MIG Welder

Power Fist 230V MIG Welder (MIG-156)

In my experience, pretty much all the Power Fist stuff at Princess Auto is garbage, but this little welder has surprised me. It was an impulse buy, as I'd been wanting a MIG welder for a long time and the price was impossible to beat. I picked up an argon/CO₂ regulator, auto-darkening helmet, gloves, coveralls, and brushes from Princess Auto too, and bought a used 60 cubic foot Ar/CO₂ tank off of Craigslist. While it still doesn't compare to a Miller or Lincoln Electric MIG welder, my total cost for an entire MIG welding setup was less than $500 Canadian, which is hard to complain about.

I don't do a lot of welding, and when I do need to do any welding it's usually just a couple pieces of flat bar that don't need to be pretty. With this welder and no training or experience, I can actually turn out results to be proud of, which is good enough for me! It goes up to 105 amps, which I've used to join pieces of 1/4" flat bar without a problem, and the shielding gas means that it's almost hard to make an ugly weld.

Naturally I would like a fancier welder, perhaps a TIG welder, but in the meantime I've been quite satisfied with this little setup. When I do eventually upgrade, I'll already own the tank, regulator, and mask, and I'm sure it will be easy to sell this little machine for close to what I paid for it.

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