Pulsepushthepopulace

Awesomesauce, It was a beast of a machine. The three of us could barely get the thing in the back of the truck, thought it was solid lead...lol came with about 50-60 pounds of various specialty electrodes... have to see what I got, because non of the numbers clicked in my head (NO 6011, 7014,7018)... The guy did a lot of drag racing, so I guess they were applicable to the material needs of that...

Tried to pick it up this afternoon, but the seller was unable due to work obligations... A pleasant surprise considering these economically harsh times... He felt bad for not being free to do the deal, so he knocked the price down to $300!!!! After reading the text in the TSC parking lot, I spit my soda all over the dash of my truck... lol I can hardly contain my excitement!!! 9 a.m. tomorrow, at his business adress, the transaction will be made, and I will be the proud owner of a Miller Dialarc 250 welding machine... WOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!

Honesty is a bidirectional quality. If it's quipped, it's considered satirical brutality. If it's convenient and accompanied by a spoonful of sugar you're a saint. - it's not always what you say, it's how you say it... (never sunk in with me)

Frosocrates... :D I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses, you guys/gals are a flavorful gaggle of wit and personality.

I believe "Art" is one of the most bastardized, misinterpreted, and misused words to ever grace our attention and leave our lips. It's this way because we each have our own view as to whether it; defines or complicates, intends to shock an audience or personal pursuit, etc. etc.... I feel it's a whole lot of word juggling jargon that dances around the fire, telling each other how it burns, melts, chars, cracks, sparks, how it's better than other fires... In all reality, it's the fire itself that is the "Art"; the process, not the translation. I've stumbled upon blacksmithing as an escape from society. After getting lost on the way to college, and serving two tours in OEF-P, I've lost my taste for life's social circles (at least in the flesh). I find accomplishing tasks, creative forms, chores, and just work in general as the only therapeutic escape. The action of doing is my art. I'm able to manipulate myself and my tangible world, while manipulating and impacting all other things in life remain an exercise in futility. These are my dancing words, again someone with a different perspective sharing their reality to a broad audience of onlookers.

Dialarc 250 deal is in the works, I'm going to go check her out tomorrow, cash in hand... This has been a very difficult decision, considering all of the variables present, but it seems to be a welder that I can definitely grow into. There are pristine ac/dc thunderbolts showing up everywhere for $275-350 range, which do leave me juggling the idea of "this is sufficient, and $225 cheaper", but I can't negate the heart aching satisfaction of temptation that is the Dialarc 250... I've mentioned my rubin-'esque attraction to ladies in previous posts, I guess the same feelings apply here. *** help me, and my electric bill. Thanks again for your collective guidance.

This is a great write up. Thanks for sharing Greg!

Perrin, I tried to go above and beyond with you with your last RR track anvil thread. I, and others spent a great amount of time pushing you in the right direction. You had specifics set of materials, and we collectively coached you in the right direction... Collectively, there was a century worth of experience in that single thread, excluding myself, guiding you to accomplish your goal of making the best anvil you could, with what you had.... getting you to understand "Mass under hammer blow" was the ultimate idea people were trying to pass on to you, and your repetitive reply was "well, wouldn't that make 4"round stock the best anvil?" & "Well, if that's the case, then why aren't anvils taller and skinnier?"... I kinda got the drift that you were just dead set on calling everyone an idiot by mocking their advice with these "it's obvious your wrong questions"... I see the same kind of attitude in this thread, yet again a collective century of blacksmith experience, and you're going in circles with the same kind of circus act... Take advantage of what this place has to offer, and understand that a majority of IFI members have probably been smithing well before you were flesh and bones, and then some.. Fresh blood is the future of the art, and these guys are itching to pass on knowledge to us "younger smiths", respect that selflessness, and soak up everything you can. I'm going to go against my better judgement, and step out of lurk here to offer up some help. Take it or leave it, or call me a fat bag of stupid, i don't care. Junk is synonymous with treasure; something that will work for you, and will help you towards your goal of creating something to forge with. The essentials needed for a forge are very simple, and can be made from common household trash if need be. Vaughn gave you examples of archaic yet effective examples of solid fuel forges. I'm here to offer you the space saving, cheaper than dirt, gas forges.... http://www.agocschiropractic.com/knives/paintcanforge.pdf venturi burners- http://www.rayrogers.com/venturi.htm http://makingcustomknives.com/ These forges are not inferior. Just because they are small doesn't mean they're not effective. The first professional blacksmith I'd ever met did a majority of his work in one of ^^^ these. Granted, his was a 8" x 12" pipe, not a coffee can... They consume very little fuel, because they're quicker to heat up, and you can, if need be use a small propane torch... + they are portable. So, your mom can have her fire pit, and you can have your forge... Think with the minimalist mindset... Some people see bed frames, I see angle... Some see useless, I see 100 uses... Again, wish you the best...

This sounds like the a very doable thing considering I'll be calling one out here for a 220 hook up. I can do a lot of macgyver-like things, but electricity is a constant battle. My wife knows better than to ask me to hang christmas lights it's such a sore subject... Good to know, It's a lot of machine.... I don't foresee me pushing those boundaries anytime soon, but it's good to know it's potential... I can't wait to start tapping into the capabilities by adding a tig set up in the not so distant future.... I'll definitely have to bring the electric framework up to par when I do so, but that's all good. Think it's just a guestimation. Inverter welders are getting a lot better with the IGBT inverter technology, where it's predecessor technology lacked, it now succeeds... I would also assume that these machines are under constant duty-cycle stresses, and some people less educated on welder operations, probably don't abide by the parameters or don't understand them. Good way to kill machines. My guess is that if you abide by the duty cycle guidelines, your machine will last more than 5 years. There's also a lot of anti-chinese sentiment when it comes to the crap they've been sending over for years now... Today their technology mirrors our own in regards to inverter technology, and they're far more reliable do to local companies selling the machines under their name. I've heard of a couple of these welders working their way into local commercial shops, taking abuse, and working like a scalded ape with no issues whatsoever... The individual in mind hates china, tried to kill the machine out of spite over the past 2 years, and now loves the machine, but still hates china.lol

Everything that I've read so far tells me I should be good if I don't max it out. We'll see I guess...

Oh, I did... Respectfully consider this smidgen of noob to noob advice; You can't overcome ignorance with insolence... Wish you the best! :)

I know this might be of little significance to you, but I found his posts rather informative.

One issue comes to mind, as I narrow my focus on the Dialarc 250.... There's a 60 amp breaker that branches off from the house to the barn, the 60ft run of the wire is gonna reduce the amperage, and at best I'll have a 50amp breaker for the machine to run off of... Does anyone see a problem with this? I mean, if I don't turn the volume up I should be fine right?

ha ha, I just posted this in the first come-first serve, not knowing this thread existed... Had I the disposable income, I would get it. Nice to know a fellow IFI member is a FL local...

I don't know how it would react, but a discarded paper towel with LO on it can spontaneously combust...

I would tell the client that it's going to cost them (insert crazy 6 to 7 digit #)... Isn't that a traditional method for out swinging gates with an incline like that? I'm all for re-inventing things, but save modern technological advances, the mechanical nature of the hinge parallels that of the the wheel... If they refuse technology, and want some kind of crazy kinetic custom hinge on the cheap, I'd walk away... In my experience, people whom are stuck on "it looks funny" are not the folks you want to do business with especially when undertaking a task like this...

They're actually in this months mail-out coupon flyer 55# - $44.99...

Thanks Phil, I'll measure the volume of void throughout the work, I just had no idea how much of the electrode made it to the tangible weld bead -flux.. I figure bulk is a good idea considering the task... Do you think it's a good idea to do the homogenous approach??? I just want to alleviate any/all vibration taking away impact force... Or make it less likely.

I think I'm going to homogeneously weld the plates together. This will give me some practice for the top plate, and make the body solid as possible. The plus side to this is I can take the pieces in and out of the oven for preheat and de-stress... Like a puzzle, I'll just take 2 out for welding at a time, so it's easier to keep them true to the dimensional tolerances... 7018 electrodes are the ticket, size is yet to be determined...I wonder how many pounds I'll burn through on this baby??? 10-25-50???

Look at the examples throughout IFI; post anvils, forklift fork anvils, Brazeal striking anvil, even power hammer anvils... These are all examples of longer taller anvils... Getting down to the brass tax, 4" round barstock, say a 16 lb. sledge hammer head, would move hot steel more efficiently then a foot long section of rail doubled up on the top... Take into account what you intend to forge; Is it a blade? an ornamental piece of work such as scroll or decorative hardware? Then based on that answer, use the materials you have on hand, to fabricate an anvil to suit your needs... In it's entirety it would be "more mass" because your adding a plate, but technically it would be less mass beneath the hammer blow in comparison to your original idea of welding the top rails together... People have accomplished beautiful work on less of an anvil... Build it, use it, and be proud of it Perrin... In the end it's all about finding something to pound on... and get to poundin... Look forward to seeing the end product!!!

Thank you gents. This collective advice of this thread has left me with a great bit of education and some clear direction... Hopefully that dial arc doesn't get horns-waggled from my grips. should be getting paid any day now... If I have some more questions I'll post up, and if not I'll post a picture of what comes home with me... :D

I didn't even know my budget was in the ballpark of a new Miller machine! I might have to change my last name to Jones.... Forgive me for my ignorance, but with this setup, what additional equipment would I need if I wanted to run a tig setup on this machine? Obviously I would need a tig torch, foot pedal?,etc...??? See, the fab shop I worked in, for a entire 2 months (unstable boss), had top of the line stuff at their fingertips... tig specific miller machines (as far as I knew), fluid coolers, pedals, spool guns, and other machine attachments.... I felt like a retard in a room full of bouncy balls trying to understand it all... Just pondering what it would take to upgrade the machine to being tig capable???

Thanks guys I'm really leaning toward the dialarc or the sureweld... after the comments... If a Ac/dc tombstone rears it's ugly face, and it's a steal, I would have no problem picking it up... I'm all for graduating to tig, so if I can tig on the machine with additional equipment, that's a plus...

You'll be able to move metal, and it will work as an anvil.... But The physics of impact in forging hot steel require two tools; the anvil and the hammer, and their relationship is symbiotic. Ideally, when you swing your hammer, the impact energy goes through the heated steel where it meets an abrupt hard mass, most of the impact energy is transfered into the hot (softened) steel, the rest of the energy is lost in vibration through the anvil, stand, and ground... there are more variables, but the idea is that you want that abrupt mass to have more mass than your hammer, and you want to focus as much energy of impact to the metal that's being worked, as upposed to dispersing it elsewhere... (now, through imagination) you've now doubled up the thickness of the top of the RR rail, now cut a 2" section off that rail, This 2" section represents the "abrupt mass" you have under your hammer blow... Within this 2" section you have about 2"x1" thick piece of steel welded (energy loss depends on weld) to another 2x 1" thick piece of steel, which then knives down to 2 1/2 inch long by 1/2" thick web (less mass and absorbs energy with vibration), then to the flat bottom of the RR track... In all reality you have a little over 2"x2" of mass under your hammer blow... This would be comparable to hammering on top of another hammer... Now... More imagination... using that pic I posted, cut a 2" cross section where you would do most of your striking, you now have a 2"x1" thick piece of steel welded to a 2"x12" piece of steel, a total of mass of 2"x13" of steel sits below your hammer blow... Which means there is a more abrupt mass, which equates to more energy directed to the hot metal. This would be comparable to hammering on a an anvil around 30 to 45lbs, or triple the mass of your newly fabricated anvil... about 15x the mass of a horizontal RR track anvil... Horizontal will work. There are 100's of examples out there... Just not as well as the vertical orientation RR track anvil...