General Fabrication

I seem to use my apron more than the gloves. I don't think I've felt anything more painful in my life than molten steel quickly burning through my pants and taking up residence on the family jewels.

 

Do you have a split leg or normal apron? Im referring to the weldersupply website. is that weldx worth the money or a leather one just as good?

 

I think my normal leather apron has been more than adequate.

 

I pulled the trigger. I guess im a proud new owner of a Miller 211.

 

I thought it was a 200 instant rebate I was wrong! Ordered a helmet and a cart and got the $400 rebate! not a bad price at all.


EDIT: to clarify, its a $200 mail in rebate. putting the price for the machine at $915. and if you ordered $400 in accessories it was upgraded to a $400 mail in rebate. So for the price of the machine ($1115) you get $400 in accessories and the free spool gun. and free shipping and no tax if you are out of state.

 

I want to start working with TIG. Any reason I shouldn't get this one??

http://www.amazon.com/AHP-AlphaTIG-...TF8&qid=1436483155&sr=1-3&keywords=TIG+welder

 

I have that machine. It actually works really nice. But the stock torch and line is garbage. Go to weld.com, they offer the same unit but with a ck torch, superflex hose and a gas lense kit. Much better value for money imo.

 

Like any welder, including a TIG, you get what you pay for. Do you need a $10K welder to work on a truck, absolutely not. But if I was going to spend $800 on a new off brand TIG or $1000 on a used Miller TIG I would buy the Miller all day. It will weld twice as nice and last way longer. Back when I work at a fab shop professionally we had both versions of TIG machines. We had a smaller cheaper machine like you have listed because it was mobile and worked good for small jobs, welding a crack on a chassis, tack welding together TIG welded tube chases we were building, tack welding aluminum bodies we were making things like that. But when it was time to weld the whole chassis, body part, any suspension, etc we would move to the Miller Syncrowave.

The weld quality on the machines is very noticeable as well. The smaller machines are not as consistent with heat and you will usually end up with hotter welds that don't look as nice and the puddles are not as consistent. Where as when you have a nicer machine you can get nice rainbow welds that are super cosistant and are better quality. Will the small machine work and will the welds be strong? Yes they will. But why settle when you can get a better welder if you just have some patients to find a used one from the right company. I guess the real question is how much welding will you do with it now and later down the road...

My two cents, good luck!

 

They seem to have damn good ratings. Seems the smaller 'hobby' oriented welders hold their value more, so it'd be difficult to find a used name brand under $1,200 around here.

THIS would be a helluva deal. Too bad it's not 220v though. I would've jumped on it.
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/tld/5036570961.html

 

You say that but a buddy of mine welds all day on a miller syncro wave 250 and on weekends we build custom exhaust using food grade 304L stainless and he thinks the ahp has a smoother arc and better heat control. Now on it lasting as long as a miller, your right it probably won't. But it's intended as a hobby welder so it probably won't be used as much either.

 

If that is your friends experience with that specific machine then cool. We had a different brand TIG for the small one but I know the owner purchased it from the local Air Gas and it was a decent model. Each material and thickness will be handled different though. It did decent with Aluminum but was harder on chromoly...

 

Got me a bender )

 

Meanwhile I can't even sell mine LOL!

 

If it's the same bender I'd be interested in the dies

 

Nice! did you go manual or hydro?

 

It's the manual version but I'm making it hydro, cheaper to convert it myself

 

Yup, much cheaper... I have a JMR air/hydro and it works great

 

So, I just bought a miller 130 from my buddy's dad who owns a CNC and racecar fab shop (Fab-worx for any of you in the late-model or similar racing scene) and am looking at building a set of sliders and a bumper. I know my way around a shop and all the tools necessary to do so. I've already got measurements and all the drawings for both of them. I've stocked up all the tools I believe I'll need except for a pipe bender. I'm still in college for mechanical engineering and currently using my moms garage when I'm home because I don't have a garage at my house at school (I'm sure she's getting tired of my shit being everywhere and crowding the garage).

Anyways, for my needs, what would be my best bet on a decently cheap but still useful pipe bender be?

 

You're gonna want a tube bender. I've been using a jd2 model 3 bender for around 10 years. It's never let me down. Most of the manual benders are cheap. It's the dies that really cost you

 

You can have my old bender for free....


Some work I've been doing






And the links.