Anything welding

I'll say.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/281212-my-slider-build.html

Check out my slider build. Its going perty good so far.

 

Another thing I never understood is why they have the plasma table setup to pierce the metal along the edge of the hole instead of in the center.

 

You can chose where it pierces and leads in from... I write programs for my stuff to have my buddy's table to cut it out

 

Yeah I have no doubt that it can be programmed to pierce the middle of the hole then work its way out, it's just that this company has the "good enough" mentality, which is killing me on the inside.

 

That's a great business mindset in manufacturing, SHM.

 

Yeah how about it, and they wonder why they're loosing customers...

 

Keep your resume up to date and keep networking, place like that goes under you'll want to be ready.

 

I can't believe they invested the money in a piece of equipment that should make product look and fit great but don't want to take the time to make it work properly-that's just laziness.

 

x2

 

That's what i've been doing. I don't want to be associated with a company who gets by with "good enough".

Eh i'd say more negligence than laziness, but that's definitely part of it.

 

I had 220 ran into my garage, but I still have no effin clue what I'm doing with my welder

I want to take a welding class at the local CC and hopefully learn how to use it

 

You're smart! A lot of those classes will offer to have you take the test to become certified as well. That sure doesn't hurt!

 

I don't need nor want to be certified...I just want to be able to use this welder I bought and do some little jobs in my garage

 

I took a class on Arc and Oxy-Acetelene a long time ago (most of it forgotten), and that helped a lot to get me started. You should also get ahold of some scrap and practice running beads, and some simple joints. Change the settings, see what kind of penetration you are getting, cleanliness of the beads, etc. Then take the welded joints over to a vise and stress test them, in my class if the weld failed you got a bad grade.

You should definitely get a nice thick book or two that delve into metallurgy and welding. There's so much to know (like some of the guys here know without batting an eye) that's it's really helpful the keep reference material.

 

Or they just don't give a shit.

If you're inclined, find a manual on-line and teach yourself how to set it up.

 

Exactly. Torchmate has enough online material to teach you everything you could ever need to know. The last shop I worked at had a 25k dollar plasma table that sat unused for 2 yrs until I convinced them I could get it going and make it useful

 

I'll never understand why a business would spend that kind of money on something and never use it.

 

so you're saying I'm SOL for welding since I only have 110v...Renting is the worst for having fun projects...

 

...or just start running flux core wire...