Thanks for the feedback on the 215. Good to hear it's a decent machine. I'm moving into a travel trailer, the park manager has no problem with me welding in the driveway of my space, and the Miller is the only machine that'll fit in the pass-through storage area of the trailer and be able to be secu...

I'm interested in any owner/user reports on the Miller Multimatic 215. Good, bad, or indifferent. I'm not interested in recommendations for other machines, just reports on the 215. Thanks.

Larry

Very nice! Well done.

I had the chance to try out an Optrel Panoramaxx prototype at FabTech last year. Don't know as I'd ever spend $500 for a helmet, but it was the absolute best true color display I've ever seen. Right now I'm running a Miller Digital Elite and I'm very happy with it for what I do.

If I remember right, the AHP 200x bottoms out at 10 amps.

I've always said that "I've never regretted the money I spent on good tools", and I definitely feel that way about acetylene over propane. I've worked a couple places where oxy/propane was mandated by the beancounters. Everybody cussed it for being "cold", and we spent more time ...

I've got a ProStar medium duty kit that's worked well for me. I don't use it a lot, but it's been a great rig. I've been told that ProStar is made by Victor for Praxair. Don't know for sure, but it's Victor compatible for tips.

Josh is right. There's no "best" procedure for rusty metal. I put beans on the table building (and repairing) fences and pens for a couple years, and you just do the best you can. Odds are it won't be pretty, but if it holds and keeps the bulls (or bison) from escaping, you've done good. J...

Glad you got it squared away. I'm betting you can finish it out much better than your former alleged welder would have. Well done.

Do you think you might benefit from cheater lenses in your helmet if you're not already using them. I run 'em in mine and it makes a heck of a difference.

Steve,

Have a good time as you release your inner thespian. I've done a bit of that and had a hell of a lot of fun.

Larry

The 70K is the tensile strength of the filler metal. Your base metal may not be that strong, and the join between the filler metal and the base metal may not support that load. That's only the filler metal/electrode strength.

I worked in a boatyard years ago that built pontoon houseboats. We had a 4' X 24' plywood welding table. It was especially good for building deck rail. Just drive some nails in partway and you had a jig for laying out the members. It got scorched a bit now and then, but worked just fine.

A good place to start is by watching Jody's Intro to MIG series. Good info in there on setting voltage and wire speed. It's not necessary to know the exact voltage to make a good weld with those machines. Here's the URL for the MIG Welding Basics playlist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp0p...

base.png Ok, wow, it has been a long time since I have been on this site. I need two things. First, does anyone know, of a place in Maryland, that lets you go through scrap metal? I want a place I can get a bunch of random metal. I am the kind of dude that just sees something in his mind and makes ...

Done

You sure your's doesn't auto-turn-on when there's an arc struck, even though it's turned off at the time? My Miller does that.

Chinese steel. :o So British ship, Irish workers, Chinese steel-steel is thin and cheap, fire in the belly of the ship, hit an iceberg and boom sunken ship. only one question...why Chinese steel. China was not a large steel manufacturer from 1910-1912 during the building of the ship and it would ha...

Turkey bacon isn't bacon...

Back when I was building gates and fences to put food on the table and tasty beverages in the fridge, if we didn't use weld-on hinges, we'd build 'em from round stock and tube. The round bar went on the gate post and the tube on the gate. If the gate was intended to be removable, both pieces of roun...

Very nicely done. Beautiful work.

Poland308 wrote:I think you welded 9-12 twice.

Good catch...

I have a Hypertherm 30Air that works great. Onboard compressor has a built-in air filter and moisture trap. 120/240 volt capability makes it real versatile. It's a 30 amp unit so cut thickness is limited compared to larger units, but it's done everything I need it to do so far. I like it.

Hi Mark, Welcome to our little asylum here. Welding cast iron is not my area of expertise, so I'll leave the answer to your query to others more informed. I just wanted to say "Howdy" to another ham, and one who lives in a town I used to live in, at that. Many moons ago, late 70s/early 80s...

Adam Booth, abom79 on YouTube, built a rotary welding table a couple years ago. This is the URL to the first episode of the build. A later episode has excellent detail on his grounding system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gRMNaTkjQs&t=2s Looking forward to seeing what you decide on and build...