Anything welding

Started welding up some stuff on my relentless fab bumper. Threw down some tig welds on the foglight holes. Walkin the cup.

 

I thought it was cooler then dog shit when my instructer was lighting the torch off of hot metal

 

Not too bad, need more heat at the start of the weld though!

Are you planning on tig welding an entire bumper together?

 

Yeah I know. Didnt wanna burn through the foglight tube though.

And yes im gonna try. I love tig and I dont get to do it alot being that we use aluminum spool guns at work. So this should give me plenty of tig work

 

Uh yeah! Good luck with that, hope you have lots of argon and filler haha.

At least you wont have to clean up any welds after.

 

I do and the best part is, its all free! They let us bring in personal projects at work im hopping that by the time im onto the outside of the bumper my skills are up to part and I dont have to grind the welds down. If the bead looks good enough im just gonna paint over the welds

 

Nice! That's the way to do it.

My only advice is to clean every joint that will be visible extra well with a wire brush and acetone. It just makes things so much easier when the weld doesn't randomly start boiling due to contamination.

 

Yeah im sand blasting everything. Ive got everything blasted except the center section and the top plate. But I was still planning on using thinner to clean everything before I weld. And ill prob only do stich welds on the inside and then fully weld the outside. Save a little time

 

Man you've got all the cool tools at your disposal

 

Yeah its a pretty sweet setup ive got. Thought about getting a welder a few months back but then realized I can weld for free at work.

 

So just got my Christmas present early today from the wife. I got the Thermal Dynamics 252 3 in 1 welder with the Thermal Dynamics Tig torch setup. Out the door for $2400 from our local shop in town. Will get to use it this weekend to see how it performs. Here is a link to a couple pics.

http://store.cyberweld.com/tharcfa25miw.html

 

youve got yourself a keeper there. Oh i mean the welder :

 

Nice! I love my 211i..

 

Ya I think I will keep her around till the after Christmas at least. Ya she lets me get mostly anything I want as long as I make something for her.

Ya I have the Thermal Dynamics Pack 52 Plasma as well and have had it for quite some time and love it. They make great plasma's. Thanx.

 

Thats awesome Galen! I'll be buying one with a Spool gun and TIG setup soon too.

 

Youre gonna be tiggin these bumpers now!

 

Got a spool gun already on my Miller 250 that I will be able to swap over to this one. I see you been staying busy and all. Liking Reno and the surrounding areas? Will be heading up that way for Christmas, well going to Susanville anyways. But will be dropping off our son with his grandparents for New Years in Reno.

Have a Merry Christmas Eric

 

Probably not bumpers (maybe? ) but more likely things like suspension components in the future.

Yeah I've got one on my older TA Fabricator but I've been wanting a 2nd one around the shop.
Yeah Reno has been treating us well, and I've been busier than can even handle.
You should swing into the shop when you're up around new years and say hey. Should have a lot around the shop to see.

 

Sorry for the newb questions...

Been reading all these posts/threads and just confused me more haha.

Want to get into welding and no clue where to start or what I need. Mig, Tig, Stick, Gas, ???

Wanting to weld smaller stuff for my motorcycle (crash bars, exhaust, etc) and bigger stuff for the truck possibly, like sliders, bumpers, exhaust as well or whatever.

Can one welder do that range of stuff? Not looking to spend more than $500 for a setup. I've done some welding in school but that is pretty much long forgotten and don't remember anything about the machines.

I would like to keep it 110 outlet.

Thanks.

 

Hobart handler 140

I wouldn't trust the welds from one of those to make sliders or bumpers though. If you want to weld 3/16" and larger you are most likely going to need a pass on each side of the joint to get a strong weld. Look at the video I posted a little while back. It demonstrates the capabilities of the small under $500 units.