Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi,

Name is Christian and I'm in Winnipeg, MB Canada.

I've not yet purchased a welding machine, but I'm enjoying watching videos on YouTube and slowly remember my training when I grew up in Norway. Back then, a scratch only TIG machine was probably close to 400lbs. Most of the work we did was stick and Acy/Ox with some forge welding thrown in. I trained as an agricultural mechanic back then.... Everything we were taught was about making do with what you had on hand. There was no excuse for saying I don't have this, no access to that etc.

I returned to Canada in 1978, worked as an agricultural and later an auto mechanic, only to realize things aren't done the same way in North America. I went on to working as a gunsmith and after federal laws put a kink in that business, I went on to work for Canada Post. I'm retired now, and after loosing my wife last year, my mind is drifting back to my machine shop/welding shop days and I think I'd enjoy welding again.

Regards

Christian

Welcome aboard. Dreadfully sorry to read your wife's passing. I probably won't last a week if mine should get the good sense to give me the boot.

cj737 wrote:Welcome aboard. Dreadfully sorry to read your wife's passing. I probably won't last a week if mine should get the good sense to give me the boot.

Thanks,

It takes a long time to get used to being alone after 35 years. She had a rough go of it, first a stroke... fine, we managed to get that sorted out over about a year, then she had a second stroke and during examinations they discovered she had cancer.... Too weak for surgery and she had no desire to suffer through chemo. 3 months later she had her third stroke, this one almost did her in and she only lasted about 3 weeks after that.

So, I try to keep busy, revisited some old friends and it turned out one of them had just lost his wife. He's a few years older, but still active. We used to ride motorcycles around 20 years ago.... He still rides, so I bought a new bike this spring and hope to ride a fair bit this year.

I had to give up my main hobby, woodworking, because I've become sensitive to wood dusts, so I figured I should go back to metal working. Building a full machine shop at this point is out of the question as I'm not made of money, but some welding and fabricating sounds interesting enough.

Regards,

Christian aka

Kaptain "Back to trying to convince myself I don't need an AC TIG machine" Zero

Listen to the voices, obey the voices. Once you start with the tig it kinda takes over and you want to be able to tackle anything that comes along. And it will come along. Someone will want you to repair his bike or boat prop. If you don't get one now you'll have to bone up for another one later. HTP have some well priced power sources other good choices around too.

Coldman wrote:Listen to the voices, obey the voices. Once you start with the tig it kinda takes over and you want to be able to tackle anything that comes along. And it will come along. Someone will want you to repair his bike or boat prop. If you don't get one now you'll have to bone up for another one later. HTP have some well priced power sources other good choices around too.

So... what you are saying is "Go big or go home"? Or perhaps it's "Buy once, Cry once"?

Between your comments and the discovery of the Welding Tips and Tricks Podcast (where I cued up episode 127, Good vs Bad machines) I quickly came to my senses. It hurts buying quality, but it's rarely followed by regret.

I had zeroed in on the Everlast powerMTS 225 Lightning or the Everlast PowerMTS 211Si with the former having AC TIG capability but the 211Si was waving it's low price tag.

Flipping through the specs on both machines indicated that my 30amp service in the shop would not be adequate, thus requiring some electrical work. A quick check on the specs of the ESAB Rebel 205ic indicated that it would be happy on a 30A breaker.

So, while the ESAB 205ic is significantly more expensive in Canada vs the Everlast 225, once I add in the visit of an electrician and the cost of 2 x 40A breakers + some rewiring, the cost difference is much less significant. If I add in the resale value and much better service situation, I don't think Everlast is in the running. I can buy and have an ESAB serviced locally. The Everlast needs to be shipped to the one location in the country that handles warranty and repairs, and who knows how long it will take to get it repaired, not to mention the significant cost of shipping these days.

I'll have to wait one more month, but hopefully I'll be able to buy an ESAB from my local welding gas supplier who also handles warranty repairs and after warranty service.

Regards

Christian

The Esab is a much higher quality machine compared to the green box. A 200amp power source capacity is all you need for what you'll likely be getting up to.
Good choice.

Coldman wrote:The Esab is a much higher quality machine compared to the green box. A 200amp power source capacity is all you need for what you'll likely be getting up to.
Good choice.

As usual, a wrench has been tossed into the works.

I checked with my local gas supplier (I really like the way they treat customers), and they list Miller, Esab and Lincoln. However, they no longer stock Esab (not sure why) but they were happy to order one for me. The fly in the ointment is that the Rebel 205ci would be about $500 more than the Millermatic 220. Neither machine is in stock, if they were and the price was the same, I'd walk out the door with the Rebel. As it stands, a $500 savings by going with the Miller is starting to tempt me, even though there are things I don't much like about it. Miller appears to have adopted the "proprietary" model of design. Use something non-standard, call it a feature and force the customer to buy from YOU instead of the industry standard items you can get anywhere.

The Miller is on the hairy edge of my electrical service. Under full load it might demand as much as 32A. I only have 30A in the shop, so after checking the Esab Rebel, I noted it was fine with 30A which was one of the things I liked about it.

I think I'd be equally happy with either unit (provided the 30A thing doesn't require me to rewire the shop). The $500 bucks saved would pay for two gas cylinders!

I suppose I should really post this on one of the other topics, but we're kinda going here on this one.

Buy the Miller, you’ll be quite happy. There’s nothing about their accessories that’s proprietary. Torch is a Dinse 25, use a 9, 17 or add a water cooler and go to a 20.