What did you get for Christmas?

[tcbusch]

I got this for myself. My previous welder is a Licoln 10, it's a 110 volt welder. Works ok but its underpowered. The new one is a 230 volt Hobart 210 with spool gun. The spool gun is used for aluminium welding.
Man can this thing lay down a nice bead!!

 

[aaytay]

Wow... VERY NICE!

Ok, this begs the question.... What are you building that you needed a new welder?

 

[glippert]

Art - Whatever it is, it can be made lightweight with aluminum!

Terry - You must have been at the top of the "Nice" list all year!

I'm not a welder, but I have looked at that same model, thinking about trying to teach myself. Would it be a good choice for a beginner like me?

 

[dfrisk]

GREG - MIG is pretty easy, there's LOTS of information in books and on the web. I wouldn't start trying to do serious structural welding right off, and even having welded with NO formal instruction since Dad let me burn rod as a small boy, I try to stay far far away from out-of-position welds of any sort at any cost.

Far as which welder to start with, I'd suggest Terry's choice or a comparable blue one, Miller. They're both made by the same company, ILL Tool Works, ITW. I would suggest if your serious about welding, get something that runs off 220V, the 110V models are nice to start but as your fab skills improve you soon find yourself limited by your ability to properly weld thicker material. I set myself up as capable to properly cut & weld 3/8" material but have had no problems exceeding that like with the 2" x 2" steel bar I welded to some 1/2" thk steel plate that is the catch for the trip bucket on my loader years ago.

 

[glippert]

Thanks, Dennis. Good info.

 

[dtanner]

Well I got something for the shop this Xmas, I have an old lincon stick and need something to cut steel with. The price was right ! Next I will buy a wire welder and a Hobart 220 I think will work for me. I had a blue Miller 110 here and hated it. So I will try the 220 Hobart. Local company says it will be on sale in Two weeks. should I get the gas model? I`am learning how to weld so it will take some time to catch on I think.

 

[dfrisk]

DONALD - IMHO, wire welding with flux core wire is not much different than ARC welding with flux coated wire rods, you still get spatter, slag to chip off, etc. Get the gas bottle & regulators so you can MIG weld. The metal around the joints has to be clean & shiny, moreso than with ARC or flux core but with a bit of practice you should be able to lay down a nice smooth bead. My M-M 185 came with a VHS video 8-9 yrs ago, I suspect the new welders have a DVD. Watch it, there's good info in there.

Also, I mentioned in Wayne's post about the 1917 REO truck that I finished reading Hugh Rowland's book "On Thin Ice" I got for Christmas. Much better reading that I thought it would be. Like most good books, I wished it had been twice as long!

 

[dtanner]

Dennis Frisk
Thanks for that info, I will get the gas model for sure.I need to learn to weld body metal so I can keep up with the old car welding some patches . I have decided to set my truck up for the winter and only drive it on nice days or big storms. The rusty car will be my daily driver. It needs some work .

 

[dfrisk]

DON - I agree on semi-retiring these old diesel pickups, They're WAY too handy to have around to let them rust away.

If you end up doing a lot of thin body sheet metal welding you might want to talk to your local welding supply shop, different gases effect weld heat. Nomally you use a 25% CO2, 75% Argon gas mix but using a higher Argon percentage cools the weld better and reduces the chances of blowing holes thru your welds.

When I first got my MIG I'd run out of gas just about the time I used up a ten pound spool of .030" wire. For some reason I now use up the tank of gas about every 12-13 pounds of wire.

The wire may seem expensive for MIG welding, but you have to remember that for every ten pounds of wire you buy, you can lay down over nine pounds of weld. Flux core & Arc are about five pounds of weld per ten pounds of rod/wire. TIG is more efficient, lots of times you only need to add filler to start the weld, create the puddle, then just fuse the two pcs together while adding very little filler metal.

 

[dtanner]

Dennis Frisk
My 5.9 cummins diesel just works to good to waste.I get 19 or 20 around town and empty 26 mpg on the road,and 15 towing 9600 lbs fiver in not much wind. I know what I have and don`t want to waste it with rust. My 2nd gen is a puller and love it. Thanks for all the good info , allways.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Okay, so Santa didn't bring you a brand new welder. You were counting on creating some kick butt Cub Cadet attachments or saving some $$$ doing your own welding. Well, if you happen to have a couple of old microwave ovens around then just follow these Three Easy Step Videos to build your own stick welder.

Video # 1

Video #2

Video #3

Or if you need a portable welder... Kohler Powered Homemade Welder

 

[mpatterson]

I got myself a new (to me) Brinly cultivator and the wife doesn't know yet cause she doesn't venture out into my garage until summer...too cold! Wimp!

 

[dtanner]

Mike Patterson

Thanks for posting a picture of your Brinly cultivator . I have one like that but I do not have wheels for it. How do they work ? do you set the wheels up to give the dept than you want them to go into the soil ? I think I need to find a few parts for mine I seem to remember that I need one more tooth and the pin that holds it I place. Pictures are great for guys like me that never got to see this equipment in action.