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> I also decided this build will need welding. Having never welded aluminium, i ordered a 200Amp TIG/MMA welding machine, rebuilt the main fuse-box in my house

> I also decided this build will need welding. Having never welded aluminium, i ordered a 200Amp TIG/MMA welding machine, rebuilt the main fuse-box in my house to be able to run it without burning my house down. I am currently waiting for a tube of Argon gas before i can start climbing that hill. I think this is about the point where my wife would have killed the project.

AnnoyingSwede 9y ago
No woman, no cry ;) UHM: Don't get me wrong. I wish it would have worked out better between my ex and me but stuff happens in life. I am sure she would not have allowed the sawing and welding either, as we lived very confined. Anyway, i stand corrected on this. Sorry if i offended.
andrewstuart2 9y ago
I'll bet that could be one of the easier sells in the long run. A full rack of servers? Not sure that will be the most pragmatic investment. The ability to weld stuff that breaks in the future? Seems like a solid investment, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had other uses in mind already. Sure, the trigger isn't some major value-add project, but if it builds a practical skill and makes other practical repairs/upgrades possible, I'd bet you could convince most people pretty easily. The escalation was a bit unexpected, though, and definitely made me laugh.
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  Also, OP sounds like the kind of person who would have been talking about a welder for years. And among the woodworking tools, auto repair, painting equipment, electronics, and computing, it's not that out of place. Most people would start with a stick welder and steel tube, but if you're going to end up wanting a TIG and buying one a few years down the road, why not buy the right tool now instead of two tools? Next step is the mill, lathe, grinder, strip sander...
  - AnnoyingSwede 9y ago
    Wanted to respond to this for a week but been home, sick as a dog and didn't have my HN credentials. This is spot-on, and next step IS a mill :) It's a bit scary how close you got. hehe. I updated my post with the last few pieces on the electric side now.
  - cr0sh 9y ago
    > Most people would start with a stick welder and steel tube, but if you're going to end up wanting a TIG and buying one a few years down the road, why not buy the right tool now instead of two tools? Have you priced a multi-process welder (plus all the extras) by a decent brand lately? Most people would "nope" out of there seeing such prices, especially for a tool which they may not even manage to get the skills to use effectively. While it is cheaper to go that route, vs going stick, then wire MIG, then TIG (and needing the room to store each machine) - if you purchase new equipment - it still is a big chunk of money to swallow. The cheapest route is to instead make friends with someone who has welding equipment; learn to use everything there, then when you get to whatever point you're best at - buy your own equipment. Myself, I've done a combo - I purchased a used cheapo 120 VAC buzz-box stick welder, which worked ok for small jobs - but I had learned on my brother-in-law's Lincoln Tombstone 220 VAC/DC system. Later, I met a friend who has a complete shop, and I can do just about any process I want there. Back home, I purchased a HF cheapo 120 VAC flux-core wire feed welder (mainly because I wanted to see what an $89.00 wire-feed welder could do - it's actually not a bad piece of kit, and people do all kinds of mods to it, too - including conversion to DC). One of these days I plan to get a 220 VAC line run to my garage, but that won't be any time soon; at that point I'll probably purchase a decent MIG welder w/ CO2...
    - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
      I'm a metal fabricator by trade, twenty years next year! I've owned a couple of $2000+ inverter TIG / Stick welders, but not any more. My work place still buys the name brand units for reliability and serviceability. The DC TIG / Stick inverter unit I have at home is a AU$280 one off eBay. It even has high-frequency start for the TIG. I rent a tiny bottle of argon from one of the industrial gas supply places in town for $5 a month, just to have argon at hand if I suddenly want to TIG weld something, and can get a larger bottle delivered next day if I need it. This is the unit I bought about 18 months ago, they're currently selling for less than when I got mine: https://tinyurl.com/ebay-dc-tig-au https://tinyurl.com/ebay-dc-tig-au
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
>I am currently waiting for a tube of Argon gas before i can start climbing that hill. Pfffft. Spool gun off an engine welder or GTFO. Just add a transfer switch and you can tell your wife it's a standby generator. ;) Also, maybe I'm to used to thinking in terms of big things made from thick metal but 200a seems really small for aluminum.
- convolvatron 9y ago
  200a is ok for 1/4" Al. warmup takes a while, and you do have to run it at max. disagree about the spool gun. tig is alot more useful for smaller work and crafts projects. its a stupid choice for structural, but up to 1/2" its fine. and you can do really small work in materials like stainless, brass, Al, cast iron, and bronze. it also requires less prep and cleanup to get a pretty result. (again for non-structural applications)
  - dsfyu404ed 9y ago
    >disagree about the spool gun That was a joke. It's apples to oranges. Most people wouldn't prefer a spool gun over TIG given the choice. > it also requires less prep and cleanup to get a pretty result. (again for non-structural applications) This couldn't be further from the truth. Assuming you're not using exotic consumables that are very contamination tolerant/intolerant TIG is far more sensitive to contamination than other processes.
    - convolvatron 9y ago
      it is, but you dont have a grind a bevel to get basic penetration, and if you dont need it perfectly flat and weld clean you dont need to grind down the weld to get rid of all the slag. obviously its all dependent on what you're trying to accomplish
ChuckMcM 9y ago
> I think this is about the point where my wife would have killed the project. Small anecdote. My wife grew up in a house with no tools, I grew up in one with lots of tools. She is also much more fiscally responsible than I am. So early in our life together she would push back on tool purchases (I have a habit of creating projects that always require at least one new tool). However, the experience over a few years of how much easier and more reliably a project was completed when the right tool was available, eventually won her over. And now she is perhaps more of a tool advocate than I am!
deleted 9y ago
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AnnoyingSwede 9y ago

No woman, no cry ;) UHM: Don't get me wrong. I wish it would have worked out better between my ex and me but stuff happens in life. I am sure she would not have allowed the sawing and welding either, as we lived very confined. Anyway, i stand corrected on this. Sorry if i offended.

andrewstuart2 9y ago

I'll bet that could be one of the easier sells in the long run. A full rack of servers? Not sure that will be the most pragmatic investment. The ability to weld stuff that breaks in the future? Seems like a solid investment, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had other uses in mind already. Sure, the trigger isn't some major value-add project, but if it builds a practical skill and makes other practical repairs/upgrades possible, I'd bet you could convince most people pretty easily. The escalation was a bit unexpected, though, and definitely made me laugh.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago
Also, OP sounds like the kind of person who would have been talking about a welder for years. And among the woodworking tools, auto repair, painting equipment, electronics, and computing, it's not that out of place. Most people would start with a stick welder and steel tube, but if you're going to end up wanting a TIG and buying one a few years down the road, why not buy the right tool now instead of two tools? Next step is the mill, lathe, grinder, strip sander...
- AnnoyingSwede 9y ago
  Wanted to respond to this for a week but been home, sick as a dog and didn't have my HN credentials. This is spot-on, and next step IS a mill :) It's a bit scary how close you got. hehe. I updated my post with the last few pieces on the electric side now.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  > Most people would start with a stick welder and steel tube, but if you're going to end up wanting a TIG and buying one a few years down the road, why not buy the right tool now instead of two tools? Have you priced a multi-process welder (plus all the extras) by a decent brand lately? Most people would "nope" out of there seeing such prices, especially for a tool which they may not even manage to get the skills to use effectively. While it is cheaper to go that route, vs going stick, then wire MIG, then TIG (and needing the room to store each machine) - if you purchase new equipment - it still is a big chunk of money to swallow. The cheapest route is to instead make friends with someone who has welding equipment; learn to use everything there, then when you get to whatever point you're best at - buy your own equipment. Myself, I've done a combo - I purchased a used cheapo 120 VAC buzz-box stick welder, which worked ok for small jobs - but I had learned on my brother-in-law's Lincoln Tombstone 220 VAC/DC system. Later, I met a friend who has a complete shop, and I can do just about any process I want there. Back home, I purchased a HF cheapo 120 VAC flux-core wire feed welder (mainly because I wanted to see what an $89.00 wire-feed welder could do - it's actually not a bad piece of kit, and people do all kinds of mods to it, too - including conversion to DC). One of these days I plan to get a 220 VAC line run to my garage, but that won't be any time soon; at that point I'll probably purchase a decent MIG welder w/ CO2...
  - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
    I'm a metal fabricator by trade, twenty years next year! I've owned a couple of $2000+ inverter TIG / Stick welders, but not any more. My work place still buys the name brand units for reliability and serviceability. The DC TIG / Stick inverter unit I have at home is a AU$280 one off eBay. It even has high-frequency start for the TIG. I rent a tiny bottle of argon from one of the industrial gas supply places in town for $5 a month, just to have argon at hand if I suddenly want to TIG weld something, and can get a larger bottle delivered next day if I need it. This is the unit I bought about 18 months ago, they're currently selling for less than when I got mine: https://tinyurl.com/ebay-dc-tig-au https://tinyurl.com/ebay-dc-tig-au

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

>I am currently waiting for a tube of Argon gas before i can start climbing that hill. Pfffft. Spool gun off an engine welder or GTFO. Just add a transfer switch and you can tell your wife it's a standby generator. ;) Also, maybe I'm to used to thinking in terms of big things made from thick metal but 200a seems really small for aluminum.

convolvatron 9y ago
200a is ok for 1/4" Al. warmup takes a while, and you do have to run it at max. disagree about the spool gun. tig is alot more useful for smaller work and crafts projects. its a stupid choice for structural, but up to 1/2" its fine. and you can do really small work in materials like stainless, brass, Al, cast iron, and bronze. it also requires less prep and cleanup to get a pretty result. (again for non-structural applications)
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  >disagree about the spool gun That was a joke. It's apples to oranges. Most people wouldn't prefer a spool gun over TIG given the choice. > it also requires less prep and cleanup to get a pretty result. (again for non-structural applications) This couldn't be further from the truth. Assuming you're not using exotic consumables that are very contamination tolerant/intolerant TIG is far more sensitive to contamination than other processes.
  - convolvatron 9y ago
    it is, but you dont have a grind a bevel to get basic penetration, and if you dont need it perfectly flat and weld clean you dont need to grind down the weld to get rid of all the slag. obviously its all dependent on what you're trying to accomplish

ChuckMcM 9y ago

> I think this is about the point where my wife would have killed the project. Small anecdote. My wife grew up in a house with no tools, I grew up in one with lots of tools. She is also much more fiscally responsible than I am. So early in our life together she would push back on tool purchases (I have a habit of creating projects that always require at least one new tool). However, the experience over a few years of how much easier and more reliably a project was completed when the right tool was available, eventually won her over. And now she is perhaps more of a tool advocate than I am!

deleted 9y ago

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