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Uncle Stretch

Uncle Stretch

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I have used a Miller Cricket for the frames I build. I have had it for 28 years and its never missed a lick.
I decided to try gas with solid wire , instead of flux core wire. My little welder didn't come with the setup
to change it over. I got with miller and ordered the parts to make it work....Bad idea. Cost me $80, plus another
$35 for a gauge for argon co2 mix. The only bright spot is , I had an oxygen bottle that I never used and for $40 they
changed the valve to an argon one and re certified it. Its a 120 and will last a while. After finding out my 70 amp
miller wouldn't do solid wire, I went looking for another welder. I talked to the Miller shop and the guy said that a
Hobart and a miller are the same welder. I know they are owned by the same company. I checked around and the
latest model for a Hobart 140 is about $499, at Amazon. I started to order it and they wanted to charge me shipping
and TAX. EEKK!.Will be my last purchase from them. Anyway Northern Tool had the same welder for $499 free shipping.
Bet you can guess where I went. They loaded one in my truck and no shipping.
I got it all hooked up and my welds were terrible. It was like I didn't know how. Since I never used gas before, I was
like a newbie welder. I asked my Fab buddy what I was doing wrong. He said don't have a fan blowing on you and slow
down the wire speed. So I did a few and they are much better. Hopefully I will just leave the weld instead of all the
flap disk and bondo.

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I have never tried so much for pretty since I was going to grind it down and bondo the welds.
That has gotten old. I figure with a little practice I can get strong and pretty and just
let it show. Its way cleaner than flux core.
 
what's ur gas mixure? I would say start with a 75/25 mix or something a little cleaner an 90/10 mix, or u could go with 100% co2. I wouldn't have gone with hobart they are a generic miller. I would have gone with a lincolin or an esab. Those are the welders I swear by.
 
Tigs are 220 and that is not in my shop...they are big ...expensive and I don't know how to use one.
The gas is 75 argon 25 co2. I thought 100% argon was for aluminum or something.
Whenever someone buys a welder everybody has their own favorite. I don't like fords either.
I'm not a professional welder and I have seen nothing but good reviews on this one...it was $499 too. :lol:
 
Should have this welder dialed in by then. I'm trying to sell one bike so I have room for another.
They are stacking up on me again.
 
Years ago I had a little welder by Snap On, sure looks alot like your Hobart!~I wore the torch out in a month flat. I put a nylon liner in the hose(don't remember the correct name, or if that's it) replacing the steel one, worked way better!
For welding alloys/moly's you will almost have to get a heli-arc welder. The material will get hardened from heat, less heat saturation from tig, that way it doesn't weaken the attaching metal.
Which brings me to; does anyone anneal their welds?
I have always done it on big welds, plus pre-heat the metal. Never built any bicycle frames, race car :D yes... but no motorcycle/gokart/bicycle :D anyway, repaired a bunch of stuff, if it was alloy it cracked again!
Dad used to have my GT 4130 bmxs welded at work where they had an underwater set up, the weld needed a little stainless brush up, clear paint and you couldn't see it in the chrome plate.
 
Anything goes Build-off coming up------buys a new welder 8)

My uncle bought a Hobart like yours a few months back and he's been very happy with it. You will NOT regret ditching flux core :wink:
 
Yeah when a Miller salesman tells me that a Hobart is the same as a Millermatic, only difference is the
Miller has a rheostat that controls the heat settings instead of 5 taps then the $175 less was good enough for me.
If it doesn't do what I want it too, then I will try something else. I'm pretty happy with it so far.
 
Nice job Uncle Stretch! You wont know yourself welding with gas compared to flux-core, so much nicer...

Regarding Argon verses Co2, from what I remember from my apprenticeship (It was a while ago, so I may be wrong.) Co2 will give better, deeper penetration, whereas argon gives a much nicer finish. Usually as you go thicker metals you run a higher concentration of Co2 in the mix. For bikes and general fabrication, I usually use a 60%Argon, 40%Co2 mix, gives a nice clean weld and more than enough penetration. There is no reason you can not use straight Co2 for it, but it wont be as nicely finished.

Your 75%-25% mix will be perfect for bikes, will produce nice clean welds and your penetration is still more than you need for the thin wall tubing we use.

Tig is better, cleaner, less distortion, but requires far more time and patience, not to mention steady hands. For hobbyists using steel, it really is not worth the effort in my opinion, maybe if you were doing exotic alloys...

Regarding brands, well, if it comes from a good company, that is about the best you can hope for. I have had expensive Lincoln Electric migs that constantly play up and I have had base model generics that just work non stop with no issues... Hobart and Miller are good names, so you should be right...

Looking forward to seeing the results! :wink:

Luke.
 
Its funny Luke , when I get ready for a new purchase, I read everything I can to make a good decision.
I looked at so many internet posts that I got brain saturation. I only weld 16 ga tubing. They tell you
to buy a 220 machine so you can go higher on thickness. I don't have 220 in my shop or plan to build
race car frames. This is about the middle of the road welder and with any hopes it will work without
cratering. Being able to see the welds without them disappearing in the smoke from flux, takes a
little getting use to. I will get the hang of it. Welders seem to be like car brands. I think if you buy
a Miller ,Lincoln , or a Hobart they are all about the same. I did like the drive system on a Lincoln, but
my Miller salesman says they are junk....He works for Miller, so he is probably a little one sided on the subject.
 
Interesting he said the drive was junk, that was the biggest problem we had with our Lincoln! Even when we first plugged it in at the shop, the drive turned the wrong way and pulled the wire back in! They got that sorted for us but, there is just something not right in that drive system, it was constantly playing up. Second biggest problem was the torch, but I have heard they changed that so it may be fixed on the new ones.

Here in Australia the basic single phase power point is 240 volt, so we don't get the smaller welders over here. You can still buy cheap ones, and they would probably be fine for bikes, but I do heavier welding too...

I nearly bought the new version of the Lincoln 190? I think it was called, but got a good deal on my Kempi 180P from my gas supplier, so that made my decision for me. I was looking at $1100 for the Lincoln and ended up getting the Kempi for $650, they dropped it down $400 because they bought in extra stock for a field day display but it got rained out, sold them out for cost price... :mrgreen: The Kempi's come standard with oversize Binzel torches and 400 Amp earth clamps too.

There are many others out there, but so many are auto-set or computer controlled and I just have my doubts about how long they will last and if I can set it the way I want it. I am more comfortable with manual adjustments...

All that has absolutely nothing to do with your machine, but there you go... :roll:

Luke.
 

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