new toy. (tool related)

[hungrymonkey]

bought a Hobart handler 140. I have been wanting one for several years, but was either short on cash, or room to use it.

I was going to go for 220. But I pretty much will only use it for sheet metal.

Unfortunantly the welder did not come with tips, or a bolt to hold the clamp onto the ground.
I called Hobart and they are shipping one to me.
I also have to drive 30 minutes one way to get the bottle filled. Does anyone know how long a small bottle of argon will last? I believe it a 20 oz bottle.


The tool chest is the old trauma cart from my work. I revamped the crash carts and they no longer needed this one. It seems to work well to hold the welder and other bits.

 

[6Stang7]

Jealous here. I keep telling myself that I am going to get a decent welder one of these days, but somehow I keep finding new ways to throw money into the 67.

 

[hungrymonkey]

I have been doing the same for the past 8 years. I rationalized the purchase by needing to weld in a patch for my floor panel.

It will get some use. I have to replace the floor pans in both my truck and my mach. I just need to get the 67 on the road to get to both of those.

Next purchase will be a bigger air compressor. It can wait until its needed though.

 

[BarnStang]

30 min one way? Next time you go trade up to a bigger bottle. If you are that far away, and you run out of gas, you're done. THere is another great upgrade you can do. http://www.bernardwelds.com/service/documents/Centerfirev1.2.pdf

You are looking for the TT- series tips and the tapered nozzel. Made a huge difference. I have this on my 140 at home and the 220 Hobart welder at work (175?)
NST-3800B Nozzel
TT-035 Tip (depeds on the size of the wire-.035 wire)

I got them free with a flyer from one of the Ocean City car shows in the vendor row. The local welding shop now carries them for me.

 

[hungrymonkey]

My parents gave me a self darkening hood tonight for my birthday. I am going to run up north in the morning and get the bottle filled and see how much a new bottle is going to run me.
I also need to pick up some sheet metal for the floor pan.

Should be welding it in by next weekend.

Now I just need to bite the bullet and buy a decent air compressor. My pancake is only good for nail guns and filling tires.

 

[BarnStang]

Correction: The nozzle at work is a NST-3818B which recesses the tip (extends the nozzle) which helps keep the tip from fouling. Just have to keep it cleaned out. The one I listed above has the tip and nozzle flush. I am still running flux wire at home till I break down and buy a bottle...

 

[j_lutter31]

I've never even seen a bottle on a welder that small. Do yourself a favor and get a smaller regular bottle, they're about 3-4 feet tall, the normal ones are around 5 feet tall. your gonna be running out of gas alot with that paintball gun bottle.....

 

[hungrymonkey]

Checked sears today and the welder was on sale

I called the CS and they knocked $102 off of the bill for me.

I went up to the welding shop today and was told they would not fill my bottle and I have to go to a paintball shop to get the Co2 bottle filled. They had an argon specific bottle for $125.

Anyone have opions on using CO2 for sheetmetal? If I can get by with using what I have, I can get started soon. If Argon is much better, then I will wait.

 

[hungrymonkey]

I've never even seen a bottle on a welder that small. Do yourself a favor and get a smaller regular bottle, they're about 3-4 feet tall, the normal ones are around 5 feet tall. your gonna be running out of gas alot with that paintball gun bottle.....

I will upgrade eventually, but for now I just want to get started. Plus I need to price bottles.

 

[hungrymonkey]

I was in harbor freight today. and I saw this compressor. - Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

decent price for a 2 stage with a 60 gallon tank. Kind of tempting.

 

[6Stang7]

Anyone have opions on using CO2 for sheetmetal?

This is purely a guess (somewhat educated), but I would think that using C02 could increase the carbon content of the steel, making it more brittle. However, if that is the case, it then becomes a question of whether or not an increase in brittleness (which who knows by how much) would make a difference.

 

[Nemesis67]

I got the same welder (Hobart 140) a little over a year ago at Tractor Supply Co. for $419. It came with everything exept the bottle. Fortunately I lived only a block away from a gas supply company. If your not moving around town with your welder, I suggest getting a good sized bottle. I ran out of gas pretty fast when I had a small one. I did my floors and firewall with it and I also made a homemade car rotisserie... works great. I wish I built the rotisserie before I did the floors, would have made it a lot easier. For sheilding gas get the 75% argon / 25% co2 mix. I had no troubles with this welder and the sheilding gas. Very good results... clean strong welds. Just practice and get your voltage and wire speed dialed in first before you start on your car. Also if you doing floors, do them first. Good practice and no one will see how messy your welds are...LOL.

 

[kirbyalaska]

I also have the hobart 140. $410 at TSC a couple years ago. I didn't get a bottle yet, but did get some flux core wire. Anyone know what the difference between welding with flux core or gas shielded wire is as it pertains to auto sheet metal? I love the 140 and recommend it to anyone wanting a decent home welder.

 

[BarnStang]

The flux core wire welding is dirtier. THere is more spatter I think. Just not as clean. The shield gas gives a cleaner weld, especially if the metal you're welding is clean bare metel and making good solid contact between the two parts-which is not always easy to do. The 75/25 mix posted previously is better for welding with higher levels of contamination-like a rusty Mustang. If you were welding nothing but clean bare metal then straight Argon would do as I understand it. But this isn't rocket science, and you are not welding on the space shuttle. You need lots and lots of practice to make good welds, but it is way easier with a good welder like the one you have. I still have times where I end up grinding a bunch of weld off and other times where I can lay it down and have very little grinding to do. THe hardest part I think is forcing yourself to slow down. Going too fast usually results in more grinding.
If you can't get the right shield gas for the welder, just run the flux core wire till you can get a bottle and some mixed gas. I haven't gotten a bottle at home either due to the cost to lease the bottle. Will probably knuckle down and get one for the project waiting on some attention. I think I will have a lot more welding to do on this one...

 

[NasaGT]

+1 to everything BarnStang said!

 

[hungrymonkey]

hobart rates the 20oz bottle for 40 minutes of welding. I ended up spending $20 for a 25psi fixed regulator and the bottle. I will probably pick up a bigger bottle the next time I end up going to north.

I still need to use the darned thing. I ended up working yesterday, and I have to work part of today and tommorow.

 

[Grabber70Mach]

30 min one way? Next time you go trade up to a bigger bottle. If you are that far away, and you run out of gas, you're done. THere is another great upgrade you can do. http://www.bernardwelds.com/service/documents/Centerfirev1.2.pdf

You are looking for the TT- series tips and the tapered nozzel. Made a huge difference. I have this on my 140 at home and the 220 Hobart welder at work (175?)
NST-3800B Nozzel
TT-035 Tip (depeds on the size of the wire-.035 wire)

I got them free with a flyer from one of the Ocean City car shows in the vendor row. The local welding shop now carries them for me.

What are the advantages of these tips? Looks like a really nice setup. Think they will be in OC next weekend?

 

[BarnStang]

One thing I like is that I can get into some pretty tight places that I can't with the bigger nozzel. The shield gas dispersion is supposed to be better-not just gas running out the end, but a more directed stream to keep the welding area isolated better. Found the flier-Says Centerfire nozzels work with the diffuser to smooth and concentrate shielding gas flow for less oxidation and contamination. THe tips are slip fit too, rather than screwed in place-easier to change. Actually, I havent changed the tip in over a year...I have replaced the nozzel once cause they do get worn down, but I do a LOT of welding so the wear and tear on the machine at work is pretty rough. THe flier also goes on to say the machining of the parts are better and more precise, stuff like that. Here is the website, and they have an animation of how the diffuser works...
Bernard Centerfire MIG Welding Replacement Parts

 

[hungrymonkey]

I went and bought a 92 CF tank today with 75/25 mix of CO2/Argon. I was going to pick up a sheet of 18 guage sheetmetal and some 1" tubing for a different project. Unfortunantly the bulk steel place was closed when I got there (At 4:30 in the afternoon)

The reason I went with a big tank was the cost was only $40 more. But the price to fill the bigger tank is only $9 more per fill. So $29 for the 92, and $20 for the smaller tanks. It made sense to go big and not worry about it as often, then fill up will eventually offset the cost of the tank. Plus It is a 1 hour round trip for a fill. I hate driving up to Eugene, and that in itself made it worth the extra cost.

However, I am sorely dissapointed with the Hobarts gas system. It came with a hose and regulator and the little co2 tank. Except the hose and regulators fittings will only mate with the little tank. So I have to buy them seperatly for the bigger tank. If the welder had not gone on sale, I would be returning it. After the refund, the gas kit was at a cost of $20.

The original price for the welder with the gas system was $130 more. If I had just bought the regular welder for the cheaper price, It would of only been $20 to $30 more for a bigger tank.

 

[hungrymonkey]

went out and played today.

This is non stang related. Its 1.5" square tubing. I should be fixing my floor pan in the next couple of weeks. I will post some pics.