Harbor Freight Titanium 170 mig flux welder Review why I bought it is it worth it and does it work

Haha ok so with all the fingernail comments the reason for long nails on the right hand is for finger picking the guitar... but dont fret I have gone back to using a pick and have offed the nails(praise God)... my skill only goes so far.

First off start with qaulity welding wire ! it is worth a few extra dollars. and can make or break your confidence as a welder starting out. Evan if you use a cheep off shore machine (well they all are off shore) start with qaulity welding wire and electrodes!!!

for flux core welding I go with Lincoln NR-211 https://amzn.to/34NlfhN
same with hard wire Lincoln Or Hobart https://amzn.to/3llrQFN



Also my favorite cordless grinder out of milwanky dewalt or Makita is the Makita having a lot of experience with all three over the past years https://amzn.to/3jebrkE


And arguably the industry standard in corded grinder (never mind you metabo fanboys) is the Dewalt paddle grinder https://amzn.to/31xvN2tthe dumbys redesigned it I prefer the old version of the 402 but the new version is still hands down the best out there for fabrication, one of the key reasons is it is ergonomically set up for one handed use great for buffing welds with a flap disk



If your looking for A great pair of welding gloves I really like black stallion gloves for tig welding, fabricating or smaw make sure you get the pair that is right for your welding process https://amzn.to/2G3E8mh



I recently took a swing at this seemingly middle of the road mig welder from Harbor Freight the Titanium 170 mig flux welder.
I was in the market for a 120 volt mig flux welder to replace what I already had due to duty cycle.. This, Not red or blue machine really fit the bill...
it has the features of a red or blue machine that is more than 2 times the cost... this cost 500 bucks Now that said the Miller or Lincoln I might compare it to does have better rated duty cycles.

Now never mind that we are comparing this to what I replaced because of price range 500 to 600

One more thing to note is that this machine is an inverter machine and you will find different weld characteristics than with a transformer welding machine, this may or may not be a factor for you.
being an inverter machine is what makes this half the weght of the lincoln 140 transformer machine it replaced.

My top favorite things about this 170 mig welder
1. 120VAC or 240VAC Compatible
2. Better duty cycle than the Lincoln 140 it replaced (Again compared relative to price)
3. Light weight and breaks down easy and quick.
4. Dinse connectors for switching polarity I do switch between mig and flux often.

5. Spool gun compatible.
6.Price to what you get ratio. big plus


My least favorite things about this 170 mig welder
1. Seemingly Harbor freight specific consumables (but for the contact tip)
2. The ground clamp is meh so so.
3. Slightly cheep regulator.
4. I have nothing more as of yet... but then My standards are low long as something works....


So thank you for your time in watching the video, I hop[e it was helpful and If in you have questions feel free to comment Ill see if I cant answer them.