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My First Welder!

littlejimmythatcould

littlejimmythatcould

1/2 ton status
Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Posts
797
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Location
Clovis, NM
:woot: finally, I got one. It's the same one that I was asking about in my 'arc welder?' thread. I got it and a 30 foot (or so) cord, lots of rods, gloves, helmet (and I got an auto darkening helmet from a guy at the welding shop next door to mine for $20), and a little rolling cart. I got everything for $350! I'm pretty happy and I can't wait to get some practice! I'm gonna grab some scrap metal from the welding shop next door this week and go to town. The welder has been rebuilt from the miller dealership here in town. And the guy I bought it from lives in base housing also and he said he's never had a problem with it blowing breakers. he didn't have a manual for it though, that's the only thing I don't like, but I might be able to find one on the net or from the dealership. Sorry for the really long post I'm just excited to be able to take my hobby to the next level.:saweet:

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Thunderbolt 225 was my first home machine too. good little machine, just not the best process for light guage or sheet metal. Congrats.

Rene
 
Thanks, I figured the welder would be good for heavy stuff. If need be for light stuff and sheet metal, I am an airframe mechanic and have tons of access to rivets and other high strength fasteners if need be. but you can only do so much with rivets...
 
littlejimmythatcould said:
he didn't have a manual for it though, that's the only thing I don't like, but I might be able to find one on the net or from the dealership. :
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you can D-load just about any manual from miller's website for free
 
cool, I'll check it out. I just think it would be nice to read through it since I'm new to welding. I'm also going to see about taking a welding class here at the community college in the town I'm stationed in. But it will probably be a little while because of military stuff. But I have a welding shop next door to my work center and they have been teaching me a little bit when we have some down time. I'm just soooo excited to be able to build bumpers and rock sliders and all kinds of cool stuff that I see on everyone else's trucks. You know, step it up to the next level.
P.S. I'm sorry to keep going on and on, but i'm just so darn excited. And I think I got a pretty good starter setup with the rods and gloves and all.
 
littlejimmythatcould said:
Thanks, I figured the welder would be good for heavy stuff. If need be for light stuff and sheet metal, I am an airframe mechanic and have tons of access to rivets and other high strength fasteners if need be. but you can only do so much with rivets...
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YOU CAN ALWAYS GET A STITCH WELDER ATACHMENT FOR IT A DO LIGHT WEIGHT WELDING. NEVER HAD ONE BUT HEARD THEY WORK
 
Oh, spot welding... yeah that would be awesome! I've also heard of guys that were so good that they could puddle the metal through several sheets and not blow through so when they were done and it cooled it was like a spot weld. But it takes longer. That would be cool to have a spot welder. One step at a time.
 
No Its Not A Spot Welder Attachment It Is Called A Stitch Welder Attatchment. It Pulses The Flow Of Energy So It Wont Burn Through.i Believe Eastwood Tools Carry Them ,check It Out.
 
NICE!

Only thing I suggest is putting those rods in a sealed container. They can screw up and absorb moisture if left like that too long then you get a lot of splatter etc.
 
Right on! Will do. There's no telling how long they've been sitting like that. But it doesn't get to humid here in NM. but I'll diffinately do that. I'm on my way to work here in a little bit and I'm gonna grab some practice piecies. I'm debating on fireing it up tonite at 0200 when I get home from the gym. I'll probably just have to wait until the weekend. I sure do appreciate all of you guys help. I'll post up some pics of my practice plates when I get them done for y'alls inspection. I'd rather get constructively criticized about crappy welds on practice plates than crappy welds on my truck. It will probably be a while before the welder touches the truck. By the way, what is the best/preffered pattern to weld with a arc welder? Straight line, circles, other?
P.S. RDN2BLAZER your avatar gets me everytime... that girl bouncing up and down, I keep trying to get my wife to wear a shirt like that and jump up and down for me while I work on the jimmy (you know, for moral support)....with little success...:(
 
good score...

I've used a Miller "Thunderbolt" for many of my jobs..yours appears to be an AC and DC version,which sells for close to 500 bucks new!.(hard to tell from the photo)--...one I used was AC only,but it welded everything I wanted it too just fine..you got a steal on a self darkening helmet for 20 bucks!...:eek1:

Once you get good with it after lots of practice,you'll be suprised what you can weld with it..those "stitch welder" attachments DO work,I borrowed one from a friend once--but only with the "special" rods Eastwood sells ,regular 6011 or 6013's don't seem to work as well for some reason..but if you have DC,you can reverse the polarity by putting the positive electrode to ground,and use the negative for the electrode,and turn the amp setting down as low as possible,and still be able to strike and hold an arc,about 35-45 amps....this makes the molten metal tend to puddle of the surface more than penatrate,and works better on thin metal than AC only,or DC "normal" polarity...

You'll probably upgrade to a Mig welder for sheet metal someday..dont discount rivets though,they are as strong or better than welds!..many bridges were riveted together over 100 years ago here,and are still standing,and carrying thousands of semi's and pounds every day!..they still rivet skyscrapers together too!--it takes a bit more bondo to hide them than a weld though..almost every vehicle I've owned had metal patches and pop rivets holding them together somewhere!..:crazy:
 
Yeah, I've got solid shank rivets in places on the truck. And I've got a few pop rivets. And if it came down to strength, I could use huck blind bolts. They're like a high strength pop rivet. They're used under extreme shear loads on aircraft. And yes, I agree, much easier to hide than welds. Especially if you dimple the skins on the truck first (instead of countersinking, on account that the skin is so thin). Yeah, I hope it's a good welder, especially since it's been rebuilt from the dealership. I know that millers are usually used for industrial stuff. I'll get the numbers off of it to find out more about it.
 
A stick welder and a 175 Mig are great together and is all you really need. Your going to love welding .
 
yeah i know what huck bolts are, theyre awesome we used them on trenchers when i worked on them... cant go wrong with anything that says miller on it. ive got a 251 at home its amazing.
 
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