ScamperTom
Supposed to be working
Scored this monster on CL for a little more than the price of a harbor freight MIG... Stoked to finally learn this stuff!
Dove in and Bought my First Welder
- Thread starter ScamperTom
- Start date
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Arron tate
T B L
Hello ScamperTom
Nice score!!!
Only advice,
Use good quailty wire.
Use a wire pad, WELD AID Wire Pads, Red, Felt, PK6 - 24A429|007061 - Grainger
Clean the tip and nozzle regularity.
Use the correct shielding gas @ the correct flow rate.
Buy a GOOD QUALITY auto darkening welding helmet WITH variable shade.
Jackson® Safety W40 ELEMENT* Welding Helmet with Auto Darkening Variable Shade 9-13 Lens - 30915 - Northern Safety Co., Inc.
Always use a outside cover lens to protect your investement.
Airgas
NOTE: the links provided are for demonstration purposes only. Buy the best you can afford, It will pay off in the quality of your welding.
Practice, practice, practice !!!
Good luck and post some pictures of your welding jobs.
Happy Mopar
Arron
Great advice. Happy welding!
He forgot to mention get a welding jacket,its no fun lighting up your favorite shirt.you dont realize its happening until its too late.
Also a pail of water.
After welding always hang around for a few minutes to make sure an errant spark hasnt gotten into the sawdust under the tablesaw...
He forgot to mention get a welding jacket,its no fun lighting up your favorite shirt.you dont realize its happening until its too late.
Also a pail of water.
After welding always hang around for a few minutes to make sure an errant spark hasnt gotten into the sawdust under the tablesaw...
Very good advice, also weld with boots on, unless you like the tops of your feet burnt.
Its surprising how fast you can take a pair of tennis shoes off, when your feet are smoking.
I bought a pair of workboots with a vented upper, the part under the laces. Weld sparks went through like there was nothing there. My workboots since then are pretty much submersible.
Burn the occasional lace but thats it. Slag burns are painful and take forever to heal.
Burn the occasional lace but thats it. Slag burns are painful and take forever to heal.
Also wear ear plugs, nothing hurts like hell more than slag falling in your ear, I swear the last time, I could hear the hairs sizzling as the hot metal went further in my ear.
Always wear a mask, do not ever look at the arc.
I had both my eyes bandaged one time from a flash burn.
I remember my wife bringing me back from the ER and we stopped in a drive-thru for food, the cashier said "I am glad that my husband is the only one that is not accident proof", it at least added a little humor the the extreme pain in my eyes.
Always wear a mask, do not ever look at the arc.
I had both my eyes bandaged one time from a flash burn.
I remember my wife bringing me back from the ER and we stopped in a drive-thru for food, the cashier said "I am glad that my husband is the only one that is not accident proof", it at least added a little humor the the extreme pain in my eyes.
Yes flannel shirts are flammable! ha It took mw a while to figure out where the smoke was coming from! ha
loganscuda
This/These
Make sure your work area is well ventilated you don’t want to rob your brain of good oxygen. Have seen it many time, guys welding in their garage and have the door halfway open and welding inside or under the car and pass out and end up spending a couple days in the hospital or dead. Have fun!!!
TrailBeast
AKA Mopars4us on Youtube
Great advice, and great deal on the welder.
I pretty much always wear tennis shoes, and one day I was torching off some rivet heads in a 4x4 crossmember to take the trans and transfer case out.
One of those bright white hot liquid rivet heads landed dead center of the laces of my shoe and went right on through the shoe tongue the sock like it was nothing.
I kicked the shoe off and kept going, but that blob cooked itself right into the top of my foot probably a good 1/4 deep.
Paid for that one for months.
Oooh yeah, the sizzling ear hair sucks
Inside the cabinet, before the feed wheels, I use a clothes pin and clip a piece of t-shirt rag over the wire to help clean it.
Inside the cabinet, before the feed wheels, I use a clothes pin and clip a piece of t-shirt rag over the wire to help clean it.
Or run it thru an old ear plug ( ear wax lubes!) .......ha ..no not really wax plugs it up!
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
All my welders have been used except the Lincoln 180 MIG I bought years ago
70's...............used Lincoln AC "buzz box"
80's to about 6 years ago..........Century AC/DC buzz box
Both these are gone
90's.........used 120V Lincoln MIG
Then needed larger, bought the new Lincoln 180. Still have both migs
Then at some point I rigged up the Century with a used high frequency box and an old TIG torch to try and learn. THEN found a massive Lincoln stick / tig 250, HUGE and heavy
Finally sold the Century/ TIG setup to a guy who drove over a hundred miles ON CHRISTMAS EVE in terrible weather to buy it. It was not that good a buy, I have NO idea why he did that!!! I bet he didn't get home til midnight
And I STILL haven't learned to TIG, Great big Idealarc, like this 'n
70's...............used Lincoln AC "buzz box"
80's to about 6 years ago..........Century AC/DC buzz box
Both these are gone
90's.........used 120V Lincoln MIG
Then needed larger, bought the new Lincoln 180. Still have both migs
Then at some point I rigged up the Century with a used high frequency box and an old TIG torch to try and learn. THEN found a massive Lincoln stick / tig 250, HUGE and heavy
Finally sold the Century/ TIG setup to a guy who drove over a hundred miles ON CHRISTMAS EVE in terrible weather to buy it. It was not that good a buy, I have NO idea why he did that!!! I bet he didn't get home til midnight
And I STILL haven't learned to TIG, Great big Idealarc, like this 'n
Don't weld in shorts or a short sleeve shirt and make sure your jeans don't have the stringy ragged edges of the bottoms - those torch up nicely too!
ScamperTom
Supposed to be working
Thanks for all the tips y'all! I'll have to refer back to this thread as I go ahead... too much here for a noob to get in one sitting.
The main thing we are telling protect your body, you only have one.
Mine is old and does not heal fast.
Mine is old and does not heal fast.
ScamperTom
Supposed to be working
I can't argue that sounds like good advice. Speaking of which I was told I should have a good respirator. I hadn't even thought of that... are those usually necessary?
I don’t wear one, but I do not put my face in what I am welding.
Stay away from welding galvanized metal, the fumes will kill you.
Stay away from welding galvanized metal, the fumes will kill you.
ScamperTom
Supposed to be working
I've heard that. zinc poisoning or something. I guess the paint and crud built up on the car can't be super healthy either. Of course, that should be cleaned off before welding...
Not so much the zink poisoning, but the heavy metals that are in with the zink.
pishta
I know I'm right....
My first welder was a 220V Century stick welder with a big dial on the front. It was huge and was on casters. flipped it for 2X what I bought it for and settled on a small Craftsman infinite arc 110 stick as all the stuff I was welding was thinner than I thought I would be welding. Then I found an Italian made HF Dual Mig 131 that I still have. Welding wire made all the difference in the world with that rig. The Vulcan brand is like night and day from their old $hit. I thought the welder was garbage until I put a spool of that new Vulcan wire in there, it was almost like I was welding with gas with the flux wire. hardly any spatter. so the consumables are a very big part of the system. Stay safe.
Krooser
Building Chinese Free Engines since 1959...
That old welder should work good. After you get bored with it buy one of the newer tech inverter units....amazing difference. But you will do well to learn on your new machine.
ScamperTom
Supposed to be working
Yeah I think this should be good to learn on. Thanks for the tip on the consumables! What brand wire do y'all think is the best?
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