Welding Wire

[D2Cat]

My mom use to say quite regularity, "If wishes were fishes we'd all have a fry."


And then if I'd say, "I'll try". She'd say, "Try! There is no try. Either DO or DO Not".

So Ive learned to pretty much not say those words. Once you know the problem, the next step is find a solution, and get after it.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Yooper,

Wish I did live closer! I can always use more advice. This was my second project (the gates I mentioned) two years ago and the quality improved somewhat once I got the gas turned on! LOL...

 

[skeets]

Cat I had a welder that was a real welder try to teach me to weld,, either he sucked as a teacher or I am dumber than a box or rocks,,, I still cant weld other than to glob bunches of grapes on stuff and then have it fall off,,lol So I followed his advice you need something welded take it to a welder

 

[dlsmith]

I'm one of the reviewers on Amazon. Been using INE wire for years now. I usually buy 4 spools 10 pound spools at a time but I wish it came in 50 pound spools as my machine will take 50's.

great wire, good wet out, minimal spatter ad nice looking beads on fitted up parts, You can get a nice bead either pushing or pulling. I use 75-25 gas or straight argon.

Has to be the best wire I've ever run and I run a ton of wire.

I just received my spools of INEFIL wire yesterday. I got the .035" loaded in my Miller 211, but haven't had a chance to give it a try yet.

I've been using Hobart wire, so we'll see how this compares,

 

[D2Cat]

Skeets, if your serious about learning to weld contact the local HS shop instructor. Ask him. The school may even have a night class for adults, or he'll know where to send you.

A good instructor, teaching you the proper methods, and supervising your various welds to give helpful hints to practice can build you confidence and skill quickly.

Get after it, you're not getting any younger!! The skill will allow you to make many things. The confidence will help in all problem solving techniques.

 

[skeets]

I never thought about that cat, thank you

 

[CaveCreekRay]

There is an instructor who has classes at the local welding supply shop after hours. I just haven't been able to hook up with him yet. He gets rave reviews. It's a one-class event that runs about 4 hours. Now that I know kind-of what I am doing, I would get more out of it. I think the class runs $125 but you get your own machine and you are welding for the last three hours.

 

[Yooper]

That looks pretty good, Ray! Your at the point where the more you weld the better you will get.

+1 on what D2Cat recommends. A good teacher can have you welding nice beads with Mig in short order. It starts with the eyesight. I have cheater lenses in my helmet the last 20 years so I can see at the distance I weld at.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

I need cheater lenses to find my welding "hemmit."

Gotta say to anyone out there: Buy a good helmet if you are thinking about trying welding. I was using the HF $45 on sale models and while they seemed to work OK and came with "good" ratings, my eyes hurt after a day of welding. Not good. I bought a good Lincoln Viking 3350 auto-darkening helmet off Amazon and my eyes now have no strain after a day of welding. They have slots built in for cheaters. Other than swapping out the watch battery every year, the thing is bullet-proof.

 

[RCW]

Ray - - so true - the auto-darkening helmets are so great these days.

When I got mine, I didn't want to spend a fortune, but still get a "good one."

At the time, Lowes' Kobalt hoods were rated very well, and ran about $100+. Been very happy with mine.

You also reminded me it probably needs a new battery....

 

[CaveCreekRay]

RCW,

I have a friend that welds for his business periodically. He tried to tell me welding helmets are solar rechargeable. I told him the photocell on the helmet is to trigger the darkening. He doesn't believe me. He'll learn the hard way.

Everyone please: CHANGE YOUR BATTERY AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.

 

[Lil Foot]

RCW,
I have a friend that welds for his business periodically. He tried to tell me welding helmets are solar rechargeable. I told him the photocell on the helmet is to trigger the darkening. He doesn't believe me. He'll learn the hard way.
Everyone please: CHANGE YOUR BATTERY AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.

Your friend must be my FIL. He says the exact same thing.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Got the latest welding project done using some of that super sweet "Eye-talian" wire. I welded up a cart to hold my tombstone welder.

The upper box was $45 new. I think it's a second but it looks and works great. I moved a lot of tools for my MIG into it. The roll-around handle is made of a section of one of my old down rods from the old ceiling fans in the living room. The side pieces of the handle are 1/4***8221; plasma scraps that work really well for all kinds of projects. The welding shop throws tons of this stuff away. The Lincoln is the AC only model but I have a MIG for most stuff. This will be for heavy material like welding on the hitch to my tractor box. For $200, I couldn't pass up a brand new stick welder.

Used ammo boxes for rod storage. The cart has a small footprint but rolls easily. Much easier than lugging it around...

Now on to the next project...

 

[bird dogger]

RCW,

I have a friend that welds for his business periodically. He tried to tell me welding helmets are solar rechargeable. I told him the photocell on the helmet is to trigger the darkening. He doesn't believe me. He'll learn the hard way.

Everyone please: CHANGE YOUR BATTERY AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.

Your friend must be my FIL. He says the exact same thing.

Actually they (your friend and the FIL) are partially correct! The confusion is in the terms and what the helmet is actually supplied with. All auto darkening helmets have a PD (Photoelectric Device or Photo Sensor) that is the high speed electronic light sensor that turns on the auto darkening switch. A lot of the new helmets also have Photovoltaic cells (Solar Cells) that produce a voltage from the infra red and other rays given off by the arc of the weld. that voltage is to aid the battery and prolong its life. It may help recharge the battery if it is powerful or large enough and provided the batteries are rechargeable. I don't believe either type of cell can do the job of the other and you still need the battery to enable the high speed switch (PD) to darken the lens before the Solar Cells sense the arc and start producing the voltage/current to assist or take over from the battery. A google search should confirm this. Since retiring, my electronic knowledge is getting fuzzier as time passes. I'll have to look at my helmet to see: the PD sensor should be behind a tiny opening behind the glass and generally is a very small diameter device. The Photovoltaic Cells (solar cells) well....everyone knows what they look like.
Regards,
David

 

[Lil Foot]

Very nice Ray!
I have wanted a tombstone for a long time and have used several of friends and/or work owned. A few years ago my neighbor up north (same one I bought my B7100 from) let me weld something for him, using his VERY old Lincoln tombstone, and it spoiled me for anything else. I don't remember the particulars, but it was huge, probably twice the size of yours. He says the wiring, bus bars, and everything else inside is also huge, which accounts for it's very smooth arc. Even I made pretty decent welds with it. I've told him that if he ever sells it, I get first shot.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Bill,

I have only struck a few seconds of arc with this beast to make sure it works. Again, I am totally making this up as I go along but, I was able to get pretty decent welds for a newbie. For sure, this thing will test my self-installed 20amp circuit. If you can get that old welder, that would be a real catch. They only have a couple moving parts and I think the switch contacts are still available as are the ON-OFF switches. There is a fan but that should be easy to get working. These old beasts have a well deserved reputation and that is why I could not pass up a shiny new one for 30% off retail.

bd,

My Lincoln and my HF helmets use standard mercury cell watch batteries, which are not rechargeable. On those helmets, there would be no point in a charging circuit because the batteries are non-rechargeable. You would think that if they were rechargeable, they would have been fitted with rechargeable batteries from the factory. On both of these helmets, the solar sensor is a type tuned to the high UV temps encountered in welding. Both will darken in bright sunlight and when grinding if not in the "GRINDING" mode.

The reason I am trying to get the word out is, last Spring when I started a project, I had not used my Lincoln helmet in a few months. It worked perfectly when I put it away. I struck my first arc and realized my helmet never darkened. I ended up with a flash burn on my right retina. Thankfully I was welding on really low power at the time.

Thankfully, that injury has nearly healed but, it was no fun for the six months I had a spot in my vision. That is when I started researching auto darkening helmets. The Lincoln owners manual warns the user to always use the test feature to make sure the battery is good. I do that religiously now, as well as proactively changing my battery annually. The HF helmet is very very vague in any mention of the battery, other than saying "It SHOULD last four or five years." It has no test feature and your first clue the battery is toast is when it fails. Not good.

Your eyes are precious. Without them, doing anything becomes a lot harder. The get plenty cranky with normal age. No need to beat them up like I did.

Just a word of caution...

 

[D2Cat]

Bill, the older tombstone welders were all wound with copper and therefore much heavier, smoother welding, and long lasting. I bought one at a yard sale about 25 years ago. I don't think I can wear it out.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Len,

The transformer in the new Lincolns is still massive. I think the one I bought weighs right around 100 lbs. 'Bout killed me getting it into a shopping cart and then getting it into the truck was not easy. It seems at least some of the old American items are still built well. My daughter is a project nut and I expect her to get my Lincolns and hand them down to her boys. Same with my Kubota.

That is the funny thing about welding: You never realize what you can do until you start. Then, you run across things all the time that can be solved by sticking pieces of metal together.

(Just looked the specs up and it weighs in at 99.0 lbs shipped. It also requires a 50a circuit for max welding. I checked and mine is 50 amp so I should be OK. I thought I had run two 20s but they are 25's and in the AC world, you add them up. Glad I don't do electricity for a living...)

 

[SidecarFlip]

On the subject on inverter welders versus conventional transformers, I weld a bunch, have machines both ways and I still prefer a transformer welder over an inverter. In my experience the transformer based units have a much more forgiving and smoother arc and wet out and weld appearance is better.

Ray, how is that INE wire doing for you?

My hood is solar powered and as such, when I'm done welding, I always set it on top the machine with the panel facing up. Ambient light in the shop will keep it charged and ready to go. Down side is, the view panel gets dusty bit a quick wipe off with some Windex cures that, until it gets so bad (from welding spatter_) that I need to replace the overcovers which, I keep extra's on the shelf all the time.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

The INE wire is GREAT! Got five rolls in the cabinet!

In fact, a buddy wanted to get into welding. I found him a cheapie Eastwood MIG 135 a friend's kid broke putting the second wire roll on. Broke the plastic tensioner arm somehow. He was happy to get $50 for it and I got it working with 18ga steel scraps and JB Weld. (A friend pondered how ironic that I used JB Weld to fix a welder...)

It's basically brand new machine that sat in storage for 5 years. Got him a couple rolls of INE wire for once he uses up the Lincoln wire that came with it.