All I can say, is I checked locally, and even for the 3ft by 4ft 3x8 mild steel plate that I bought to make my table, for I'm effectively 99$ sure was under $300, perhaps by 30-40 dollars or more. Now would cost me $650. Sooo.. not even sure what to think about that.

double post oops

So I just sold some old fitness equipment to a guy after finding a killer deal on a new barbell, and we ended up talking, come to find out he recently got a new tig machine, yet did not know how to set it up let alone have any welding experience and asked to pay me for lessons, I just told him I'd g...

I tried joining the welding tips and tricks page on FB, no idea if it was founded my jody, or if it just was such a common sense name that a separate individual chose the same name, I'm all for sharing a good natured chuckle at someone's abomination of a weld before trying to help them, or just gene...

The more the merrier I say, especially since you've gotten your hands on some oddball rods I'm quite curious about myself. My photographer/videographer friend has been pushing me to start a welding channel for a while, but I didn't feel like I had anything of value to add over all the information Jo...

I used to occasionally tig bare handed or with just a torch glove on, and I'll still sometimes do it if I'm somewhere and forgot my tig gloves and only have my thickest stick/mig gloves with me, but on AC I've had enough threatening tingles run through my filler hand when feeding that I'll always us...

I'm glad I'm not crazy and someone brought up stainless before I did. Yes, shiny reflective metal surfaces can absolutely bounce the arc up under your hood enough to give your face and or neck a mild sunburn and for some reason stainless seems to be heads above any other material for doing it. Maybe...

BugHunter wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:08 pm Not even a little bit. It's easy enough to test. Might even spray a little water on after you're done.

Hm, I'm intrigued, I think I'm going to have to try that then.

Low battery almost certainly, however can you adjust the sensitivity of the helmet, and if so what is it at? Generally I like to find the point at which ambient light starts to trigger mine and turn it down just enough to where it doesn't anymore. Most times an arc should be bright enough to trigger...

BugHunter wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 3:33 pm Good carnuaba car wax is probably your best bet in the short term. Any spray on liquid is going to 'wear out' after a few days of use.

Do you think I'd have conductivity issues if I waxed it though?

Make sure your tungsten itself is polished shiny clean, most people pay very little attention to all the gunk or oxidation that forms on their tungsten and it directly impacts arc starts, think about it, if you've got a fine coating of aluminum on your tungsten, well, that stuff is pretty damn condu...

Now that'll hold some weight for sure . Also, admiring your Boehler 7018 collection, haven't been able to get my hands on a box of those yet but it's been on my list for quite a while.

Pulse mig really seems to be the future, especially for those 200 amp class machines without enough grunt to run stick electrode sized dual shield wire or stable spray transfer, but have more power than it takes for simple self shield or short circuit mig. Especially If I'm remembering Oscar right i...

I really need to make something like this, or get a cheap weed burner, When you need to preheat something large in a hurry there's just no replacement for pure raw BTU output.

How do these eat up steel with a cubitron fiber disc compared to say a semi hefty 13 amp corded grinder?

My reasoning is like this: It doesn't matter how often you want to cut 3/4". If you want to cut it cleanly, then anytime you need to do so, you need lots of amps. It's like wanting an 8 second drag car, but only racing it every 5 years. That doesn't make it any cheaper. To make it an 8 second ...

OCV and arc voltage don't necessarily go hand in hand, at least not on inverters, I've metered several inverters with an OCV of 70 or above that couldn't run a 6010 to save their life. However I think you're right in that what I referenced mentioned voltage more for arc ignition/stability reasons th...

Arc gouging on a good machine has a BAD reputation among old timers, supposedly machines that get delegated for heavy arc gouging never weld right again after a while. The eletronics guy side of me is fairly skeptical that gouging puts unique stresses on the machine that other processes would not, a...

Out of the 3 machines given, the Cutmaster 81 is the one to go with for sure. cheap Chinese machines don't cut the same speed as an inequivalent amp domestic machine does so cut amps only means so much, however, with 80% of your cutting going to be all 3/8 and you'd like to be able to cut up to 3/4 ...

Yikes, what's it for? If it's 1095 with a post weld heat treat, I have to imagine it's 1095 for a reason. Maybe the 1095 is just being used for wear resistance, so the weld strength may not be as critical, but if the the weld is intended to be as strong as or nearly as strong as the base metal itsel...

I'm certainly open for any suggestions, NC summers get pretty damned humid anyway and it's hard to keep anything rust free. While I usually spare no expense for tools and firearms, I'm realizing if routinely coating a 3'x4x square is going to be the norm, I need to start taking price per oz into acc...

I don't quite have a full roof on my Tig area yet, and when the wind and storms get bad enough, it'll mist the entirety of my table and often several areas around it. If I immediately caught it in time after putting on a coat of fluid film or similar, the table will remain rust free or so slightly r...

Mmmm smexy, I ain't recoil shy. But while I'd do it in a heartbeat, I still suspect I'd not particularly enjoy the recoil of a 45/70 in pistol form. I hate snappy guns, Give me a K frame .357 magnum with a 4" barrel and I"ll gleefully shoot that right handed, lefted handed, both handed, or...

I disagree with the idea you need to know either of the other two processes to learn tig. However what I will say is if you've tried and failed to learn how to mig weld let alone stick weld then your odds of learning how to tig weld competently are slim at best. The reason in my mind that stick weld...

If you're trained and educated on oxy acetylene usage and follow safety procedures, there's not a whole lot of danger involved. The danger comes from when things go wrong from accidental or negligent use things can go VERY wrong. Fill a trash bag with propane and carry it around, a static discharge ...