localsmith

I was only kidding with my post LOL. Sorry it didn't come off that way!

I purchased and used an inverter welder and it died it under a month. The power supply or something else inside made a loud POP and that was the end of that! Inverter welders are basically computers which is why they are capable of so many functions. The downside to that is that they are much more prone to failure due to all of the extra computer components and other things that can go bad within the welder. Ever since that failure I decided to only buy welders and other equipment that's made in the USA or Europe. Cheap Chinese components like power supply's and motherboards (which inverter welders have) have too high of a failure rate.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy an inverter welder. There's good reason why they are not used in an industrial welding setting. I would not recommend an inverter welder to my worst enemy.

I'm late to the party but these welders look really good. I had a really bad experience with my first welder. It had top reviews on a major retail site and I bought and it died on me in less than a month. I found out after doing research that these cheap Chinese welders are all inverter based which means they are pretty much junk to begin with!

I just want to personally thank both you (Mikey) and Frosty for all of your posts and knowledge that you have put free of charge on this forum. Thanks to both of you, I figured out that my forge was running inefficient over this past year and I was able to build my own burner that is literally twice as efficient as my first burner. I also removed the junk depot store refractory that I used on my forge that would puff up 1" when first heated and reduced the internal dimensions of my forge and it would flake off and need periodical repair and I replaced it with Kastolite and my forge works like a charm now giving me a much more durable forge and a forge that has larger internal dimensions since the Kastolite does not puff up when heated. I have to say, once I started getting into building burners and playing around with forge designs I started to become addicted to making the most efficient burner and forge I could possibly come up with. Kudos to both of you gentlemen and thanks again for how much I have learned off of both of you!

I started with a HF 18 (or was it 20#?) anvil and it is better than nothing. Most beginners won't know what to look for in an anvil anyways so just having something to beat on is better than nothing at all. The first one cracked on me at the base but they are pretty good about returns in my personal experience. Once you figure out what kind of an anvil you want then you can look into something better.

I have found that my forge welds stick only when the humidity is under 60%. Anything higher and the moisture content of the ambient air effects the steel too much and the excess hydrogen prevents my forge welds from sticking. A full clear moon with low humidity and is must be cold rolled 1018. A36 will NOT forge weld at all due to it's high copper content and it is significantly harder to forge A36 over 1018. I do a 1.2.3 count followed by saying God is Great just before applying the hammer to the steel as I'm pulling it out of the forge to be forge welded. The mantra keeps me consistent and works as an internal metronome and gives me a rhythm to work with. 1.2.3 God is Great and my forge welds all stick AS LONG AS the humidity is under 60% and the steel is not A36.

Correct running pressure has too many variables. What size burner is your forge equipped with? Burner size makes a huge difference in regards to fuel economy as does size of the forge.

That's a pretty narrow forge and your burner is dealing with a lot of back pressure. Try dialing down the psi on your burner and it should run better in your forge.

Refractory is not a good choice but getting 12-16 hours out of a 20# tank of propane is pretty efficient. 20# of charcoal costs more and only lasts a few hours. Coal is probably more efficient than propane but only slightly and you have to deal with a blower, fire management, and sulfur.