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Thread: welder dreams

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    Unhappy welder dreams



    so, I really want a welder, but cannot afford one. If I had a welder, I could do so much more to my rig that I want to. I want to take 12-14 inches out of the back, finally mount some rear shocks, weld on my rear bumper, weld on my mounts for my OBA tank, and other assorted stuff. does anyone know anywhere that rents them out or wuold be willing to rent me theirs? I would need one with a lot of adjustability so I can weld the sheet metal.

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    Why don't you try calling some of the rental shops and see if they rent them. I would also check around at some pawn shops in the Springs and find out what the average price is for a pawned welder. You might be surprised and find that 3-4 days of welder rental gets you pretty damn close to buying a used welder. Some of the welding supply places down there may also rent, or know of places that rent, welders, too, so don't discount them.

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    I'll keep my out for you, for a good used welder. However, with what pete said rent vs buy... I would buy one long before renting one for a few reasons to be honest. Main reason being there are no more rental fees! Even if its $35 a day or such and you use it for 4 days your already looking at $140, then they are going to charge you for wire/stick/filler rod, if your going the route with a mig and want to run gas theres another fee. Same with a tig welder. So by the time its all said and done you are looking at $200+ just to rent one. Prices may be cheaper than i have stated, i was just using round numbers for what its worth. I'll post a link to the welder we use at work for basic fab in the field. Its just a 110V Welder but is good for up to 5/16" material for a around $500 you can find it on ebay. And if you have to rent more than once, or are looking for a long term use it might just be the cheaper route.
    Welder

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    If you become totally dead ended let me know.

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    Honestly, after seeing Steve (scoutman) use his, I would say going to Harbor Freight and getting one of their little 120v Flux Core welders would get you started very decently. Here is one with adjustment that will do you very well. Use the anti-splatter spray and you won't have to worry too much about the splatter either. Nothing a cold chisel and a good sanding disc can't handle....

    http://www.harborfreight.com/welding...der-98871.html

    Not gonna get anything better for the price. It would cost you that much to rent one for two days.

    Scoutman has the even more basic version of that, and it does him well enough to do 90% of the work he needs to do on his Scout. I'm sure welding experts roll their eyes and such when I say that, and I'm sure it would be nice to have a bit more power to get the penetration needed, but I haven't seen many of the welds he has done fail on his rig, and that is including stuff on bumpers, axles, sliders and a bunch of other places.

    I splurged and got a good one last year about this time, but it should last a lifetime and resell for a decent price if I feel like I need to upgrade. I definitely wanted a real MIG (not Flux) to clean up the welds a bit, and got one that will be able to do more then I'll need it to, plus its dual voltage so its versatile.

    If you really want more flexibility, maybe check out www.longevity-inc.com or www.everlastgenerators.com for some pretty decent welders at very good prices. Otherwise, Craigslist is a good way to go, or even stopping by a Welding supplier and see if they have any used machines for cheap.

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    what kind of welder Fox ??

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    Ditto on the Harbor Freight welder that Scout Man has. Bang for the buck, it does pretty damn good. I remember when he first got it and was having some issue with it. Steve thought it was the welder, but it turned out he simply didn't have it adjusted quite right. We messed with it a little and got it dialed in and it works just fine. This is actually a really decent starter welder for anyone and will weld pretty much everything you mentioned you wanted to weld up on your rig.

    This is one of those things where "you get what you pay for" doesn't really apply very well, as I thought it was doing a fine job. Lacks a little on the fine tuning, but look at all the stuff Steve has done with it: welded cross members, welded his front bumper/tow point, welded the half doors, etc, etc. Like I said, I think this would work just fine.

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    the only thing i am worried about with one like that is not having enough adjustability where I am going to punch through my sheet metal when I bob the truck. I think I will end up getting the Harbor freight one because that is pretty dang cheap.

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    oh and i am looking for a flux/mig welder. no rod welding for me, I am too lazy

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    When you do the bob, read up on some of the bed bob information in the Yota make and model links, plus read Wyota's bed bob stuff in the build section. Don't read mine as mine was fiberglass and the hardest thing I had to do was to cut, sleeve and reweld my exo cage.

    Just gotta be really patient with the thin sheet metal. You are basically going to be tacking it every few inches, letting it cool. Tacking it again, letting it cool, ad nauseum, until you fill in all the gaps with teeny tiny tack welds. Sean is an artist at this. I can do it....barely...and I have been welding since the early 80s, but mostly heavier gauge stuff.

    That was the first time Todd did a bed bob and spent much time on thin metal and it really came out pretty good. I was impressed.

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    Yea. Mine isnt actually the Harbor Freight one... mine was a "farm and fleet" special (midwest Jax type store). I think the harborfreight ones might even be better than what I have, simply because they have a knob to adjust the amps instead of a "high low" swtich like mine. That said, I have welded a wide variety of things with mine including my thin sheet metal half doors. It is tedious, and it would have been nicer to have the more adjustability, but it got the job done. Similarly, I have welded larger things, such as dock plate bumpers to a loading dock. This is 1/4inch steel to 1/4 inch steel and gets smashed repeatedly by 80,000lbs semis and my welds have held just fine there. And I really wasnt all that good when I welded those. I will someday upgrade to a gas feed, but do like the flux for some jobs too. I can really take my time and burn things in with it.

    Here is a pic of my half doors done with my cheapy welder. Cant tell the difference. A different one may have sped up the process, but it got the job done.
          

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    awesome! thanks for the inut Steve. if you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for your welder?

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    Ah Harbor Freight, Some people have had great luck with there stuff and swear by it others hate it. I feel in my lonely opinion buy nothing electric from there. Like brody said "you get what you pay for" here is a link of customer ratings of products check it out.

    http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=3165

    I would save up a little money for a quality brand i.e Miller, Lincoln, Hobart something along these lines check Craigs list there are always deals on welders from arc, mig, or tig. It also depends on your skill of welding, If you can stick than that is a less expensive rout. some will argue including myself that you can do the same with an ark that you can with a mig. a mig is either 110v or 220v where an ark is 220v but you also don't have to buy gas. its all up to you I bought my 110v mig for 500 and it works awesome it can weld up to 1/4 steel but the duty cycle is slammed. I would say if you went this rout and had to do some thick stuff 3/16 - 1/4 just tack it and go to someone who has a 220v but 95% with vehicles can be done with a 110v mig just fine and they work great on body work. just my .02

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    well, I found a sale on the harbor freight one where I can get it for 72 bucks, so I am going that way and buying the service package just in case. so 92 for a 2 year warranty with a welder

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    Can't beat that for price. Pickup one of their Auto-Dim helmets while you are there too. They aren't the fanciest thing in the world, but they do just fine for hobby use. I would maybe splurge and get a good set of gloves though, because you'll be replacing the HF ones often due to split seams and bad build.

    I don't know if I would go as far as to "Swear" by HF, but for hobbyist use their stuff does just fine. I use their angle grinder, and so far they do me just fine. I had one die on me recently, but with the warranty they have on them, I can use and destroy them for as long as a more expensive Dewalt, Makita, or Milwaukee will last for cheaper stuff. That said, not all of their stuff is that way, but for a lot of stuff like wrenches and sockets and such, they are hard to beat.

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    yea, harborfreight is by no means good quality stuff, but you can get warrentees on it, and they replace broken stuff without a fight, and for us poor folks it is CHEAP!.

    If I recall right I paid in the $130-150 range for mine, and that included a cheapo mask, and some gloves, and the original spool of wire. That was i think 4 years ago, and in the midwest. For $92, buy the HF one, learn to use it well, and when you outgrow it, sell it for $50 and upgrade (or keep it as a backup). You wont regreat that purchase I am sure. In fact, I bet you dont get rid of it. I am sure someday you will upgrade, but it will probably always be in your garage just like mine always will be.

    For Comparison, I weld 1/4 inch steel all day long with my welder (stopping from time to time for duty cycle, but usually not a huge issue), and to me $150 is in the realm of possibility with my budget. $500 is just plain out of the question.

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    Haku previously posted:
    "Pickup one of their Auto-Dim helmets while you are there too. They aren't the fanciest thing in the world, but they do just fine for hobby use. I would maybe splurge and get a good set of gloves though, because you'll be replacing the HF ones often due to split seams and bad build."

    I agree on both accounts. Their auto dim helmets are frequently on sale for $45, and it definitely gets the job done. I also agree on the gloves. I tried every style they sell and gave up on them. Many of them literally only lasted one day (back to the disposable thing... I still keep some around, cause for $1.50 a pair, I will use them when my good ones wear out unexpectedly, or I lose them, or I have someone around to help me that needs a pair)

    Thats really the trick to HF. Some of the stuff is great, and some is crap, and overtime you will get a pretty good feel for what things are worth going for and what are not.

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    I would buy that ever day of the week over the HF one we were saying. I would jump on that sucker if I were you. That helmet isn't worth a damn, but the rest of that is a sweet deal.

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    ya, i sent him an e-mail so we will see. i hope he still has it

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