIG from HF.

^Yeah, I've tried the 90amp flux core just for tacking shit in place to bring to a welder but hated it lol. I figured the tig might do alright since it has a hook up for the argon. Steve, you used one? I haven't seen any good name brand ones come up for sale around me. Another thing is I'm not sending my girl off to meet a random guy off craigslist to buy me a welder, lol. I've seen build threads and videos online where people did good work with them. The Eastwood tig 200 tig welder definitely seems like a good deal for what I would use it for.

I have used it and it works out ok but my advice is go with hobart.

http://www.sr20-forum.com/tools/70551-affordable-tig-welder-new-promo-ahp-tools.html

idk how much she is dropping on your sorry ass but this looks good haha

^Looks good. Not sure if I can justify the price for what I would need it for though. It would be more of something that will sit on the side until it has a use, lol. Not planning to weld that much shit. Maybe modify a header/ exhaust setup for one of my boys who recently bought a B13 and went VE.

Miller diversion bro

^I wish. At this point I am not really planning on dropping that much. May have her skip out on a welder and get me tools or something for the b13. I am leaning towards the Eastwood ac/dc unit. 850$ shipped. Its more than I would like to spend but should be a decent start from what I've read. Found guys on other forums who used them for their projects with good results. I looked at the miller but 1,600$ is rough right now. Still have about 5-6K to complete my classic so car spending funds will be strapped.

screw the eastwood go with the one i posted for the same price