STUD WELDER....WHICH ONE TO GET?

[71butterbee]

I'm in the market for a stud welder and was looking for some recommendations. I see harbor freight has one but sometimes there quality of electric items is quite low. I'm not going to use it so much that I need a professional one but I want it to work well.
Thanks

[hotrod98]

We use a "Panel Beater" here at the shop which is a "stick and pull" system that does not use the disposable studs. While this system is pretty expensive, at over $1200, I saw that Harbor Freight has a unit at around $299 or $399, I think. If you're not using it every day the way we do, it may hold up well. Not sure. All I know, is that we very seldom use our old stud welder except for certain applications. This system is so much faster than the old stud puller way since you don't have to remove the studs after each pull. You just twist the gun and it comes right off. You can make 10 pulls with a "stick and pull"  in the time that it takes to make one stud pull.

[palindromes]

I bought the harbor freight stud-gun over a year ago when it was on sale for $89.  The smallest size studs work fine, but I haven't had as much luck with the bigger ones...the weld isn't as strong & they pop-off after a couple light pulls.  Could just be me or my electrical connection, though.  Oh, it works great for heat-shrinking stretched panels too.

The slide-hammer that comes with the gun occasionally gets a stud jammed in it and you have to work at it to get it out(you'll see what I mean).  It's an annoyance, but still tolerable.

If money's tight & you don't use it every day, I'd say get the harbor freight cheapo.  It's done everything I've needed it for.

[mopar_madman]

I would recommend the uni-spotter brand (autobodystore.com sells them) they have a starter, intermediate and advanced kits all reasonably priced. That's the brand alot of pro shops use and I have the starter kit and it works great.

[bill440rt]

I bought one similar to the one H.F. sells, but I got it brand-new on eBay. It's the yellow one with the built in handle on the back. The gun seemed to work fine, but the slide hammer was a PoS. It wouldn't grab on to the smaller studs, so I ended up using the bigger ones.
Regarding the weld strength, I found that you CANNOT use an extension cord, it really affected the welds. I needed to go straight into a 20 amp circuit. Probably because I was using the bigger studs. I got most of the dents out I had to. If I need to use it again, I'll either have to borrow a slide hammer from a friend, or buy one. Kinda defeats the purpose of getting one for a good deal though, eh?
Lesson learned: When it comes to tools, you get what you pay for!

[Daytona R/T SE]

My father used to buy stuff from Harbor Freight- It was all junk!

Eastwood has a few stud welders...

http://eastwood.resultspage.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=stud+welder&submit.x=36&submit.y=17

[is_it_EVER_done?]

Do you have a mig welder? I disconnect the wire feed from mine, and alligator clip the stud to the exposed mig wire. It's cavemean crude, but actually more effective than a cheap stand alone stud machine, as you can regulate the weld intensity with the welder (for minor to major dents).

I've only done it a couple of times ever for auto dents (worked well), but I do it a couple times a month for dents in my expansion chambers of my dirt bikes. For limited use, it's hard to beat.

[71butterbee]

Thanks for all the info.