confession of advanced tool addiction

[grumpyvette]

OK,ILL admit it IM totally addicted to aquireing nice tools, I can,t seem too grasp reality at times...
example
Ive got a nice 230 amp hobart, ac/dc arc welder
a lincoln 130 amp mig
a lincoln 300 amp ac/dc stick welder
a miller 330 amp tig
a miller 180 amp mig
youll be thinking about this time...
"this guys nuts...whats he need with all those welders"
but thats not the crazy part, I got offered a VERY good deal on a new 250 amp miller mig welder and I can,t seem to think of a ("LOGICAL" reason to pass on the deal)
SEE IM addicted! I know it! IM fighting it!
darn this hobby gets you just as addicted too TOOLS as it does to ENGINES s:
there may be some hope??? Im willing to sell the 130 amp lincoln mig, and miller 180 amp mig ..to close friends who need them bady (DOESN,T EVERY HOTRODDER???) if I get the miller 250 amp mig, so IM not totally ...nuts.....well.... maybe thats not exactly true..... but I keep telling myself that....besides my friends encourage this addiction, they are willing to buy those older migs in a heart/beat, and are encouraging me too do the deal,
they WANT to get addicted TOO!....
SEE ID HAVE FEWER WELDERS SO THAT MEANS IM GETTING BETTER ...RIGHT??

[bossvette]

Ya I know what you mean, I have three roll ways and need another to avoid overcrowding; A Tig is on my wish list too. Are you getting the new "smart" welder?

[grumpyvette]

""smart" welder"

don,t remember hearing that term, heres the welder, Im thinking about aquireing (but from a differant local dealer)

http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=907321

"There are poor kids all around the country who are dieing (not literally) because they don't have welding machines!!"

SEE! IM PROBABLY GOING TO BE HELPING OTHERS LESS FORTUNATE, IM ALLOWING TWO FORMERLY WELDERLESS GUYS TO GET A MIG....


IF....I decide to purchase it, Im getting a better deal than this, (above)
on the same NEW IN THE BOX, mig welder and the old migs will be sold to friends at a deep discount (hey thier friends) will cover more than 1/2 the cost



"Nice collection, where do you find thoes kinds of deals?"


being successful in this hobby requires making lots of contacts and spreading good will, by doing little things to help out other guys....its surpriseing how often you get info and deals if you make the effort to help others and not look for repayment

[SPANISHVETTS]

Grumpy; I feel your pain. When the minor race classes come and go they always have tons of tools and no market.

For some ¨unknown¨reason they always show up at my shop with lots of tools that I will probably never need.... I usually buy what ever they have.

[bossvette]

Miller has a new welder out I've seen ads for in the Mags that you just set the Matl thickness and wire size and the machine does all the rest (heat and wire speed adjustments) designed with the occasional user in mind.
"Smart Welder" was my term click here

I've got an old Miller model 150, it was their mid range model at the time I bought it 17-18 years ago.
about the same as this

you cannot go wrong with a welder from Miller

[SPANISHVETTS]

I have a ThermalArc 250 that I bought secondhand from the Navy. It came with a Plasma Cutting tip that works good up to about 3/16¨, the wire feed and foot control. A year or so back a transistor popped in the control unit and it took 2 months to get it fixed here in Spain.
How did I ever live without it?

[grumpyvette]

"How did I ever live without it?"

I can,t imagine not at least having access to a welder

a decent mig or stick welder can make things SOOOOO much easier at times, you could get by with one of the less expensive models for almost all steel welds

http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=907335

http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...t_Code=K2472-1


I got by with a borrowed one of these

http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=500304

this I purchased

http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...t_Code=K1419-4

and access to a friends

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...rowave_350_lx/

[G Winter]

This is my oldie but goodie. No idea how old it is. I bought it from where I work recently for $150.
It came complete with tig torch with 20ft cable,regulator,and foot pedal.The cable for stick welding is about 30 ft long.
I need to get a tank of argon to make it complete and I should be all set to weld up my own stainless exhaust system this winter.

The need for tools is a disease with no cure other than more tools.

Attachment 13788

Attachment 13789

Attachment 13790

Glenn

[grumpyvette]

this was an answer on a differant thread but holds goodlinks & info



ok, lets look at a few things because this is an expensive investment and you don,t want to make a bad choice.
heres what ID strongly suggest you do BEFORE SPENDING a LARGE CHUNK OF MONEY most areas have welding classes available at local colleges in the evening for about $100-$200 TAKE THE CLASS, PLAY WITH THE EQUIPMENT BEFORE SPENDING YOUR MONEY..AND THEN
... stop by your local MILLER or LINCOLN dealer and ask a great deal of questions, LOTS OF QUESTIONS
read this old post first
http://crossedflags.com/modules.php?...75ebcce44182eb

the first thing youll need to do is REALISTICALLY decide what your going to be USING the welder for.
theres not much sence in buying a 350 amp welder if your mainly interested in welding sheet metal in body work and youll never weld anything heavier than 1/4" thick.
and anything less than a 140 amp is likely to prove disappointing and not up to the tasks at hand ,IF you MUST have the ability to do BOTH steel and aluminum,the better quality mig/or tig welders with an optional gas shield in the 180-250 amp range will handle 99% of anything youll ever need, but the basic stick welders will do almost everything in basic steel welding youll ever need.
if you want to weld aluminum and steel the basic stick welders are out of the running.

you can weld aluminum with the larger amp MIG units with a gas shield but aluminum is better welded with a tig unit in many cases

a basic stick welder will do about 60% of anything youll need to do on a car in this hobby, but its best on things like custom making transmission cross members and suspension brackets where the material thickness is in the 1/8"-1/4" range and mild steel is the material used

a good MIG with a gas shield is more flexable and better for body work and can do fine, thin precise work and anything the stick welder can do,(in the correct skilled hands) and is by far the easiest to learn how to use, the better migs can do aluminum, but require optional accessories and higher amps than steel as aluminum requires more heat AND usually AC current and frequency control
tig is significantly slower, but far more controlable, in that both the heat and material feed and placement of BOTH can be changed instantly by a skilled opperator.

first let me state IM no whare near an expert, and while I can stick things together so that they won,t ever come apart,and have been welding for over 35 years, I lack the skills some guys have to make welds look super smooth
Ive used a great deal of differant welders,
I prefer TIG ,welders, but they are needlessly expensive in many shops.
migs are GREAT!,easy to learn on and very versital.
stick welders will do almost all the basic welding, youll need to do and can be dirt cheap compared to the TIG or BETTER MIG units

suggestions, BUY THESE, THIS SEEMS TO BE A GREAT OPTION IN YOUR BUDGET
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43550
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46092



OTHER OPTIONS
STICK
http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...uct_Code=K1297

MIG
http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=907312

http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=907321
http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ategory_Code=M

http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ategory_Code=M

TIG
http://www.htpweld.com/products/tig_welders/tig201.html
http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=500425
http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...t_Code=K2535-2

[grumpyvette]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46092


one of the VERY RARE... GOOD VALUES ...at harbor freight, (above)

I had a 15% off coupon in a sales flyer, I bought a second auto dark helmet from them for $44 ,I had the old one for several years with no problems yet, how can you beat a basically throw away price on an auto darkening helmet that works for that price//
Ive got $360 miller auto darking helmets that are only marginally better

[bossvette]

I've got the same hat, can't beat it especially for someone like me who only welds occasionally. It actually makes welding much easier for me.

[SPANISHVETTS]

I bought 3 auto darkening helmets from Harbor Freight last. One for both of my Mechanics and 1 for me.

The boys love em... I did not mention that I paid less than $60 each.... he, he, he.

[grumpyvette]

the only advantages I see in my more expensive helmets is the degree of shading is adjustable and the screen areas larger but both features are of minor value in the welding Ive been doing, simply because the harbor freight helmets set up to fairly close to ideal as its out of the box settings. (thats why I bought a second one) and rarely use the miller brand helmets, if IM going to screw one up, get the screen scratched or burnt with framents of crud from welding over my head under a car, it may as well be a $44 throw away vs a $360 ID cry over