If you’ve ever wondered whether metal really does “spray” when you’re using a high-speed feed and voltage — or whether it really “globs” when using medium feed/voltage settings, this video should clear it all up for you. Each spray type has its place in the welding world, but watching this slow-motion video is the first chance I’ve had to actually see them all in practice.
(Thanks, James, for the tip!)
In case you’re a doubter, here’s another reason you should own a MIG welder: TM reader and photo pool member James posted this photo of this bumper basket he put together for his TJ. It’s made of 2″ square tubing, plus a few other steel types and (of course) some expanded metal. Note the spare tire mount.
Add a little paint to James’ creation, and everyone at the next Jeep meet’ll be asking: “Where’d you get that?” followed by, “Can I buy one?” Answer: Buy a welder instead! Awesome.
Toolmonger’s Photo Pool [Flickr]
PS: God, I love expanded metal. Sure, everything you make with it looks like a deer stand. But I love it anyway.
Shopping for a new welding helmet? This flag-draped Miller Elite series welding mask features separate auto-on/auto-off and grind modes, four independent arc sensors, and a magnifying lens holder. It’s available in numerous screen-print designs – like this lovely stars and stripes motif — as well as plain ‘ole black. Best of all, it’s available at Toolsforless right now for $219.88.
Miller Elite-Series Stars & Stripes [Miller]
Miller Starts & Stripes Welding Helmet [Toolsforless]
Street Pricing [Google Product]
TM reader Leslie sent us a link to this photo from AOL’s “Top News Photos for Wednesday, June 20.” Apparently the original caption read: “A welder takes care of a job at a workshop in China’s eastern Jiangsu province.” You’d think with as many welding masks as they’re shipping around the world to us, they’d keep a few for the employees.
AOL’s Original Link [Warning, Temporary Link. Look at the bottom for the photo.]
I stumbled across Kathryn Hake’s Vocational Information Center when searching for some ifnormation on plastic welding, and let me just say this: if you don’t have some spare time over the next few weeks, don’t look at it. This is easily the single largest gathering of links — good, active, well-managed, informational, and educational links — about welding, machining, landscaping, and about two-dozen other vocational areas that I’ve ever seen. Whether you’re interested in one of these fields as a vocation — or just want to learn a bit about them from a technical standpoint — this resource is for you.
Randy pointed us to this simple, homemade tube butt-welding jig over at Street Rodder magazine’s website as a great application for cheap-ass clamps like the ones we posted yesterday. (This particular project actually uses C-clamps instead of locking-pliers-type, but you get the idea: inexpensive clamps of all types are prime for welding into a jig.)
The article (link below) walks you through the whole process of building the jig complete with pictures of every step.
Homemade Tube Butt-Welding Jig [Street Rodder]
Welding is a skill that’s incredibly useful and a lot of fun, too. We’ve written quite a bit about it — including a few projects you might want to try — but today I ran across a great “getting started” guide from the people over at Custom Classic Trucks. Like us, they’re enamoured with the MIG/wire process, which is way, way easier than stick welding. So if you’ve tried stick welding and hated it, you might want to give wire welding a chance. Try it — you’ll like it!
If you’re a welder — even an amateur — you probably already own a great welding helmet. But what about friends who come over and want to “help?” Do you have a helmet for them? That’s a perfect time for a cheap-ass tool, and Harbor Freight has some deals that might interest you, like this auto-darkening helmet — complete with Discovery-channel-blue flames! — for $60.
It features a 1/25,000 second switching speed and a variable shade control that adjusts it between a #9 and a #13. It appears to be (like most of these) solar-powered, but it also has a backup battery.
Blue Flame Design Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet [Harbor Freight]
In light of the recent Toolmonger talk about welding, here’s a cool welding magnet from SLG Tools for just $6.10. I’ve seen a number of right-angle magnets — they’re incredibly handy as a “third hand” to hold steel in place while you weld” — but this looks great for when you’re not making a 90-degree connection. The magnet is rated up to 125 pounds and swivels 360 degrees.
Adjustable Angle Welding Magnet [SLG Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Product Search]
Matt writes: “I want a welder for my home workshop and wonder which is the best to have. I want a welder that is not only diverse in application, but also well-built. I expect to use it for auto, home projects, and metal scultping. I would also like to use it for building bike frames.”
Those are some pretty vauge uses, but we do have a few suggestions — as I’m sure other Toolmongers will as well. If you’re just getting started, you might want to consider a wire welder. MIG welders — wire welders that also feed shielding gas — are even easier to use, but a basic no-gas wire welder will offer the best combination of simple setup and easy use. Wire welding is many, many times easier for the beginner than stick welding. For auto and home projects, you can often get away with a 120V unit, which will alleviate the need for special 220V wiring and render the welder much more portable as well.
Just as an FYI: we reviewed a pretty nice starter welder quite a while back – Hobart’s Handler 125 EZ. We even built a small project with it to demonstrate its capabilities.
As far as “bike frames” go, I’d start with some simpler projects before you jump into something you’re going to bet your butt on. To build bike frames you’re going to need a tubing notcher — and a lot of welding knowledge.
But what say you Toolmongers? Any good recommendations? Let us know in comments.
Homier Distributing is offering their Speedway Series 30 amp Plasma cutter for $399. Here’s the lowdown: It doesn’t have an onboard air compressor, so you’ll need a shop air supply of 3.5 CFM @ 70 PSI minimum to run it. (Check your compressor’s stats carefully — this is more than most small compressors can handle.) You’ll also need a 220V/60Hz single phase outlet, rated for (we’d guess) at least 50A. Homier claims a 30% duty cycle at 30A, and it ships with an air regulator and an extra electrode and nozzle.
I know you get what you pay for, but this is tempting if you’ve already got the necessary auxilliary gear around the shop.
Speedway Series 30 Amp Plasma Cutter [Homier Distributing]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
As you’ve seen in some of our how-to and hands-on posts, we’re probably the kings of welding in improper gear. It’s not that we’re not aware of that fact — or that we don’t have the scars to show for it — it’s just that here in Texas it gets so incredibly damn hot in the summertime that we often just wuss out and pass on the heavy leathers. That’s why we were thrilled when we came across these lightweight flame-retardant treated cotton options from Airgas.
So you’ve set up shop at home, but for some reason the home owners association won’t let you keep a tank of acetylene (next to a big tank of oxygen) big enough to turn the neighborhood into a crater.
This may be the one time the HOA is right, but don’t tell ‘em I said so.
What you really need is a plasma cutter. Yeah, they’re a little expensive, but once you see what you can do with one, you’ll be ready to raid the kids’ college money. We tried out Hobart’s entry level AirForce 250A, and we’d have a hard time without one now. Thankfully, it’s part of our long-term test group, so you’ll see lots more about it in future posts.
Read past the jump to find out more about our experiences with the 250A along with lots of pictures.
Sizod writes: “This stick welder from Campbell Hausfeld welds up to 3/8″ mild steel and uses 1/16″, 5/64″, 3/32″, and 1/8″ rod sizes. I bought a gasless wire-feed welder factory reconditioned form these guys a couple of years ago and it works great. I’m tempted to buy this one, too, at such a great price.”
Longtime reader and commenter Rick writes: “Since the bandsaw post earlier this week seems to be pretty popular, I thought this blade welder sort of goes along with it but I may deserve its own post as well. Basically, this is a cheap Chicago Electric bandsaw blade welder from Harbor Freight. It requires 220V power. But the hot item IMHO, is this 12v car battery powered model [photo after the jump]. Basically it does the same job in a smaller package. Granted, it retails for $50 more than the 220V one, but for those — like many of us – who don’t have 220V in our garages or workshops, this could be a godsend.”
“Breaking and rewelding a blade is sometimes necessary if you’ve got to make an internal cut into something that requires you to thread the blade through, make the cut, and then brake the blade and thread it out. In that sense, I think the smaller battery powered welder might be better as it’s easier to hold by hand, etc. without dragging everything over to the welder like the Harbor Freight model.
“Blade welders overall, though, are a useful tool if you want an easier way of welding a blade (assuming you have a regular welder), or just a way of getting it done, period, if you don’t.”
I’m pretty positive that this would be lousy for the use in the picture above — I’d never trust my car’s finish to it — but I picked one up anyway when I found it on sale for $10. (The standard price is still only $20.) It’s actually quite handy around the shop, more for grinding than welding.
Blake submitted this awesome, self-explanatory tool. It’s a welding helmet. Shaped like a skull. With flames.
I don’t care who you are — that’s cool.
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