working on it wrote: And Gus, I've already given up all my vices and pursuits.......................................
Gus, I am willing to develop new pursuits and vices to replace the old...camping, Coleman, and DO's seem to be an addiction hereabouts! Maybe I'll be an addict too. Actually, I seem to be enjoying the build and after-build as much as anything I've done in a long time. The problem-solving and trying new ways to do things is my new hobby. I may have bitched about some aspects during the build, but once I thought I was finished, I missed it! I guess it has supplanted my car fetish, at least for the forsee-able future.eamarquardt wrote:working on it wrote: And Gus, I've already given up all my vices and pursuits.......................................
Gosh, you can't be having much fun.
Cheers,
Gus
Dale M. wrote:Your constant reference to over building is not reflected in the capability of the tool you are contemplating....
Dale
Dale M. wrote:IF you have not purchased a welder yet, you may be able to upgrade to higher level machine and still keeps costs down... Here is a Hobart Handler 140 for $100 under suggested retail...
http://www.hobartweldshop.com/servlet/t ... ers/Detail
And its a Hobart Factory Store, doubt if you can go wrong....
Dale
grantstew8 wrote:I'd not read this thread and bought this stick welder at half price. I'm not planning on any serious welding.
https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/thursday-24th-october/product-detail/ps/p/arc-welder/
Well, after waiting for my wife to get home from her out of the blue trip to NYC (and waiting for all the "hidden" travel costs and "must have" purchases to surface), and then waiting two more weeks to see if my hints to Santa (for the flux welder) would suffice, I found a)no huge overexpenditure in NYC, nor b)any gift under the tree for me either. After the "a/b" results were in, I decided to be my own Santa, and gifted myself the Northern 125 Flux Welder ($129.99 one year warranteed + 34.99 two year extension),as I had stated before. I should feel bad about buying myself two toys in one month, but I don't. Tried it out on the only two pieces of scrap I had (and not ear-marked for future use)...1/8" and 3/16" flat pieces of galvanized steel. Discouraging, sputtering, fuming results at first. Then, I got the feed speed right, and made a couple of lines of practice welds. My first. This is going to be a learning curve type of thing, and like my friends have told me, avoid galvanized steel (none of them will use it). I tried to avoid the fumes, and a stiff breeze helped; I used my auto-darkening helmet, but the combination of a bright outdoor sun and the arc turned the shade too dark for me to see thru (I'll have to figure out the best helmet/shade adjustment, or get a lower number plate). Much like most other things in my experience (at least the ones I wanted to do, and had difficulty doing at first), I will acquire the skill through practice and perseverance (that's my credo, and I'm sticking to it).working on it wrote:...(from 12-3-13) I'm also going to get the Northern Industrial 125 Flux welder second, and try that as well (110v only). I have plans to use either or both of these cheap welders around my in-laws ranch (they don't weld either) and once I get my "feet wet" in welding, and go big, I'll just use them there. I really have my eye set on the Hobart 210MVP eventually. But, right now, I just have the 230v arc...which I can't use (I shoulda checked it out better) until I upgrade my electrical, which is not ready (to my surprise). My thread on that oversight: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=58200 Meantime, I'll get the 125 Flux in a week or two, and make sparks (at 110v).
After reading this response from CARS,working on it wrote:from 12-28-13 ...pieces of galvanized steel. Discouraging, sputtering, fuming results at first. Then, I got the feed speed right, and made a couple of lines of practice welds. My first. This is going to be a learning curve type of thing, and like my friends have told me, avoid galvanized steel (none of them will use it). I tried to avoid the fumes, and a stiff breeze helped; I used my auto-darkening helmet, but the combination of a bright outdoor sun and the arc turned the shade too dark for me to see thru (I'll have to figure out the best helmet/shade adjustment, or get a lower number plate). Much like most other things in my experience (at least the ones I wanted to do, and had difficulty doing at first), I will acquire the skill through practice and perseverance (that's my credo, and I'm sticking to it).
I figured I would make some progress if I followed his advice. I guess not (since I tried the same, expecting different results). Tried the flux welder again today, again on galvanized steel (pipe fittings this time), plus coated ? mild steel, and a heavily chromed trailer ball. AGAIN windy, but I adjusted the helmet shade where I could almost see OK. The project: piddling around with spare 4x4 treated wood, steel, pipe fittings, and a trailer ball I had bought 25 years ago (for a S-10 I had, to tow a trailer-and boat-I never got) to piece together a makeshift towbar (pusher bar) to move my TTT in and out of the garage. Had a wild hair(hare?) caught in my head to see if I could build a quick-disconnect pushbar out of scraps I had on hand, and a whole afternoon of decent weather to try it. So I did. The almost finished piece needed welding to secure the ball to the pipe and the pipe to the strapping (and the strapping screwed to the wood, and the hipbone to the....and so on). Well anyway, after last time's galvanizing experience, I tried to grind off the zinc from the pipe, and also the outer chrome from the ball (really thick, made in America back then...) so I could perhaps successfully weld them together. The fumes weren't so bad this time, but the lack of practice and trying to finish in the twilight yielded the same unsatisfactory results. Since I could at least almost see the items (as I was welding), I was able to actually get some penetration into the steel, and the welds held after I tested them with my BFH, I consider today's effort a minor success. Lots of spatter, uneven spotting, and I never could keep the right distance from the work nor my feed constant. Also, though I shoulda done so, I didn't prepare the mild steel at all (had some type of coating, and I had no degreaser), so it wasn't easy to weld either. Total weld practice time now= 30 minutes. Time needed to become proficient= lots more! No time to clean up the finished piece, since it was becoming dark, and I now had a headache (allergies + zinc fumes; who knows?), so here is a pic of the un-chipped, un-cleaned, un-ground welds on my experimental pushbar: I'll clean it up and grind it down next weekend, to see if it can be usable. Gonna be a long learning curve.CARS wrote:Your friends are right. Don't use gal. metal for practicing. It's horrible enough when you HAVE to weld that crap.Your breeze idea also made your shielding blow away from the weld puddle.Get some clean mild steal and keep practicing!
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