Welding!

This post covers the past month or so of welding endeavors.  I signed up for a class at the local adult learning annex that covers mainly stick and TIG welding, with a little MIG thrown in there as well.  Of course, with all my welding stuff literally scattered across the globe, I ran to Harbor Freight to pick up some less expensive gear.  Their welding helmets got great reviews online and I was able to pick up a $79 version on sale for $39, so I was fairly pleased.  It works great too!

(BTW, sorry for the blurry pics, my camera has been a little funky lately… but considering it’s lived through Afghanistan deployments, being dropped off Mt. Kilimanjaro & is now slathered with epoxy as the official build camera, it’s not doing TOO bad… I hope.)

More after-Christmas presents!

HF Welding Gear

HF Welding HelmetI spoke with my welding instructor about using my own welder, if I was to get one, and he was very agreeable to it.  He told me that it would need to be dual voltage because the 220V power at the school was 3-phase.  So dual voltage was definitely a requirement.  I was able to pick up a cheaper TIG welder that got great reviews off eBay (after a ton of research) for less than $400 with shipping.  I received it in good shape & unpacked it . . . all the components looked to be fairly good quality (not uber high end, but sturdy).

New TIG Welder off eBay

New TIG Welder off eBay

New TIG Welder off eBay

New TIG Welder off eBay

I also picked up some TIG welding rod.

TIG Welding RodsTIG Welding Rods ER70S-2

I had to add my own power plug.  Since I can only use 120V at school, I installed a robust plug from Home Depot.

Air filter & compressed air hookups for plasma cutterTesting out 120V plug install

I also went to my local welding supply and had them make me a new grounding clamp cable.  It’s over double the length of the one that came with the welder.

Extended clamp cable (old cable in the center) Below is my “kit” that I used to haul my welder to/from class a couple of nights a week.

Mobile Kit: Hauling to/from class

Of course my portable welder is a far cry from the monsters they use at my welding class, and the welding station setups they have for handling big chunks of metal!

Industrial-sized TIG welder at classWelding work stand at class

The best part of this welding class is that I could use all the Argon I wanted each night of class!

Argon shielding gas bottle at class (All you can use!)

Below is my first weld using TIG.  I ran this bead without welding rod filler, since I was just trying to get the motion down at first.

My first TIG bead (without filler rod)

One of my classmates picked up a Miller MIG machine right before class ended.  A very nice machine (my MIG welder in storage is an eBay special like my TIG).

Classmate's New MIG Welder ... nice!Classmate's New MIG Welder ... nice!