Welding Tips and Tricks

I am a bit lost here. Everyone who seems to apparently know anything about welding says i'm crazy to shop at bunnings for welding rods, and im getting ripped off.. Answer me this.

Why the hell are all the welding supply shops around me selling stuff for nearly twice the price of bunnings? (for exactly the same products!!!)

For example, satincraft 13 rods at most reputable dealers in my state go for $100 for 5kg of 2.5mm (3/32) rods, yet at bunnings you can pick up 5kg of 2.5mm satincraft 13 for $55.........murex speedex 12's cost around $68-75 for 5kg of 3.2mm at BOC dealer down the road, and $47 for the same at bunnings.

The products are exactly the same. Went to a little hardware store at gympie......$43 for 2.5kg of WIA Austarc 12? Went to an apparent top notch welding supply shop....they wanted $85. Asked them to order me 5kg of 2.5mm Pipearc 6010p and the small hardware shop quoted me $64.........asked for the same at a few local welding suppliers, $91.

Enlighten me as to why i should support these rip off artists. I just purchased 10x1kg packs of Satincraft 13 rods for $88 from bunnings. Saves opening up 5kg cardboard packages for a few rods as well.

That's why online and ebay traders

Are doing so well.

Lws play their old tricks of ripping you off if they think you don't know better or if they don't think you're an important enough customer or professional welder. Buy your stuff where its best for you. Screw them.

I buy rods at my local hardware store as well - much cheaper.

Washington Alloy 7018, 6010/11, 7014 at $2 per pound.

They also sell Hobart rods, but I prefer the Washington Alloy.

While there, I also buy my mig wire, grinding wheels, chop saw blades, bandsaw blades, gloves etc..

At the welding store I get my shielding gas and tig rods.

Check out ebay and bobthewelder.com.au but check your prices because no guarantees there either.

I'm no great fan of Bunnings but wouldn't drive past them to get to a place that was charging more.

Mind you, I'm a Tigger and they have very little for me anyhow. I buy virtually everything online. I've not seen range or value that has impressed me at all at any bricks and mortar welding store thus far, and the service I get online is great, so why move from my desk when the stuff I need is cheap online and shows up in my mailbox in just a day or two?


Kym

Ha. The range at bunnings and masters is smaller than a 4 year olds dick.......pretty much CIG GP 6013 and satincraft 13.....if you are lucky you get murex 12's and an earth clamp. Im only doing benches and stands for the moment so i don't really need anything else.

There is a small hardware shop down the road (don't even know the name its that inconspicuous) that orders in anything i need at 1/2 of the price any welding supplier has offered me so far. Im only a fan of bunning's so far because it is basically next door and depending who is on i can get a staff discount....but damn this little place is cheap. Got a 5kg pack of ferrocraft 7014 for $62.....

You would expect so called "professionals" to hook you up, not some guy down the road who stocks a single box of 6013.......and thinks welding involves fire

Im way old school. I might just get with the times and buy online...

I've been to a few Bunnings in your country but dont know their business model. Over here those kind of business usually dont have a discount model.

Your LWS most likely have a discount model for business accounts while you pay full list price as consumer.

50% discount isnt rare, even for a small account.

I don't know your local shops and the practices down under, but around here, even from location to location of the same chain the practices can vary some.
I've heard some people complain bitterly about Airgas welding supply shops, and others have had good luck with them.
I personally find them to be high priced in most things, but for gases, not too bad.

On the other hand, I have a truly LOCAL welding supply shop, not a part of any chain, that has excellent pricing and is helpful as well. The only problem is the hours that they are open are almost exactly the hours that I'm at work.
They are where I go when I want a few sticks or a pound of an odd filler rod to play with, and all the others are saying that it'll be 10lb minimum, and $80-$100+ to get any in.
I've even ordered parts through them, only to have them mail them 5 miles due to my work hours, since even with shipping it beat the others local shops by nearly 50%, and often online pricing as well.

So, while your shops may be different keep an eye open, you may find a hidden resource with one of the little independent shops that you wouldn't expect much of.

Bunnings here have always promoted a 'lowest price guarantee' policy whereby if you find a lower price than the Bunnings list price, Bunnings will beat it by 5 percent.

I believe that this policy still stands. It's been a constant of theirs for years.

Probably made possible because Bunnings is owned by Woolworths, and in Australia Woolworths own a fuel station chain, a liquor store chain, insurance and much, much more. We suffer a Woolworths/Coles duopoly* in this country that means a couple of category killer outfits have cornered the market in just about everything. It shouldn't be allowed, but Woolies and Coles seem to have everything to themselves nonetheless.

*(Or oligopoly, depending on your point of view)


Kym

If Bunnings or Masters is cheaper and have what you need use them.
I've bought 6013's from them but lets face it they dont carry much.
For almost any other rods or 5 kg rolls of mig wire the local welding shop or total tools is the go.
Also used Hamptons, good service and prices.

My 2 bunnings have stopped stocking cigweld and now have weldcorp. I don't buy rods much, but I tend to look for new old stock on ebay. I hit up bunnings for almost everything else though, tools drills, all the sundries.

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Your first problem is your buying rod in kg... and at a bunny store?


Here in NY I buy rod and wire at LWS for half the price of Tractor Supply, Home Depot, Lowes or hardware stores if you can even find a real hardware store. Although my LWS is an independent outfit and super customer service. Other


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LWS I'm not sure of prices, but my guy bends over backwards for me.

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to xryan.....whats wrong with buying in 5kg lots if they last me for weeks and cost less than most welding supply shops, even if they were selling 15kg cartons......you can break any amount down to pricing in kg, and that is what is important here. Regardless of how much i have priced (whether its 1 or 15kg) at like 15 different suppliers, it has always been cheaper at bunnings for some strange reason.

I have tried to come across as someone who will stick a lifetime if they find a good dealer, but they are cold as hell. I would rather go somewhere closer and cheaper (regardless of name) instead of travelling further to get the same product at a higher price simply because it is not bunnings.

Weldcorp rods, argh!!! From memory these GP rods were horrendous or just old. Possibly the latter.

After watching a youtube welding demo/tutorial on 7024's by chucke009 he told of the difference from cheap outlets and reputable outlets of exactly the same electrode. I think the better performing rod came from the mini packs offered by the major chain outlet. Odd I know, I would expect it to be the other way around.

On that note, would pay to check the performance of the cheap name brand rods from That big hardware store and your LWS. The cheapies could be nasty.

Revo

LWS here has 5kg packs of satincraft for $50
Just dont expect anything remotely TIG!

Revocide wrote:Weldcorp rods, argh!!! From memory these GP rods were horrendous or just old. Possibly the latter.

After watching a youtube welding demo/tutorial on 7024's by chucke009 he told of the difference from cheap outlets and reputable outlets of exactly the same electrode. I think the better performing rod came from the mini packs offered by the major chain outlet. Odd I know, I would expect it to be the other way around.

On that note, would pay to check the performance of the cheap name brand rods from That big hardware store and your LWS. The cheapies could be nasty.

Revo

Not a fan of the weldcorp rods at all. The only thing i really buy at the moment is satincraft 13's or murex speedex 12's......costs me around $45 for 5kg of either.

On the topic of quality, the cig satincraft 13 rods in a 1kg pack only cost $8 from bunnings and seem to weld better than the larger pack, and only comes to $40 for 5kg that way.. I wonder why it is cheaoer to buy in 1kg sealed plastic packs rather than some cardboard box. A bit strange

Sorry, guess you missed my sarcasm. Your buying rod in sillymeters (metric) as I call it.
Anyway, I buy all my rod and wire at less than half the price per pound from any of the big box or hardware stores, and yes in small quantities, 5 lb of rod, 4", 8", 12" spools and cut tig wire by 0.1 lb increments.

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Metric?

That'll never catch on!


Kym

MosquitoMoto wrote:Metric?

That'll never catch on!


Kym

I know right? What would science know.....has anyone wondered why nasa doesn't use imperial? Because it is a dog's ass tied to a rotting durian fruit.

Xryan...im off the ball at the moment...............

This why nasa don't use metric.
www.astrodigital.org

Sorry can't get the right url paste with tapatalk. I'll try on pc when i get to it.