I overheard a conversation today at a welding supply shop. I was out picking up some items in anticipation of beginning welding. Bought some glovea and some RG60 rods. I wanted to get a price on an argon tank. Knocked my socks off. Small tanks I had to buy, but the larger ones could be rented. Looks like $100+ to get a tank. I went to another supply house to get another price quote. While I was there a clerk was waiting on a customer who was looking to buy a Tig or Mig welder. He was talking up the merits of his brand of welders($1000-1400). As a selling point he told the customer about a guy who came in looking for a welder. The guy said he could buy one at HF cheaper. The clerk said that the HF was ok if you were welding aluminum foil.
Well, after standing around a while and being ignored( I was going to buy some tungsten electrodes and collets) I decided to leave after hearing that comment. Hell, I was being ignored anyway. I guess I looked like I didn't have two cents to rub together and just came in to get out of the cold.
In any case, are the RG60 rods ok for welding the receiver? I'm new at this tig welding game. I bought a book on welding and the author advised against using the copper coated rods. So I bought the uncoated. Not a bad price. $2.61/lb. What is the normal price for a tank of argon gas anyway. All I need now to get started is an 220 hook-up in the shop and a tank of gas and I'm welding. Got my flow meter and regulator, helmet, gloves and scrap steel to practice on. Or maybe I should get some tinfoil to practice on.
HF Tig welder
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Pirate
- General
- Posts: 1212
- Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:32 pm
- Location: 1/2 mile from the beach in S Fla.
your best bet is to rent a tank, I am paying $6.00 a month to rent mine. Gas is about $28.00 to fill it. I got my HF welder several months ago and have used it heavily and it works great. Don't let the price or size fool you. Yes it would be nice to go buy an $1,800.00 Miller with all the bells and whistles but it is a lot of $$$ to spend for a hobby welder.
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propos
One of the larger tanks was $70 per year for a rental plus the gas. I don't recall what number of #'s it held. It was a little smaller than a standard oxy tank. I believe I will go that route. The smaller tank held about a 1/2 hour of gas. It will take me that long to get an arc struck. As far as the guy at the other place, he was BS'ing the guy with his sales pitch. I have every confidence that the HF welder will do what I require of it.
As an aside, Pirate, I sure hope this situation with the SA-42 classification will be resolved in our favor. It would be nice to use as many original parts as possible without having to replace them with US parts.
As an aside, Pirate, I sure hope this situation with the SA-42 classification will be resolved in our favor. It would be nice to use as many original parts as possible without having to replace them with US parts.
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panaceabeachbum
- Stabshauptmann
- Posts: 286
- Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2005 1:51 pm
- Contact:
To bad the guy was such a jerk, you cant even weld alum cleanly with the HF . I bought one of the HF units after reading the write up here on it and like it. I have an econo tig also and there is a world of diff but at $200 the hf is hard to beat. 1/2 hour on the tank seems awful short , how small is that sucker.
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Bunker Dog
Aluminum is dirty to weld, A/C high freak is required. This mild steel on the 42's requires D.C. current and you can use a scratch start.
High freak is nice, no doubt. Here is the beauty of high freak, just rest your cup, dump your hood and roll the tungsten and the arc fires.
Any thing less is a scratch start show. If you have a foot contol you are in fat city man. Just locate your weld point, dump your hood and press the pedal to towards the metal.
When the weld pool forms, watch for a molten spinning silca bead, it will be there, just look for it. When you see this bead and it has been called the cats eye, you have achived max weld penetration. I have been a tramp welder for the last 40 years and all I can say is pratice, lots of pratice, on mild dteel sheet metal that is .100 of an inch. Just use some metal of the same thickness with a cutting torch, clean it up and back it up with brass.
Make the junk weld as if you had a big chunk misssing out of your beloved shooter. If you dip your tungsten in the weld pool, just change it out, remember we have only one chance to save these old time shooters. I would be glad to help anyone on this site that has a weld problem.
This site is really cool. I seen the uni-strut used as a weld jig. Hats off th that man, I owe him a beer and a burst...........Bunker Dog
High freak is nice, no doubt. Here is the beauty of high freak, just rest your cup, dump your hood and roll the tungsten and the arc fires.
Any thing less is a scratch start show. If you have a foot contol you are in fat city man. Just locate your weld point, dump your hood and press the pedal to towards the metal.
When the weld pool forms, watch for a molten spinning silca bead, it will be there, just look for it. When you see this bead and it has been called the cats eye, you have achived max weld penetration. I have been a tramp welder for the last 40 years and all I can say is pratice, lots of pratice, on mild dteel sheet metal that is .100 of an inch. Just use some metal of the same thickness with a cutting torch, clean it up and back it up with brass.
Make the junk weld as if you had a big chunk misssing out of your beloved shooter. If you dip your tungsten in the weld pool, just change it out, remember we have only one chance to save these old time shooters. I would be glad to help anyone on this site that has a weld problem.
This site is really cool. I seen the uni-strut used as a weld jig. Hats off th that man, I owe him a beer and a burst...........Bunker Dog
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Poundfoolish
- Obergefreiter
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 1:03 am
Welders
I saw a Snap-on MM120 Tig welder on THAT OTHER internet auction site. Would a Snap-ON be appropriate for this type of welding? What other supplies do I need? Besides the tank regulator and hoses.
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Holdtight
Guys, I don't want you feel bad but I was talking to a old friend of mine a couple months ago lamenting about wanting / needing a TIG welder to weld these old things back together. He's not addicted to this stuff like us. I was just about to pop for the HF unit and my friend calls me at work on Thursday afternoon..."I found a welder for you from a place that's shutting their doors. It needs to be out before Monday." I was leaving for the W/E Friday noon and had a meeting Thursday night...."I guess I've got an hour". "Good, you'll need your truck." ??? I'm wondering how big is this thing???
It turns out to be a 8 -12 year old Hobart 250 amp AC/DC, water cooled torch, foot controled with more bells and whistles....and IT WORKS!!!!!!! What a friend!!!!!!
Trouble is I only have enough power in the garage to run it at half throttle but more than enough for any gun welding.
Unbeilevable luck?...no good freinds!!
It turns out to be a 8 -12 year old Hobart 250 amp AC/DC, water cooled torch, foot controled with more bells and whistles....and IT WORKS!!!!!!! What a friend!!!!!!
Trouble is I only have enough power in the garage to run it at half throttle but more than enough for any gun welding.
Unbeilevable luck?...no good freinds!!
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Bunker Dog
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Brass Scrounger
Re: HF Tig welder
I had my doubts about buying another welder, but lemme tell ya -- TIG ROCKS!
Its about as close to soldering as you can get. If you can solder, you can TIG with only a little practice. Controllability is infinitely better than a mig torch - think of working on a watch with a #2 phillips compared to a jewelers screwdriver.
Of course for the first-timer, its going to run a bit more (gloves, helmet, rods, electrodes, GAS
) . A 24lb cylinder will have enough gas to do a complete 42 build for the intermediate user - so plan accordingly. Another drawback to using small cylinders is (to me at least) the fact they have no valve cover like the 200lb jobs do. It looks rather odd having one strapped into the kid's car seat!
Also - no matter how much teflon tape you use on the gas connections, the sucker WILL leak. Lost 200lbs of gas before I remembered to turn the valve off an hour later. My guess is the solenoid valve in the welder isn't completely shutting or is just typical in a $200 rig.
So now the MIG rig is now delegated to a saw-dusty corner, and the HF rig sits inconspiciously on one corner of the bench.
Its about as close to soldering as you can get. If you can solder, you can TIG with only a little practice. Controllability is infinitely better than a mig torch - think of working on a watch with a #2 phillips compared to a jewelers screwdriver.
Of course for the first-timer, its going to run a bit more (gloves, helmet, rods, electrodes, GAS
) . A 24lb cylinder will have enough gas to do a complete 42 build for the intermediate user - so plan accordingly. Another drawback to using small cylinders is (to me at least) the fact they have no valve cover like the 200lb jobs do. It looks rather odd having one strapped into the kid's car seat! Also - no matter how much teflon tape you use on the gas connections, the sucker WILL leak. Lost 200lbs of gas before I remembered to turn the valve off an hour later. My guess is the solenoid valve in the welder isn't completely shutting or is just typical in a $200 rig.
So now the MIG rig is now delegated to a saw-dusty corner, and the HF rig sits inconspiciously on one corner of the bench.
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vulcan762
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propos
Thanks for the information guys. I just got back from getting all the wire, recep, and plug to wire up a 220 line in the shop.I went to an electrical supply house to get a 30amp 250v plug and recep. The guy had the recep, $18, but didn't have the plug which was non-locking, $38. I said "no thanks", and went to Home Depot and got the recep, $14, and a locking plug for $17. And the 10-2 wire and box and cover. After I get the recep wired up all I need is the gas and some tungsten electrodes, and I'm welding. Going to pick up some more steel scrap and some scrap copper and have at it.
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Bunker Dog
Here is a neat trick for sharpening tungsten if yah have a high freak unit. Use a cutting torch with a number one cutting tip Chuck your tungstan up in a drill motor and spin it up to speed, and then put the end of the tungsten in the flame and let it get red hot, just keep it spinning and push the oxygen cutting lever all the way down on the torch.
The tungsten will be drawn out to a very fine needle with no scatch marks on the points taper. This works great for all the tungsten sizes.
It is damn near impossible to keep from breaking off the needle point using the scratch start with out the high freak.
Watch your eye balls and keep the skin covered up..............Bunker Dog
The tungsten will be drawn out to a very fine needle with no scatch marks on the points taper. This works great for all the tungsten sizes.
It is damn near impossible to keep from breaking off the needle point using the scratch start with out the high freak.
Watch your eye balls and keep the skin covered up..............Bunker Dog