The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Hand Held welders/laser welders ... ???

I've been seeing a lot of pop up adds lately for hand held stick welders/laser welders/cutters. They're all priced about $80-100. It seems like a cool idea ... but ... they're all Chinese and what few user ratings they have seem to be bot generated. (5 stars just because it was quick shipping???)

My "portable" welder is doing fine (its portable if I slide it into the tractor bucket...) ... But these things are tempting to try to see if they're anygood (free returns at Walmart ) but anyone have any thoughts or feedback on these things?

I'm guess they're cheap for a reason ...

I had a friend send me a video of one of the laser rust remover gizmos that a shop he visited had. He said it worked real well, but the owner said it cost like $15,000.

IMO you're not going to get a decent welder for $100, except maybe a cheapo flux core welder. That was my first machine many years ago.

I doubt it would weld much more than maybe some sheet metal. My 120V MIG machine (~100A max capacity IIRC) isn't really powerful enough for more than sheet metal. I use my Tombstone Lincoln 225A for that kind of stuff.

But you can blow in $100 and be our tester.

Be careful about ordering from some unknown website. Use a credit card that you can dispute the charge when they stiff you or you start seeing bogus charges.

😁

I have one of those. Bought it new almost 50 years ago and it still works good. Never heard it described as a “Tombstone” before.🤔Although I guess it does resemble one.

I also purchased a Miller 180 wire welder 8 - 10 years ago.

Laser welders are cool. Although I really doubt you would get much for that price. Years ago I saw a demonstration at a trade show where they were butt welding razor blades together with a laser.

John

It would be cool to be able to do that, but really, how many times would you need to butt weld razor blades?

Personally, I'm holding out for a flame thrower.

Lasers!

In early 1965 I was a just barely 18 year old college freshman (that's as far as I got) taking a class at the University of Houston called something like "practical engineering". It was a combination of some basic electricity, slide rule use, mechanical drawing, etc. On Mondays it often had some kind of show and tell from some technical company. This particular evening Bell Labs had a laser to show us.

They set up in a class room. Their "rig" was a record turntable connected to some kind of laser "sending unit". On the other side of the room was a laser "receiver unit" that was then connected to a stereo amp and a pair of speakers. Lights in the room were turned down and one of the Bell Lab guys was sitting near the laser beam, smoking a cigarette so the smoke would make it easier to see the beam. They started the turntable and the music came from the speakers.

A month or so earlier the James Bond movie "Goldfinger" had been released. In one scene, Goldfinger had Bond tied down to a metal table and was threatening Bond by aiming the beam starting between his feet and burning through the table while bringing it up towards the point of no return. Most of the students in the room had seen the movie. I know it was on my mind. At that point one of the Bell Labs guys walked into the laser beam! And ...
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... the music stopped.

I've actually built a pretty effective one, with a fuel injection pump, a one gallon plastic gas can, a Propane torch, and a motorcycle battery! It was great for taking out wasp nests from a safe distance!

John, the least expensive welder I've got cost about $500.00. It's a 110/220 volt MIG machine that can weld up to about 1/4" steel plate pretty effectively. Those laser gimmicks are P.T. Barnum specials! I just bought a foot pedal controlled TIG machine, but it's still in the shipping box it came in- - - -not even unpacked yet!
Jerry

That would make for a nice addition to your UA-ATV (Urban Assault/All Terrain Vehicle) which your husband has been promising you, or at least he should have by now...

The Schwimvogan?

I really have no intention of buying one. For all the welding I do, which is very little, my Hobart stick welder/generator does the trick.

I kinda figured they were cheesy -- just wondered if anyone was willing to admit to owning one....

This is John, BTW

Just after replying to this thread, I started seeing ads on Facebook (or Faceplant, as my brother-in-law more correctly calls it) for those cheapo handheld laser welders. I clicked on one and my protection software flagged the site as a scam.

I know someone that makes a pretty good living manufacturing intake and exhaust systems for high end cars like Lambo’s and Ferrari’s($300+ hr). He bought one of those laser welders to see how good of a job it would do. I think he paid over $6k for it, so not a cheap one. He still TIGs better than the laser, so it’s now collecting dust in a corner…. just a conversation piece.

Friend of mine has one. Not sure on the cost, but he repairs watches and clocks. I've seen some of the work he does wearing binoculars and its pretty incredible what can be done.