Found the perfect welder! #5

[oscaryu1]

Haha yup! "More creative than oscaryu1"

I was also told the spool included with the welder was crap. Can anyone vertify this?

 

[jr dragster T]

Oscar do you verifiy everything I tell you on msn here?

 

[newrider3]

The free wire worked fine for me. But I used it all.

 

[oscaryu1]

Haha, better safe than sorry

I trust you though You've been downright correct and honest me throughout everything so far

Well I'll use the stock wire unless I stumble across some tomorrow at Home Depot.

Any suggestions on what type of metal I should practice on?

I'd like total (steel) of under $100. Thanks guys!

 

[newrider3]

Look in construction site dumpsters for stud shims. They seem to throw 'em out a hundred at a time. They are various thicknesses, and about 1.5"x2.5". I found a bunch that I'm using for different parts on my kart.

 

[jr dragster T]

Oscar just pick up some hollow tubing or some flat bar at home depot. They sell it in the fasteners section and in about 4-5 foot lengths for like 8 bucks. And the home depot around my house DOES sell quality flux core and MIG wire.

 

[oscaryu1]

newrider3 - There aren't many construction sites in this part of Houston nowadays... But if there is, I'll keep my eyes open

Tyler - Hopefully they're the same in Canada as US... I'd love to start welding again! I'll try and pick up whatcha said!

 

[kibble]

I trust you though You've been downright correct and honest me throughout everything so far

He's luring you into a false sense of security in order to take advantage and steal all your stuff!

 

[oscaryu1]

Well... bad news?

Went to Home Depot... got a roll of Lincoln Electric .030"/.8mm ARC welding wire...

Then I couldn't find any metal The only thing I could find was aluminum, and some type of metal that was zinc plated (something told me not to buy that)...

Well, if it helps, I did pick up two random metal edger blades. I'll grind off the black paint and try n' weld it?

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

Go to a Omni Source and ask if they will sell you some scrap steel.

 

[ed1380]

dude go dumpster diving. i cant believe in this modern world you cant find scrap metal.
hell just drag a dumpster home and practive welding on that

 

[kibble]

hell just drag a dumpster home and practive welding on that

Take a sawz-all with you and cut chunks off of the dumspter!

 

[kibble]

Shoot! I just realized I haven't split this thread up yet!

 

[AutoMX]

well nickel and zinc plates steel isn't great because welding it makes toxic fumes, but honestly i use it pretty often for non-structural projects and it's fine as long as you dont breathe the stuff in for sure. my procedure is open the garage up completely and get my really strong fan pointed directly at me, blowing outside and keep the other door open for air flow. i never breathe when i weld as a precaution, and the fan helps drive off any leftover fumes.
you can grind off the coating on the outside but you'll still have the inside stuff, so dont think ur safe if you grind it. also, if the steel is coated and not plain steel, the spark will be green and not the normal blue.

with that disclaimer through, a good source of cheap and strong (for our uses) steel tubing is chain link fence top bars. my home depot has them at 10 feet for $10, 1.25" 17gauge steel. it's good for making stuff for the house, a little thin for bending, and its light enough that you could use it for a kart chassis.
BUT REMEMBER IT'S PLATED FOR RUST PREVENTION, DONT BREATHE THE FUMES.
it's cheap enough to practice on, but it's got its issues.

i guess the bottom line is, you shouldnt be breathing in flux fumes anyway so "technically" it shouldnt matter if the stuff is plated or not, but it's worth always taking precautions.

 

[oscaryu1]

Scrap steel... sounds really nice...

*doh* Today was trash day... forgot to take a look

Well... if I can't do anything, I might as well go back to welding mower blades?

 

[newrider3]

with that disclaimer through, a good source of cheap and strong (for our uses) steel tubing is chain link fence top bars. my home depot has them at 10 feet for $10, 1.25" 17gauge steel. it's good for making stuff for the house, a little thin for bending, and its light enough that you could use it for a kart chassis.
BUT REMEMBER IT'S PLATED FOR RUST PREVENTION, DONT BREATHE THE FUMES.
it's cheap enough to practice on, but it's got its issues.

For the same price you can get 10 ft of 3/4" black pipe. No toxic fumes, and it is almost the same as the 1" tubing used on most commercial karts. I'm using 3/4" black pipe on my kart.

 

[oscaryu1]

Where can I gets it?

Oh, also, on that roll of welding wire, why is the HF stock one silver, while the Lincoln Electric is bronze-colored??

 

[newrider3]

You can get pipe at Lowes. Did you get the right wire? My Lincoln wire is silver too.

 

[ed1380]

IIRC silver is flux core bronze in for gas welding

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

Might be a anti rust coating or something, if it steel wire dont worry about it. Brazing rod only comes in rod form(and its more of a high temp solder than a weld as the base metal isnt melted in brazing).