Wife bought me a present!!!!!

[Chris_PT]

So, yesterday for my birthday, my wife bought me a very good gift. I have been talking about wanting to get a good hobby welder for various auto and misc. projects for some time now. She was listening all this time!

Anyway, she bought me a Hobart 210 MVP. I really like the option to have both power outlets. I am completely new to welding. The only experience I have with it is that I use to watch my grandfather and dad arc weld various big projects. I plan to go to HF tomorrow to get a hood and cart, and eventually I may want to build my own cart that is more customized to my needs, but not at this time.

I just wanted to share my story, introduce myself to the fab section (as I usually browse other sections) and welcome any advice/tips for the beginner as far as setup/recommendations/etc.

BTW-I'm sure some will recommend a welding class, however I really don't have time for that at the moment.

 

[Fixnair]

You are gonna love it. I have stick welded often in my life, not enough to become proficient but one session on my new Mig welder and it was like I welded all my life.
Go to "welding tips and tricks.com" ans subscribe to Jody Colliers on line welding instructions. Easy to follow and informative.
Oh! Happy birthday. You are a lucky man.

 

[crewchief888]

my only suggestion is to buy a good quality auto darkening welding hood.

hobart, lincoln and miller all have lower priced models under $150.

your local welding supply may, or may not, price match with online distributors.

i picked up a miller prohobby for under $140 delivered to the door from cyberweld.

 

[CNGsaves]

Wow . . . that wife is a KEEPER !!

You must have schooled her pretty well ahead of time to snag Hobart MVP rather than a much lesser machine.

Now you know the drill . . . have to buy some steel stock and dream up a welding cart that you'll make with the new welder.

GJ will need pics of your helmet . . . AND . . .then your cart project!!

 

[930dreamer]

Doesn't get any better then that.

 

[Tarheelgarage]

Need picture of that keeper wife you got

Does she have a sister?

 

[nine4gmc]

Need picture of that keeper wife you got

Does she have a sister?

This^


I have the Hobart 140, you are at least twice as lucky as me

 

[BD1]

Who cares what she looks like. Can she weld ??? Cook ???

 

[CNGsaves]

Who cares what she looks like. Can she weld ??? Cook ???

After buying me a Hobart MVP . . . I'd be reciprocating a gift from Victoria's Secret . . . and you darned right she can COOK !!!

 

[raddksn]

my only suggestion is to buy a good quality auto darkening welding hood.

hobart, lincoln and miller all have lower priced models under $150.

your local welding supply may, or may not, price matchopwith online distributors.

i picked up a miller prohobby for under $140 delivered to the door from cyberweld.

Good quality is the key! Buy a good hood take good care of it and you won't need another hood ever. P.S. happy birthday!

 

[Chris_PT]

You are gonna love it. I have stick welded often in my life, not enough to become proficient but one session on my new Mig welder and it was like I welded all my life.
Go to "welding tips and tricks.com" ans subscribe to Jody Colliers on line welding instructions. Easy to follow and informative.
Oh! Happy birthday. You are a lucky man.

I will definitely check that website out as I dig into learning. Thank you for the birthday wish and the compliments.

my only suggestion is to buy a good quality auto darkening welding hood.

hobart, lincoln and miller all have lower priced models under $150.

your local welding supply may, or may not, price match with online distributors.

i picked up a miller prohobby for under $140 delivered to the door from cyberweld.

I went to HF this morning and actually bought their cart and their auto-darkening helmet. I know it's not anywhere near the best, but I just welded for several hours and it worked well, IMO....then again, I am just a rookie. Perhaps if I continue to weld more and more, I will pick up a good, quality helmet.

Wow . . . that wife is a KEEPER !!

You must have schooled her pretty well ahead of time to snag Hobart MVP rather than a much lesser machine.

Now you know the drill . . . have to buy some steel stock and dream up a welding cart that you'll make with the new welder.

GJ will need pics of your helmet . . . AND . . .then your cart project!!

I did get into researching welders a few months back...turns out she was paying attention. As I said above, I bought a HF cart this morning just to get me going. I KNOW I will be building a nicer cart and welding/fab table in to future.

Doesn't get any better then that.

Thank you, sir.

Need picture of that keeper wife you got

Does she have a sister?

She has 2 sisters, actually haha

This^


I have the Hobart 140, you are at least twice as lucky as me

Meh, I'm sure your machine does quiet well buddy.

Who cares what she looks like. Can she weld ??? Cook ???

She can definitely cook! Love that about her...among other things.

After buying me a Hobart MVP . . . I'd be reciprocating a gift from Victoria's Secret . . . and you darned right she can COOK !!!

Yeah, I need to surprise her with a nice something....Thanks for the idea.

Good quality is the key! Buy a good hood take good care of it and you won't need another hood ever. P.S. happy birthday!

Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

 

[Stooge]

Congrats! hobarts are definitely quality machines, should make learning to weld a lot easier than one of cheap units.
I will say, I've used the HF auto darkening hood and after some continuous use in the same day, I noticed a lot of eye fatigue later in the day. Never had any flash incidents with it but a quality hood should be on your short list of new welding related toys to buy. HF is a good source for cheap welding clamps and different sized arrow magnets

 

[Kevin54]

I'm calling B.S. No pics, it didn't happen. Not now, not ever

Happy Birthday man. If she did that for you for your birthday, she is most definitely a keeper for sure.

 

[Chris_PT]

Yeah, I am noticing a slight headache at the moment. It's the same feeling headache I get with other sources of bright light. I will see how the rest of the night goes, however it's about a 1 on the pain scale of 1-10...so not bad. I will for sure look into some better helmets.

Yeah, I did. LOL I am trying to upload pics as I type...but they are going slowly.

 

[crewchief888]

i have one of the HF welding carts, i was kinda leery of it at 1st, but it's served me well for 4 years.

i prefer it over another cart i had, that was purchased from a well known tool company...

your eyes will thank you if you get a better quality AD hood.

i bought one of those cheap AD hoods one time, to keep at work for quicky welding jobs.

after the 3rd time it flashed me ( no matter what the settings were), it was sent flying out the door...

 

[kazlx]

Fwiw my Speedglas is some of the best money I've spent.

 

[Chris_PT]

So...The first project I tackled was my dad's broken trailer gait latch. The latch that holds the drop-down gait up was broken and gone on one side and he has just been using a bungee cord I found some rusty metal, cleaned it up with a grinder to knock all the rust off, measured and marked, cut and then just welded. I probably spent a total of 2 minutes practicing on a piece of flat stock prior to welding the new trailer latch together (ie-Keep that in mind as you guys criticize and critique my work).

Pics of the said new latch and my set-up below.


2013-04-27 16.33.37 by fultzc50

This is a spot that isn't so good...

2013-04-27 16.33.47 by fultzc50

2 pieces of rebar at a 90* angle facing downward.

2013-04-27 16.33.54 by fultzc50

The whole latch holding it's side of the gait up.

2013-04-27 16.34.24 by fultzc50

My rig

2013-04-27 16.42.00 by fultzc50

It's new home

2013-04-27 16.45.47 by fultzc50

 

[Kevin54]

You need to add another piece to the "L" shaped piece you made from rebar, but it has to be welded on while it is already through the loop. When the "L" latch is down, there should be a short piece on the other end that holds and locks the gate to the trailer. Then when you lift up in the "L" shaped piece to a vertical position, the short piece is also vertical and then you can slide the "L" shaped handle over to clear the trailer, but the short piece will keep it from coming completely out of the tailgate.

 

[DCarr]

Just the thought of hearing my wife say she bought me a present sends shrills down my spine. The last time ( maybe 24 yrs. ago ) was one of those 30 piece air nozzle kits for your compressor, the one where you use 2 of the pieces, the blow gun and the fitting.

But .. In your case ... You scored !!!!!

Does She have a sister ?

 

[Chris_PT]

You need to add another piece to the "L" shaped piece you made from rebar, but it has to be welded on while it is already through the loop. When the "L" latch is down, there should be a short piece on the other end that holds and locks the gate to the trailer. Then when you lift up in the "L" shaped piece to a vertical position, the short piece is also vertical and then you can slide the "L" shaped handle over to clear the trailer, but the short piece will keep it from coming completely out of the tailgate.

It's impossible to see from that picture, but I did weld the short piece to the latch that actually is facing down after inserting through the loop in the trailer gait. That latch you see in the pic above is actually holding the gait closed.

Just the thought of hearing my wife say she bought me a present sends shrills down my spine. The last time ( maybe 24 yrs. ago ) was one of those 30 piece air nozzle kits for your compressor, the one where you use 2 of the pieces, the blow gun and the fitting.

But .. In your case ... You scored !!!!!

Does She have a sister ?

Haha thanks man! Yeah, my wife is actually pretty awesome at gift giving. I'd say it's one of her many talents.

 

[ford33]

Nice present! You are very fortunate.

If your eyes are bothering you, definitely look for a better helmet or use a darker shade setting. I have a Lincoln that I consider to be safe. It worked well during my hours spent in welding class. My welding instructor used a Speedglas.

 

[Chris_PT]

I will give it another try on a darker shade setting. I think I had it on 10 or so for the most part.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Duker]

Fwiw my Speedglas is some of the best money I've spent.

+1 on the SpeedGlas, it is the single best thing I have bought/done so far to improve my welding.

 

[Stooge]

The speedglass helmets seem to have nothing but positive reviews. i used to have one of the miller pro hobby helmets which was great, and both the new digital pro hobby and 100v speedglass helmets are about $180 and either should work great for your needs.
Any plans to upgrade to a gas tank and solid wire, or sticking with flux core? With gas is probably easier to learn on

 

[Chris_PT]

Thanks for the recommendations guys. The speedglas seems to have great reviews.

Yes, I plan on getting a tank and solid wire sometime this week. I'll probably look that their welding hoods also.

Do you guys recommend a mix or single gas for just hobby welding, mostly steel?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

 

[kazlx]

75/25 argon/CO2 is standard for most mig. You won't regret buying a nice helmet and it's something that will give you years of service. I think I've had mine about 5 years now and use it all the time. I think it's the 9100X. It was about $300, but worth every penny. Nice big window and never had an issue with the auto dark.

 

[dwp99]

I went to HF this morning and actually bought their cart and their auto-darkening helmet. I know it's not anywhere near the best, but I just welded for several hours and it worked well, IMO....then again, I am just a rookie. Perhaps if I continue to weld more and more, I will pick up a good, quality helmet.

That's like saying I'm just a rookie when it comes to looking into the sun and if I continue to look more and more in to the sun I'll get better sunglasses.

It shouldn't matter how much welding you do the intensity of the arc doesn't change. You only have two eyes and when you damage them that's it. See your post below...

Yeah, I am noticing a slight headache at the moment. It's the same feeling headache I get with other sources of bright light. I will see how the rest of the night goes, however it's about a 1 on the pain scale of 1-10...so not bad. I will for sure look into some better helmets.

One other thing if you are wearing a white or light colored shirt the light will reflect off of it, up behind the helmet and can strain your eyes. Make sure you have adequate ventilation. The fumes will can cause problems.

Good luck, great present and Happy Birthday.