Yeah there's also a squarewave 175 for $950 which includes everything but gas. Decisions decisions.

 

Mine came with the gas and it was a steal. Honestly see if you can talk him down a bit on the 175. It is a great machine to learn on. Once I realized that I needed to make sure argon was turned on at the torch, I was laying down beads within a few minutes. Without argon you will just make big holes in the metal.

 

This thing sits in the garage at work and is used maybe once every 2 months.... I think it's about time I learned how to weld. Maybe I will practice and make my own 3" stainless exhaust lol

 

lol Squarewave 175 guy's first message to me was 'Sure but the price has to be firm'.

Listen dude I can see that nobody's touched it in the week and a half you've had it up there, I can wait. I still have 4 more weeks to go in my welding class.

Which btw I will try to remember to take some pics this time. 4 hours in last week and I was already making some decent looking butt welds. Been working on my feed hand this week with a $0.25 dowel from WalMart.

One depressing thing about looking for used welders is googling a potential unit, and seeing someone talk about picking one up used in 2005 for $300 less than it's listed today. WTF don't these things ever lose value?

 

I got my Lincoln 175 square wave for 900 with a small gas bottle. It was easy to talk him down a bit since I was like 18 when I bought it. I think that was a sweet deal. Also, I like the fact that it hasn't depreciated, so I can sell it for 900 also.

 

First weld's I ever did.... first time on right, 2nd time on left (After a few helpful tips from the guy I work with). I might keep practicing for a few months and maybe eventually I can make my own exhaust!

 

That exhaust was on a 1JZ twin turbo JDM Toyota Soarer.

I also just painted the bay for the guy.

Fresh paint makes the bay look minty... But it doesn't fall under fab work.

 

Day 2 of class:

I think that one's not enough filler. I got some 1/8" dowel rod from WalMart, perfect for practicing the feed hand.

Also that was a bit too much arc length. Arc length, fill speed, torch speed. I can get 2/3 100% of the time, and all 3 about 30%. Next week will be moving down to 16 gauge.

 

Somethings wrong with the gas, or the setting on the machine.

You shouldn't have any of that brown stuff around the welds.

Nope, and that's one of the reasons i buy new.

 

Could it be that it's not very thick metal? It's maybe 1/4 inch steel... You can actually see the weld from the bottom. No idea I'll read up on the settings and see if I need to adjust anything lol

 

The thickness of the metal does not matter for what you are trying to do. I have to agree that I don't have enough gas going and that is causing the browning.

 

Hmmm I will check it out next time and see if I can get it without causing the browning. Thanks guys

 

Could be dirty metal also, impossible to say from the photo.

Dann

 

That could definitely be it! Didn't have a wire brush handy so didn't get to clean the metal before hand

 

If you want sex spec TIG welds you need to start with perfect stainless and clean with acetone just before the weld, every single time.



Dann

 

Keep it on topic...

 

I made a turbo heat shield out of a polished stainless steel sauce pan, a dremel, and beer.


I really hope the wife isnt going to recognize it under the hood, or that it is missing.

 

It might be confusing when she mistakes your engine bay with the kitchen.

 

I tried to type up something clever but all I can do is lol.

 

Funny, coming from the no. 1 poster in the cooking thread