Finally bought a welder

[Mudfoot]

Watched my daddy weld. Never tried it myself. I bought a little Campbell Hausfeld 70 Amp stick welder fro Wal-Mart. I also bought a Titanium 125 flux core welder from Harbor Freight. I've been having fun learning. Stick welding is hard. I did my first legit repair today.

I had to weld the tailgate hinge on my 95 Ranger. I did a decent job. I really like the HF flux welder. Does a good job and actually has good reviews.

Wish I had learned when I was younger.

 

[Slowmover]

Watched my daddy weld. Never tried it myself. I bought a little Campbell Hausfeld 70 Amp stick welder fro Wal-Mart. I also bought a Titanium 125 flux core welder from Harbor Freight. I've been having fun learning. Stick welding is hard. I did my first legit repair today.

I had to weld the tailgate hinge on my 95 Ranger. I did a decent job. I really like the HF flux welder. Does a good job and actually has good reviews.

Wish I had learned when I was younger.

Have same regret. Still haven’t ever bought one.

 

[r carl]

Watched my daddy weld. Never tried it myself. I bought a little Campbell Hausfeld 70 Amp stick welder fro Wal-Mart. I also bought a Titanium 125 flux core welder from Harbor Freight. I've been having fun learning. Stick welding is hard. I did my first legit repair today.

I had to weld the tailgate hinge on my 95 Ranger. I did a decent job. I really like the HF flux welder. Does a good job and actually has good reviews.

Wish I had learned when I was younger.

I have welders like you have radio's. I have spent my whole life doing it. You will like it.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

My father was a welder, mostly on heavy equipment such as dozers, scrapers, crusher plants etc. Never cared for it back then. The fumes would give me a bitch'in headache. I now have his OLD Miller stick welder but need to upgrade power to my shop to run it. Hopefully that will happen this year and then I will give it a try. I did pick up a dinky little 70 amp welder a couple years ago and just played with it. Been giving fishy looks to a flux core wire feed welder the past while too. I need to get things over the next few years so I can play in retirement.

 

[ForestRunner98]

My Dad was a welder too. I never had interest in learning when I was young. He still welds from time to time small stuff around his house.

 

[G GOLLY WAlly]

My grandfather was a welder, and I didn't learn how to weld either. I did the same, bought a little welder from Walmart to see if I could teach myself to weld. I haven't played with it yet but that's the plan.

 

[Cabover Bob]

I've had dozens of welders work for me over the years on large shoring and bridge projects running .072" flux core on 400a/500a machines with wire feeder. I can lay down decent horizontal bead, no vertical or overhead, and I definitely cannot set my machine by myself.

Now after working on a couple of top fuel dragsters and a funny car, and watching skilled guys with TIG, that's what I want to learn. I also have a new to me lathe that I have to learn, hobbies like making my own tools and repairs are very satisfying.

Enjoy !

 

[Slowmover]

I've had dozens of welders work for me over the years on large shoring and bridge projects running .072" flux core on 400a/500a machines with wire feeder. I can lay down decent horizontal bead, no vertical or overhead, and I definitely cannot set my machine by myself.

Now after working on a couple of top fuel dragsters and a funny car, and watching skilled guys with TIG, that's what I want to learn. I also have a new to me lathe that I have to learn, hobbies like making my own tools and repairs are very satisfying.

Enjoy !

A brain is a fine thing to have. Problem-solving is one of life’s great pleasures.

We live in an era where button-pushing is thought a substitute for having our hands at work.

Ones “mind” requires the use of hands that body & soul might meet.

Ere God would have made us shapeless, amorphous beings floating about a trinary star system.

“Mind” has hands which produces truth from inspiration and beauty from dogged toil.

Seems today’s great secret. The flip of mans earlier struggle which little needed brains, just brawn.

Maybe someday he’ll declare us Good to Go.

.

 

[Mudfoot]

I've had dozens of welders work for me over the years on large shoring and bridge projects running .072" flux core on 400a/500a machines with wire feeder. I can lay down decent horizontal bead, no vertical or overhead, and I definitely cannot set my machine by myself.

Now after working on a couple of top fuel dragsters and a funny car, and watching skilled guys with TIG, that's what I want to learn. I also have a new to me lathe that I have to learn, hobbies like making my own tools and repairs are very satisfying.

Enjoy !

Tig is my next venture. My cousin was a specialty welder. Used to work in shipyards and nuclear facilities. He's in late 70's now. He lives close and I want to see if he'll teach me. He has all the fancy stuff in his shop. Tig looks like where the $ is. It's mesmerizing to watch.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Good skill to have.
I did a lot of welding in the food processing industry, we built many of our own heat exchangers in house out of stainless tube and tig is the way to go for nice finish.
Wire feed it great for projects and builds.
Out here stick welding is the staple of " in field repair" when the guy breaks it bad half way down the row.
And you can spend days hard facing ripper boots and disc blades.......
You know
Welding can be fun if you don't have to do it 10 hours a day!

73
Jeff

 

[r carl]

Watched my daddy weld. Never tried it myself. I bought a little Campbell Hausfeld 70 Amp stick welder fro Wal-Mart. I also bought a Titanium 125 flux core welder from Harbor Freight. I've been having fun learning. Stick welding is hard. I did my first legit repair today.

I had to weld the tailgate hinge on my 95 Ranger. I did a decent job. I really like the HF flux welder. Does a good job and actually has good reviews.

Wish I had learned when I was younger.

The Campbell Hausfeld is too small for most anything. This is an entry level dc stick-tig welder I would get. Tig welding aluminum requires an ac output tig welder. $$$$
https://www.everlastgenerators.com/product/tig-stick/powerarc-160isth

 

[Mudfoot]

Lol, I bought it cause it's cute and was on clearance. My buddy used it yesterday to weld up a crack in his mower deck. It did fine. He hasn't welded since high school shop class. The HF flux core I have, will weld 1/4" decent. Only rated for 3/16, though. Trips my breaker in my shed, so have to use my generator. Need to update electric before getting bigger machines. My worst enemy is my eyes. I don't see the puddle like they show on YouTube. My cataracts don't help.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Never buy a car battery again......

 

[Slowmover]

Never buy a car battery again......

There’s something to it. Pulse charging,

 

[TM86]

Never buy a car battery again......

He does give some good advice.

Only do this in a well ventilated space. Because you don't want the hydrogen gas you're generating to accumulate in any appreciable amount. Same reason the recommended cycling is ten minutes off to five minutes on.

DO NOT disconnect the wires while the welder is on. This may cause a spark that that ignites the hydrogen gas you've just generated. Side effects may range from singed hair to a rapid pressurization/depressurization cycle that is known to be bad for your health. It's also not good for the batteries, the welder, or the building.

I realize most of you already know this stuff, but there's always one. Usually it's me.