mnchvgs79

ugh, no.

AMDxp2000

Keep in mind this is just to weld a few parts for a spiral stair case toghter.......if i purcahse this house..had an older ass wooden spiral case thats rotted.....for 175 as long as it lasts for the rebuild..hell yea..iam not ploping down 450 dollers for a weekend project.....

mnchvgs79

At least go buy a campbell hausfield or something from home depot, get a brand name.

GaRn

I actually know a few ppl with harbor freight welders, people on HMT.com, but some say they are ok, made manifolds with em etc..

People like me and you aren't looking to make a huge hobby out of this or business/profession, just minor jobs every once in a while

I don't want/need some $500+ welder lol..

I think I am gonna get that Clarke, I would suggest you do the same AMDXP2000, you can get a clark 95 amp gasless for like $150 or so on ebay prolly..

Actually:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Clarke-131E-Arc-...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Clarke-Weld-95e-...QQcmdZViewItem

myclone

Bought one of those the other day... Pretty good welder for the money and you get local service/support if you buy from ARCET over on plantation road.

I tested and reeeeeeally wanted the 250LX but couldnt swallow the price tag on that one. Besides, Mrs myclone came unglued enough when I dragged the 180 home .

HatefulMechanic

did they give you a bottle and some other shit with it? cause i priced one from ARCET in radford, and it was 1755 and they were gonna throw in a bottle of gas too. it is one nice machine, not as good as their big daddy i get to play with (Dynasty 300) but it works DAMN good for being a 180A air cooled.


come on tax check.....

myclone

It was right at 2k for the everything including a cart but no bottle. I purchased my own bottles through them eons ago for use with my MIG and cutting torches so I didnt need to cough up any extra cash for shielding gas.

Being in Floyd youre prolly closer to the burg anyways so if the dealer there can cut you a better deal go for it. I went through the ARCET here since theyre close and I sorta know one of the salesmen there (we're not buds or anything we just share the same hobby).

We've got a Synchrowave 350DX at work that I first learned to TIG with so I scoured the net for more than a year looking for one in my price range that wasnt beat to death but never found anything then work rules changed and I couldnt use their welder anymore so I had to get something. The 180SD will do 99.9% of what I need and the price was something I could live with since it'll prolly be the last welder I buy in my life time unless I trade it in for the bigger 250.

Dunno if ARCET is still doing this but when I was looking they offered me a 90 days same as cash deal (or something along those lines) so you might want to ask em about it. If theyre still doing that deal you could pick one up in a couple weeks and then pay it off in less than 90 days if you file your taxes early enough. I didnt take them up on their offer since I bought mine outright (ouch) but my point is that you can pick one up now if you really need it without waiting on the tax refund.

BTW, if you can afford it pick up the water cooled torch and cooling unit. When Im running the 180 close to WFO on thick aluminum the torch gets HOT since mines an air cooled set up. I dont do much super thick aluminum so I can deal with it for now but if you mess with thicker stuff a lot do yourself a favor and get the water cooling set up. If you dont you'll just have to buy it later trust me...

HatefulMechanic

oh, believe me, i know abooot their 90 days stuff. i am already over 100grand in debt with the house and all, so whats another 1800? i got a few other things to get first, meanwhile i will have to whore out a friends unit at work.


i was thinking about getting the watercooled torch also, its like 300 bucks though if i remember but i do SOME thick shit, not much, but it would be nice for alot of fab time.

new power supply>scratch start though.

V8BRICK

Just wrap a rag around the torch and keep welding!! haha, that's what I did with marshall's 180, but yeah sucks when your tungsten just keeps getting smaller and more balled up into the cup. You have to weld some large pieces of aluminum to heat the torch up, cast manifolds and bellhousings.

scratch start is the bomb, because marshall let me keep it at the house.

and back on topic, get a MIG at least, that flux core crap shouldn't be called welding. It should be called, Intro to BB Making.

GaRn

what about this welder?

http://www.autopn.com/store/pc/viewP...idproduct=2802

the warranty seems pretty good and a 130 amp for the price seems good too