Winter welding 101: Keep me from setting myself on fire.

bearmtnmartin wrote:

slantvaliant wrote: I have welded a couch. In the living room. With flux-core. And stayed married! Plan your welding. Make sure you know where sparks can go and what they might hit. Use welding blankets, et cetera to control the area.

Enabling someone to buy an unsuitable vehicle is one thing but to encourage someone to weld in a the family home is just......words fail me. I have had fires raging while happily running beads inside my welding helmet. You finally flip up the helmet and you have a bonfire under your work bench. Just don't do it and don't tell him to do it.

Lighten up, Francis.

It was safer to make the very small weld needed (head on a recliner hinge rivet popped off, I welded a washer in its place.) in place than to try to move the couch to the garage or outside. The entire area under the weld and well around it was shielded, the fire extinguisher was nearby, I work slow, and I pay attention to my work and what's going on around me. I don't "weld away" oblivious to nearby fires and neither should you. "Just don't do it and don't tell him to do it."

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

cwh wrote: Spatter goes through sneakers real easy, and things get bad in a hurry.

FWIW, I've done a lot of welding in shorts and a t-shirt because it gets hucking fot in the summer. A craftsman should always be able to show his project then point to the places on his body where it cost him. :)

If you're hairy enough, the spatter will just bounce off. Maybe leave a pink mark.

our welding instructor (extension course at the local CC) even told us to go to HF and buy the auto-darkening … get the extended warranty … and in a couple of yrs when the hinge breaks, go get another … she was of the opinion that the HF was fine as far as protecting your eyes …

It if fine for eye protection. I have been flashed by them, plenty of times since the sensor doesnt have a very good viewing angle. Its easy to obstruct. And the rest of the differences in the helmets is kind of like pimp shocks. If you never use a $200 helmet you'll never miss it, if you ever use one, you'll never want to use a cheaper one.

And of course you have to remember the first rule of harbor freight, if your life or livelihood depends on it, dont buy it from harbor freight.

The one time I used a HF auto helmet(with a HF 90 amp flux welder welding on a truck frame) I liked it, though I've heard they react too slow for TIG.

This one is awful

This one is quite nice

I have both. Two, actually, of the second.

RE: Hootus protection and frayed jeans

+1 on that. Jeans tend to fray around the crotch area and around the leg bottom. Neither place is good to start a fire. Brought to you by our sponsor "Don't Ask Me How I Know, Inc."

This post has been timely as I'm about ready to buy a welder. At first I thought it would be the Millermatic 211 MIG dual voltage. I have since tried to determine how much and what I will be doing and have narrowed it down to either the Lincoln 140C or Millermatic 140. They appear to be about the same in capability and also pricing. The money saved will be used for a good helment and maybe some other equipment. I know Miller and Lincoln owners have strong opinion about which is best. Anyone have any thoughts? I will probably buy just after the new year unless a super deal comes up before then. I have done some gas welding and brazing and probably know just enough to make me dangerous.

pirate wrote: This post has been timely as I'm about ready to buy a welder. At first I thought it would be the Millermatic 211 MIG dual voltage. I have since tried to determine how much and what I will be doing and have narrowed it down to either the Lincoln 140C or Millermatic 140. They appear to be about the same in capability and also pricing. The money saved will be used for a good helment and maybe some other equipment. I know Miller and Lincoln owners have strong opinion about which is best. Anyone have any thoughts? I will probably buy just after the new year unless a super deal comes up before then. I have done some gas welding and brazing and probably know just enough to make me dangerous.

Sold my Millermatic 140, to buy the 220V Eastwood welder, and I have absolutly zero regret. I didn't have any real problems with the Miller (I thought it was a bit finicky with the roller tension), but you soon run out of capacity with a 110V unit. After making do with it for 6 years, I sold it for enough money, that it allowed me to buy the Eastwood welder with no extra money. After using for a year, I still love it. It does everything my old Miller did and more, and I cannot say that the quality is any worst. YMMV.

FWIW, I have an Eastwood 135 that I've been quite pleased with. Be sure to factor the tank and gas into your budget-- not an inexpensive part of it. Note: I didn't set my jeans/hootus on fire with the Eastwood. I managed to do that with a stick welder in welding class.

Also, the right anti-fire gear is pretty inexpensive. A welding blanket from HF or Northern Tool is only $20. Leather sleeves and gloves are not much more than that.

At work I have an Auto-Set Millermatic 140 and I love it. But it's an $800 machine up here.

It home I have the Canadian Tire version Lincoln Mig Pak 140 and it's ok. The roller guts are noticeably "less stout" than the Welding Shop version of the 140, but apparently the wearing parts (wheels) interchange. I don't know how the internals differ. The Lincoln is a $450 - $500 machine up here. This is the "hardware store" version that Lincoln sells through different outlets with a different "name" (like Mig Pak, Weld Pak, etc).

Using both, the Lincoln "seems" less stout that the Miller, but the Lincoln put down a decent weld once I figured out how it likes to run. It feels like the Lincoln could probably use a fatter power cord to help it out.

Re. the TIG-MIG question: I have 2 big blue machines in the shop, 1 of each. If it's Aluminum, Stainless, or steel from the race car or machine shop I use TIG. The trailer, tire racks, shelves, garden implements, and stuff on the bottom of cars w/ license plates get MIG. It's much faster and less particular as to cleanliness and perfection of fit-up.

Re. helmets. I know, I know, everyone swears the HF lids are good enough, but I have precisely 1 pair of eyes, and sometimes I'm welding stuff that took a long time to make, or isn;t replaceable and I need to get it right. So after more than a decade in a Bluepoint auto-dimming - not a bad helmet - I threw down and bought a nice, clean, new Jackson Nexgen. I bought a bunch of lens protectors, and a -1.5 diopter cheater lens for inside, and a nylon bag to keep it in.

It's berkeleying heaven in there, and I've done a whole day in it and my eyes don't feel "gritty" when I go to bed.

If you can swing it, get a real helmet.