Sorry, this video isn't more polished. Big change for doing welding videos. I'll have it all down for the next one. Speaking of which, what sort of welding stuff would you like to see?
I want to see a review of the titanium 225 SMAW welder and how it runs 7018, 6010, 6011, and 6013 rods 1/8" and 3/32". There is no videos or information on this welder on TH-cam on how it burns rods.
I’ve been drooling over one of those Titanium Flux core welders! I’m not a pro and I don’t give a flying flip what the “pros” think about my welds. As long as it’s strong, that all that matters to me. I’ll use my grinder and paint to make it purdy! 👍🏼
I was a welder for 38 years. Did most work for Caltrans here in Calif. All we used was flux core 5 times faster than stick welding. If your welder puts out DC then the weld will look better and not to much splatter.
I am new to this welding. Have a Harbor Freight Chicago Flux 125, but have been reluctant to use it. Your video has given me confidence that I can overcome my beginner diy hesitation. Thanks, I intend to follow you and learn more. Be Blessed.
I’ve been welding since 1973, so it’s been a while. What I’ve found over that time is that flux core can give excellent welds. Actually, a lot of structural welding is done with flux core. Yes, flux core, not stick. But, I’ve also found that it’s harder for beginners to weld with MiG than with flux core. MiG is fairly easy, but you still have to learn how to use it. With stick, if you’re doing structural welds, you do have to grind your metal clean before welding. In fact, you always have to clean the material before welding if someone is going to sit on it, lean on it, or be under it. If it’s decorative, it may not matter. My main welder is an ESAB emp 205, and excellent machine. But I occasionally need to weld in one of my shops where I can’t get the ESAB to easily, much less the bottles, and where stick is too dangerous (indoors). So I bought this little welder. Surprisingly, it’s pretty good, within it’s limitations. I don’t find the work clamp (mistakenly usually called a ground clamp) to be an issue for this machine. There isn’t enough amperage for the clamp, with the max at 125A, and with that being used for short periods of time. The machine will shut off from overheating before the clamp becomes hot. Just put the clamp on the work itself if possible, and make sure you use the entire clamp, not just the tip, which many people do. I’ve made some really good welds with the built-in clamp. A better clamp won’t hurt, but this is a low power machine. One important thing. Don’t ever weld on a concrete floor! There’s a chance the concrete will explode. And remember that the tip on this thing is live when the trigger is pressed. If you touch the work with the tip, it can weld to the work. I like the interior button to advance the wire when loading the torch. I don’t like that there are no indications on the wire pressure. There’s no way to notice a number when removing the old spool and putting a new one in, so you have to fiddle. By the way, some companies call flux core gasless MiG. Sorry, there’s no such thing. MiG is MiG, and flux core is flux core. Anyway, I can recommend this for the price. Just don’t think that chicken track globs on metal is a good weld. I see that on channels too much. Go to the pro welding sites, it’s worth it.
I appreciate the warning about welding on concrete! 1 I wanted to extrapolate on, as you said, when the trigger is depressed the wire is live. Harbor Freight has been selling Chicago electric welders for years and years now. If anyone remembers the blue ones, I know for a fact that those are always hot whether or not the trigger is depressed. I'm not sure if that carried over to the flux 90 series that looks much like the flux 125 machine, but it's worthwhile to take a look if unsure as to how your machine is designed
Been a welder for 14 years, flux core works fine, I use .030 to 3/32 on a monthly basis, it's smokey and it has clean up but it welds fine (even meets code) if the settings are correct. Dollar for dollar though I see used century welders for sale cheap all the time and you just can't kill those damn things. The key with 110/120 welders is prep, get all that mill scale off, maybe even bevel your welds if you can (if you can run one pass you can run 3).
Actually speaking from the perspective of a experienced Nuclear Submarine Welder who MIGS everyday, there's a major difference between a good mig welder and a average MIG welder. When you have all types of MT, VT, and X Ray inspections that follow, and you're working in very tighten enclosed spaces with tough angles and joints that need to be welded horizontally vertically and overhead without starts and stops, it takes quite the skilled welder to achieve quality weld.
Absolutely. I did shipyards and hated the confined spaces especially coastguard boats and I have to say given your experience on submarines, x-ray city lol. Good comment.
@@clinttorres2508 No, these guys probably works at the shipyard where submarines comes in for overhaul or repairs...sometimes they have to do haul cuts etc. It's not like you're literally underwater and the seams are coming off or anything in that nature.
Ok, but what’s your point ? This is just a comparison between two inexpensive welders., of course for subs you need top notch welding. Many welders do knock around work, auto body, repairs, etc. Dump truck bodies, these are fine for that
The titanium unit kicks the crap out of the 90 amp welder. Honestly I’ve been really impressed with the titanium’s quality and adjustability for the price. It gives the lincoln equivalent a run for its money in my opinion
I got the titanium 170 not long after they came out and it works very well. I'm not a full time welder but have been welding for over 20 years, I just wanted a machine for the house so I didn't have to hall my projects to work. It has done a fantastic job with everything from 16 gauge to 1/4".
I worked at a blacksmith shop for about 3 years and we installed soooooo many gates and fences with and welded them ALL with a Lincoln 140 with flux wire. Mostly 1/4 metal. Worked great! Cant use gas if it's too windy!
Thank you for this video. I have been doing a lot of repair work since I retired and can't believe how much I enjoy it. There have been a few occasions where welding skills would have come in handy but I figured at 67 years old it wasn't worth trying to learn. After watching your video, and seeing how cheap welders can be, I may give it a try after all. Now I just need to find something that needs welding. Hope bear mating season is just around the corner.
If anyone is truly interested in learning how to weld, start with stick. Learning how to control the arc and the puddle with stick welding will set you up for success when learning other processes. I'm currently attending a welding school and within the next 4 weeks I'll be testing for my AWS D1.1 SMAW Welding Certification. The class I'm enrolled in is specifically for stick however my instructor is amazing and has been letting me try mig along the way. Mig essentially boils down to how well you set the machine up once you already understand the basics of welding. But back on topic, a flux core welder to have at home is never a bad thing! I was looking at the titanium flux core at my local harbor freight and I couldn't believe how tiny it was. If I didn't already have a Miller I would absolutely consider buying one!
Have I thought about doing welding... sure Have I thought about welding all the Walmart carts together... possibly Have I done it .... To be continued. Great video.
I bought one of those cheapo Harbor Freight Chicago Electric welders about two years ago. Haven't fired it up YET! First, I was afraid I would start a fire as I tried to use it between my two sheds (about 10 feet apart). Then there was another issue that took me out of town for almost a year. Anyway, after watching your video (and one or two more from others using the 'cheapo' welder), I'm ready to give it a try. Problem now is, we're covered in snow - and it's 26° out. Nevertheless, your vid has convinced I need to step up and give this a try - before I get too old (I'm 75 now!). Thank you so much.
Go back and watch my "4 projects for under $25" video, all those welds on the wrench lamps were made with the Chicago 125 with the stock wire. It just spatters more BUT i had plenty of seamless welds. Did some preheating on the thicker metal in some spots. I've also done 1/4" plate with a deep bevel to help the penetration
For the guy fixing his mower, the Chicago electric is a good choice, but dont use the wire that comes with it, get a quality wire, also, clean the surface before welding, a good wire brush does wonders, and Red is right, that son of a biscuit is heavy
You have a few things backward, with stick the flux on the outside not inside. Also MIG is DC not AC (unless you are welding aluminum) *** That part about MIG welding on AC is wrong, I left it in so the correction replies make sense****, the Titanium is DC where the old 90 is AC (or at least was). AC spatters more than DC as a rule. DC penetrates better than AC, as a rule. Stick is more commonly AC. Other than aluminum TIG is DC. Somewhat small corrections for this type of video. I agree with your opinions on Flux Core and the Titanium. It works a LOT better than it should at that price point. The slag on stick is often pretty heavy but the slag I get with the Titanium you can brush off with a steel brush. A big plus for fluxcore over TIG for the home gamer is that flux core cares a lot less about clean. It's not as "I don't care" as stick but it will do decently on pretty dirty and junky steel. TIG hates dirt but also really doesn't like junky steel. If you are working with scrap and freebie junk steel you will have a lot of issues with TIG, and very few with fluxcore.
You're correct on him mixing up the two welders in the video. The Titanium Easy-Flux 125 welder he mentioned is actually DC, and the Chicago Electric Flux 125 is actually AC.
I’ve never heard of ac mig welding of aluminum.. every machine I’ve ever used from a crappy garage sale no name mig welder to my Lincoln power wave 450 are dcep or dcen,even for aluminum..stick and tig are either ac or dcen for aluminum ( I don’t really remember, it’s been 25 year since I’ve stick welded aluminum or dc tig welded aluminum..)
@@welding_guy7524 Yep I believe I misspoke about AC MIG, it's been a long time since I used an MIG on aluminum. You will have a bad time TIG welding aluminum on DC because of the oxide layer. I won't say you can't do it because I knew a guy who could gas weld aluminum.
I noticed you mentioned that the Chicago Electric was DC, it's actually AC, according to the Harbor Freight website. The Titanium welder is DC though. You also said that DC is not good - from all the other flux core info I've read/seen, it actually makes cleaner looking welds easier due to the steady flow of direct current. Also I like that the Titanium has several adjustments for voltage (and therefore current), whereas it looks to me like the Chicago Electric 125 only has min and max settings.
You can get a stick welder for that price and learn how to weld. Afterwards if you feel like tig welding you can use a dry scratch start tig setup on your stick welder(dc only). When using that flux core take your time and let the puddle form and try to keep a constant speed. The most important step for any welding process is to clean the material the best you can and take of the mill scale/rust. It takes 2min to clean a piece and 10min to cut out porosity or bad weld. The welding industry does not hate flux we use alot of dual sheild flux core where gas and flux are both used at the same time.picked up a omni pro so far 10/10
I have a small flux core welder. It’s great for tack welding and if it’s clean material it works well. For the novice or beginner these are not bad. If you are doing auto sheet metal these are not bad. I have a box stick welder for anything real serious. The small wire feed is great on 3/16 material. A good beveled edge on the material and a few passes you can get 1/4 up to 3/8 material welded.
The type of wire you use doing multi-pass is important. The GS will become brittle while the 711 will not. Flux core was available for very heavy structural welding for a long time. Electrode negative is used for FCAW vs electrode positive for MIG
Hey Tool Bear! I have been real happy with the little Titanium flux 125, it’s a great smooth little welder. Of course I also like the Titanium 200 and the Omnipro 220 but those welder are out of some people’s price range. I have done quite a few review videos on these machines and the last two welders I mentioned weld just as good as the Millermatic 200 multi process welder but for half the price. Thanks for posting.
Had to wait a few years to get my Everlast after starting with the Chicago Electric 90amp flux-core welder. Helluva jump from $90 to $1200. If starting over, I'd get the Chicago Electric 170amp mig/flux-core welder.
Homestead Fabricator right on! I bet that Everlast is a great machine, it’s really nice to have a good solid welder. I definitely remember committing back and forth on my channel many times on videos 🙂 Take care
@@Mikefestiva, the Everlast is definitely a good machine. The one I have is a seriously heavy-duty homeowner to light industrial welder. Dang thing weighs 50#, a lot less than the Vulcan or the Titanium equivalent. Probably juat built heavier for long-term durability. Am looking forward to updates on how the Titanium welders hold up for you. Trying to get my friend Love2boat92 to upgrade to a Titanium welder.
Welding was the one thing my dad didn't teach me how to do. He know how to do it and did it for the railroad shop. It wasn't him that didn't want to teach me it was me turning 16 when he was able to buy a welder and i already knew everything at 16 years old you know???? LOL Anyway i was going to get the little $99 job for tack welding and small jobs around the house. I got to learn how fist but that will come with just doing it. I think I'll spend a little more and get the middle of the road one now. Thanks for all the work you do in putting out these videos!!
I got the Titanium 170 and used it to put my 03 Ranger frame back together. I used flux core and the only regret I have is I wish I would’ve gotten a multi-pass wire. The Vulcan wire is single pass. So far it’s holding up. I learned about multi-pass after I made the repair. So far been very pleased with it. These DC welders weld smooth as butter and are super portable. It should last me years the way I use it.
Like you said about the wire making the difference, I have seen it first hand. I have never ran anything but Lincoln wire in my 125 or 180 since the first time I tried "Something more affordable"... Many bad words were uttered that day. Friend of mine came over with a Craftsman "?" that ran on 220. He had gotten some .030 Hobart flux core wire. Spit, splatter, splutter, ugly beads, jerky wire feed, adjusted and fooled with it for a while with no improvement. He ran my Lincoln and thought "Oh, it's just the welder". I got mad and stuck partial role of Lincoln .030 flux core on it. Ran a beautiful bead with not a pop to be heard in the sizzle (kinda like when the Titanium was going).
I have the old 90amp and the 125 amp Chicago electric but they both got ruined last week in the flooding we had in Houston. When I get back on my feet again I guess it will be time to upgrade. Both of them I did upgrade the grounding clamps immediately and it did make a significant difference
another tip i used on a frnds flux core welder 15yrs ago use 10 guage wire all we had was a generator and an extension cord worked like sht till i made a cord out of 10 guage wire i just happened to have
I used to have the Chicago electric when it was listed as a 90amp. It was okay. I returned it and a few years later I bought the titanium. It's crazy how much better the titanium is. As a weekend hobbyist (maybe a bit more than that sometimes) the titanium is plenty. I use 110 and it works great. FCAW is great for outdoors as well. A lot of folks are saying start with stick.. I disagree. I think the titanium 125 is very versatile and an awesome "take anywhere" welder. Just my .02 and probably doesn't mean anything. Just ranting.
I JUST bought the Titanium 125 yesterday... the FIRST thing I'm going to weld is a nut to a pair of vise-grips, so I can bolt my ground cable to THAT! I shouldn't have any problems securing a ground!
I had to do some welding in Alaska a few years back out in the middle of nowhere. Used a small 110 flux core machine hooked to a small honda generator...and put out some quality welds. If you can really weld, you can make these little machines work pretty well. They provide a great way for anybody to learn to weld. If you can weld with one of these after putting some time in learning, when you do get a good machine, you'll appreciate it that much more.
@@wizard3z868 I've noticed that with a lot of things, which is what got me interested in buying tools. Working pretty well so far, though sometimes there is a lot of frustration with the learning curve.
@@wizard3z868 just buy the welder ..so many more things you can do with them. practice on scrap until you feel confident....its only exhaust does not have to look great just has to hold....practice more before you try anything structual.
I bought the Titanium and gave the Chicago to a young friend. I put the better clamp on of course to the Titanium. The single best thing you can do is buy good wire. I use the Lincoln and splatter is WAY down and seems to penetrate about 10% better. (maybe the better clamp too?) Just doing body panels and repairs on thicker stuff. The extra money and control of the Titanium is worth it!
@@alcopower5710 No problem. Use the guide on the flip top of the welder to get a general starting point. I've found that a little higher spool speed helps when laying a bead to stop buildups. Very good videos on YT to help first timers as well.
I bought the Chicago 90 amp welder about 3 yrs ago to build a engine hoist, it was ok, it did do the job. I am not a welder either, but I'm a lot better at it now. I kinda messed the first one up and bought another one. I welded to long and the over heat light came on several time when I was welding. Oil well that go with the territory. But I did upgrade to the Titanium 200 unlimited and what a welder, a bit expensive but I did get the 15% off coupon on anything in the store and got the 2 yr warranty to boot with the savings. This thing has not over heated once and I can do some welding and not have to stop to let it cool down. I use the flux core on this, being that I have a lot of wire left from the other welder. I'm building a frame with in a frame HF canopy 10x20 and going to put a hard roof on it! I guess I'm one of those HF nuts! lol. I have a channel here to and have videos on the stuff I build. You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. I have a garage full of HF tools. Have a good one! I've only been following you for a short time but I like your video's !
After 40 years as a pro welder I picked up a Chicago Electric 175 amp (240 volt) very cheap just for home projects. It welded fine but when I had a chance to get a Vulcan MigMax 215 CHEAP I jumped at the chance. It's light years ahead of the Chicago Electric. You had a problem with a lot of dingle berries? The machine was probably set on the wrong polarity. They are often set for MIG welding from the factory (don't know if the 125 amp will MIG) but flux core requires the opposite polarity. You will be surprised at the difference it makes. I've used my Vulcan on 120 volt about half the time and it works great for light welding, up to about 3/16" steel. I would recommend Vulcan to anyone, it welds as well as a multi-thousand dollar machine (up to 200 amps that is). What I really like about the MigMax is it can run .045 wire for heavy duty welding, you don't get THAT with any Chicago Electric, I'm not sure about the larger Titaniums. About learning with stick first? It really doesn't matter if all you are going to do is weld steel with flux core or MIG anyway.
I picked up Harbor Freight Chicago welder 170 wire feed Mig and it works just as good as my Lincoln and it has a Transformer doesn't have Electronics like the other inverter welders. It was the $199 century. I weilded 1/2 inch steel with great penetration but it is a 240 volt 170 amp weilder with a transformer and diods and very heavy. For the price it will last 40 years or more welding every other doy as long as I oil the fan and change the diods as needed.
I started out stick welding mastering that made learning mig and tig real easy that being said flux core has its place a lot of places do dual shield that is flux core and shield gas at the same time.
I am not a welder. That said the I used 90--120 AMP welder. Did ok on mufflers, catalytic converters & lawn mower decks. Took some practice, welds not "pretty" but have held for years. Looks like the clamp is well worth it. The biggest problem I had with this welder is that it just quit. When I squeeze the trigger nothing. This happened to 3 of them. I was able to return 2 of them, got stuck with 1 ( passed the 90 days) The last one is the 120 AMP ( I do not se any difference ) so far so good. I have not done any welding for the last 5 months. So I have to see how this one will hold up. Good explanation & illustrations for the welders.
You might have bad wire feed motors with your welders. Some motors might can be removed, greased up, and put back on the welder and may work fine again.
I'd love to see these cheap boxes used for sheet metal. There are tons of easy sources for scrap sheet metal to throw together quick tool trays and other projects that don't need professional quality welds. I don't know what the newer Chicago Electric boxes are like, but my older one had a horribly short and undersized power cord, I think 6' of 16ga wire. I put about 12' of 10ga on mine right out of the box. The extra length is handy and I'd imagine a fair bit less voltage drop with the thicker wire.
If I were to get a black CE welder, I'd skip the 125 and go with the 170. I have owned one for 6 years now, learning wire welding with it and it's awesome. I also have added an OmniPro 220 and Titanium Easy Flux 125 to it. All great machines. I also have a Lincoln AC225, Everlast iMig200, AHP Alphatig 200X, and Hobart Champion 10,000. The Harbor Freight machines have no trouble keeping up with the name brands! I love all processes.
I love the Chicago electric welder. For a $100 LIGHT DUTY 110v welder it’s great. Audel pocket welding reference is a must read for anyone serious about welding and metal joining
I've had no issue with my CE 125. It's a great practice machine, I AM NOT a welder. If you're learning I've always been a fan of learn on the cheapest junk possible in order to practice in case you don't stick with it or if you just need to use it every now and then. If you can weld with the cheapest flux core chances are if you use a MIG you'll lay good beads instead of just wasting shielding gas.
first you are correct about the ground clamp being a major improvement, but... when you put cable in, you may not get a "tight" grip. & may need to take up a little more space, like a short piece of copper tube that barely fits over the wire end, around 1" long, 1 of my welders the bolt just would not get it tight & a few pulls & it came loose.next a friend had the Chicago version, & I helped him many years back, at first I hated it, but after putting dozens of rolls through it, I became very impressed. we probably did more "structurally" than we should, like fender mounts, light mounts, side rail mounts brackets to hold wiring & break away battery mounts on trailers we built, all trailers were built with a Lincoln AC/DC Tombstone. just accessories were done with the flux core. the tongue jack & spare tire mounts were done with stick. if trailer got them.right now I work at a body shop part time, & I took a "cheap" "China" welder to use instead of rolling heavy shop welder occasionally to building I work in. the cheap welder does so good I would use it in any body shop work doing any body repairs, it is MIG, I use 75/25 gas, run .023 wire, & the MIG gun I replaced with a top quality gun with a lot better switch, & of course a brass ground clamp, I could weld on edge of sheet metal, I use it to replace cab corners, rockers, wheel housings, & general rust panel replacement, originally thanks to buying welder so cheap it was basically free, with a few other items, & had only been on flux its whole life in a muffler shop doing exhaust, I decided to spend the money to see how good I could make it, & approx. $200 on a cheap welder, it welds better than my $800 Lincoln 180 MIG welder, the clamp was $15 ish, the MIG gun was $115, a 12lb spool of wire was $35, and it needed a regulator, a $35 from Harbor Freight, as 1 that came with it had both gauges broke, plus I picked up vacuum hose to use for gas hose, I know, I know, but shop I work at has been using vacuum hose for his gas line on MIG for years & I cheaped out & did the same & it works fineas for comments on torch welding, that's my favorite, but a lost art, & I been debating if I should try doing video of how to torch weld, but it is so much to it & requires so much dedication, & being safety conscious at all times, I don't want to see idiots not listen & hear part & try to go do without understanding, then get hurt, or not have penetration on something structural but think they do because it looks like a "pretty weld" & cause someone to get hurt.
I have the Chicago Electric 90amp, the Chicago Electric 170amp mig/flux-core, and Everlast MTS 211si welder and still see a place for the el cheapo welders. Spending the $90 on the el cheapo welder is not a bad idea. Gives you a good idea if you really want to do welding or not. Got hooked immediately. Had to wait a few years to get my big welder, but is worth it. Am planning on getting the Titanium 125 to tote around for light weight. My Everlast weighs 50 pounds, the Titanium 125 weighs 15. Yeah, going to get that little one for quick repairs outside instead of using stick welding outside unless it is a strength critical weld.
One thing you overlooked in this review, the cheaper welder can take a 10lb roll of wire, the more expensive titanium cannot. 10 lb rolls are waaay cheaper per lb than 2 lb rolls. You end up paying a lot more for your consumable wire with the more expensive welder. 2 lb rolls are about $20 each you can get a 10 lb roll for low $30s
@@joecrisp1938 ebay has several brands I was using blue demon, but it has gone up to $44 I could be wrong about the harbor freight welder holding it, I thought mine was a harbor freight but it's a murdoch store brand metal man welder. just seach for 10 lb flux core wire on ebay. cheapest I saw was 31.83 obo
If you take a piece of copper wire put it between the 2 pieces of metal. Tak each corners, pull the copper wire out & fill in the gap. True 100% penetration
So I bought the Chicago Flux 125 last year on black Friday and it did the job I needed it for. Is the Titanium worth the extra money? Should I sell the Chicago and buy the Titanium?
At the shop all I use is flux. Yeah a lot of people shoot in down put at the end of the day it's perfectly fine for most applications. Like you said grinder and paint are your friends. Great video as always
see all those industrial building made with concrete panels, all the rebar footings and cast in steel all welded with flux core DC, 1/2" all the way up to 1" steel
I replaced the gas shield tip on my Chicago FC welder with a Lincoln tapered tip similar to the one on the Titanium, for about 4 bucks, much easier to weld with.
Just picked this up, with welding pliers, a welding helmet, shield protectors, 4 pair of safety glasses and goggles and welding gloves for less than what I paid for a CLEARANCED Lincoln weldpak HD from home depot, just the machine.
That titanium actually good. But with the roll of lincoln 211 flux core wire. 0.30 thickness. Because of it being 110v. I run this little machine off my 5000watt power inverter. Does good. Only con is the duty cycle. But good for quick fixes and get out of trouble situation.
To be fair i cannot get decent beads with my Chicago electric welder but primarily thats because the 110 volt circuit i tried it on doesnt have enough amps. A machine like this is designed for bonding thin metal together and its great for what its designed for. For thicker steel, it makes sense to get a proper stick welding machine
Great video. I have the Metalman 80 volt stick which works great. And it was on clearance from Tractor Supply for over half of the regular price. I also bought the JobSmart 125 flux core welder. I have not had a chance to unbox and use it. but I am getting there. Flux core is great because the metal does not have to be super clean and you can weld outside. And you don't have to worry about a bottle. Which gets expensive. Thank you for this welding video. God Bless and waiting on the next video.
I actually have a vulcan 220 stick welder, and a titanium 140 at work. both are good solid performers. If you do proper prep work instead of trying to weld mill scale they both do nice work. Frankly on 3/8 inch material I prefer the flux core welder with a .035 hobart wire. Works an absolute treat. Still testing out the vulcan stick as it's new, and I haven't really found the best settings for 7018 electrodes yet.
@@alext8828 Actually did run a 5 pound spool of forney 71T11 a while back. Not the most consistent wire I have ever used. It will more than likely work on a machine with more amperage. The 140 is only a 120 volt machine, so some wire just does not work well with it.
I really liked the Century fc90 (what the titanium copied) but needed to weld 24 gauge car door skins, I got a Klutch welder from northern tool after shopping around at a killer price, flux/gas, I will never intentionally go back to flux, but it has its place 18 gauge to 1/4 with no gas is nice 👍🏻
Can you learn to weld with a flux core welder? Absolutely! Especially these days with the internet and TH-cam. I agree 100% about having a high quality ground clamp no matter what type of electric welding you're doing. High quality flux core wire is important too. My grandpa taught me how to weld back in the 70s using a Lincoln "tombstone" stick welder that was older than me. The first welder that I ever bought (in the early 90s) was a Century 85 amp flux welder. To me, flux welding is basically just stick welding made easier since the machine feeds the electrode (the wire) automatically. You really shouldn't try to lay a straight bead with flux wire. Instead, use a semi-circular motion, crossing over the joint, like you would a stick weld. I used that old Century for years. I actually still have it, even though I put it with the free stuff at my sisters garage sale last year. I even plugged it in and put down a few welds to show people that it works. I guess people are too lazy to bust out the chip hammer these days. Would I use it for heavy fab work? Not on your life! But, that's not what it was made for. A few years ago, I upgraded to an Eastwood mig 175 that I absolutely LOVE. I've even run a spool or 2 of that Vulcan wire through it while running the welder off my genny at the race track, it's good stuff! I'll just keep my little Century for emergency use, unless you know someone who wants it and is willing to pay shipping.
In my opinion you should buy the best you can afford. I personally would either choose a stick welder or mig welder for general use. Simply because stick is cheap and easy to learn and is very versatile. If your doing thin metal then mig with .023 wire is great. Old Miller's can be had for next to nothing and co2 is pretty cheap. If your welding outside put up some wind Barrie s and your good to go. You could also go with oxy acetylene or oxy propane and be able to cut, weld and heat. Old setups can be had for pretty cheap if you look hard enough. I'd recommend acetylene but welding with propane is possible. Gas welding just takes alot of practice to get good repeatable results.
I was lucky and found a Vulcan MIG that was a return and got it for $268. If I hadn't been so lucky I would've definitely been looking at the Titanium MIG.
Great video. Lots of good information. I want to get into welding for furniture building. I think that Titanium would do the trick nicely. Thanks for the content!
I find flux Cor welding in harder to weld then regular mig (with gas), Bec you can't just go over again you first got to knock off The flux. Stick When I started stick was hard for me in the learning process to learn how to strike an arc! Tig (I've never tried) Always seems when people (on TH-cam)use TIG welding it's on aluminum
I think you see TIG welding on aluminum because it's considered to be very hard to do so people like to show off. Also aluminum is so much lighter it's great for a lot of DIY builds
Can't stop looking at the talking bear. It's kind of hypnotic. ...Obey the bear. However, I found the information to be very useful, so thank you! Must... obey... the bear...
Also I have found teaching people to stick weld first makes it easier for them to transition into other processes. Stick machines will show all the problems that students are making and, when they go to another process, they take to it like a duck to water.
Kudos to the Bear! Great effort on this video. As for the book, you're right, it's a great book. I finally bought the HF 125 recently and made two trailer repairs satisfactorily. I was a MIG unit but for now the HF 125 will do. Keep it up Bear!
I've got the Chicago electric 90 amp flux core welder that I bought on a whim.at the last parking lot sale for $50. someday once I get the nerve and some metal, I want to crack open the box and see about learning welding.
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Sorry, this video isn't more polished. Big change for doing welding videos. I'll have it all down for the next one. Speaking of which, what sort of welding stuff would you like to see?
The Den of Tools more welding for beginners videos.
Tig welding! Ac/dc!
I want to see a review of the titanium 225 SMAW welder and how it runs 7018, 6010, 6011, and 6013 rods 1/8" and 3/32". There is no videos or information on this welder on TH-cam on how it burns rods.
The opposite of welding, cutting torches.
Can you do a video of how to upgrade the welders?
I’ve been drooling over one of those Titanium Flux core welders! I’m not a pro and I don’t give a flying flip what the “pros” think about my welds. As long as it’s strong, that all that matters to me. I’ll use my grinder and paint to make it purdy! 👍🏼
I was a welder for 38 years. Did most work for Caltrans here in Calif. All we used was flux core 5 times faster than stick welding. If your welder puts out DC then the weld will look better and not to much splatter.
You were a weldor, the machine is a welder. Sorry for being that guy 😂
I am new to this welding. Have a Harbor Freight Chicago Flux 125, but have been reluctant to use it. Your video has given me confidence that I can overcome my beginner diy hesitation. Thanks, I intend to follow you and learn more. Be Blessed.
I’ve been welding since 1973, so it’s been a while. What I’ve found over that time is that flux core can give excellent welds. Actually, a lot of structural welding is done with flux core. Yes, flux core, not stick. But, I’ve also found that it’s harder for beginners to weld with MiG than with flux core. MiG is fairly easy, but you still have to learn how to use it. With stick, if you’re doing structural welds, you do have to grind your metal clean before welding. In fact, you always have to clean the material before welding if someone is going to sit on it, lean on it, or be under it. If it’s decorative, it may not matter.
My main welder is an ESAB emp 205, and excellent machine. But I occasionally need to weld in one of my shops where I can’t get the ESAB to easily, much less the bottles, and where stick is too dangerous (indoors). So I bought this little welder. Surprisingly, it’s pretty good, within it’s limitations. I don’t find the work clamp (mistakenly usually called a ground clamp) to be an issue for this machine. There isn’t enough amperage for the clamp, with the max at 125A, and with that being used for short periods of time. The machine will shut off from overheating before the clamp becomes hot. Just put the clamp on the work itself if possible, and make sure you use the entire clamp, not just the tip, which many people do. I’ve made some really good welds with the built-in clamp. A better clamp won’t hurt, but this is a low power machine.
One important thing. Don’t ever weld on a concrete floor! There’s a chance the concrete will explode. And remember that the tip on this thing is live when the trigger is pressed. If you touch the work with the tip, it can weld to the work.
I like the interior button to advance the wire when loading the torch. I don’t like that there are no indications on the wire pressure. There’s no way to notice a number when removing the old spool and putting a new one in, so you have to fiddle.
By the way, some companies call flux core gasless MiG. Sorry, there’s no such thing. MiG is MiG, and flux core is flux core. Anyway, I can recommend this for the price. Just don’t think that chicken track globs on metal is a good weld. I see that on channels too much. Go to the pro welding sites, it’s worth it.
I appreciate the warning about welding on concrete!
1 I wanted to extrapolate on, as you said, when the trigger is depressed the wire is live. Harbor Freight has been selling Chicago electric welders for years and years now. If anyone remembers the blue ones, I know for a fact that those are always hot whether or not the trigger is depressed. I'm not sure if that carried over to the flux 90 series that looks much like the flux 125 machine, but it's worthwhile to take a look if unsure as to how your machine is designed
Welding with Crocs on is fun until you catch a bb, then you'll never do that again.
Leather socks
i scrolled down to make the same comment 🤣🤣
Never make a mistake less than 10x
duuuuuuude i thought i was the only one lol 😂
Did that today, first and last time
Been a welder for 14 years, flux core works fine, I use .030 to 3/32 on a monthly basis, it's smokey and it has clean up but it welds fine (even meets code) if the settings are correct. Dollar for dollar though I see used century welders for sale cheap all the time and you just can't kill those damn things. The key with 110/120 welders is prep, get all that mill scale off, maybe even bevel your welds if you can (if you can run one pass you can run 3).
Actually speaking from the perspective of a experienced Nuclear Submarine Welder who MIGS everyday, there's a major difference between a good mig welder and a average MIG welder. When you have all types of MT, VT, and X Ray inspections that follow, and you're working in very tighten enclosed spaces with tough angles and joints that need to be welded horizontally vertically and overhead without starts and stops, it takes quite the skilled welder to achieve quality weld.
Absolutely. I did shipyards and hated the confined spaces especially coastguard boats and I have to say given your experience on submarines, x-ray city lol. Good comment.
Why is there so much welding to do on a submarine everyday..is it coming apart at the seams daily
@@clinttorres2508 No, these guys probably works at the shipyard where submarines comes in for overhaul or repairs...sometimes they have to do haul cuts etc. It's not like you're literally underwater and the seams are coming off or anything in that nature.
Newport News or Groton? I went thru the apprentice school at NNS then spent 8 years as a fitter. X11 all day ✊
Ok, but what’s your point ? This is just a comparison between two inexpensive welders., of course for subs you need top notch welding. Many welders do knock around work, auto body, repairs, etc. Dump truck bodies, these are fine for that
The titanium unit kicks the crap out of the 90 amp welder. Honestly I’ve been really impressed with the titanium’s quality and adjustability for the price. It gives the lincoln equivalent a run for its money in my opinion
Ive done so many projects with the black box it works great.Cant wait till I get the new green machine you guys praise.
Someone returned a one of the Chicago electric 125 amps back to the store. Got it for 37 bucks and it even had the nicer wire in it.
I bought 11 of them for $17.50 ea! Sold 10 on OfferUp for $65 ea, figured at least one wouldn't work.....100% function!
@@mechantics where did you get the deal on the 11?
@@mechantics you got the welder for $11??
How'd he get it for $37??
@@meme5887 Someone had returned it to the store and they had marked it down to resale it.
I got the titanium 170 not long after they came out and it works very well. I'm not a full time welder but have been welding for over 20 years, I just wanted a machine for the house so I didn't have to hall my projects to work. It has done a fantastic job with everything from 16 gauge to 1/4".
I worked at a blacksmith shop for about 3 years and we installed soooooo many gates and fences with and welded them ALL with a Lincoln 140 with flux wire. Mostly 1/4 metal. Worked great! Cant use gas if it's too windy!
Thank you for this video. I have been doing a lot of repair work since I retired and can't believe how much I enjoy it. There have been a few occasions where welding skills would have come in handy but I figured at 67 years old it wasn't worth trying to learn. After watching your video, and seeing how cheap welders can be, I may give it a try after all. Now I just need to find something that needs welding. Hope bear mating season is just around the corner.
If anyone is truly interested in learning how to weld, start with stick. Learning how to control the arc and the puddle with stick welding will set you up for success when learning other processes. I'm currently attending a welding school and within the next 4 weeks I'll be testing for my AWS D1.1 SMAW Welding Certification. The class I'm enrolled in is specifically for stick however my instructor is amazing and has been letting me try mig along the way. Mig essentially boils down to how well you set the machine up once you already understand the basics of welding. But back on topic, a flux core welder to have at home is never a bad thing! I was looking at the titanium flux core at my local harbor freight and I couldn't believe how tiny it was. If I didn't already have a Miller I would absolutely consider buying one!
Have I thought about doing welding... sure
Have I thought about welding all the Walmart carts together... possibly
Have I done it .... To be continued. Great video.
Is there an update? Did you weld them?
I bought one of those cheapo Harbor Freight Chicago Electric welders about two years ago. Haven't fired it up YET! First, I was afraid I would start a fire as I tried to use it between my two sheds (about 10 feet apart). Then there was another issue that took me out of town for almost a year. Anyway, after watching your video (and one or two more from others using the 'cheapo' welder), I'm ready to give it a try. Problem now is, we're covered in snow - and it's 26° out. Nevertheless, your vid has convinced I need to step up and give this a try - before I get too old (I'm 75 now!). Thank you so much.
Go back and watch my "4 projects for under $25" video, all those welds on the wrench lamps were made with the Chicago 125 with the stock wire. It just spatters more BUT i had plenty of seamless welds. Did some preheating on the thicker metal in some spots. I've also done 1/4" plate with a deep bevel to help the penetration
For the guy fixing his mower, the Chicago electric is a good choice, but dont use the wire that comes with it, get a quality wire, also, clean the surface before welding, a good wire brush does wonders, and Red is right, that son of a biscuit is heavy
You have a few things backward, with stick the flux on the outside not inside. Also MIG is DC not AC (unless you are welding aluminum) *** That part about MIG welding on AC is wrong, I left it in so the correction replies make sense****, the Titanium is DC where the old 90 is AC (or at least was). AC spatters more than DC as a rule. DC penetrates better than AC, as a rule. Stick is more commonly AC. Other than aluminum TIG is DC.
Somewhat small corrections for this type of video. I agree with your opinions on Flux Core and the Titanium. It works a LOT better than it should at that price point. The slag on stick is often pretty heavy but the slag I get with the Titanium you can brush off with a steel brush.
A big plus for fluxcore over TIG for the home gamer is that flux core cares a lot less about clean. It's not as "I don't care" as stick but it will do decently on pretty dirty and junky steel. TIG hates dirt but also really doesn't like junky steel. If you are working with scrap and freebie junk steel you will have a lot of issues with TIG, and very few with fluxcore.
You don’t weld aluminum with MiG set to AC. It’s DC. Always. TIG requires AC for aluminum.
You're correct on him mixing up the two welders in the video. The Titanium Easy-Flux 125 welder he mentioned is actually DC, and the Chicago Electric Flux 125 is actually AC.
I’ve never heard of ac mig welding of aluminum.. every machine I’ve ever used from a crappy garage sale no name mig welder to my Lincoln power wave 450 are dcep or dcen,even for aluminum..stick and tig are either ac or dcen for aluminum ( I don’t really remember, it’s been 25 year since I’ve stick welded aluminum or dc tig welded aluminum..)
@@welding_guy7524 Yep I believe I misspoke about AC MIG, it's been a long time since I used an MIG on aluminum. You will have a bad time TIG welding aluminum on DC because of the oxide layer. I won't say you can't do it because I knew a guy who could gas weld aluminum.
I noticed you mentioned that the Chicago Electric was DC, it's actually AC, according to the Harbor Freight website. The Titanium welder is DC though. You also said that DC is not good - from all the other flux core info I've read/seen, it actually makes cleaner looking welds easier due to the steady flow of direct current. Also I like that the Titanium has several adjustments for voltage (and therefore current), whereas it looks to me like the Chicago Electric 125 only has min and max settings.
Ya flux core is supposed to be DC
You can get a stick welder for that price and learn how to weld. Afterwards if you feel like tig welding you can use a dry scratch start tig setup on your stick welder(dc only). When using that flux core take your time and let the puddle form and try to keep a constant speed. The most important step for any welding process is to clean the material the best you can and take of the mill scale/rust. It takes 2min to clean a piece and 10min to cut out porosity or bad weld. The welding industry does not hate flux we use alot of dual sheild flux core where gas and flux are both used at the same time.picked up a omni pro so far 10/10
Yes we do. I was wondering where that came from. Nearly all ships and barges prefer gas shielded fluxcore 045 to 052.
I have a small flux core welder. It’s great for tack welding and if it’s clean material it works well.
For the novice or beginner these are not bad. If you are doing auto sheet metal these are not bad.
I have a box stick welder for anything real serious. The small wire feed is great on 3/16 material. A good beveled edge on the material and a few passes you can get 1/4 up to 3/8 material welded.
The type of wire you use doing multi-pass is important. The GS will become brittle while the 711 will not. Flux core was available for very heavy structural welding for a long time. Electrode negative is used for FCAW vs electrode positive for MIG
Hey Tool Bear! I have been real happy with the little Titanium flux 125, it’s a great smooth little welder. Of course I also like the Titanium 200 and the Omnipro 220 but those welder are out of some people’s price range. I have done quite a few review videos on these machines and the last two welders I mentioned weld just as good as the Millermatic 200 multi process welder but for half the price. Thanks for posting.
Had to wait a few years to get my Everlast after starting with the Chicago Electric 90amp flux-core welder. Helluva jump from $90 to $1200. If starting over, I'd get the Chicago Electric 170amp mig/flux-core welder.
Haha... just noticed you posted this comment Mike. Am subscribed to you. Love your videos and thorough reviews.
Homestead Fabricator right on! I bet that Everlast is a great machine, it’s really nice to have a good solid welder. I definitely remember committing back and forth on my channel many times on videos 🙂 Take care
@@Mikefestiva, the Everlast is definitely a good machine. The one I have is a seriously heavy-duty homeowner to light industrial welder. Dang thing weighs 50#, a lot less than the Vulcan or the Titanium equivalent. Probably juat built heavier for long-term durability. Am looking forward to updates on how the Titanium welders hold up for you. Trying to get my friend Love2boat92 to upgrade to a Titanium welder.
Welding was the one thing my dad didn't teach me how to do. He know how to do it and did it for the railroad shop. It wasn't him that didn't want to teach me it was me turning 16 when he was able to buy a welder and i already knew everything at 16 years old you know???? LOL Anyway i was going to get the little $99 job for tack welding and small jobs around the house. I got to learn how fist but that will come with just doing it. I think I'll spend a little more and get the middle of the road one now. Thanks for all the work you do in putting out these videos!!
I got the Titanium 170 and used it to put my 03 Ranger frame back together. I used flux core and the only regret I have is I wish I would’ve gotten a multi-pass wire. The Vulcan wire is single pass. So far it’s holding up. I learned about multi-pass after I made the repair. So far been very pleased with it. These DC welders weld smooth as butter and are super portable. It should last me years the way I use it.
Like you said about the wire making the difference, I have seen it first hand. I have never ran anything but Lincoln wire in my 125 or 180 since the first time I tried "Something more affordable"... Many bad words were uttered that day. Friend of mine came over with a Craftsman "?" that ran on 220. He had gotten some .030 Hobart flux core wire. Spit, splatter, splutter, ugly beads, jerky wire feed, adjusted and fooled with it for a while with no improvement. He ran my Lincoln and thought "Oh, it's just the welder". I got mad and stuck partial role of Lincoln .030 flux core on it. Ran a beautiful bead with not a pop to be heard in the sizzle (kinda like when the Titanium was going).
I have the old 90amp and the 125 amp Chicago electric but they both got ruined last week in the flooding we had in Houston. When I get back on my feet again I guess it will be time to upgrade. Both of them I did upgrade the grounding clamps immediately and it did make a significant difference
another tip i used on a frnds flux core welder 15yrs ago use 10 guage wire all we had was a generator and an extension cord worked like sht till i made a cord out of 10 guage wire i just happened to have
I used to have the Chicago electric when it was listed as a 90amp. It was okay. I returned it and a few years later I bought the titanium. It's crazy how much better the titanium is. As a weekend hobbyist (maybe a bit more than that sometimes) the titanium is plenty. I use 110 and it works great. FCAW is great for outdoors as well. A lot of folks are saying start with stick.. I disagree. I think the titanium 125 is very versatile and an awesome "take anywhere" welder. Just my .02 and probably doesn't mean anything. Just ranting.
Thanks for that feedback, I’ll certainly get one.
I JUST bought the Titanium 125 yesterday... the FIRST thing I'm going to weld is a nut to a pair of vise-grips, so I can bolt my ground cable to THAT! I shouldn't have any problems securing a ground!
I had to do some welding in Alaska a few years back out in the middle of nowhere. Used a small 110 flux core machine hooked to a small honda generator...and put out some quality welds. If you can really weld, you can make these little machines work pretty well. They provide a great way for anybody to learn to weld. If you can weld with one of these after putting some time in learning, when you do get a good machine, you'll appreciate it that much more.
i have the cheaper chicago electric flux core welder and it works good for the price...welded my exhaust no problem..
funny thing i was thinking of getting one for that reason it wld be the same price for the welder as the labor to do the work
@@wizard3z868 I've noticed that with a lot of things, which is what got me interested in buying tools. Working pretty well so far, though sometimes there is a lot of frustration with the learning curve.
It's all about the technique. I've seen pro welders do great work with the Chicago Electric machine, all the while they gripe about it, LOL!
@@wizard3z868 just buy the welder ..so many more things you can do with them. practice on scrap until you feel confident....its only exhaust does not have to look great just has to hold....practice more before you try anything structual.
I bought the Titanium and gave the Chicago to a young friend. I put the better clamp on of course to the Titanium. The single best thing you can do is buy good wire. I use the Lincoln and splatter is WAY down and seems to penetrate about 10% better. (maybe the better clamp too?) Just doing body panels and repairs on thicker stuff. The extra money and control of the Titanium is worth it!
Would you still recommend? Haven’t welded (stick) since high school (1984) and thinking about picking up the Titanium
@@alcopower5710 Yes, it is a great machine. I suggest getting the flux core wire from Lincoln at Home Depot as it splatters less.
@@RL-RL thanks for the reply
@@alcopower5710 No problem. Use the guide on the flip top of the welder to get a general starting point. I've found that a little higher spool speed helps when laying a bead to stop buildups. Very good videos on YT to help first timers as well.
I bought the Chicago 90 amp welder about 3 yrs ago to build a engine hoist, it was ok, it did do the job. I am not a welder either, but I'm a lot better at it now. I kinda messed the first one up and bought another one. I welded to long and the over heat light came on several time when I was welding. Oil well that go with the territory. But I did upgrade to the Titanium 200 unlimited and what a welder, a bit expensive but I did get the 15% off coupon on anything in the store and got the 2 yr warranty to boot with the savings. This thing has not over heated once and I can do some welding and not have to stop to let it cool down. I use the flux core on this, being that I have a lot of wire left from the other welder. I'm building a frame with in a frame HF canopy 10x20 and going to put a hard roof on it! I guess I'm one of those HF nuts! lol. I have a channel here to and have videos on the stuff I build. You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. I have a garage full of HF tools. Have a good one! I've only been following you for a short time but I like your video's !
After 40 years as a pro welder I picked up a Chicago Electric 175 amp (240 volt) very cheap just for home projects. It welded fine but when I had a chance to get a Vulcan MigMax 215 CHEAP I jumped at the chance. It's light years ahead of the Chicago Electric. You had a problem with a lot of dingle berries? The machine was probably set on the wrong polarity. They are often set for MIG welding from the factory (don't know if the 125 amp will MIG) but flux core requires the opposite polarity. You will be surprised at the difference it makes. I've used my Vulcan on 120 volt about half the time and it works great for light welding, up to about 3/16" steel. I would recommend Vulcan to anyone, it welds as well as a multi-thousand dollar machine (up to 200 amps that is). What I really like about the MigMax is it can run .045 wire for heavy duty welding, you don't get THAT with any Chicago Electric, I'm not sure about the larger Titaniums. About learning with stick first? It really doesn't matter if all you are going to do is weld steel with flux core or MIG anyway.
One of the better, most informative head-to-head comparisons I think. Thanks.
I picked up Harbor Freight Chicago welder 170 wire feed Mig and it works just as good as my Lincoln and it has a Transformer doesn't have Electronics like the other inverter welders. It was the $199 century. I weilded 1/2 inch steel with great
penetration but it is a 240 volt 170 amp weilder with a transformer and diods and very heavy. For the price it will last 40 years or more welding every other doy as long as I oil the fan and change the diods as needed.
Hey Bear. Going to upgrade to Titanium from HF black wire welder. Your video really show the difference in the burn. Thanks.
Who’s got a short attention... haha look, a talking bear 🤣
You’re a real badass, welding in shorts and crocs!
I started out stick welding mastering that made learning mig and tig real easy that being said flux core has its place a lot of places do dual shield that is flux core and shield gas at the same time.
I am not a welder. That said the I used 90--120 AMP welder. Did ok on mufflers, catalytic converters & lawn mower decks. Took some practice, welds not "pretty" but have held for years. Looks like the clamp is well worth it. The biggest problem I had with this welder is that it just quit. When I squeeze the trigger nothing. This happened to 3 of them. I was able to return 2 of them, got stuck with 1 ( passed the 90 days) The last one is the 120 AMP ( I do not se any difference ) so far so good. I have not done any welding for the last 5 months. So I have to see how this one will hold up.
Good explanation & illustrations for the welders.
You might have bad wire feed motors with your welders. Some motors might can be removed, greased up, and put back on the welder and may work fine again.
I still have the non working unit, I have to look into this. Thank you Stay well, Joe Z
@@JOEZEP54Ok. Thats good. There may be some videos on TH-cam to show you about the wire feed motors, and how to grease them .
Iv weld 4 full race car's cages no problem. 170 amp and old 151 amp I bought it in 2003 still working.
I'd love to see these cheap boxes used for sheet metal. There are tons of easy sources for scrap sheet metal to throw together quick tool trays and other projects that don't need professional quality welds.
I don't know what the newer Chicago Electric boxes are like, but my older one had a horribly short and undersized power cord, I think 6' of 16ga wire. I put about 12' of 10ga on mine right out of the box. The extra length is handy and I'd imagine a fair bit less voltage drop with the thicker wire.
1 added a Full wave bridge rectifier and a capacitor to my 90amp and it makes nice beads now. Then the 180 went on clearance...
I would agree with most, except the end part. The titanium is the one thats dc through the inverter with better welds and the chicago is the ac.
If I were to get a black CE welder, I'd skip the 125 and go with the 170. I have owned one for 6 years now, learning wire welding with it and it's awesome. I also have added an OmniPro 220 and Titanium Easy Flux 125 to it. All great machines. I also have a Lincoln AC225, Everlast iMig200, AHP Alphatig 200X, and Hobart Champion 10,000. The Harbor Freight machines have no trouble keeping up with the name brands! I love all processes.
I love the Chicago electric welder. For a $100 LIGHT DUTY 110v welder it’s great.
Audel pocket welding reference is a must read for anyone serious about welding and metal joining
When using fluxcore, try reversing polarity (positive ground). You'll get less splatter & better penetration...
I've had no issue with my CE 125. It's a great practice machine, I AM NOT a welder. If you're learning I've always been a fan of learn on the cheapest junk possible in order to practice in case you don't stick with it or if you just need to use it every now and then. If you can weld with the cheapest flux core chances are if you use a MIG you'll lay good beads instead of just wasting shielding gas.
I love the shirt sleeves, shorts and crocs for welding. Hope your buddy doesn’t melt anything irreplaceable! 😆
first you are correct about the ground clamp being a major improvement, but... when you put cable in, you may not get a "tight" grip. & may need to take up a little more space, like a short piece of copper tube that barely fits over the wire end, around 1" long, 1 of my welders the bolt just would not get it tight & a few pulls & it came loose.next a friend had the Chicago version, & I helped him many years back, at first I hated it, but after putting dozens of rolls through it, I became very impressed. we probably did more "structurally" than we should, like fender mounts, light mounts, side rail mounts brackets to hold wiring & break away battery mounts on trailers we built, all trailers were built with a Lincoln AC/DC Tombstone. just accessories were done with the flux core. the tongue jack & spare tire mounts were done with stick. if trailer got them.right now I work at a body shop part time, & I took a "cheap" "China" welder to use instead of rolling heavy shop welder occasionally to building I work in. the cheap welder does so good I would use it in any body shop work doing any body repairs, it is MIG, I use 75/25 gas, run .023 wire, & the MIG gun I replaced with a top quality gun with a lot better switch, & of course a brass ground clamp, I could weld on edge of sheet metal, I use it to replace cab corners, rockers, wheel housings, & general rust panel replacement, originally thanks to buying welder so cheap it was basically free, with a few other items, & had only been on flux its whole life in a muffler shop doing exhaust, I decided to spend the money to see how good I could make it, & approx. $200 on a cheap welder, it welds better than my $800 Lincoln 180 MIG welder, the clamp was $15 ish, the MIG gun was $115, a 12lb spool of wire was $35, and it needed a regulator, a $35 from Harbor Freight, as 1 that came with it had both gauges broke, plus I picked up vacuum hose to use for gas hose, I know, I know, but shop I work at has been using vacuum hose for his gas line on MIG for years & I cheaped out & did the same & it works fineas for comments on torch welding, that's my favorite, but a lost art, & I been debating if I should try doing video of how to torch weld, but it is so much to it & requires so much dedication, & being safety conscious at all times, I don't want to see idiots not listen & hear part & try to go do without understanding, then get hurt, or not have penetration on something structural but think they do because it looks like a "pretty weld" & cause someone to get hurt.
I have the Chicago Electric 90amp, the Chicago Electric 170amp mig/flux-core, and Everlast MTS 211si welder and still see a place for the el cheapo welders. Spending the $90 on the el cheapo welder is not a bad idea. Gives you a good idea if you really want to do welding or not. Got hooked immediately. Had to wait a few years to get my big welder, but is worth it. Am planning on getting the Titanium 125 to tote around for light weight. My Everlast weighs 50 pounds, the Titanium 125 weighs 15. Yeah, going to get that little one for quick repairs outside instead of using stick welding outside unless it is a strength critical weld.
Nice. I picked up the Chicago 125 last night just to get started.
anything over 1/8 thick it struggles...good for exhaust and light body work...
One thing you overlooked in this review, the cheaper welder can take a 10lb roll of wire, the more expensive titanium cannot. 10 lb rolls are waaay cheaper per lb than 2 lb rolls. You end up paying a lot more for your consumable wire with the more expensive welder. 2 lb rolls are about $20 each you can get a 10 lb roll for low $30s
Where could I get this wire
@@joecrisp1938 ebay has several brands I was using blue demon, but it has gone up to $44 I could be wrong about the harbor freight welder holding it, I thought mine was a harbor freight but it's a murdoch store brand metal man welder. just seach for 10 lb flux core wire on ebay. cheapest I saw was 31.83 obo
"Grizzly, please!" Made me laugh.
If you take a piece of copper wire put it between the 2 pieces of metal. Tak each corners, pull the copper wire out & fill in the gap. True 100% penetration
Clayton Hartin Copper wire comes in many different gauge sizes.
So I bought the Chicago Flux 125 last year on black Friday and it did the job I needed it for. Is the Titanium worth the extra money? Should I sell the Chicago and buy the Titanium?
damn, we got a welding vtuber now
At the shop all I use is flux. Yeah a lot of people shoot in down put at the end of the day it's perfectly fine for most applications. Like you said grinder and paint are your friends. Great video as always
I was just looking at this in the mailer o got today, been thinking of grabbing a welder, can't wait to watch it!
I welded up some vice grips and use them as my grounds.
see all those industrial building made with concrete panels, all the rebar footings and cast in steel all welded with flux core DC, 1/2" all the way up to 1" steel
flux core is usually better for use outside
Flux core penetrates better than solid wire.
I replaced the gas shield tip on my Chicago FC welder with a Lincoln tapered tip similar to the one on the Titanium, for about 4 bucks, much easier to weld with.
I could totally see that it was much easier trying to control the weld with that smaller tip
Thank you for doing this video. I've been wanting the titanium but I'm not a welder. I'm way more informed now. Thanks.
Me too!
Just picked this up, with welding pliers, a welding helmet, shield protectors, 4 pair of safety glasses and goggles and welding gloves for less than what I paid for a CLEARANCED Lincoln weldpak HD from home depot, just the machine.
This video just cleared up some things for me. Screw what the good ol boys think I just want one piece of metal to stick to another!
That titanium actually good. But with the roll of lincoln 211 flux core wire. 0.30 thickness. Because of it being 110v. I run this little machine off my 5000watt power inverter. Does good. Only con is the duty cycle. But good for quick fixes and get out of trouble situation.
Good video. The only thing is its vicversa. The Chicago is a.c. and the much better titanium is DC. DC welds mush hotter which is much better.
To be fair i cannot get decent beads with my Chicago electric welder but primarily thats because the 110 volt circuit i tried it on doesnt have enough amps. A machine like this is designed for bonding thin metal together and its great for what its designed for. For thicker steel, it makes sense to get a proper stick welding machine
Great video. I have the Metalman 80 volt stick which works great. And it was on clearance from Tractor Supply for over half of the regular price. I also bought the JobSmart 125 flux core welder. I have not had a chance to unbox and use it. but I am getting there. Flux core is great because the metal does not have to be super clean and you can weld outside. And you don't have to worry about a bottle. Which gets expensive. Thank you for this welding video. God Bless and waiting on the next video.
I actually have a vulcan 220 stick welder, and a titanium 140 at work. both are good solid performers. If you do proper prep work instead of trying to weld mill scale they both do nice work. Frankly on 3/8 inch material I prefer the flux core welder with a .035 hobart wire. Works an absolute treat. Still testing out the vulcan stick as it's new, and I haven't really found the best settings for 7018 electrodes yet.
Try the Forney wire when you can.
@@alext8828 Actually did run a 5 pound spool of forney 71T11 a while back. Not the most consistent wire I have ever used. It will more than likely work on a machine with more amperage. The 140 is only a 120 volt machine, so some wire just does not work well with it.
@@willgallatin2802 Oh, that makes sense. Thank you for that.
Just picked up the Titanium Flux 125 TODAY on BLACK FRIDAY for $149.99 !!!
Wish me luck !!
I really liked the Century fc90 (what the titanium copied) but needed to weld 24 gauge car door skins, I got a Klutch welder from northern tool after shopping around at a killer price, flux/gas, I will never intentionally go back to flux, but it has its place 18 gauge to 1/4 with no gas is nice 👍🏻
you are right about the clamp I use this thing if I don't have 220 to use and it's not bad
Very cool = I can only afford harbor freight= I’ve had the original chcagoelectric for ever and works great for me
Thanks for the comparison and advice on ground clamp.
Its so good to see the bear again !!! Has been so long !
Can you learn to weld with a flux core welder? Absolutely! Especially these days with the internet and TH-cam. I agree 100% about having a high quality ground clamp no matter what type of electric welding you're doing. High quality flux core wire is important too. My grandpa taught me how to weld back in the 70s using a Lincoln "tombstone" stick welder that was older than me. The first welder that I ever bought (in the early 90s) was a Century 85 amp flux welder. To me, flux welding is basically just stick welding made easier since the machine feeds the electrode (the wire) automatically. You really shouldn't try to lay a straight bead with flux wire. Instead, use a semi-circular motion, crossing over the joint, like you would a stick weld. I used that old Century for years. I actually still have it, even though I put it with the free stuff at my sisters garage sale last year. I even plugged it in and put down a few welds to show people that it works. I guess people are too lazy to bust out the chip hammer these days. Would I use it for heavy fab work? Not on your life! But, that's not what it was made for. A few years ago, I upgraded to an Eastwood mig 175 that I absolutely LOVE. I've even run a spool or 2 of that Vulcan wire through it while running the welder off my genny at the race track, it's good stuff! I'll just keep my little Century for emergency use, unless you know someone who wants it and is willing to pay shipping.
In my opinion you should buy the best you can afford. I personally would either choose a stick welder or mig welder for general use. Simply because stick is cheap and easy to learn and is very versatile. If your doing thin metal then mig with .023 wire is great. Old Miller's can be had for next to nothing and co2 is pretty cheap. If your welding outside put up some wind Barrie s and your good to go. You could also go with oxy acetylene or oxy propane and be able to cut, weld and heat. Old setups can be had for pretty cheap if you look hard enough. I'd recommend acetylene but welding with propane is possible. Gas welding just takes alot of practice to get good repeatable results.
The titanium seems to run smoother but could be for other reasons as well.
Redemption Garage supposedly because of the inverter technology
It’s DC output vs AC it’s going to run smoother
DC makes a superior arc
How thick can you weld with the Chicago electric 90 or 125? Could you do, say, a cargo roof rack on a campervan?
That's easy...3/16s is definitely doable...maybe 1/4"
I use a pair of vice grips as my grounding clamp.
Does the green machine have to be modded to dc like the Chicago electric machine?
I was lucky and found a Vulcan MIG that was a return and got it for $268. If I hadn't been so lucky I would've definitely been looking at the Titanium MIG.
Damn that's a great pick up I'd love to get my hands on a good MIG welder
Great video. Lots of good information. I want to get into welding for furniture building. I think that Titanium would do the trick nicely. Thanks for the content!
I have the 125 Chicago electric welder. Would I be better off going to a stick welder. Should I get the Chicago electric, or the Titanium weld ?
Anyone can make a beed but... will it hold under pressure or will it leak?
I find flux Cor welding in harder to weld then regular mig (with gas), Bec you can't just go over again you first got to knock off The flux.
Stick
When I started stick was hard for me in the learning process to learn how to strike an arc!
Tig (I've never tried)
Always seems when people (on TH-cam)use TIG welding it's on aluminum
I think you see TIG welding on aluminum because it's considered to be very hard to do so people like to show off. Also aluminum is so much lighter it's great for a lot of DIY builds
don't forget about dual shield flux core, used in industry for code work where stick is not needed.
I love you for this I have a rod burner but I have been looking for a flux you just helped in my decision thank you
Can't stop looking at the talking bear.
It's kind of hypnotic.
...Obey the bear.
However, I found the information to be very
useful, so thank you!
Must... obey... the bear...
Awesome vid dude, thanks for the pointers 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Them
“Can you weld?”
Me
“Yea, a talking bear told me all about it”
Also I have found teaching people to stick weld first makes it easier for them to transition into other processes. Stick machines will show all the problems that students are making and, when they go to another process, they take to it like a duck to water.
Good video, Red! I know very little about welding and I learned a lot in this video. You are a good teacher!
Kudos to the Bear! Great effort on this video. As for the book, you're right, it's a great book. I finally bought the HF 125 recently and made two trailer repairs satisfactorily. I was a MIG unit but for now the HF 125 will do. Keep it up Bear!
First time I ever seen a bear Weld lol good video
The HF Titanium 125, the little green machine, is is DCEN Gun negative?
the leather apron is the one i bought for forging and the quality is exilent.
I've got the Chicago electric 90 amp flux core welder that I bought on a whim.at the last parking lot sale for $50. someday once I get the nerve and some metal, I want to crack open the box and see about learning welding.
Old school brazing welding is fun as well with oxy acetylene