Anything welding

And you are going to want to mig weld. Which you need a 75/25 argon c02 mix(contained in a bottle)

 

oh yeah, i know. ill make sure to get some good gloves and a welding mask

 

He can use straight co2, just means more splatter but some places might charge less for it.

 

You know better than I do. I have only used C25

 

how long does each bottle last? and in your guys' experience, whats good beginner stuff to practice on before attempting the relo kit

 

Where I'm at, an exchange for 75/25 is only $57 on a 150cf tank.

I only mentioned straight co2 because I just saw someone post in another group that they pay over $120 to exchange 75/25 on an 80cf tank.

Prices vary all over, and if he's on a budget, he can get away with co2 without worry (if it's much cheaper).

 

Practice on scrap, practice just playing with your torch.

My suggestion that I've posted on here repeatedly is to -

Grab some scrap, get a ruler or some sort of straight edge, and with a sharpie (silver if you can) just draw lines that parallel each other across the scrap approximately 1" apart. Doesn't have to be exact, but you don't need them super close.

Practice filling the face of the plate and getting familiar with your torch by running beads and following the line.

You begin to build muscle memory, while learning to watch your arc and follow where you need to go; this is especially important as you don't want to weld outside the area you plan to fuse together.

Do this multiple times, and begin adjusting your actual movement speed to see the difference in bead profile.

Then move onto messing with your machines settings, and see the difference those settings alone did to your bead profile.

While building that muscle memory, now you begin to see how you and your machine can alter the bead with small and simple changes.

After you get a handle of this multiple times, then I would move onto making fillet welds on 'T's.

 

thanks, i have tons of scrap metal at home in the shed. its gunna be fun learning how to glue metal

 

Easy to learn, a lifetime to master

 

When you decide to take on a unique (and easy) welding project, you should grab one of these

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3d-metal-dinosaur-puzzle-39-5-and-55-long.820365/

 

http://headersbyed.com/

^^^My go to guy for all the custom jobs you can’t buy store bought.

 

A friend sent me this.

 

PPE-- you need a mask, gloves, and long sleeves. a skull cap can also be recommended depending on where you're welding, sparks can jump up and over or behind the mask. but you want to cover most of your skin, as any skin exposed to the welding arc gets sun burned, which can be painful!

i use this one in tight spaces. it works, the goggle/headband functionality is weird to work with after being used to being able to flip up my standard mask afterwards.

$40 Meonum Auto Darkening Welding Goggles, Wide Rang Shade 4/5-9/9-13, Welding Glasses with Welder Mask and 10 Replacement Lenses, Adjustable Sensitivity work for TIG MIG ARC Plasma Cutting

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLH13XHQ

i generally prefer my harbor freight vulcan mask for most standard welding if i can. i just picked up their cheapest helmet for at home, haven't tried it yet coat-- i have an eastwood at home, you're generally just going to burn it, so an old hoodie, or any brand really works, mostly just need something cotton so it doesn't want to start on fire:
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Stallion-FN9-30C-Cotton-Welding/dp/B07RXG8T3

gloves:
everyone's got their preference. i picked these up a while back because they're $12. absolutely no complaints about them, they're soft, flexible, and decently heat resistant.

$14 Wells Lamont mens 1054 Welding Gloves, Blue, Large US

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FM3RXDK?ie=UTF8&th=1

skull caps, again, main concern here is to cover your head from rogue sparks, and must be made of cotton...

$27 Hercicy 4 Pcs Welding Cap Flame Resistant Cotton Welding Hat for Men Women's Welders Caps Sweat Absorption Mesh Hat for Welder Electrician Gas Station, Matched with Most Welding Helmet

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BB1D6MGR

you'll also want to get yourself some nozzle gel. dip the tip between passes, it reduces spatter sticking to and clogging up the tip

$12 Forney 37031 Nozzle Gel For Mig Welding, 16-Ounce , White

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CFL7LY


for an idea on tanks, i just got a size 'Q' welding tank(80cu. ft), with the new tank, and 75/25 fill, it was $300. $50 was the gas, the rest was for the cylinder. my understanding is that tractor supply or northern tool also sell prefilled tanks and are somewhat similar on pricing.

 

This was cool; drew it earlier today and cut it out just now




Using just your kerf width is perfect in getting details on small pieces like these (8.25" x 11.5")

 

i see this near me for 160. good deal for entry level stuff? i mentioned above i’ll be doing the archive shock relo and also wanna learn to weld

 

So, on my last trip to the Mojave, my tire started bouncing around on the rear of the truck. Thought the lug nuts were loose, but they weren't.



First class trail band-aid ensued...



And, I finally got around to cutting it off, cleaning it up, and gluing it back together today. Man, I haven't welded in a while and it shows. I'm even worse than I used to be.

 

Just get the MIG180 mentioned

It will last you for a long time

 

What are you asking with these pics?

There is really no good way to say it. Those are some of the worse welders sold.

It is very difficult to make these units produce decent welds.

I tried to make these things work, but they are just horrible for anything more than just doing tack welds.

Those welders have turned off more people to welding just because a person could never lay decent welds.

Please keep hunting.