Recent content by dstig1

If you've never tried a 3M Cubitron II abrasive on metal, you really owe it to yourself to do so. I have never seen anything eat metal like these. I've got a friend who works in that group at 3M so i get an occasional sample from him. They are amazing

What's up with the goofy looking bucket?

I've used the Van Sickle Kubota orange, and I was unimpressed. It is just generic enamel. If you add the hardener is does improve the durability but it is still far better to go to a dealer and get the Kubota orange there. What they sell is an acrylic and it covers far better and is much more...

You can do stick badly too... You know where the bad welds largely come from - not enough amps (and bad technique...). Trying to wire weld thick stuff on a 110V wire feeder is going to make nothing but bubblegum on the surface. With a proper professional grade wire welder, you can make...

The thinner the wire, the less current it can carry and vice versa. So if you need to weld something thick, you are going to need more amps, and therefore thicker wire. Conversely, if you are trying to weld thin sheet metal, you need very little current and to get any degree of control, you...

There are some half facepiece respirators (cover nose and mouth only) that are designed to be closer to the face to fit better under a welding shield. Also you should look for ones where the exhaled air is directed downward or to the rear so that they don't fog the lens of the welding shield...

Go take a look at my welding table thread here and you will see how I did the hitch receivers to keep things solid.

I wear a respirator when i MIG or stick weld. TIG is such a clean process that I have not used a respirator for that, even though I probably should with Stainless. I also use it when grinding or cutting with an abrasive wheel. If you are welding outside in a breeze, it would be much less of a...

An old transformer stick welder? They are super basic machines...what do you need a manual for?

Some basics to be sure - did you sharpen the tungsten to a point? Do the grinding lines point towards the point, or are they radial around the diameter? What metal are you welding? Posting photos is by far the easiest way to get advice. If you don't give plenty of details, people are just...

Cool. Is it under 1/12 pitch to meet ADA ramp specs?

Yeah I'm with Piloon. Not much to go wrong. Unless it got run over by a truck or dropped in the ocean, it is probably fixable. Open it up and take a look to start. Post photos.

Yes, the cold galvanizing products noted are what you should do after the weld has cooled to ambient temp. I would continue to use regular steel electrodes/wire, depending on which welding process you are using. Also it pays to grind back the galvanizing both so it doesn't contaminate the weld...

Hobart 210 is a pretty well regarded MIG welder that isn't too crazy expensive. Basically similar to the Miller 211 (Hobart and Miller being the same company...) I have an XMT304 I picked up at an auction several years back with a 22A wirefeeder. I have never run out of power with that, but...

As LD noted, there are resources out there to make a rectifier box to do it, but you will probably be both money and aggravation ahead to find a used AC/DC stick welder. They made both versions in the budget Lincoln line in the same basic case (the angled tombstone shape - not talking about the...