What Machine Would I Choose?

I am often asked the question, which machine should I buy? This is a tough question.

One thing that is narrowing the choice of the buyer is the fact that top brand name machines are extremely expensive today. I was amazed at the recent prices that some of the name brand companies were charging for their equipment.

It seems that the metal trades industry has jumped into the stratosphere lately with the increase in demand for metal products and the people that work in those fields.

I purchased a Lincoln 185 (single phase transformer) multipurpose machine three years ago that still had two years left on the original warranty when I bought it for $1500. Today this machine is still running like it did when I bought it. It is an inverter single phase machine that runs off a 50 amp breaker that uses a three prong 220 volt receptacle and is AC/DC Stick/TIG/Aluminum.

The replacement machine that was out there today is either a 160 amp or a 225/205 amp stick/mig combo. They don’t make the 185 anymore and come to find out you can’t get the 225 by itself, you have to go up to the 275. Why I don’t know. You can buy a 225 combo Stick/MIG in that range for more money. The 160 in my opinion is a bit low if you are a serious welder. The 225/275 is more than enough for the average individual even in most shop or industrial settings.

To my amazement, the 275 amp machine by the same company mentioned above is anywhere from $2500 and up depending when and where you buy. Wow!! That hurts. This is leading me to my point of people having no choice but to get away from the big name brand companies.

There are names popping up in the market place that would not even have been a thought when it came to purchasing a reliable machine in times past but that has changed. For the common man these off brand machines are the risk most will have to take due to the price crunch in our economy.

So let’s just mention some of these off brand machines. Please understand that The Welders Lens does not promote equipment and this is just an article to expose what was already covered with an insight to where you could go for help in these very hard times.

Here are some names you might try when looking for an inverter machine. Please understand again, I am not promoting any of these brands or their products, this is simply researched information that might serve as a starting point for someone looking for help in this area: Arcon, Lincoln, Miller, Thermal Dynamics, Workhorse, Northern Industrial,Fronius,Kemppi, Migatronic,ESAB, EWM, just to name a few.

Now let me just finish this article by giving an unconventional means to an end. If you are not in need of inverter technology and work with single phase transformer (which is fine for even the serious welder) you may consider trying this method that worked from old and will surely work still today.

You can buy a good reliable name brand machine that is dependable that comes with a 3 year warranty like Lincoln or Miller and use it for TIG as well as Stick if you don’t need the aluminum aspect of a TIG combo unit. You don’t have to have a fancy foot pedal if you can weld with scratch TIG on one heat setting too.

You can buy a less expensive stick rod machine and use it for TIG. The thing these days with the push for inverter technology and TIG designed machines is the mentality of using less energy and becoming light weight as well as giving a more stable arc upon start. Stick machines worked just fine when I was welding and passed many an x-ray with those big bulky machines.

When welding TIG all you have to do is buy a gas block with an ear for placing the jaws of a electrode holder on the gas block for your current and run the conventional TIG rig. The argon hose plugs into the gas block and the jaws clamp on the gas block and away you go. Just don’t forget you will need a machine that you can either swap the leads over either by moving the cable connectors or a switch on the machine. Just something to consider.

A good name brand stick machine goes for about $650. Much easier on the pocket. Now if you need square-wave for aluminum, that is a different story. Anyway, I hope this might help someone gain a foothold on this seemingly ever growing economical question.

What machine would I purchase? I personally would stick with the name brand if possible, check all reviews and comments on non name brand, and get the best warranty available if you do buy an off brand product. Warranty work is not something we ever plan on, but what if? Take care for now and thanks for your time.

A New Year deserves a New Post with a New Plan

A big thanks to all of you out there who have been very kind and encouraging with your great comments and support.

A business owner is dust in the wind without supporters that believe in his business.

A leader is nothing more than a soldier that has said, “Okay, I will go first!”

Will you follow me if I go?

I have learned a great deal this last year about first of all Jesus my God, myself, and others.

It means so much to be appreciated and loved. It is what humanity is missing.

When you kick God out of your life, you say goodbye to love. Even discipline is a form of love.

This year has some great promises and new horizons I can see already.

I am striving to make The Welder Lens the best it can be and very available to all.

I just launched my first product although I know it was not the best time.

I got it out as soon as I could.

A big thanks to those of you who have caught the vision of this site and its products, you know who you are.

Welding instructions through welding videos is a fantastic idea and method by which to train yourself to become a great welder.

The whole plan of greatness is watch and implement, watch and implement.

Here are some plans I have already in mind for this year:

1. Carbon Plate series: All positions (Stick and Mig)

2. Someone asked me to make a jack stand

3. Exotic metals such as stainless and chrome % carbons

4. Aluminum with Tig on square wave

5. Mig Flux core,etc.

So I hope that you will hang with me in my plight to bring a format that I don’t believe has ever been truly exposed so far in the welding course.

There surely hasn’t been the welding home study course aspect of this industry.

I will be doing some promotion spots of other peoples products as soon as I find some that I can put my stamp on.

One thing you probably will not see from my site is drawings and theory.

You can buy a book and read on that. I am more interested in the actual view behind the lens. I have a few candidates in mind for special interviews and some outside training from other experts in this field.

Along with that I will be doing some giveaways and gratus bonuses.

I am really thinking about doing a monthly membership package as well.

Lots of plans and ideas in my little brain.

So I just thought I would share some of these things with you here at the beginning of this year as a mind map for us all.

The Bible says that without a Vision The People Perish.

Thanks again and take care.

Michael Treadway of The Welders Lens

The Stick Rod Series: fast freeze rods_uphill/downhill

Hello again.  This is another publication on the Stick Rod Series. Today we will look at Fast Freeze Rods/Uphill/Downhill.

As we discussed last time, the fast freeze rod is a common stick rod that has been a stable rod and around the welding trade from the beginning since flux coated rods have existed.

Our focus today will be the uphill and downhill positions of the fast freeze rod.

The best place to start with any rod is of course the flat position, but I want to focus on a little harder area today.
Depending on what you will be welding and in what code (if any) you will be accountable too, the two most common applications will either be uphill welding or downhill welding. Some like to refer to the downhill as downhand. I don’t but some do.
 
In general industry standards, there is very little acceptable downhill welding outside of the pipeline welding code 1101.
Most procedures nation and world wide will focus on the uphill root pass, hot pass, and cover pass. From experience where there is a fast freeze rod root pass and or hot pass, the cover pass will usually be with a low-hydrogen rod like 7018 or something similar.

Uphill welding is very different from the downhill welding. When welding there is a natural effect of heat that is fighting against the welder. Heat rises. You say, hey, that guy is smart. Thanks. Just kidding. Keep this basic principle in mind at all times when you are welding and it will help you redirect your weld when necessary because of what happens with radiant heat transfer.
Uphill welding has more penetration because the rod is burning the surface metal out of the way before the puddle comes behind to fill in giving more weld deposit deeper into the parent metal. It is easier to overcome a gap welding uphill; especially with fast freeze rod because while moving up and away from the area where the metal is being deposited, the weld has frozen or solidified by the time you come back down to deposit more metal. You are not fighting the tendancy of the metal to outrun you like downhill can do at high heat since gravity is pulling on the metal. Uphill welding is not as fast as downhill welding therefore you rarely see uphill welding on a pipeline weld. The pipeline weld is almost always all downhill from start to finish.

Sometimes it is necessary to stop and let the metal cool if the gap is too big. It is better to do this than to keep welding and run the risk of pushing to much metal through on the root pass. Now if you are welding plate to plate with no gap between the metal, then this is not usually a problem.

Uphill welding requires less amperage heat to weld than the downhill procedure. Not something drastic, but slightly different.
The reason for this is that downhill welding is more a dragging the rod than whipping or stepping the rod like the row of dimes we discussed from our last article and because gravity is working against you, the slag, or impurities that are cooking out of the weld while the process is going on, are following and often trying to overtake the downhill weld. Due to the nature of the gravity and slag feature on downhill the heat setting is usually higher than uphill welding. This extra heat is needed to keep the rod burning while fighting the slag trying to consume the rod arc. It could be upto as much as 10 amps higher.

One thing to be aware of when welding a gap uphill like on a pipe or but weld plate is this: it is easy to put too much metal into the weld joint because of higher deposition rate. If you hang to much metal inside the gap, it could disqualify your weld. While welding you are not necessarily pushing the rod hard into the gap but just touching the surface making sure not to leave undercut. Most of the time the metal on the inside will take care of itself. Moving to fast can leave not enough metal at times too. Practice will help you overcome these obstacles. It is just part of welding.

Rod angle and heat coupled with travel speed will either make or break your welding experience.
Once you learn the characteristics between these 3 critical components coupled with either uphill or downhill you will see a difference in your ability to weld, and the appearance of your weld.

While welding downhill it is best to keep the rod in the center of the weld piece. There is really not a need to move the rod from side to side. This is what I refer to as the dragging affect mentioned earlier. At some times there will be a need to move from side to side to allow the slag metal to pass around the good weld puddle. In this case gravity is helping remove that unwanted metal build up. While going uphill, the tendancy will be to move the rod either side to side or in a U pattern. Sweeping from side to side going up and back down into the puddle as it freezes. Now I am not talking about some super exaggerated movement here.

One more thing before I go is this: Welding is a multi-tasking process. While the hand is moving in a direction accross the weld piece it is also moving closer into the weld piece because the burning rod keeps getting shorter the entire time you are welding. To learn to sequence these movements while keeping the proper angle is the trick of making killer looking and proper welds.
Welding is a smooth fluent motion. It is best to make yourself as comfortable as you can while welding.  I very rarely weld with one hand because I find myself not as steady.

Experiment with these techniques and you will have success. Until next time, keep your eyes behind the welders lens

Thanks from the author!

What is Welding Anyway?

This is the first article of many that will be submitted in an attempt to bring the most comprehensive tutorial guide for welding.

I will be covering everything you will need to know about welding. From stick rod to tig and all that could be squeezed in between.

I hope what I have learned over the past 100 years can be a blessing and help to you in some way. No Iam not really a hundred!!

Welding has made up the greater part of my life. I absolutely know how to weld. If I tell you something in these lessons and articles, it will be to your benefit to pay attention to it.

If you are a novice or beginner welder I have just what you are looking for. If you have been around the block a few times, I have something for you too. I can feed you what you need. Wait till you see the welding videos.Wow!!

The first thing I would like to go over with you is basic terms of welding you will here in our lessons. Please understand that I am giving you a definition of welding that will make sense to you. They might not be the dictionary definition. Dictionary is not always practical for our purposes. You will understand later.

What is welding anyway?  Well simply put, it is the art of fusing metals together. A carptenter uses nails and glue. A banker uses your money and his drawer. A welder uses different rods or filler metals and intense electric current known as heat to melt metal together.

Arc: the actual contact and electricity produced when welding. It is the light that will burn your unprotected eyeballs. Don’t watch the arc unless you are behind the welders lens. Get it? the welders lens.

Many would never know this, but the arc is about 7400 degrees Fahrenheit where the metal is at liquid form.

Stinger: also known as the electrode holder. The handle that holds stick rods or electrodes. Sometimes you may find the stinger in the bee or in your body if it’s too late.

Sleeves: leather coverings like the sleeves off a shirt that protect against the sparks and spatter of welding. I like a full leather jacket. It can be hot but it is the most effective. There are green sleeves that have elastic in both ends that can be bought at the weld supply store. One for each arm from the shoulder to the wrist.

Hand Shoes:  also known as gloves. Don’t be an idiot and weld without protecting every part of your body. You would be suprised at what I have seen over the years. Lots of brain damage out there.  Once I watched an old tanky welder weld without even a long sleve shirt. I mean that guys arms were taking the sparks off that fast freeze rod. I know it had to burn. He has the same flesh I have. Tanky welders are a breed of themselves. That is another story. Anyway, I said man, why don’t you put a shirt on and protect your arms. This was his response: Oh no, the sweat on my arms is keeping me from feeling the sparks. Wow! The sad thing is that he actually believed it.

Amps: the current output used to measure how hot or cold your arc is (not to be confused with volts).

Electrodes: Flux coated rods that are used in the stick rod process.

Leads: The rubber coated wiring(copper) that carries the current from your machine to your puddle.

The Puddle: Where you used to play as a child, but now where you make a living with welding. The puddle is the liquefied medal at the end of your arc.

Enough terms for now. Welding actually has an extensive history dating back to the late 1800s. Of course welding principles today are the same but the methods are much different as well as the various types of procedures. Old time welding was brazing metals under the heat from an oxygen/acetylene torch. I personally like tig welding. It is the cleanest form of welding. No fire coming at you (sparks, that is). It is the elite apex of the welding field.  Our next article will focus on Stick Rod welding, probably the most common type of welding there is. Until next time, keep your safety glasses on and watch your eyes.

Thanks from the author.  Find out more and get free information at http://www.thewelderslens.com

Welcome To The World of Welding

Hello, and welcome to The Welders Lens blog. I hope this blog will be a place were you give or get answers to the questions that many welders face today. This is a supplement to my website that can be found at www.thewelderslens.com. Visit the site and you can recieve my free ebook I wrote personally just for visiting.  I have welding videos I am working on that I think you will find really cool and informative on stick rod welding, mig welding, and tig welding. I am building a welding home study course so people can learn how to weld. I have been a welder for many years and made a good living welding. These tricks I have learned can save you time and frustration.

I have some articles I am working on. One has been submitted to Ezinearticles.com

Really this is just the beginning of something great to come. In this first article you will find out about my site.

Thanks for your interest and may God bless you.  Thanks Michael D. Treadway