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One of my favorite things about this tool thread is someone will come in and ask about some obscure thing, and maybe a couple people will chime in. Someone else will ask about something sorta niche, like a flaring tool or something, and some more people will chime in. Somebody will ask about cordless impacts, and the floodgates open! (I'm not saying this like a bad thing, it's funny to me how there are certain tools that everyone has thoughts about, since a lot of garage mechanics either already have one or want to get one). Personally, I like Milwaukee's stuff but if you want to buy a cordless tool pay attention to what other tools use that battery. For example, I got a Milwaukee M12 brushless 3/8" socket driver, because I liked some other M12 tools they had. Now I have a M12 cut-off saw, hammer drill, and a multi tool. I also have a combo charger that does both m18 and m12, so I have an M18 NutFucker 1/2" impact gun (that I've sheared off cross-threaded lug studs with, when someone said "removes fasteners" they weren't kidding). Several companies that have been mentioned make good tools, but it might be worthwhile to look at what else a given product line has before buying into a system. Also, yeah, don't use chrome sockets on an impact wrench. When they fail, they often fail explosively.
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Mar 10, 2022 18:06
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I apparently need a welding setup. My FIL rage-bought me a Hobart Handler 190 so now I guess I need everything else. I’m starting from scratch and have no experience. So far I have a small welding blanket and some gloves. Those seem easy enough. I *think* I need: 1. Helmet - what should I look for? Brands, features, price ranges? 2. Regulator - it came with an Argon/CO2 regulator (says not to use with pure CO2) but it’s a lot easier and cheaper to get CO2 so I was thinking just focus on that. Is that a good or bad idea? 3. Cart/storage - I looked at the Hobart cart and it looked kinda crappy - I’m not a huge fan of hard plastic wheels. The Harbor Freight Vulcan looks decent from my online perusing but I’m really not sure what I need. My welding outlet is right next to my panel so I’ll also need extension cord storage. 4. ‘Welding pliers’ - I have no clue what these are but my FIL said I should get some. 5. Consumables - are all tips basically the same aside from size? What kind of wire should I get? Presumably .030” is the standard, should I be looking for more/less of the stuff that helps it work on rusty Toyotas? I kind of assume the answer is ‘get small spools first and experiment’. Anything else? I’m also 100% sure I’ll be asked to do aluminum at some point in the future but I’ll worry about that later. However, if stepping up a little on something now saves money on that later I would prefer to buy the better item now.
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Mar 10, 2022 19:59
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Mustache Ride posted:this video feels like it belongs here: Most of Superfastmatt’s videos belong here, honestly. Some more tangentially than others, but still.
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Mar 10, 2022 20:16
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Advent Horizon posted:I apparently need a welding setup. My FIL rage-bought me a Hobart Handler 190 so now I guess I need everything else. I’m starting from scratch and have no experience. 1. Just don't get a cheap one. You should be able to try some hoods on over at your local welding supply shop. I've had an entry level Miller hood that's been decent since I went to school 12 years ago. I've also used the fancy Speedglas hoods with the air filtration system on them. Those are great but very spendy. I'd at least look into ones have have a bigger lens so you have more visibility. 2. I wouldn't go to CO2 if you've never used it before. 75/25 Argon/CO2 mix is pretty standard and works for most things. Straight CO2 does burn hotter but it also causes a lot more spatter. 3. Just weld up your own cart that fits your needs. Great first project with a new welder to get used to it. You can also cut stuff off or weld stuff on later too. 4. Welpers. I've had a pair of these for over 10 years and they're awesome https://www.amazon.com/Pearson-Welding-Pliers-YS-50-Welper/dp/B005K01F1S I've also used the HF Bauer brand ones at work and was able to exchange them easily after I chipped the wire cutting portion. It turns out they don't like having a 3/32 rod being cut by hitting them with a 4lb mini sledge haha. Otherwise for cheaper ones the Bauer brand was just fine and I didn't worry about anyone stealing them. 5. There are a few different types of tips but your local welding supply should have all your consumables since the Hobart is a pretty common welder. For aluminum you'll have to get a spoolgun and another tank for 100% Argon. I have a tig welder so I haven't tried out a spoolgun yet but you could use the tank for that as well later on.
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Mar 10, 2022 21:18
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Advent Horizon posted:I apparently need a welding setup. My FIL rage-bought me a Hobart Handler 190 so now I guess I need everything else. I’m starting from scratch and have no experience. #2. I use c25 and it's good stuff. And even the small tank I have has lasted through a lot of projects and spools. #3. The HF cart is good actually. You could swap the wheels a lot cheaper than buying a different one. Plus you have a welder. Anything you can dream of with metal is possible. Add a hook or two! #5. I like having the largest (.035)and the smallest(.023) size wire, in 10# qtys, from a good vendor on hand. I don't bother with the middle size. If you buy it in a 2# size you will run out when you need it. I think all brands of tips are the same but I still buy a name brand. It's too cheap to find out. You ought to pick up a rough leather jacket, I like mine for when I'm welding overhead. And some soft TIG gloves, they have a good feel. As an aside, being able to weld opens up so much to you. I just got a racing wheel stand and I said to myself, well if it isnt stiff enough I can always add a brace to it.
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Mar 10, 2022 23:41
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StormDrain posted:#3. The HF cart is good actually. You could swap the wheels a lot cheaper than buying a different one. I went a slightly different way on this one for my little welder. I'm using one of the HF service cart things because it gives me a lot of space for all the other crap I need to come along with me in the shop when I'm using the welder, plus some extra space on the top that I attempt to keep clear so I can use it for job-related stuff: (sorry for the mess, I'm not digging this thing out right now)  And a friend of mine found a two drawer filing cabinet, made a frame and some wheels on that and put the welder on top. Works great for him. Like you said, there are so many ways to go when you've got a welder to modify things. It turns a lot of previous-scrap into useful stuff.
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Mar 10, 2022 23:55
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builds character posted:Plus a big impact wrench is one of the most satisfying tools. Just push button, remove Hello yes you rang?  Bonus chrome socket for extra triggering.
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Mar 11, 2022 00:14
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Also I just remembered that one of the hooks on the side of the cart interfered with the door and I had been annoyed with it for years. One day I was standing there with the cutoff wheel and it just clicked "this is my cart, I'm not going to sell it, it has no residual value as original, why am I living like this" and 5 seconds later it was no longer a problem. I try to live this way now. Tools are a means to ends. If I need a Stubby wrench I don't have, I'm going to cut the end off of a wrench. Things that done have mounting holes get holes drilled in them. Picture frames with legs get their legs ripped off before they go on the wall.
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Mar 11, 2022 00:20
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MrYenko posted:Most of Superfastmatt’s videos belong here, honestly. Some more tangentially than others, but still. He also had one on brake line flaring tools a while ago so I now know way more about them than I'll ever need. But this episode is literally buying $5000 tools to save $1000, it's incredible and unsurprising
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Mar 11, 2022 01:32
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Advent Horizon posted:I apparently need a welding setup. My FIL rage-bought me a Hobart Handler 190 so now I guess I need everything else. I’m starting from scratch and have no experience. For the hood the larger viewports are fantastic and worth the money. Go auto darkening. It used to be meh but it's amazing now. If you want to start cheap it's not the end of the world. Having a second hood is great for people that want to watch / helpers holding something while you tack it. Get the argon/CO2 mix. It lasts a long time. Build your cart is the first project but if you buy one that's lacking you now have a welder. No opinion on welding pliers. On wire size if you open the door on the side of your welder it should have a guide for settings vs steel thickness vs wire size. Match the size to what your job is. .03 is good general purpose. Smallest for body work. It's a mix of thickness for carrying more amps without melting vs how fast it deposits metal. Trying to run low power on thick wire and you have to much metal going in and you get half melted boogers. To hot on thin wire and it melts in the middle and sticks to the tip. Might also crosspost in the diy/blacksmithing metalworking thread. Lots and lots of welding chat. $.02 also get would be a CO2 extinguisher and a welding respirator. CO2 so if your car catches fire you don't have to weigh how on fire it is vs cleanup. Resperator because huffing burnt metal coating fumes is bad.
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Mar 11, 2022 02:08
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honda whisperer posted:$.02 also get would be a CO2 extinguisher and a welding respirator. CO2 so if your car catches fire you don't have to weigh how on fire it is vs cleanup. Resperator because huffing burnt metal coating fumes is bad. Thanks, I really hadn’t thought about that. I’m just going to buy a cart because right now I have a bigass heavy welder and need to get it out of my way before I have the time to learn welding. I’m probably going to put together a list of items/materials to buy when I’m down south in May/June. I saw a comment about 10# wire spools - are those the 8” spools I’ve heard about?
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Mar 11, 2022 02:51
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10 and 11 pound spools are the big ones I think yeah. I can't recall if they make a bigger one but it likely won't fit your welder anyways. Speaking of which, make sure you have the right adapter to put big spools on the feeder for your welder, the small 2lb spool doesn't use it. I can't recommend a respirator enough. I wear a 3m 6000 half face with p100 pods under my mask. I think I got my mask for 75 bucks at tractor supply speaking of which, it's an auto darkening one. Get a big sack of those little disposable foam earplugs if you don't have them already. They are amazing at keeping molten slag out of your ear holes when trying to weld on a vehicle undercarriage. Yes, slag *will* eventually find your ear holes otherwise, just like buttered bread will 95% of the time land face down. Welding gloves: get nice heavy leather ones. Most welder brands have their own branded ones. If you're going to be welding above your feet, wear leather boots with uppers that extend up into your pantlegs or eventually you'll find yourself hopping around on one foot swearing and trying to untie your shoe after a blob of slag melted through the top of your sneaker and went China Syndrome on the top of your foot. kastein fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Mar 12, 2022 |
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Mar 12, 2022 05:26
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Poke the wire through one or two of those foam ear plugs before it goes in to the rollers that'll help clean crap off the wire which might otherwise go in to the gunliner and give you feed problems.
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Mar 12, 2022 14:26
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kastein posted:10 and 11 pound spools are the big ones I think yeah. I can't recall if they make a bigger one but it likely won't fit your welder anyways. Speaking of which, make sure you have the right adapter to put big spools on the feeder for your welder, the small 2lb spool doesn't use it. My Hobart 140 came with the plastic needed to use a 10lb spool so I have high confidence his does too. I agree with everything hut the gloves. I have a heavy pair and a thin pair and I much prefer the feel of the thin ones, and nothing gets so hot that I need the thick ones. Or it does and I don't need to touch it for long. The last time I remember using the thick set was removing a bat from my house.
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Mar 12, 2022 17:41
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I do have the spool adapter, yes. Thanks for all the advice; I’m going to swing by the industrial supply place and peruse what they have for everything. I glanced at Home Depot the other day and didn’t find much that was encouraging. I believe the tips are 1/4x28 thread so I’m going to see what I can get for those. Just plain ones seem like they’ll work for me but my googling makes it look like the cheapest ones are to be avoided. As far as gloves go, the crossmember brackets we just installed were 1/4” steel. That thing got drat hot. I’m pretty comfortable in thick gloves (remember: Alaskan. Cold and crabs) so I’ll probably stick with those for now.
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Mar 12, 2022 19:04
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I've been using these black stallion mig gloves for years https://www.amazon.com/Black-Stallion-Xtreme-Pigskin-Welding/dp/B003B4BTAC When I was doing production welding they would last around 3 months depending on what parts I was doing. They're pretty comfortable, good dexterity, reasonably priced, and keep my hands warm in the winter. It doesn't really matter in the summer since you're just sweating through your leathers anyway. They've also been just fine for stick welding I would do occasionally at my last job making knife gate valves.
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Mar 12, 2022 20:05
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kastein posted:If you're going to be welding above your feet, wear leather boots with uppers that extend up into your pantlegs or eventually you'll find yourself hopping around on one foot swearing and trying to untie your shoe after a blob of slag melted through the top of your sneaker and went China Syndrome on the top of your foot. Also I found myself welding more than a little under a car a couple of weeks ago. The garage ceiling is too low to hoist a car high enough to stand underneath so I was sitting down working and found out that I really need to get a leather apron or something similar. I'm not dumb enough (anymore) to wear synthetic fabrics when doing stuff like that but cotton burns pretty well too. In the groin area. Ouch.
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Mar 14, 2022 18:57
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Also Advent, don't forget to buy the most hideous welding cap that you wear more and more until you start to wear it everytime you wrench for months because it protects your hair from getting grease and fluid and burning. I have one that's flames, another with chili peppers, and my favorite has mudflap girls on them. My wife hates all of them. 
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Mar 14, 2022 19:43
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StormDrain posted:Also Advent, don't forget to buy the most hideous welding cap that you wear more and more until you start to wear it everytime you wrench for months because it protects your hair from getting grease and fluid and burning. I have one that's flames, another with chili peppers, and my favorite has mudflap girls on them. It's / you're beautiful.
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Mar 14, 2022 19:57
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EVERYWHERE 
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meatpimp posted:It's / you're beautiful. Marry me!
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Mar 14, 2022 20:10
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That hat is awesome, the haters can take a walk.Invalido posted:I've been welding for half my life and I've yet to properly learn this. My normal shop wear is steel toed sandals because they're comfier and easier to put on than the boots. Many socks have been destroyed by MIG and plasma cutting spatter. I'm just welding "a little" and things happen. Luckily I have been living in a construction zone for over a decade now so I literally have two pairs of footwear: work steel toes and bathroom slipper steel toes, which are my old pair of regular steel toes that have no laces and are starting to fall apart. So I've never burned my feet welding, but I've definitely weld spattered my ears and most of my body as well as had some gnarly second degree welding flash burns from not realizing my 230A mig was going to throw a lot more UV than my 100A fluxcore did and welding with it turned all the way up... In a t shirt and shorts. I literally woke up screaming after rolling over in bed when the pain finally kicked in from those burns. Kind of wonder when I'll get skin cancer, too.
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Mar 14, 2022 21:20
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Invalido posted:I've been welding for half my life and I've yet to properly learn this. I have started wearing boots right away if I know I'm going to be cutting with the torch. Still give myself a tan when I tell myself its going to be just a few tacks. Just make your own cart, it helps you get used to the machine. You can have multiple cylinders, outlets, hooks, plans to make drawers someday. edit kastein posted:In a t shirt and shorts. I literally woke up screaming after rolling over in bed when the pain finally kicked in from those burns. Kind of wonder when I'll get skin cancer, too. SpeedFreek fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Mar 14, 2022 |
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Mar 14, 2022 21:29
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A Carhartt jacket has been on my list for a few years now, anyway… I picked up a Hobart Inventor #770890 helmet since it has decent reviews and I can get supplies for it. Also picked up a Miller LPR-100 respirator and some Black Stallion gloves. The Miller respirator doesn’t quite fit under the Hobart helmet but I adjusted it out and the battery/electronics now sit on it at almost the right spot. I’m still going to just buy a cart to start with. My materials costs are such that there’s no way it would make sense to build one. I asked about a tank and they only do exchanges. A 80cf tank is $350 to buy plus $87 to exchange (no refills) with one full of C25. I may look online for a tank I can add to the exchange heap; if anyone knows of a good place to order one please let me know.
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Mar 15, 2022 03:29
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When I bought my tank of gas they made it sound like buying into their exchanges was a good deal because I never have to worry about tanks expiring or keeping it tested. A tank lasts me years of light use, but they’ll always swap tanks no matter how far expired it is, if it’s got their markings.
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Mar 15, 2022 04:13
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For our purposes (not getting stopped and inspected by DOT) it only matters if the tank is within inspection when filled/swapped to you. They aren’t supposed to fill out-of-date cylinders. They can take such cylinders and reinspect/resell with a new date, though - I’ve heard there’s a decent number of tanks still floating around with swastikas since Germany can make some properly durable good when they want to.
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Mar 15, 2022 04:23
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Good metatarsal boots can really help with welding splatter.
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Mar 15, 2022 04:40
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Advent Horizon posted:A 80cf tank is $350 to buy plus $87 to exchange (no refills) with one full of C25. FYI you can buy a full 80cf argon/co2 for $265 with free shipping. It's shipped fedex ground, and you get a tall, narrow cardboard box with a full cylinder inside.
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Mar 15, 2022 05:39
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Unfortunately that’s not how shipping to Alaska works: 
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Mar 15, 2022 05:53
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I didn't know we were doing AK prices 
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Mar 15, 2022 06:07
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AK, Juneau right? Was that at Airgas?
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Mar 15, 2022 06:44
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Advent Horizon posted:I’m still going to just buy a cart to start with. My materials costs are such that there’s no way it would make sense to build one. Sometimes you can find scrap steel on like facebook or craigslist etc, or by simply talking to people or even by the roadside and such. Heaven is a well sorted scrap yard where you can roam and pick out goodies and pay by weight. I have such a place not far away and on my way to work but they mostly do other things than mild steel, and all of that it is in huge containers so while I get to climb around those because the owners are cool I can't really browse the junk effectively or safely. It's all about luck at that place, but sometimes I score something amazing for peanuts.
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Mar 15, 2022 06:45
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I do have a decent amount of scrap but none of it is straight. Some of it is also body panels I intend to use for patches. It also doesn’t help that I am not a ‘from scratch’ person. I need that pre-shaped thing to modify. spookykid posted:AK, Juneau right? Was that at Airgas? AFAIK the only place to get welding gasses here is Tyler Rental. Maybe Harri Plumbing as well but they can fornicate themselves with a rusty pry bar. I will never pass up an opportunity to say that I refuse to do business there.
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Mar 15, 2022 07:14
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Coulda sworn there was an Airgas down there, but looks like no. AIH maybe?
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Mar 15, 2022 10:06
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Advent Horizon posted:I’ve heard there’s a decent number of tanks still floating around with swastikas since Germany can make some properly durable good when they want to. Confirmed. I've seen several. One of my old ones had a 1941 MFR date on it. Who'dathunk that thick steel cylinders can last for 80+ years?
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Mar 16, 2022 21:59
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They used a lot of gases for many different purposes.
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Mar 16, 2022 22:32
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PBCrunch posted:They used a lot of gases for many different purposes. Too soon.
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Mar 16, 2022 22:55
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Speaking of crimes against humanity, my local Airgas store wanted $185 to exchange a 80cf tank of argon/co2. The nearby independent store wanted $115, which is definitely better, but still seems quite high. This is in the SF Bay Area. Maybe I'm being punished for posting RIP to the AK guy? Sorry, Advent Horizon! I feel 132% of your pain!
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Mar 17, 2022 04:31
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Advent Horizon posted:A Carhartt jacket has been on my list for a few years now, anyway… I would just go on Craigslist to get a tank. That’s what I did for both tanks I use on the tig and mig. Way cheaper then going through the welding supply places.
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Mar 17, 2022 19:41
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Valt posted:I would just go on Craigslist to get a tank. That’s what I did for both tanks I use on the tig and mig. Way cheaper then going through the welding supply places. If you buy a company marked tank on CL you might not be able to exchange it/get it filled. Consider this possibility if you find a good deal on a CL tank.
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Mar 17, 2022 21:30
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ryanrs posted:If you buy a company marked tank on CL you might not be able to exchange it/get it filled. Consider this possibility if you find a good deal on a CL tank. Privately owned tanks are outnumbered by leased tanks by 50:1. If you buy a leased tank, you're effectively buying stolen property. If it has a welded collar with a company name on it, it's leased.
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Mar 17, 2022 21:40
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