Anything welding

Can we get details on the machine?

 

no doubt going to need to wait till it is in his hands

 

Yeah and it's hard not to think about it too.

 

Sadly what did the most damage to my hearing was all those miles of driving with the left window open before Air Conditioning was pretty much standard

 

Chicago electric 90 amp flux core welder guy used it for basic repair on his farm and didn't use this welder anymore.

Picked it up for $40. I know it's a cheap welder but should get me started learning the basics.

I ordered an auto darkening hood and a respirator earlier today. Already have ear protection laying around.

Anything else I should get besides some gloves?

 

Yep, it's a cheapy. It is a rough unit to learn on, but if you can get some decent welds with it, better machine will make welding easy.

Just don't let it discourage you. Take pictures and let us give you constructive criticism.

Like I said, it is the last machine I would let someone learn to weld with, but if you master it, your next machine will give magical welds.

 

I gotta agree with koditten on this !!

The good thing never having welded with a better machine the short comings of this one will not be apparent

 

I kinda had a feeling this was the case. O well at least its a machine I can start on and wasn't a major investment. I work for a Toyota dealership so I have access to tons of old leaf springs I can practice some welds on. What Flux wire should I get to start with?

 

030 inch from Harbor Freight, the Vulcan brand works pretty good

My Brother-in-law has told me it works about the best in this machine.

I haven't used flux core in 25 years.

 

Old leaf springs are not the best steel for trying to learn to weld .

High carbon content I can`t recall off the top of my head the carbon content

It is free better then nothing

 

I agree on it being a hard metal to lay a bead on. They are also thicker than 1/4". Its going to be maxing out the output of the HF welder. I'd go with thin gauge to actualy get fusion and see a puddle form.

 

Is it good to always go with the largest center line radius on dies? Like a 1.75" die with 5.5" or 6.5" center line radius. Not very knowledgeable about them so I am asking for any advice. Thanks

 

Finished up my bumper today. Pretty happy for my first big project like this

 

I'm interested in knowing as well. I'm only knowledgeable on the welding side. The bending side of fabrication is new to me.

 

Awesome! So glad you made the box bigger than normal. Not everyone needs to haul fuel cans.

 

post some more pics!

 

The different CLR’s for tube dies have their pros and cons to each size. My 1.75” tube die from JD2 is 6.5” CLR. The middle one in between the 5.5” and 7.5” that they also have. Have been happy with what I can do with it so far. It all depends on what you plan on doing with it. If you think you’re going to make tighter and closer bends go with the 5.5”. If you don’t think you’ll need that then go with right in the middle at 6.5”

 

The larger center radius just means that you’ll be making larger turns. Depending on what you intend to make that’ll limit how tight you can make turns and how compact your overall design will be in the end. This comes into play more so when making bends closer to 90* and beyond. For my sliders I make 55* bends at the front and use a 3* bend for my kick outs. I could go with a small or large radius and it really wouldn’t make a huge difference overall. Example:


But if you plan on making roll cages or engine cages where space is at a premium and you have to keep things tight, you’d be better off with a smaller radius. Each one has its uses. I made these cradles for pelican cases for my scooter (With the help of @glorifiedwelder bending the tube for me) a tighter radius would've kept them more compact but in the end it wasn’t a huge deal and I’m still super happy with how they came out. Besides, when you're borrowing tools (dies) from a friend, you work with what you have or you pony up for the dies specific to the job.

 

This was my logic when I bought my 6.5” CLR die

 

Great explanation! Thank you!

I would have never gave that a thought.

Sometimes it amazes me information we exchange on this thread for free.