I am wondering if you were in an uncomfortable position trying to control the gun. I always find it a bit tricky to get positioned for a circular weld. I get comfortable to do a section of bead without moving my body -clean the end of the bead with a wire wheel -move for the next section - restart a...

He is probably upset because you don't know better than to try and weld steel to what looks like aluminium. You better try to make up because if you need to weld thicker stock you will need his bigger clamps - that ones pretty much maxed out.

Check your manual to see what kind of tip you have. My Hypertherm 30air has a drag tip which basically rests on the metal and you pull the trigger and drag it. If the manual doesn't tell you there should be a manufacturers help line number somewhere to get info. If that fails I am sure if you publis...

I never tried the Pam but I have heard it works ok. As I prime and paint all my projects I went with a spray that was paint compatible and had doubts about the Pam. Once you have welded it mostly disappears and I just do my normal cleanup with a wire wheel and paint. Stuff I have painted a couple of...

From the year of the movie and the title I am assuming this is a war movie. A long time ago I read an article about problems with ships breaking in half due to deficiencies in the steel and the welding. Did some Googling and found a site that may pertain to your movie.---- brittle fracture of libert...

I buy all my materials from a small local welding and fab shop at a very reasonable price. They probably sell as much material out the door as they use themselves. In my case I have a trailer that will handle 14ft lengths which I then cut to size myself with a cold cut saw. With some of the cutting ...

J.fitz thank you for your reply. As far as the brand of spray I use it is only because it is fairly cheap and easily available for me. I tried it on a whim as I was getting frustrated with inconsistent and dirty welds. The reason for the flux core is the versatility. I am not a professional welder b...

I scooped a pretty decent high back wooden -leather upholstered dineing room chair ( no arms ) from the dump. I built a metal base with a footrest -installed 4 - 3in caster wheels. The height was set to be comfortable for me when working on small projects on my layout/welding table. I soon came to f...

I have 2 steel welding tables-1-5x3 and 1-6x3-both about 3ft high. All my work tables have wheels - 2 caster and 2 fixed. At 5-10 this height works well for me. One consideration may be the clearance under the bottom shelf if you are going to have one. In my case this is a hobby and I mostly work by...

For the heavy hogging I use the 4o grit Pro Point 41/2in flap disk from Princess Auto ( The Canadian Harbour Freight ) and the 60 grit Abmast for cleanup if needed. These are both zirconia grit - cut like crazy and wear very well. If I need to fuss up a bit for paint I give a quick touch up with che...

I used the same wire in a Lincoln 100 and now in a Lincoln 180.The wire works well but what really helped me was anti-spatter spray. Doesn't take much -just dampen the area and weld. Seems to make adjustments less critical and very easy to clean the weld. I also find I can weld thinner material much...

I have a Lincoln 180 and use flux core only. Not sure of the conversion but I use a lot of 100 wall tubing which I am guessing is in the 14 guage range. Once in a while I need to do a lap weld down to aprox 20 guage ( body metal) with mixed results but it can be done. I use Lincoln .035 all position...

:P Last spring I was looking for a new quality metal cutting saw and considered abrasive and band saw. I actually ordered the top of line Milwaukee 14in saw on amazon - they said out of stock. I had ruled out the band saw option due to room and portability issues. Came to find out that Milwaukee had...

Does anyone use magnetic grounds? I used a 200a magswitch for a few years on my Lincoln 100a and loved it. Sold the 100a and bought a Lincoln 180a. Bought a 300a Magswitch for the new welder and used the 200a for my hypertherm 30 air plasma cutter. I only play with mild steel for my projects and my ...

I checked the harbour freight site and it looks like the identical roller stand that I bought at princess auto in Ontario Canada. It works fine for the price. I bought it Problem is for among other things to support long stock for my bench mount drill press. Problem is to micro adjust the height to ...

I have a Evolution 380 and with the original 66t blade gave great service. Being new to this type of saw and blade I was not sure how to guage the optimal time to sharpen it to get the best blade life. After building a 10ft trailer ( mitres etc.) plus a lot of other misc. cuts it started throwing mo...

:D I also have a hypertherm 30 air. Great machine just clamp on a 1/4in thick 1/4in offset guide bar ( flat or angle) on the stock piece ( not the cutoff piece) set your amperage as required and cut. With a bit of practice and a tiny bit of clean up (tap off a bit of slag -maby a touch up with a gri...

Notapro I totally agree with Jims advice regarding buying a major brand unit with service and parts readily available. I bought a Hypertherm x30 air in 2015 and never regreted spending the money to buy a quality machine. I did a lot of research on the pros and cons of many brands. The main selling p...

:mrgreen: I bought the 380 spring 2016 and love it. I am a retired contractor that over 30 years hand built a lot of my own equipment including several trailers and various widgets and gadgets to suit our purpose. All our cutting was with an abrasive 12in chop saw and acetalene torch. Last spring I ...