Welders, welding, and stuff

theesotericone said:

Preferred shielding gas? 75/25 argon/CO2 seems to be pretty standard. Any reason to go with different ratio or a tri-mix?

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I found cyberweld.com had the best deal for a filled bottle. I paid a little over 220 for a 65 cu ft bottle filled with 75/25.

100% argon is for stainless and aluminum

Subway4x4 said:

Love my Hobart 210 MVP. At 230v, it’s has a decent 30% duty cycle, which I’ve never been able to reach, because....

...I take hella frequent union required breaks.

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Pretty much the same machine as the Miller 211 right?

theesotericone said:

And the winner is:

https://www.everlastgenerators.com/product/mig/power-i-mig-200e


Thanks for all the replies and helping me not get something I'd regret later. With reward points and a gift card the total cost was $498 delivered to my door. Now, I just have to see how long this delivery actually takes. lol

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Smart choice. I don't know shit about Everlast, but getting something with 110v/220v is the way to go for people like us. Sounds like an awesome deal. Make sure you pick up some spare consumables unless you can easily pick up tips and nozzles locally. Not sure if Everlast uses propietery consumables or if they share anything with Miller/Hobart or Lincoln.

theesotericone said:

You can still help. I need a tank for gas and some decent .023 wire and some .030 wire. What brand of wire is best for the buck?

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I just get what my local supply sells for wire. I used to use the same stuff at some of the places I worked when I was welding for a living and it's always treated me well. I will double check what brand it is tonight if I can remember.
Just get the 75/25 mix gas.

Stairgod said:

Do yourself a favor and just get .023.
No need to run .030.
Even at Max amps your welder won't run out of WFS using .023, and you still have the ability to weld sheet metal. Old timer taught me that one.

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I prefer .023 only when I am doing thin sheet metal stuff. I seem to go through tips really quick due to very high wire speed when welding thick material. It just doesn't perform as well with so high of wire speed. .030 is the way to go IMO for most fab stuff unless I know I am going to be doing sheet metal, then I just switch wire back to .023. I just get better welds and tips last longer when using .030. I used to use .035 but once I went to .030, it was much easier to manage on a mix of different materials.

theesotericone said:

Preferred shielding gas? 75/25 argon/CO2 seems to be pretty standard. Any reason to go with different ratio or a tri-mix?

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Depends on your LWS tbh. Anywhere from C25 to C10 depending.
Tri-mix is for certain alloys only, and usually just for TIG.

Practicing on some tubes of different diameters today. The project I’m working on has three different sized tubes that come together here on the real deal, and this is two of them. This is a multi-step process of getting the parts that touch first tacked, then heat with a torch and form them (a.k.a. gently pound the crap out of them) so the surfaces meet up so they can be finish welded. In this example, I see that I should have tacked opposite the acute angle since it shrank and pulled the gap open. With a TIG, that’s a harder gap to fill now. As this is thicker wall tubing (1-1/8”x.065 to a 3/4”x.065 base), I was using higher amperage to accommodate, but it was getting hotter than I thought it would. You can see that there is a bit of undercutting in the circled area. That’s correctable by using more filler as a heat sink and a bit less heat. I’m still trying to get my filler feeding technique down so I can get in there smoothly. Right now it’s a bit touch and go, so to speak. Practice makes perfect!

Chris In Milwaukee said:

Practicing on some tubes of different diameters today. The project I’m working on has three different sized tubes that come together here on the real deal, and this is two of them. This is a multi-step process of getting the parts that touch first tacked, then heat with a torch and form them (a.k.a. gently pound the crap out of them) so the surfaces meet up so they can be finish welded. In this example, I see that I should have tacked opposite the acute angle since it shrank and pulled the gap open. With a TIG, that’s a harder gap to fill now. As this is thicker wall tubing (1-1/8”x.065 to a 3/4”x.065 base), I was using higher amperage to accommodate, but it was getting hotter than I thought it would. You can see that there is a bit of undercutting in the circled area. That’s correctable by using more filler as a heat sink and a bit less heat. I’m still trying to get my filler feeding technique down so I can get in there smoothly. Right now it’s a bit touch and go, so to speak. Practice makes perfect!
View attachment 20833View attachment 20834View attachment 20835

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Makes me want to pick up a TIG machine and practice.

as for tacking tubes. I’ve always tried for three small tacks. Keeps things from doing what you had happen here.

Tempted to get a welder now that we'll be stuck at home through April.

AssBurns said:

Makes me want to pick up a TIG machine and practice.

as for tacking tubes. I’ve always tried for three small tacks. Keeps things from doing what you had happen here.

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Yep, only tacked one on each side. Bad choice%

Tube

Chris In Milwaukee said:

Practicing on some tubes of different diameters today. The project I’m working on has three different sized tubes that come together here on the real deal, and this is two of them. This is a multi-step process of getting the parts that touch first tacked, then heat with a torch and form them (a.k.a. gently pound the crap out of them) so the surfaces meet up so they can be finish welded. In this example, I see that I should have tacked opposite the acute angle since it shrank and pulled the gap open. With a TIG, that’s a harder gap to fill now. As this is thicker wall tubing (1-1/8”x.065 to a 3/4”x.065 base), I was using higher amperage to accommodate, but it was getting hotter than I thought it would. You can see that there is a bit of undercutting in the circled area. That’s correctable by using more filler as a heat sink and a bit less heat. I’m still trying to get my filler feeding technique down so I can get in there smoothly. Right now it’s a bit touch and go, so to speak. Practice makes perfect!
View attachment 20833View attachment 20834View attachment 20835

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Tube work is a bitch
I need much more practice with it.
I find it ironic that you had good fill ins where you needed a shit ton of filler but had undercut where you didn't.
Overall looks damn good brother.

AssBurns said:

Makes me want to pick up a TIG machine and practice.

as for tacking tubes. I’ve always tried for three small tacks. Keeps things from doing what you had happen here.

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Out of the three processes that I can do, TIG is the most controllable. Also makes it the most difficult. But the ability to be able to control heat input and filler metal separately makes it so much better.
Perfect example. I had to extend the safety chains on my camper. Cut a link, fitted it and zapped it with heat, added a dab of filler. Damn near impossible to locate that link. Imagining what it would have looked like with MIG or stick makes me cringe

The welder is here. Still waiting on some wire. I also had to order a 10-30p to 6-50r adapter. I was going to just be happy using it on 110v for now. Then I figured why not use the full potential.

There's an old 6-50 220V that goes to the sub-panel but it was disconnected when I first moved here to make room for a couple fart fans. So that's out until I upgrade the sub-panel when I do the kitchen remodel. The only other thing in the garage is the dryer. It's 220v with a dedicaed 30A breaker. I'll use that for the time being.

The welders max draw is 28.7A. The circuits 30A. I don't see an issue for anything I'll need to weld. Thoughts?

theesotericone said:

The welder is here. Still waiting on some wire. I also had to order a 10-30p to 6-50r adapter. I was going to just be happy using it on 110v for now. Then I figured why not use the full potential.

There's an old 6-50 220V that goes to the sub-panel but it was disconnected when I first moved here to make room for a couple fart fans. So that's out until I upgrade the sub-panel when I do the kitchen remodel. The only other thing in the garage is the dryer. It's 220v with a dedicaed 30A breaker. I'll use that for the time being.

The welders max draw is 28.7A. The circuits 30A. I don't see an issue for anything I'll need to weld. Thoughts?

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You may pop the breaker if you max out the welder. Depends on how old the breaker is. Last decade or so they are designed to pop at 80% of rating. Fucking NEC....
Other than that you are good to go.

Probably only hit max draw at or close to the duty cycle anyway.

I wanna do more welding fun shit.... like putting a v8 in my 4runner. *kicks rock*

4runner DOA said:

Tempted to get a welder now that we'll be stuck at home through April.

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Just come on up and use mine. Oh wait, "stay at home" orders. Well, next time you break in Bishop I'm here for you man.

I actually welded a bit today. In my usual fashion I didn't practice on anything and just went to town on the parts that needed fixing. The welds are ugly as fuck but they took a 5lb single jack blow without failing so I'm calling it good. At least I can put my skids back on now. lol

So I use a respirator in my shop when welding. Just seems like a good idea, and I hate the smell anyway.

Think I can get any new cartridges?

Nope. Thanks panic buyers.

theesotericone said:

Just come on up and use mine. Oh wait, "stay at home" orders. Well, next time you break in Bishop I'm here for you man.

I actually welded a bit today. In my usual fashion I didn't practice on anything and just went to town on the parts that needed fixing. The welds are ugly as fuck but they took a 5lb single jack blow without failing so I'm calling it good. At least I can put my skids back on now. lol

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Can you imagine the shit I would get from my ex if I split to bishop? I won't even let her have visitation right now and she's only an hour away. Hahaha.

Slim-Whitey said:

So I use a respirator in my shop when welding. Just seems like a good idea, and I hate the smell anyway.

Think I can get any new cartridges?

Nope. Thanks panic buyers.

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I bought a respirator as well and the order got cancelled. Objectively speaking if you can smell it, that's bad for you.

APhelps said:

I bought a respirator as well and the order got cancelled. Objectively speaking if you can smell it, that's bad for you.

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I've never been much for metal work without a mask of some form. I'm pretty PPE'd up in the shop.
Not being able to buy a new filter has convinced me to maybe wait until I can to do the metal work on the rodeo. I like my lungs.

Subway4x4 said:

Love my Hobart 210 MVP. At 230v, it’s has a decent 30% duty cycle, which I’ve never been able to reach, because....

...I take hella frequent union required breaks.

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I found it a couple of days ago. But it took quite a few beads welding 1/4” and 3/8” wall.

Turning this weak ass 3 point frame into beef.

For my hydraulic dump bucket. The first one bent badly...