I have some exhaust pipe shields for a motorcycle that are chromed from the factory. The original welds on the brackets cracked and broke, and the owner tried some epoxy of some sort a while back, which also eventually failed. I've made new brackets and I'm going to weld them on the exhaust shields,...

Daniel, I posted this on the other plasma post as well and its worth repeating here; One other thing, DRY air is a must regardless of the cost of your plasma cutter. When you buy your compressor get a water trap/dryer and plumb that in after the regulator/trap fitted to the compressor. Drain them a...

I never used one myself but everything I hear about them makes me say Hypertherm PowerMax 30XP - it's a great looking bit of kit - small - light - dual voltage & I believe very good consumable life - don't know if the budget will run to it though ! Lanse has several video's about them. Not sure...

I'm at the point where I think I'd like a plasma cutter (which also means I'm looking at air compressors/tanks too!). Maximum thickness would probably be 1/4" plate, minimum thickness would probably be 16 gauge sheet metal. And I think the majority of things that I'm cutting will be small in si...

I keep large diameter gas nozzles around for when I'm going to be doing lots of tack welding, I rest the edge of the nozzle on the work piece to tack weld. Particularly handy if you're trying to tack with just one hand. Not sure if this technique is frowned upon or not among professional welders, bu...

I can give my recommendation to the Jackson Nemesis glasses as well. Same here! Any time I'm grinding, drilling, or doing anything where something could potentially fly at my face, I have the jackson nemesis glasses on. I have about 10 pairs, I've opened 4 pairs or so, and I just have them laying a...

ahh man, I got the spatter sizzling in my ear a few weeks ago underneith a jeep! It scared me more than anything


arc burn on my arms when I think "oh, I'm just doing a little welding, no need to sleeve up"

You'll of course only be able to create a current path for the weld if there is a similar return path. If there is more than one return path, then simply put there are two ways for current to get back to the machine ( in simplistic terms the return path is shared). If one is disconnected, the other...

Agreed. No issues. If you have a transformer machine, find something for the unused clamp to do, so it doesn't leave a li'l arc mark on something when you break the arc while welding on the other ground. Lay it on top of or clamp it to the machine, or clamp it to some earthed ground to reduce RFI o...

I got a longer ground clamp and cable to go with my longer mig gun. It's a different style clamp, takes more force to open, but when it clamps down it clamps real good. It'll work real good for working on heavier stuff. But it wouldn't be good for clamping smaller parts. Would it be a bad idea to ha...

I got the 15' gun (flex neck!) and the wiper pads and oil on there. Before I put the pads on, I cleaned out the drive rollers and guides. :o They were pretty dirty, the first one had a nice caked on layer on the inside of the drive roller that I had to scratch out. I can see where the pads will come...

The other guys are exactly right the wipers will make a world of difference and save on your liner from getting clogged up. I went from a 15' to 20' on my millermatic and I have noticed the straighter you keep the cable without sharp bends in it the better off you will be, never noticed it that muc...

Naw... A wiper pad is good for an easy fifty spools, if your shop is clean. (Install it the same direction each time...) Add a few drops of lube every month. "Lifetime Supply". Steve S Wow, awesome :-) My garage isn't exactly clean, but I try to do all my grinding and cutting outside in t...

Your local welding supply should stock wiper pads, and the other stuff I'm. They're just clean felt with a metal clip for tension, and they're cheap. For best results, use wiper pads and lube pads together (Lube pad closest to your drive rollers, wipers closer to the wire roll). Here's the wiper pa...

I've not put any wiper pads on the wires, that might not be a bad idea. Is it as simple as loosly clamping on some foam or cloth? Does the foam have to have some sort of solution on it, or just dry? (Dry I imagine would be better?) I think I've seen some photos of that type of setup, I'll search aro...

Should work fine. Are both the top and bottom drive roller powered on that machine? Or is top just a freewheeling idler bearing? The bottom is the only one that is driven directly by power, I think. If I remember correctly, there is a sprocket on the top roller, so I assume that probably transfers ...

After doing several larger welding projects on my jeeps, I'm finding that the 10' mig gun is JUST slightly to short to comfortably reach the other side of the jeep. I've put up with it for a while now, but I'm starting to get frustrated by it. Particularly when I was welding the roll cage, even an e...

The Hanson 'automatic' clamps are great! They do indeed often need two hands to close them, But they are quick, which is what I like. I've got two of the automatic clamps, and I grab them first almost every time. Thinking about picking up a pair of their auto adjusting pliers too. I've not modified ...

I would think that so long as it's inside the closed up welder, and the welder is in a garage, it should be ok? I keep bare steel in my garage for months at a time (sometimes my projects take a while..... ) and it's very rare for them to start showing surface rust, even after the metal has been clea...

It would be a little difficult to do this for sheet metal, but for zinc plated hardware (nuts, bolts, washers, hinges, whatever) I soak them in citric acid for an hour or two (overnight if I can), that gets them down to bare metal, or really close to it anyway. I like Citric acid because you don't h...

Got more work done on the cage

one was left handed, one was right handed?

The smart tigger by Jackson. Excellent clarity and price. Available on Amazon. If you like blue lenses, it's a great choice I have the Jackson BH3, I really do like that helmet. I previously had a cheap helmet, so I don't have anything really to compare it to other than bargain model helmets. But I...

I'm replacing the bolt-in roll cage parts on my TJ with fully welded DOM tubing, and running the tubes to the frame. Today I got the C pillar (the area behind the bar that is above the seats) cut and welded in place, as well as the harness bar that wraps behind the seats where the 5 point harness wi...

I tried to bend cold rolled steel in my press brake, thought it was regular mild steel, until it cracked