Harbor Freight Stud welder / Dent puller review

Started by dwilson, November 22, 2004, 05:37:46 AM

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dwilson

A Harbor Freight retail store opened up outside Philly recently so I felt the itch to buy a new toy (-: I have a couple projects that need dents pulled so I got this stud welder kit. It cost $90 (on sale) and came with 300 studs and a slide hammer. I tested it last night on my old 125 tank with a very deep dent (~2.5" round and 3/4" deep), this was a result of it falling over into the corner of a deck...

You clean the area down to bare metal and then weld a bunce of studs into the area inside the dent, using the slide hammer you slowly pull a little here, then a little there... eventually you have the metal fairly flush (but not perfect). You will always have to use some body filler to get it smooth regardless of method. The part I like best about this method of dent removal is the metal is not punctured like with the screw-in slide hammers, a big perk with gas tanks...

Harbor Freight is known for shotty quality tools but I've had decent luck with them includinig tools that i've owned for years. The first stud welder I got (last weekend) welded itself together as a result of slop in the head but they gave me a new one with zero hassle and it works great. I priced a few else where and they started at twice the price.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=3223