YIKES! What floor?

RussellK · Post by **RussellK** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:47 am

^^^^^^^^
What Bill said. I bought my Mig welder from Lowes but you have to buy the gas from a welding supply store. The guys at the store are really knowledgeable about welding and I wish I would have bought from them instead.

Three things I learned:
Auto darkening helmets are worth it
Buy the welder with the longest duty cycle you can afford.
Don't weld in shorts or sandals (Don't ask how I know)

Quadratrückseite · Post by **Quadratrückseite** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:57 am

Hippie wrote:
Sylvester wrote:Wish I could get one tomorrow and start playing with it. Note to self, save for welder and learn to use it.
It's fun, actually.
Save a little extra for a self-dimming welding mask, gloves, and miscellaneous. (extra tips, etc.)
I wouldn't cheap out and get an old fashioned flip down mask. (It's too hard to learn when you can't see until you start the arc.)
Got mine for $60 or so at Northern Tool and equipment.

Rob

It is very fun, and like others have said, you won't know how you lived without it. My neighbor is constantly borrowing mine! I just have the flux core welder without the gas shielding, and it's been fine for me. Not the cleanest welds, but they penetrate and hold, and once you grind them down you can't see it anyway. Absolutely get the self-dimming mask!!! Buy that when you get the welder. Don't even try to do it without, unless you're welding in full sunlight!
Sly, I just went out and bought mine, and a book on welding, and just did it. Never had a class in it, and with practice you get better. I recently used it to weld a broken exhaust hanger on my "modern" car, so the uses are not just for our VWs.

vdubyah73 and RussellK - good advice also.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:08 am

RussellK wrote:Don't weld in shorts or sandals (Don't ask how I know)

Waaahhooo! I just got to ask!

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:16 am

Long sleeves too.Never mind the slag that can end up between your toes, you can get a burn similar to a sunburn. If had a piece of slag go in my boot even when wearing jeans. learned not to have my feet under the work while welding from that one. Think a white hot nail, pressed against a candle, point first and that is what happens to your skin if a piece of slag lands on you.

Bill

IFBwax · Post by **IFBwax** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:22 am

To me welding is = to quantam physics. I haven't a clue how either of them are done, but I'm sure happy that my refrigerator keeps beer cold.

vwlover77 · Post by **vwlover77** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:29 am

And Thermos bottles, too. You put hot stuff in and it keeps it hot. You put cold stuff in and it keeps it cold. How does it know???

RSorak 71Westy · Post by **RSorak 71Westy** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:31 am

I highly recommend .023 wire and gas for welding sheet metal it's a whole lot easier and cleaner. I have a Miller 175 and use gas always.

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:53 pm

vdubyah73 wrote: No offense intended Hippie.
Bill

None taken. And you raise a good point. I think with practice though, he can do it with either.

Some projects...click for full size.
[albumimg]1565[/albumimg]
[albumimg]1564[/albumimg]
[albumimg]1563[/albumimg]
[albumimg]1562[/albumimg]
You can do this!

Rob

Adventurewagen · Post by **Adventurewagen** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:01 pm

Welding is definitely doable for most people. I ended up taking a class at a local community college last year. It was great! Not only did you actually get hands on with an instructor but it was nice to get to weld with all the different machines. We had everything from the small migs you get a sears to industrial size stick and gas welders. We even had some really nice Tig welders and all the materials and flux were included in the class.

I believe I spent $160 total for the course which included buying a really nice welding book that I know have and use for reference. I had planned to buy a welder when I was done and almost bought and acetylene torch because they are so versitile but instead I've been saving projects and will just take the course again and use that equipment for all my welding projects.

Next project is to get a full length middle bench seat and cut the 2/3 bench off and reweld on pivot joints so the whole bench can flip down. I'd like to have the ability to carry a bunch of people but I'd still like to flip the seats down and slide in my 4x8 sheets of drywall or boards when i need them.

RussellK · Post by **RussellK** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:05 pm

Nice work. There are no pictures available of mine for a reason!

Practice. Practice. Practice.

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:54 pm

RussellK wrote:Nice work. There are no pictures available of mine for a reason!

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Me too !

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:22 pm

Well there's a welder up at Dunnigan Mountain that Cheryle's Dad owns. Time to bond I guess.

neal

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

YIKES! What floor?