So i broke down and bought a welder today.  Ive been wanting and waiting for about three years to just have the 400 clams burning a hole in my pocket. Well today was the day, Got a Northern Tool MIG 135. I have already sold some work, so its paying for itself already, just 2 hours old. I cant wait to work! I graduated from CCU in 96' with a sculpture degree and concentrated in metal sculpture. We had about $350,000 in tools and just miss the shop so much. Now to save the $2000 for the TIG, one day!

First project - make money
second project - underbody muffler W/ a GP style tip, Might try some larger tubes for the headers.

Anyone need stuff welded up in charlotte area? Let me know, I work cheap, GS'ers get a deal.

Quote from: lopee on July 16, 2009, 01:43:45 PM
So i broke down and bought a welder today.  Ive been wanting and waiting for about three years to just have the 400 clams burning a hole in my pocket. Well today was the day, Got a Northern Tool MIG 135. I have already sold some work, so its paying for itself already, just 2 hours old. I cant wait to work! I graduated from CCU in 96' with a sculpture degree and concentrated in metal sculpture. We had about $350,000 in tools and just miss the shop so much. Now to save the $2000 for the TIG, one day!

First project - make money
second project - underbody muffler W/ a GP style tip, Might try some larger tubes for the headers.

Anyone need stuff welded up in charlotte area? Let me know, I work cheap, GS'ers get a deal.

that's some cool stuff right thar ! enjoy the new toy !

That's awesome, I fully plan to buy a welder for a winter project, so that my spring project can be a crashed liter bike that I can get cheap due to a destroyed subframe and plastics. I can then weld myself a new subframe and make a sweet streetfighter. Once I get to that point I also plan to weld a new subframe for the GS to put a nicer tail on it, as well making an undertail or highmount out of my vance&hines. Try it out for a while and let me know how it goes. I know absolutely nothing about welding, aside from the small amounts of research I've done that have led me to decide I should buy a MIG welder, but I don't know anything about what kind of power/amps/volts/ac/dc mess I'd be getting myself into. So I need to get a dedicated outlet put into my circuit box? or do they make welders you can just plug into the wall like normal?

Well, like I said, try it out for a while on some motorcycle stuff, and then you can help me decide what I want to buy in a couple months!

TT-     the welder i got plugs into any normal 110 outlet. it does not need a dedicated breaker, just one that is at least 15 amps. Awsome!
heres a link to the one i got. comes with gun regulator for shielding gas ( but can use with-out right away with flux core wire) comes with 2 small rolls of both wire. It also can hold the 25 lb. wire wheels. It can aluminum or steel, and has  seperate knobs for the wire speed and heat setting.  Plugs into my crappy 1927 electric nightmare house and works fine, i use it with a 15 amp ext. cord. I also knew i was going to get one, so i bought gloves and helmet at christmas last year, so the sticker shock would be lessened.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200332691_200332691

It was a great buy, did a lot of research and this was the best deal for the money, and it has a 3 year warranty!

Sounds good, when the time comes around I'll be sure to send you a link to anything I'm looking at just to be sure! All this stuff is the stuff I'm not sure about...
Volts   115
Amps   135
Duty Cycle   20% at 88 Amps, 115 Volts
Mig Ready   Yes
Wire Feed Speed Control   Yes
Weldable Metals   Steel, stainless steel, aluminum
Clamp Cable Length (ft.)   10
Regulator and Gas Hose Included   Yes
Shielding Gas Required   No

I've got you beat on the house, mine is from 1890 or something stupid, but I think our electrical system is pretty good. I had to have someone come hook up the line for an electric dryer, and he said there was plenty of room left in our box. I think I'm going to have him come back soon so I can get a dedicated circuit for some workbench outlet strips, so I figure if I need to get another one put in just for a welder, that would be the time to do it.

How thick of aluminum and steel you think you'd trust it on? I don't need to hit a bump in the road and have my subframe fall off underneath me. I'd settle for just being able to do steel, although aluminum would be a nice option.

I'll probably end up seeing if I can find something used first. There's gotta be a million tough guys in this city who thought they needed to own a welder, and then just never used it, or tried it a couple times and had no luck.

Quote from: lopee on July 16, 2009, 01:43:45 PM
So i broke down and bought a welder today.  Ive been wanting and waiting for about three years to just have the 400 clams burning a hole in my pocket. Well today was the day, Got a Northern Tool MIG 135. I have already sold some work, so its paying for itself already, just 2 hours old. I cant wait to work! I graduated from CCU in 96' with a sculpture degree and concentrated in metal sculpture. We had about $350,000 in tools and just miss the shop so much. Now to save the $2000 for the TIG, one day!

First project - make money
second project - underbody muffler W/ a GP style tip, Might try some larger tubes for the headers.

Anyone need stuff welded up in charlotte area? Let me know, I work cheap, GS'ers get a deal.

Just keep the Chinese man in NY City in the back of your mind...

Arrived in the US not being able to speak Any English. Took any job he could get to help pay his bills - rent on his megre room. He loved to weld. Saved up and bought a welder. Welded some security bars for the window of his room. Lanlord said, weld me some more. And now years later he is a millionaire with a Security Window business, only employs migrants from China, pays for their English lessons as well as Gives $200k a year to the English Lesson School.

Michael

You hear that? Weld me some security bars for my windows!! You'll be rich!

You know what! I told myself no more tools! Save your money for a rainy day and then this:



lopee your going to have to come over and help me clean a damn spot out in my garage now cause at that price I got to have one! The things I could build holy crap! Thanks! JKing 

Also lopee have you checked this thread out?

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=48054.0

This guy is one hell of a craftsman. Check out his welding beads and milling work!

Why don't you post some off your work? I'd like to see some of it.