Thanks for sharing your knowledge / experience. I appreciate it.

Hello all, Looking to get a 1,000 lb-ish lifting magnet to help move material around. I was looking at the MagSwitch MLAY-3. I see a lot of people using the generic (Vevor, etc) lifting magnets. The MagSwitch is about 10x more expensive. I don’t want to skimp on something like this for safety reason...

Thank you both for the replies. Great information and thoughts all around. Sounds like I'm overthinking this one and can mitigate any issues easily. An add-on question... If you were to build a frame for a top this size/thickness, would you just have the legs touch at four points or would you "...

Hello all, I was recently able to pick up a 1" thick slab of 3'x5' aluminum that I'd like to make into a welding table. I'm looking for ideas for a frame for the top to sit on. My aluminum welding skills aren't good enough to make a frame to hold that slab, and even if they were I don't have a ...

Thanks again for all of the input, everyone. Ultimately I ended up failing on this project but I feel that I've come away with a bit more experience and ideas. I tried the higher amps while attempting to follow the technique advice and also attempted to run a couple beads directly on the tube, but t...

Wow! Thank you all for the advice. I'm going to give it another try in the morning.

Hello all, I'm working on a small personal project - an aluminum frame to hold some Christmas lights (the outline of a star). I'm trying to figure out how to TIG some .062 wall aluminum tube (5/16 diameter) to a small piece of .128 plate. All of the material is 6061 and I have 4043 filler wire. I'm ...

Nice. I need to make a rack like that. I noticed the wheels are underneath the rack a bit. Could it ever tip? I might have kept the wheels outside of the drip edge. Nice design and execution. Thank you, sir. Regarding the wheels/tippage, I think the picture is at a funky angle. The rack is a bit wi...

Here's my first attempt using leftovers laying around the garage:

Thanks for sharing your experience, JayWal. I was thinking along the same general lines and wanted to reach and gut check with others.

Hi Lt Badd, I'm looking for a general rule of thumb of the distance between the supports to properly support the material so it doesn't sag and develop a curve in it. For example, if the general rule is a support every 4 feet and I want to build a rack to support 8' stock I would need the rack to ha...

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to organize my space and want to get my steel up off the floor and out of a pile and onto a rack. What are your thoughts on the span between supports to store primarily 1" sq and 2" sq tube 1/8" thick horizontally and prevent sagging/warping?

Thanks,

j

Thanks a lot for all of the replies. Doesn't sound like there is anything special I need to be watching out for - likely just a bad or damaged regulator nipple. Replacement part sounds like a good idea if I can't find any obvious damage to the nipple, though I've been itching to look into a flow met...

Hello everyone, I'm using the stock regulators that came with my Millermatic 220 on both 75/25 and 100% argon tanks (it's the same model regulator for both). I've gone through a few 75/25 tanks with no observed issues, but I'm having issues with leaks where the regulator hooks up to the tank on my 1...

Thanks for the information and ideas. I don't know why I didn't just think to tack and move - great tip.

I should have mentioned that these are exterior stairs / footings. I'll have to go back to the drawing board on the water issue, but now with some additional ideas.

Hello all, I'm getting ready to start a stair project. I have concrete footings poured that I will bolt 1/8" or 1/4" plates to and then upright square tube will be welded to those plates to serve as legs for the stairs. The footings aren't uniform nor level on top. What I'd like to do is b...

Thanks for all of the information, everyone. Sounds like I just need to run some beads and see what's up. If they aren't too embarrassing I'll take some pictures to see if that helps clear up the mystery.

Hello all, I purchased some stick equipment and rods from a fellow who inherited it all from his grandfather and never used any of it. In the mix was several containers of rods. One of the containers is a toolbox full of unmarked rods with a fine white powder covering them. Is there any way for me t...

Thank you very much for the information, Oscar. I was hoping this would be the case.

Hello all, I have a Multimatic 220 and need to do a small amount of body work on my old truck. The roller on my MM220 has an .024 grove and I have a roll of both .023 and .025 wire. Would it be possible for me use either of those spools with the .024 roller? I only have a small amount of sheet metal...

Thank you all very much for the replies and encouragement. I have to say I wasn't mentally prepared for how difficult this would be. I picked up hobbiest-level stick and MIG fairly quickly but have struggled with TIG. 4043 filler will often have peppering in the weld Is that the black trail that is ...

Thanks again for the info. It would seem that my biggest problem right now is material cleanliness. I took a flap disc to the aluminum and that has made a world of difference. Apparently, though, my filler rod is filthy. I can see globs of yuck entering the pool when I dab. Lesson learned - Blue Dem...

Thank you both for the replies. I'm headed out to the garage right now to try our all the info.

Hello all, I'm trying to teach myself how to TIG weld aluminum. I've watched the WT&T and ChuckE2009 videos half a dozen times (each) but I just can't seem to get a decent puddle to form. Here's my setup: Miller Multimatic 220 3/32" grey tungsten (2% ceriated) 3/32" filler rod 1/8"...

Thanks to everyone for the discussion. I definitely have my eye on the Fireball squares. Out of curiosity, are people mostly using the 8" or the 12" variety? What are your feelings on cast iron vs aluminum? I watched the iron vs. aluminum YT video that he put out and it was informative but...