Back on the road

[michael whiteman]

My friend purchased a Harbor Freight tig welder and we use it consistently on our bike frames. There's a lot more control when you feed the wire rod with your left hand. Also, you can constantly vary the heat with the foot pedal which is an important feature. I always thought stick welders were for farm equipment.

 

[darwin]

If you buy the cheapo 80amp and get good at welding frames then when you need it for heavier stuff you have regrets, my experience. Not that I ever was good at bike frames. We're talking 110v here not 240v. The one I had would barely do a good burn on 1/8th in plate using a stick.

 

[Chainlube]

If you buy the cheapo 80amp and get good at welding frames then when you need it for heavier stuff you have regrets, my experience. Not that I ever was good at bike frames. We're talking 110v here not 240v. The one I had would barely do a good burn on 1/8th in plate using a stick.

I have a little inverter type welder, 180amp. It does flux, mig and stick, I just change which hole on the front I put the ground in, the simplest change over. I just use it for mig though.

 

[Karl Snarl]

You think a harbor freight 110 volt stick welder is good enough for bike frames?

I took welding for 2 years in high school, 30 years ago. Haven't welded since. We did gas and stick.

A harbor freight 110 amp welder is more than enough for bike frames. It will burn a hole through easy as pie. You want to keep your amperage down to around 60 amps or so when welding a bike frame. Stuff is thin, and with a stick welder you might need to tack and go, tack and go to let it cool some between metal depositing.

 

[Freddy Snottgrass]

My friend purchased a Harbor Freight tig welder and we use it consistently on our bike frames. There's a lot more control when you feed the wire rod with your left hand. Also, you can constantly vary the heat with the foot pedal which is an important feature. I always thought stick welders were for farm equipment.

Well now that I think of it, it was an agricultural welding class