Chris C Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 Thanks. "filler and penetration"...................good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 I have an old weldor friend who once told me that "you have to burn your weight in rods before you should expect to be any good at it". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Well, I have my welder................but a weldor I'm not, at least yet. I'll be working on it. Trying to come up with a simple yet effective hammer and tong rack as my first real project. I don't know if I'll burn my weight in rods in my remaining lifetime, so don't know if I'll ever qualify, but I"ll try. My goal is always to seek to do better than I did the time before in everything I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Like when someone in NYC asked "how do I get to Carnegie Hall" the answer practice, practice, practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 On 3/9/2020 at 3:42 PM, Irondragon Forge & Clay said: practice, practice, practice ................................and a whole lot of it! Well, the paint is still drying, so I can't get it to a good place to take a pic (I'll do that tomorrow.) but I built my hammer and tong rack today. Started yesterday and finished up today. I'm pleased with it. Welds, not so pleased..........but they'll hold and that's all that matters to me. I'm still using that 20 year old welding rod that came with it. Might have prettier welds if I'd buy new rod. Can't right now. $$$$$$$$ Making just this one rack made the price of the welder worth it to me. I'll post a pic tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localsmith Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 On-line reviews, by people you don't know, aren't worth the paper they are written on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 "On-line reviews..........................paper they are written on" You're a hoot, Thomas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Always check the thickness of the metal and match the diameter of the rod to fit that thickness of metal. Then look up the suggested amperage setting for that size rod. Before you weld on your project, warm up and practice welding on some scrap metal. Once you get the feel for it, than move to your project. Extra work light shinning on the area to be welded is a good idea. You can use angle iron or other things as a guide to keep the weld straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Once you pick up a welder you can look online and download the manuals, including: weld thickness, position, direction, rod, amperage, weave pattern, etc. charts. A local welding supply is a good source for welding texts so you have a little help learning to use the thing. Cranking the amperage up high is NOT a sign of a good welder. The Big 3 American manufacturers support amazingly old machines, sometimes even parts for welders made in the 1930s. Of course downloading the PDF manual for a welder you're looking at couldn't hurt. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 3 hours ago, localsmith said: ... 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! Once again, a broadcast condemnation of inverters...are you including Lincoln, Miller and ESAB inverters? You might dig a bit deeper in your "research". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 3 hours ago, Frosty said: The Big 3 American manufacturers support amazingly old machines, sometimes even parts for welders made in the 1930s. I can attest to that. My Lincoln Tombstone model AC-225-S is at least 50 years old. I was gifted it 30 or so years ago, from a friend, who was closing his body shop after 20 years. It is considered obsolete now but a lot of parts are still available. The only maintenance I have had to do, is a drop of oil for the cooling fan and a little WD-40 to free up the on/off switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 I have an ancient Lincoln tombstone as well; copper wound! It may very well be older than I am. Time to take the shroud off and clean the dust out and prep it for the cooler season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localsmith Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 On 9/28/2020 at 9:38 PM, arkie said: Once again, a broadcast condemnation of inverters...are you including Lincoln, Miller and ESAB inverters? You might dig a bit deeper in your "research". I was sharing my personal experience with inverters. While those company's no doubt make good inverters, they are vastly much more expensive than the Chinese branded ones. They also tend to have a much lower max amperage and are still not intended for heavy duty usage. Industrial and heavy duty welding is all done with transformer and engine driven welders. Inverters have a lot more things that can go wrong with them as they are practically computer operated welding machines which ,means power supplies, motherboards, RAM, and other components all need to be in perfect working order and need to stay that way, in an environment where sparks, dust, and fumes are being thrown about. The moment the 12V line on an inverter powersupply goes is the moment your welder dies. The same applies for the motherboard, RAM, and all the other computer components used in inverters. There's no doubt there are good inverters out there but they will cost a lot of money and still won't be as reliable as a solid transformer welder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 Let me change a few words here... New cars have a lot more things that can go wrong with them as they are practically computer operated driving machines which ,means power supplies, motherboards, RAM, and other components all need to be in perfect working order and need to stay that way, in an environment where rain, dust, and fumes are being thrown about. The moment the sensors goes is the moment your car dies. The same applies for the motherboard, RAM, and all the other computer components used in cars. There's no doubt there are good cars out there but they will cost a lot of money and still won't be as reliable as a solid horse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba682 Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 I bought a lincoln 200 amp square wave tig 2 years ago its an inverter i love it its compact and can be plugged in to 110 or 220 plugs i got it for aluminum but it does stick and tig nice and smooth i'm starten to throw this in the truck when theres power available and leave the mobile home the odd time. Stay away from the chinese stuff on the interweb yeah its cheap but eventually your going to pay. Stick to the tombstones and thunderbolts they are bombproof i got a 40 ish year old thunderbolt still in the shop on hot idle just in case lol. If ya wanna try tig all ya need is an acdc version of the before mentioned machines and scratch start tig is what you'll be doing before to long... Stay away from the online opinions on gear talk to some welders that use the stuff everyday,same as gear for any other trade. Oh and more thing about the machine i got, i hate digital displays but this one is pretty basic but the tech coming on new machines is overblown in my opinion. Years ago all we did was reverse the cables on a acdc and weld. We listened to the rod and watched the size of the puddle for heat cause most of the amp switches were crap no teck can replace that. So practice practice practice no matter how much the esab rebel is pushed as the 2'nd coming. Digital displays don't replace experience.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 18 hours ago, localsmith said: Inverters have a lot more things that can go wrong with them as they are practically computer operated welding machines which ,means power supplies, motherboards, RAM, and other components all need to be in perfect working order and need to stay that way, in an environment where sparks, dust, and fumes are being thrown about. If you continue your research on welders, I believe you'll find that even the newer industrial welders such as engine drives, etc. also have circuit boards....when they go out, it's big $$. No different than an inverter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.