Welding

[Tomtanner]

I've got that same HF welder. Been using it for years. It is harder to make clean welds with than more expensive ones. It demands almost perfect technique, but with a little practice and the right steel you can make good welds. As mentioned get a good grinder and plenty of disks to clean those ugly bastards up. I sure you can find some videos on Utube that will let you see good technique. Cheers and Good Luck

Ha. Thank you for the advice kind sir ! I will probably take several weeks to just practice before I go slagging up what will be my first real DIY anything. I gotta tell you though I am getting very excited to tell the guys at the office I spent weekend welding while they sat around watching tv!

 

[sonex]

a little advice on the work area and conditions. weld on a non combustible table a steel table is ideal. look around your weld area make sure there is nothing that can catch on fire, the weld sparks will go farther than you think, you would not want to burn down your work shop. you will want to have ventilation, there is no reason to breath in the heavy metal fumes. good luck with your welding you will have a blast.

 

[TravisT]

I got a hobart 140 for xmas and just finished building a welding table. If anyone who spends time reading a blog on how to brew there own beer is thinking about getting a welder, I say go for it. chance are your a hobbiest/do it your selfer and will find other project to use if for. Not to mention a couple hours of watching youtube videos and practicing on some scrap metal you'll be good to go.
One thing i found is that its kinda hard to find a place that will sell you scrap metal at a good price. A lot of place i called would take scarp steel and pay you for it but would not sell you anything. I finally found a place that will sell me steel for .50cents a lb. Not really sure if that is a good price but its way better that buying from HD or lowes.

 

[Tomtanner]

Well here's my progress. It's pretty ugly but they stick together!



This was my first attempt. The steel was a little thicker than I need it to be and was a little tricky to work with

 

[Smashing]

That looks pretty good- at least from my phone. How thick is the metal? Can you give some overall impressions of the unit and your experience?

 

[Stevo2569]

Yeah I've told people that " My welder sucks, but I'm a hell of a grinder.