Any welders in here?

Bottles appear to be $180-$300 plus getting filled? Measured in CF instead of Lbs.?
So $450 welder plus cart, wire n tips n bottle looks like $800 to get started with gas not counting Hood n gloves n such you have to buy regardless wether flux or mig......
 
Last edited:
If your stuck working outside a bottle of gas will just be a waste of money. One little breeze and your coverage is gone, fluxcore don't care, just learn how to run it.
 
I have a Hobart 140 as well an old Forney AC box. They both have their purpose. 99% of what I weld fits the 140. For anything over 1/4" that is going to be critical for supporting / pulling / lifting it gets a stick with at least two passes. The trick is not only making pretty welds but good welds. Good equals penetration and heat such that the metal that you are joining really becomes one. That's where time and experience come in. You can do it, within reason, with the 140. However, you have to know its limitations. Sometimes it requires a base weld that you then need to grind out and go back over. There is a post above about gas and wind. The only time that I use flux core is when I have a project that I need to weld outside that I cannot shield from the wind. It does not take much to blow off the shielding gas. You can counter that by turning up the delivery pressure to some degree, but if you have a lot of welding to do all you are doing is wasting gas. If you don't need a portable machine and think that you really might be using it a fair amount, then I would go with a 220v MIG and gas. You will not be as limited by the equipment. However, they do cost a considerable amount more.
 
Also some people worry about the fire hazard of having the bottle in the garage. The gas is a Co2/Argon mix. Its non flammable. Your gasoline can is more dangerous, as long as you dont knock the bottle over and break the tip off. It then becomes a rocket...literally. But theres no fire hazard with the bottle.

I have a small 80CU bottle. I bought it brand new for $200 from the weld store and they refill it for $20-25. The gas last quite a long time. For occasional hobby use, one fill could last a year. I fill it maybe twice a year. Three times if I'm doing a lot of stuff. And its light enough to carry and throw in your car trunk to go get a refill if you dont have a truck. Next size up is usually the 125cu which is more heavy and cumbersome.


If you are going to be welding outdoors, then flux core or stick is the way to go. Indoors, MIG is the way to go.
 

Attachments

  • miller.jpg
    miller.jpg
    67.8 KB · Views: 286
Last edited:
You might also consider looking into seeing if your local community college offers night welding classes. Up here they are offered as 8 week courses. That would give you a chance to learn the basics of stic, mig and maybe even tig. It will also allow you to use different brands of equipment. They also have tubs of free drops from local fab shops to practice on.
Miller offers some pretty nice student discounts on equipment. Last fall their student discount pretty much paid for the tuition and fees for an 8 week class.
You probably could talk the instructor into letting you bring in your unit as your semester project.
 
Do you really want to do this? Welding is a skill that takes time to learn and buying inadequate or junk equipment makes that learning difficult or impossible. I speak from experience, having started with a Sears buzz box, then put lipstick on the pig by adding the TIG upgrade. I now have a Miller Dialarc 250 HF with both air and water-cooled TIG torches.

Bad welds are known only to the welder and then only if he has the experience to recognize them. I bought a trailer one time that had been welded by an amateur. In modifying it to meet my needs I found many welds that looked passable but which could be broken free by hand.

If you were going to weld up a stand for a cooker I would say "Have fun and enjoy your learning." If I knew you were going to weld a trailer I would make sure to never drive behind you.
 
4ever3 said:
Czar?

Still with us?
Click to expand...


Yep. Had a 15 hour drive from Atlanta to Dallas on Monday... actually just got home and wow, a lot of responses.

I built my house with the 220v option in the garage so welding have always been on my mind. But currently my garage is full of my sister' stuff while she waits for her house to be built. The trailer/smoker is outside in my back patio. I've been looking at a MIG/flux combo for my situation but they have been the harbor freight or cheap Chinese Amazon stuff. I better re-evaluate this project to see where I want this to go.

Thanks for all the information, everyone.
 
airedale said:
If you were going to weld up a stand for a cooker I would say "Have fun and enjoy your learning." If I knew you were going to weld a trailer I would make sure to never drive behind you.
Click to expand...


Ha. The trailer is a heavy duty trailer with a 3500 pound axle. I have no concerns with the safety of it on the road.

The smoker is currently U-bolted to the bed with several 1.5" tubes as the frame to spread the load. This was meant to be temporary while I smoke some meat and get my ish together with the build. I figured u-bolts are good for the axle, why not the smoker?

The only problem is I'm using the original frame of the smoker on this trailer. It makes the vertical offset ridiculously tall.

b71fb908bf61e0fcbf9126368a96ba66.jpg


For the new legs, I underestimated how thick 3/16" tubes were because honestly .1875" looked pretty puny on paper. The original plan was to bolt the new legs/stand together so the cooking chamber rested just above the fenders but an afternoon of wasteful drilling took care of that idea.

So this is all I plan to weld for the foreseeable future. I don't think I can build the skills to fabricate my own cookers, or at least good enough to sell.

Would you spend $800 for welding tools for a one and done project?
 
Last edited:
If i were you i'd cut down the legs to the height you're comfortable with, i'd bolt the 2 uprights together to create 1 smoker then use 90° brackets to bolt the legs to the cross supports. That way all you need is some basic hardware and tools. Plus that way everything is easily removed or changed.
 
As she sits, The center of gravity is way too high! Lowering the legs will help, but it really could use some weight on the deck. Consider welding a solid plate to the trailer deck. A chunk of 3/16" would probably do nicely. In addition to dropping the CG. It will provide a nice surface to build custom mounts for the smoker and fire box units. Looks like the trailer has a tip option......? Highly recommend welding the trailer bed to it's frame...no way I would ever trust that latch to hold.
 
Kmm said:
As she sits, The center of gravity is way too high! Lowering the legs will help, but it really could use some weight on the deck. Consider welding a solid plate to the trailer deck. A chunk of 3/16" would probably do nicely. In addition to dropping the CG. It will provide a nice surface to build custom mounts for the smoker and fire box units. Looks like the trailer has a tip option......? Highly recommend welding the trailer bed to it's frame...no way I would ever trust that latch to hold.
Click to expand...



Yeah, I initially planned on u-bolting the bed to the frame but welding it would be better. The front section to the first bar will be a wood box so there definitely will be weight in the front.

I purchased the trailer for $250 off Craigslist so the tilt option was one of the things I just accepted about the trailer. Not to mention no tags for the past 5 years and no working lights. But one project at a time lol.
 
Zak said:
If i were you i'd cut down the legs to the height you're comfortable with, i'd bolt the 2 uprights together to create 1 smoker then use 90° brackets to bolt the legs to the cross supports. That way all you need is some basic hardware and tools. Plus that way everything is easily removed or changed.
Click to expand...


I thought about cutting the legs down but I would be back to the same problem of drilling through tubes, which is a pain in the ass without a drill press. My holes never lined up correctly. And I was using those anti-walking drill bits, pre-hammering the hole, all the tips I could find. I just finally gave up when 4 hours of work just netted me half a leg.

The original legs is this:

5e08afdcd4b3490154ac36288f8f6c07.jpg
 
Cut the legs to length.
Fabricate some bolt tabs. 2" L x 2" W flat bar with a hole drilled at one end.
Weld one end on the cross tubes on the trailer, match and drill holes in the cross braces of the smoker legs and bolt.
I wouldn't weld anything permanently to the trailer or cross braces.
 
Kmm said:
Have you considered going with an old school buzz box?
Not quite as easy as wire, but far more economical. For horizontal welds on 3/16" mild steel(A36), I generally run 5/16", 7018's at about 140 Amps (dc). If I need to run vertical welds, I will generally lay down a base bead with 5/16, 6011's at around 130 Amps (dc) and then follow with 7018's for the cap. Yeah it is slower, there is more splatter and constantly stoping to feed rods is a pia, but there is also something very reassuring about "feeling" the work and knowing the quality of your welds even before the slag has cooled.
Click to expand...

I saw one at Northern Tool for $279... Hobart Stickmate 205.. But I did a quick Amazon check and it needed 50-60 amps on the outlet. I am sure that is completely out of the question with my current breaker box.

I ended getting the same machine Smitty has for about $100 and some change with a coupon. I guess I can cut my teeth with this for now.
 
Czarbecue said:
I saw one at Northern Tool for $279... Hobart Stickmate 205.. But I did a quick Amazon check and it needed 50-60 amps on the outlet. I am sure that is completely out of the question with my current breaker box.

I ended getting the same machine Smitty has for about $100 and some change with a coupon. I guess I can cut my teeth with this for now.
Click to expand...

Replace the ground clamp -it sucks. Get one with copper on both sides $8-$16-$24 on Amazon depending on which one you get. I been running .035 wire but gonna try .030 when I run out

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002...und+clamps&dpPl=1&dpID=41cyaRWVkAL&ref=plSrch


Wire

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000...36_SY340_QL65&keywords=flux+core+welding+wire

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003...lding+wire&dpPl=1&dpID=51+LJWrEnXL&ref=plSrch
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Beginner octagonal offset build
Replies
9
Views
1K
chrisys
C
motoeric
Bbq story
Replies
14
Views
1K
oldgfbbq
O
J
Temp help - lonestar grillz
Replies
19
Views
2K
Potatoe
P
M
My Grail Table for 26in Weber
2 3
Replies
41
Views
3K
storming
S
W
Masterbuilt 1050 Review
2
Replies
20
Views
9K
jzadski
J
Back
Top