mig welding maching help

[Mango Matto]

It depends on the welding supply. Some of them dont like to deal with non
Leased bottles. Call your local supply and let them know you own a bottle, they will tell you weather they fill them or not. Look on craigslist for the bottles, sometimes you can find a good deal, just make sure the date on the bottle is good.

 

[Nodroz]

Nice Christmas gift!!!
75%Ar 25%C02 mix. Buy or rent really depends on you. If you rent, you never have to worry about your cylinder going out of date and having to be requalified (like a BBQ tank).

Sorry to bother the OP of this topic, but it might be interesting for him aswell.

I got a gas bottle from an old welder. It was laying in his bench for an unknown time. There's still some gas in it, but I haven't welded with it yet, as I also got a rented bottle that I'm going to use first.

Now, after I read your reply, Toystory, you scared me off a little bit. There's a sticker on the bottle saying "2012". Does that mean I need to buy a new one? Will the gas supplier fill the bottle, or just give me a new one? Do I have to worry about that 2012 sticker?
Is it a good idea to weld with such old gas? Atleast a few years old I guess. The bottle was covered in dust, so yeah.

Once again, sorry to do this in your topic, but it might be interesting for you to know aswell.



Personally, I would go for a bottle you buy. Imagine you rent a bottle for a year. You notice that after 7 months, you don't weld that much anymore and the renting price isn't worth it anymore so you stop the rental and give the bottle back.

If you have a bought bottle, you can always weld and don't have to worry about monthly rental money and other things. If you later decide to stop welding and give you bottle back, you'll get the price of the bottle back aswell.

Just my opinion about this. Goodluck and have fun with your Christmas present!

 

[gsegovia]

It depends on the welding supply. Some of them dont like to deal with non
Leased bottles. Call your local supply and let them know you own a bottle, they will tell you weather they fill them or not. Look on craigslist for the bottles, sometimes you can find a good deal, just make sure the date on the bottle is good.

I did call a welding supply place and they sold me a new 40cu bottle full, for 130. I figured it was a good deal since harbor freight had 20cu bottle for 89 empty. And I still ran the risk of not being able to get it filled. What do yall think.

 

[gsegovia]

Sorry to bother the OP of this topic, but it might be interesting for him aswell.

I got a gas bottle from an old welder. It was laying in his bench for an unknown time. There's still some gas in it, but I haven't welded with it yet, as I also got a rented bottle that I'm going to use first.

Now, after I read your reply, Toystory, you scared me off a little bit. There's a sticker on the bottle saying "2012". Does that mean I need to buy a new one? Will the gas supplier fill the bottle, or just give me a new one? Do I have to worry about that 2012 sticker?
Is it a good idea to weld with such old gas? Atleast a few years old I guess. The bottle was covered in dust, so yeah.

Once again, sorry to do this in your topic, but it might be interesting for you to know aswell.



Personally, I would go for a bottle you buy. Imagine you rent a bottle for a year. You notice that after 7 months, you don't weld that much anymore and the renting price isn't worth it anymore so you stop the rental and give the bottle back.

If you have a bought bottle, you can always weld and don't have to worry about monthly rental money and other things. If you later decide to stop welding and give you bottle back, you'll get the price of the bottle back aswell.

Just my opinion about this. Goodluck and have fun with your Christmas present!

There's nothing to be sorry about, this is the reason why we are here. To
Share information. And yes I did buy a bottle versus renting one.

 

[Mango Matto]

You're all set up, now lets see some welds.

 

[gsegovia]

You're all set up, now lets see some welds.

I did do a couple of welds. I post pictures when I get home

 

[Rustydog2010]

There's a sticker on the bottle saying "2012". Does that mean I need to buy a new one? Will the gas supplier fill the bottle, or just give me a new one? Do I have to worry about that 2012 sticker?
Is it a good idea to weld with such old gas? Atleast a few years old I guess. The bottle was covered in dust, so yeah.

Down here, you wouldn't have to buy a new bottle. They wont fill it as the date is up. The bottle will need to undergo a test to be re-certified. Usually they can do it or send it to be done.

Using the old gas shouldn't be a problem as long as you know what it is and it suitable! You'll soon know if its not working.

I also agree, leasing a bottle is okay for people/companies that use large amounts of gas. For us DIY'ers that use gas every now and then, owning a bottle is cheaper in the long run. Most places that lease bottles don't like filling owner bottles as its taking away from their business. Down here there is only one company that fills owner bottles.

 

[alfredracing]

i have been a welder for almost 20 yrs now and have master any type of welding possible. if you are looking for a buzz boz (small welder) lincoln or miller would be you two best choices but dont over look the hobarts. its a great bang for your buck and reliable for a lower price than the miller or lincoln. if your going to be welding 6+ hrs a day i would go with a miller or lincoln both will last as it comes down to which one you preffer. haun welding or your local dealer has test models so that you can try them before you buy them

 

[gsegovia]

i have been a welder for almost 20 yrs now and have master any type of welding possible. if you are looking for a buzz boz (small welder) lincoln or miller would be you two best choices but dont over look the hobarts. its a great bang for your buck and reliable for a lower price than the miller or lincoln. if your going to be welding 6+ hrs a day i would go with a miller or lincoln both will last as it comes down to which one you preffer. haun welding or your local dealer has test models so that you can try them before you buy them

Thanks, I did end up getting the Lincoln 140. am actually thinking about taking some welding classes sometime during the summer. In the meanwhile ill be practicing.

 

[machinist@large]

Thanks, I did end up getting the Lincoln 140. am actually thinking about taking some welding classes sometime during the summer. In the meanwhile ill be practicing.

Taking classes is great!! It'll make you a better welder way, way faster than you could ever dream of doing it all by yourself (plus the fact that if it's through a local community college or community ed. program, all the class prices are fixed at the same rate; that means you will most likely go thru more in metal and other consumables that the course cost you, making the instruction FREE!!!!!)!!!

That's right; most community ed.classes have the same fixed price; they might have associated lab fee's, but in most cases, you will use up more than the tuition price for the class in welding rod, wire, test plates, etc.

Hope this helps.....Pat

 

[gsegovia]

Taking classes is great!! It'll make you a better welder way, way faster than you could ever dream of doing it all by yourself (plus the fact that if it's through a local community college or community ed. program, all the class prices are fixed at the same rate; that means you will most likely go thru more in metal and other consumables that the course cost you, making the instruction FREE!!!!!)!!!

That's right; most community ed.classes have the same fixed price; they might have associated lab fee's, but in most cases, you will use up more than the tuition price for the class in welding rod, wire, test plates, etc.

Hope this helps.....Pat

If it makes me a better welder sooner the better. Thanks
Here is a pic of some practice welds.
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[machinist@large]

If it makes me a better welder sooner the better. Thanks
Here is a pic of some practice welds.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2

DON'T GET DISCOURAGED!!!

You did start a little slow, and were going more than a little fast at the end, but I've seen worse (H###, I've done a lot worse!!!!) That's why signing up for professional instruction is actually a great thing, even with the up front cost; having an instructor looking at your work every couple of beads is so much more time efficient than the rest of us trying to help from a handful of photo's from time zones around the world.

That being said, your wire speed appears to be very good; I'd bump the voltage maybe 5% and just practice getting your speed constant and even. Other than that, if you haven't bought an angle grinder yet, invest in one. With MIG, you have to have as close to perfectly clean steel as posible. No rust, no oil, and if it's hot rolled, you'll need an angle grinder to get the high temperature oxide layer off (it's one of the better known electrical insulators known to man). A wire brush is a waste of time on it.

If you are just starting off, it doesn't even need to be top of the line. While I'm the first to tell you you don't get what you didn't pay for, I can tell you that many members on the site have a Chicago Electric 4 1/2 inch angle grinder (from Harbor Freight) as their only workhorse. I bought one as an emergency throw-a-way 6 years ago for work; keeping in mind that it's never going to compete with my Milwaukee and Metabo units (I own 5 separate grinders of various sizes and brands; please don't ask), its still running. Treat it with a little respect, and buy decent grinding/ sanding disks for it, it'll last you longer than you might think.

Keep us in the loop!!!!

 

[gsegovia]

DON'T GET DISCOURAGED!!!

You did start a little slow, and were going more than a little fast at the end, but I've seen worse (H###, I've done a lot worse!!!!) That's why signing up for professional instruction is actually a great thing, even with the up front cost; having an instructor looking at your work every couple of beads is so much more time efficient than the rest of us trying to help from a handful of photo's from time zones around the world.

That being said, your wire speed appears to be very good; I'd bump the voltage maybe 5% and just practice getting your speed constant and even. Other than that, if you haven't bought an angle grinder yet, invest in one. With MIG, you have to have as close to perfectly clean steel as posible. No rust, no oil, and if it's hot rolled, you'll need an angle grinder to get the high temperature oxide layer off (it's one of the better known electrical insulators known to man). A wire brush is a waste of time on it.

If you are just starting off, it doesn't even need to be top of the line. While I'm the first to tell you you don't get what you didn't pay for, I can tell you that many members on the site have a Chicago Electric 4 1/2 inch angle grinder (from Harbor Freight) as their only workhorse. I bought one as an emergency throw-a-way 6 years ago for work; keeping in mind that it's never going to compete with my Milwaukee and Metabo units (I own 5 separate grinders of various sizes and brands; please don't ask), its still running. Treat it with a little respect, and buy decent grinding/ sanding disks for it, it'll last you longer than you might think.

Keep us in the loop!!!!

Thanks, funny I did buy a grinder from harbor freight. But because I had misplace my other one.but I found it. I have a dewalt 4 inch. I never bought anything else other then dewalt. I had the same one for 10 years.

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