Q: can the Ipad 1 work as a wify spot

Yes.

Jonathan,

Correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that only the new iPad has the personal hotspot feature.

No.

Personal Hotspot refers to the Internet-sharing feature on iPhone 3GS or later* and iPad (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular.

Above from:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4517

I know what personal hotspot stands for. The OP was asking, as I understood it, whether the original iPad had that feature. The only iPad that supports this is the new iPad. I'm pretty sure that Jonathan knows all that, too. I was (as politely as I am capable ), trying to understand why he gave the answer he did.

Didn't think that which iPhone supported it was relevant to the discussion at hand.