Beginner metal fab.
- Thread starter Omgbecki
- Start date
- Location
- Grantsville, Utah
That Hobart 140 is a great first machine.
UNSTUCK
But stuck more often.
Invest in at least two grinders and an extension cord with two or three outlets on the end. I almost always have a flap wheel and a cut off wheel on two grinders and then a clamp on light right next to each other. Cords get tangled, but it saves so much time from swapping out the attachments.
You can do almost all cutting with an abrasive chop saw and cut-off disks on grinders. For cut-off disks I have found the Flex-o-vit, "Razor Blades" from US welding seem to last 3-4 times as long as the ones from harbor freight. They are almost 2x's as expensive but last much longer and you don't have to change them as often.
Don't be afraid to by a used stick welder off KSL, There is a reason people have stick welders laying around, they rarely fail. Just be sure to get one with "DC", not just an "AC" buzz box. I paid like $250.00 (I have also found that sticks from US welding seem to work much better than the ones that have been laying around at HD or Lowes for probably years)
Also I have heard that you can get decent 110v MIG welders used, many people will buy them then upgrade to a 220v and try to re-coup some of the cost of by selling the 110v.
I have an expensive Milwaukee 4.5 inch grinder ($110.00), I like it a lot more than the HF ones, it does not vibrate my arms nearly as much, and is much nicer to use for extended periods of time.
being good with cutting and getting good fit helps a lot, take the 2 seconds it takes to grind a bevel on your edges.
The biggest thing that helped my welding was my welding table. Being able to vise-grip material to the table and standing upright, instead of working on the concrete, helped a lot.
search for youtube videos for technique.
I have probably $300-400 into this table, the feet are adjustable to level off and I made a cart so I can push it around easier. It is 4ftx3ft the top is only 1/2 thick, it was not flat and has bowed more. I have since turned the bottle jack up-side-right from this picture, I am not sure why, maybe the handle worked better, I don't remember.
Don't be afraid to by a used stick welder off KSL, There is a reason people have stick welders laying around, they rarely fail. Just be sure to get one with "DC", not just an "AC" buzz box. I paid like $250.00 (I have also found that sticks from US welding seem to work much better than the ones that have been laying around at HD or Lowes for probably years)
Also I have heard that you can get decent 110v MIG welders used, many people will buy them then upgrade to a 220v and try to re-coup some of the cost of by selling the 110v.
I have an expensive Milwaukee 4.5 inch grinder ($110.00), I like it a lot more than the HF ones, it does not vibrate my arms nearly as much, and is much nicer to use for extended periods of time.
being good with cutting and getting good fit helps a lot, take the 2 seconds it takes to grind a bevel on your edges.
The biggest thing that helped my welding was my welding table. Being able to vise-grip material to the table and standing upright, instead of working on the concrete, helped a lot.
search for youtube videos for technique.
I have probably $300-400 into this table, the feet are adjustable to level off and I made a cart so I can push it around easier. It is 4ftx3ft the top is only 1/2 thick, it was not flat and has bowed more. I have since turned the bottle jack up-side-right from this picture, I am not sure why, maybe the handle worked better, I don't remember.
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yeah i learned to weld when i was 8 on an ac stick welder. by the time i got to high school welding class and they had DC stick welders i was in heaven, all the other kids tried and couldn't even stick two pieces of metal together with an arc welder and all decided to fight over the few mig welders the class had. leaving me the arc welders to myself.
ac welders do have their place though, they penetrate more than dc, so if you wanted to build a bridge or something you would want an ac welder
a similar story was with the oxy-acetalyne torch, the kids couldn't use them so they all fought over the single, p.o.s., couldn't cut thicker than 1/8", harbor freight plasma cutter
and all they were trying to build were "skate-rails" anyway....*sigh* my generation is going to be the end of this world
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Toad
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Millville(logan)
i currently have a $5,000 Snap-On welder (re-badged lincoln) it has seen several hundred pounds of wire through it.
Dont tell the snap on guy this. It was burst his perfect bubble. At least the one in I deal with.
Dont tell the snap on guy this. It was burst his perfect bubble. At least the one in I deal with.
it is a $5,000 welder, but got it for $1,000 because some guy ordered hit through him and backed out so he was stuck with it. it was on his truck for months before we finally struck up a deal for it. but "snap-on dollars" are like dog years. what is $5,000 retail from snap on is half that (or less) elsewhere
inside the access panels it says lincoln all over
inside the access panels it says lincoln all over
- Location
- Stinkwater
Can I hijack a little? If I wanted a good all-round flux-core wire, what should I get?
- Location
- Stinkwater
No, I'm not set up for gas.