Welders? Any welders on this site?

[Cobleskill]

My neighbor/friend had a forge and was quite talented making decorative and useful items. Very sad he drowned in the Niagara River. An old Italian taught him. Very artistic.

 

[Bart]

I inherited an about 100 year old anvil from a relative's farm. It weighs probably 100 lbs and has the cut off triangle bit you put in the hole and I think a curved bit too. I use it only occasionally. My grandpa had a coal bed forge with the geared up hand blower but someone stole it from the property. They also stole the water tank, bread baking oven top loading wood kitchen stove. That thing cooked bacon and eggs faster and hotter than you can imagine. Hard fringes on the eggs to chew on with soft centres. Reminiscing...

 

[pigwot]

All in one machine. Looks like DC only.
Any thoughts?

 

[lumberjack]

I’m a fan of Miller… they have multimatic machines that do the same although I bought a 255 Millermatic (wire welding only) as it handles most of what I need, and they had it in stock😂.

 

[Tree09]

No. No clue on what they want to charge, but it will likely be too much. I would also stay away from inverter style machines unless you need the light weight for a reason. When they go bad it's very expensive to replace. The older transformer style use more electricity, but are far cheaper to buy and repair. I would also stick to name brand stuff, aka Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, esab, etc. What are you trying to do? What are your needs and limitations?

 

[lumberjack]

I’m happy with inverter based, to each their own. My previous mig is a 185 Millermatic, which is transformer based.

 

[BlackSmith]

Carl, that 255 in the picture, is that Miller’s push/pull gun?

 

[Tree09]

Inverters aren't necessarily bad, they are just more expensive for very little benefit imo. I use them almost exclusively at work, for their needs it fits perfect. Just depends what you are trying to accomplish and for how much money. If you are doing it for profit that will determine what you need, but if you are doing it for repairs buying used can get you a bunch more machine for less money (i would do that if i was doing it for money honestly, and i do with my rebuilt sa200 welding pipeline). Sometimes you need new and the money isn't an issue. Inverters do traditionally suck for running cellulose rods, which i do a bunch.

 

[flushcut]

I have a Multimatic 200 and it has served me well. I wish it ran 6010s better but can live with it. The TIG is solid MIG is golden and stick with 7018 or 7014 is smooth, spoolgun is nice to have. I have yet to need to weld anything above 3/8" so it really fits my needs well compact with enought nuts for what I need. And was cheaper than the Yeswelder with all of the accessories. I lean towards blue machines.

 

[lumberjack]

Carl, that 255 in the picture, is that Miller’s push/pull gun?

Nah it’s a MDX250.

 

[flushcut]

All in one machine. Looks like DC only.
Any thoughts?

I just looked up that machine and it isn't even built yet. My $.02 is steer clear of that machine model until is has a few years of real world use before buying. Personally a all in one is great but they will do one function well and the rest so so and having to change the machine over form one function to another is a little bit of hassle and you'll find that you only use the MIG 90% of the time. I would never buy a plasma cutter that isn't a Hypertherm.

 

[pigwot]

A nice old Millermatic 200 would be nice.General repairs and fabrication of racks, - I rarely weld 3/8” and thicker, wrought iron railings being the exception.

 

[Ed L]

I have an old lincoln sp250 mig. Love the damn thing as I tell it the wire dia., gas type and thickness of what l'm welding and it automatically sets the voltage and feed rate. Voltage & feed can be fine tuned or one can go full manual.
Perfect machine for me, as I don't use it enough to remember the settings.
Ed

 

[flushcut]

All in one machine. Looks like DC only.
Any thoughts?

I just went to another welding forum and the general feel is that Yeswelders have design flaws.

 

[sawinredneck]

From what little I've seen of them, they are hit and miss, some people love them, others think they are junk. I've been tempted with the prices, but it really seems like a roll of the dice so I've passed on them.

 

[pantheraba]

Kyle...I am working on Grandaddy's welder. I bought some basics today...picts below. The fellow at the welding supply house I went to said he had not seen the type "studs/plugs"...where you swap the leads....he did not have a female end that I could mate my single "ought" cable to. He sold me the copper "lugs" and said I could install the wire in it and bolt that lug to the stud inside the machine. Do you have any suggestions on how to efficiently set up this welder for use. I did a good cleanup tonight...dirt dauber nests, leaves, grunge, etc...vacuumed and air hosed out. I am open to suggestions.

 

[pantheraba]

More....

 

[pantheraba]

That ground wire had a piece of still black hose slid over the worst open area. I figure I can still use that...secure it better. For the other bare areas...use electrical tape there since it is a ground wire, not carrying current?

 

[flushcut]

I don't think you are getting the best advice from your welder supply store. Swapable leeds are very common. Maybe this style is defunct but Tweeco and Dinse connectors are super common.

 

[flushcut]

Scrap metal to the rescue

 

[Tree09]

Most lead is made up with quick connect ends, if the guy didn't understand or know that that's a sign you don't need to even talk to him in the future. Welding supply stores are not created equal, and honestly most people working at them have no idea how to do anything. I run tweco style plugs, fortunately you can simply by them online so you won't have to use the welding store. You will need them for refilling torch bottles tho, so you never can get away from using them. Thankfully they sold you actual tweco brand stuff, not their store brand. Since welding gear is often expensive just about all stores sell off brand stuff, and they usually own the off brand. Radnor and anchor are two of those knockoff brands, if they ever try to sell you that crap simply say no. It's not worth it to waste money on junk.

Anytime you have questions about what you need please feel free to ask, I'm more than happy to help. I would use the copper lugs and make a very short whip, and then go to a female plug so you can get more lead on the future. Kinda like this where i did the same thing on a little Lincoln.

 

[BlackSmith]

This works for me.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

For the other bare areas...use electrical tape there since it is a ground wire, not carrying current?

If they put the same caliber of wire as the other, that means it carries the same amount of current. Or at least it could, in case it is a grounding for electrical defect. But if I followed correctly (not sure), these fat wires coming out of the front panel are for the in and out for the actual welding. The central one for the lead with the clamp. The right and the left, for two different current settings Low or Hight (plug either one or the other), connected to the rod holder. A clue, there are two scales on the indicator, Low and Hight. That shouldn't be a coincidence. If that's that, the ground wire see all the current flowing through the system.

 

[pantheraba]

Thanks for the input, guys. I'll get with Alex and factor it in.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Finally got around to this project. I want my spare on the F350 upright and against the head rack. No tire mount under the flat bed.
So I bought a proper wheel stud, threaded on a lug nut, chopped the flange and knurl off and tacked the nut. Welded it to the square tube stock. See how she holds up.