Welcome to the forum. For light or even more rigorous hobby work you don't need water cooled anything. 200 amps or less use an air cooled goth is what I've heard and hat covers most everything that you will be doing.

From my understanding you should always use the next size bigger contact tip (.045") since aluminum expands so much in heat. Whether or not this is your problem you'll have to see.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum. I would say you need to lower the amperage and let the molten puddle melt he filler wire. Be sure to take your time when your welding.

Spool gins still use DC power because it is a wire feeding that requires a constant voltage supply. AC tig welding is needed for cleaning action on aluminum. Technically for small repairs you can use DC on aluminum if you do it right and it's not for structural welding aluminum. https://www.millerwe...

Nice weld. At first glance it looked like a tig weld to me. What is it a part for?

You could get a Lincoln square wave tig 200 for $1400 with a warranty, some nice features (pulse, balance) and it has great reviews. The problem buying used especially when there is little about the welder out there is no warranty and probably hard to find parts.

Any recommendations for tig gloves, mig gloves, stick gloves, jackets, and any other gear fir a beginner welder. Any little tools you don't normally see, Ppe or not. I'm only take one class next semester at our local tech school and am looking for some cheaper gear. Looking mostly at Tillman gloves ...

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the world of every beginner tig welder.

I'm sorry to you veterans out there as well for the animal rights activists who decided a day reserved for fallen veterans that allowed them to protest, decided to pay their respects to a dead gorilla that was killed to save a human life instead of paying heir respects to you veterans. Either way I ...

My uncle and I put this together a while ago. It's a fire ring for burning papers and what not made from steel rollers off of a sugar beet lifter. Oft public near some farmers up north see if you can get some. Just a ton of tack welds.

6011 is usually the more versatile and stronger electrode. A 7014 rod is more of a "beginners" rod for the guy that has a 110 volt 60 amp cheap welder that has a repair a year. Overall, I'd go 6011 rods especially with its ability to get deep penetration and being able to weld anything on ...

I know there is technically a number on square footage per welder without ventilation but I can't find it anywhere online after quite a while. Also, what are your feelings about 20 students in about 600 square feet doing welding, milling, lathe work, and sheet metal work. I am writing to my school b...

I just took a second look at the rebate for the Bobcats and it only runs through June 18, so if you could get the bobcat in June you would be set, but if you really have to wait till July I guess you will lose out.

From what I understand, it would be much simpler for you to get the cash rebate for the 250 and get all of the leads. You can do mig, stick, DC tig, and flux core. The 250 can do mig so you don't need a 125 and the 250 will do DC tig and stick so the max star 150 is replaced. It would be easier and ...

Depends on what type of person you are. Some people are better suited for one thing or the other. If you have a really good idea and the ability to start a business go for it. Or some guys work for a living and then weld after work, weekends, or if they are temporarily laid off. You can always do bo...

Some guys, depending on the project, I have seen use an engine lathe and set the angle at x-degrees and get it to be angle. Takes a while but if you don't have any other way and want to work with a lathe it's the way to go. Mostly for soup ins it short stuff though.

My tech college is smaller has some high quality equipment and all of our instructors are industry guys who are in their 50's and 60's and know their stuff. Meet with those instructors or look them up and see their certifications, experience, and education. Take a look at the shop. If it is clean,or...

What do you mean by active gas? Is that something that will kill me?

We ran out of argon for tig welding and we may not be able to get any since budgets are getting consolidated. I was wondering, I am welding some washers together for some art and was hoping I could connect our mig tank(25/75) to use int if for now to finish the project

Tig would have been really useful, but the school probably decided keep it simple and don't give these people who we've never met $8,000 tig machines and just let them use mig.

An event like those also can develop skills. It was all mig welding and we used a lot of cast iron and engine parts. They also got some nice rewards for the winners.

My school took a team of four people to our local technical college and had a junkyard wars where everyone took metal out of a scrap pile and made some art. There were some pretty awesome projects. I figured I'd put it out there as an idea for teachers for a good lesson for students about real life ...

I've been using some drill bits from enco, taping oil like Otto mentioned and 600-1400 rpm depending on the size of the drill bit ( starting small then increasing size)

I made a stainless steel die (dice) but when I went to drill the holes in the mill some holes would just force the bit into the chuck and melt the bit. I used several speed settings and oil. Some holes drilled alright but some would not. Any suggestion would help.