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Welding Setup?

racer8432955

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Jul 7, 2007
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172
All good advice.....there’s a rule (written somewhere) of staying in the immediate area after welding, cutting, grinding, etc., for 30 minutes in case some errant spark is growing. It’s best judged by one beer consumption time.
^ i guess i repeated what this guy said. good advice either way
 
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Slednut

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Dec 20, 2012
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Washington state
If fire is a conserve I would learn to TIG weld, no sparks, and usually no grinding. I put a vise outside for grinding, it cuts down on dust in the shop and the chance of starting a fire is nil.

I also found you can make drawers out of steel easier than wood, my welding table has six 30" deep drawers.
 

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jrsavoie

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North east Illinois
FCAW is absolutely fine to learn with. If you're welding anything 1/8"+ it's cake. If you learn how to weld sheetmetal with FCAW, you'll be really good at it by the time you switch to gas.

Minimum equipment to make it worthwhile, IMO: decent hood, a few pairs of leather welding gloves, a welding cap, a denim long sleeve shirt (welding jacket is better of course), a 4-1/2" grinder with grinding, cut-off, and wire wheels, a few magnets and clamps, and extra tips for the gun.
I've rarely used the heavy welding gloves. I always just wore light leather work gloves.
 

brownbagg

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Mar 20, 2006
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5,208
i got a gallon of wd40 on fire once, look under your table before welding
 
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speed bump

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May 28, 2008
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Butte Montana
Get a 5 inch grinder (ideally two one that is 10+A for grinder and a small one with a wire wheel), a chipping hammer (I like Lenco but a cheap one works fine), Welpers (I really like the channel locks) wire brushes, and some scrap steel (thicker is better for practice).

Safety side: always wear safety glasses under your helmet. Always cover your skin (you really don't want UV burns). Don't grab freshly welded parts. Buy a half face respirator with P100 (pink cartridges) and wear it if you are doing more than a quick bead with poor ventilation.

For a table I would suggest a piece of scrap steel plate (start watching FS places and ask around) on saw horses outside (FCAW inside without adequate ventilation isn't good). Personally I don't think it's that important unless you plan to do a lot of bench work. Most of my work is done on the vehicle, in a vise, or on saw horses though.
 

Aaron_W

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Feb 6, 2018
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2,924
Location
Northern California
3 harbor freight cheapo grinders bunch grinding, cut off and flap disc, and cup wire wheel keep all 3 loaded
good full face shield and a heavy cotton or welding jacket.

harbor freight or vevor lift cart wil work fine just need to put a bigger worktop on it.

some clamps and angle magnets

a good thing is a harbor freight portable band saw with good blade for cutting stock i didn't say chop saw because your wood worker so sparks are bad thing but if welding and grinding you know the two dont mix.

Yes a metal cutting bandsaw will be your best friend. A small horizontal bandsaw 3x5", 4x6" etc is a great thing to have because you can do other things while it cuts. One of the handheld portabands will also work if you don't have the room, or want to spend less. You can often find a good used horizontal bandsaw for less than $200 on Craigslist, and Harbor Freight's 4x6 is a pretty good deal, running about $300 new these days.
 

ArmyTaco

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May 29, 2022
Messages
3
My small “shop” is geared towards woodworking and storage… So walls are all Plywood… Workbenches are plywood… and tools are all woodworking tools.

But, I’ve been interested in learning how to weld for a while now. I purchased a welder about a year ago, and finally got around to unboxing it.

I’m quickly learning I’m going to need a few more tools/a bit more gear in order to learn (Attaching a ground lead to some small pieces of scrap metal isn’t ideal.

I’m curious:
1: What gear do you think is ”bare minimum” when it comes to starting off (I have the machine, a hood, and gloves)
2: What should I be looking for for work surfaces, keeping in mind my budget is low and storage is really becoming scarce (a welding blanket tossed over my wood benches, with a Klutch or Dewalt table top Over it?… A harbor freight cheapo-table that I can bring outside? A slab of steel that I can lay on cinder blocks? Or **** it up and weld on the floor?)
I would look at Fireball Tools and other welding channels on YouTube. I'm in a small shop as well, and one thing I am going to make room for, is a grinding table with filtration. Trying to do metal fab, in the same space you do everything else, really *****. Grinding dust gets everywhere. I'd incorporate the grinding table into a welding table to save space.


Also anyone looking into welders, needs to checkout PrimeWeld. They are a US based company, selling welders that are better than Vulcan quality, for the Titanium money. I bought my 180 for $550 with spool gun. Their 3 in 1 is $100 cheaper than the Titanium, yet comes with a CK15 tig torch that retails for $120 new. I'm not affiliated, just really impressed with my machine. Best part is they carry a 3yr warranty, and you deal with people in the US.
 

thebmrust

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Jul 12, 2021
Messages
95
Location
99336
1: What gear do you think is ”bare minimum”:
Add a fire extinguisher.
2: What should I be looking for for work surfaces, keeping in mind my budget is low and storage is really becoming scarce:
There’s nothing wrong with multi purpose tools. Maybe, put a metal top on an out feed table with welding tools under it. Cover other surfaces or fire prone areas w the fiberglass tarps.

Usually the first project is a welding cart to hold all the tools.
Modify the cart to a become a mobile work table. (YouTube has more ideas than you can imagine).
Make the cart/table to fit a space in your garage/shop. (fit = meaning storage or working location).

You might need to reconfigure your space to allow for flexibility of wood and metal working.

Using flux core will allow you to work outside. Using gas, it will needs to be calm outside, well protected from wind outside or inside.

The type of welding (your projects) will also dictate your direction. Making stainless steel artistic butterflies out of soda cans vs roll cage chassis race cars have different work space needs.

All that being said;
Welding is a skill, you build it over time.

…and…
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
 

Firstram

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Joined
May 16, 2017
Messages
1,391
A garden sprayer filled with water should be near the top of the list. They are perfect for putting out smoldering rags and paper towels.

I always have a pressurized water fire extinguisher around as well. These can be dangerous near electricity so skip them if you are the panicky type.

Fire extinguishers, I always grab a CO2 first but I do have those vile ABC powder filled things too. That stuff is brutal to clean up but it's still less work than building a new building!

Never clean your parts with any chlorinated cleaners.
 
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