3 ms·

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

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
    - asteli 9y ago
      I've done a little welding, using the really nice TIG setup at my work's machine shop. I've contemplated getting a cheap TIG setup for home, but was wary that they'd be unusable compared to a nice unit. Sort of like soldering irons, where the <$40 ones are typically trash, the $40~$100 ones are probably fine for home use, and the ones that I bought for work start around $500 (JBC btw, I've convinced our entire engineering lab that they're the best). When you go really cheap on soldering gear, overall power, tip temperature regulation, tip plating quality, and iron longevity are all reduced, sometimes to the point of unusability. What do you lose when you go cheap on TIG machines?
      - convolvatron 9y ago
        not too much really. power. 200A gets you pretty far, but 100 isn't enough for some things. if you don't get AC you can't weld aluminum. without a water cooler you have to make sure not to run the head too long without a break, but for personal use its not too bad. if you get one without the argon valve and control its a pain, but its usable (you have to stopcock open the argon before use and turn it off, so you go through more gas). cheaper ones might not have the HF start so you need to scratch start, which is a pain, but livable. the only thing to really be wary about with the cheaper deals is that they often don't include the head, sleeve, controls, ground clamp, argon fittings and regulator. so those might add some hidden cost. regardless you need to budget another ~$300 for a tank and gas. but the difference between low end and low end professional is alot of money, so I would definitely recommend skimping a little. since the tips are consumed there isn't much of a wear issue really. a super cheap option is a used stick machine with a tig head if you can live with all of the above limitations. if you upgrade you can carry forward the tank, regulator and head.

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
  - asteli 9y ago
    I've done a little welding, using the really nice TIG setup at my work's machine shop. I've contemplated getting a cheap TIG setup for home, but was wary that they'd be unusable compared to a nice unit. Sort of like soldering irons, where the <$40 ones are typically trash, the $40~$100 ones are probably fine for home use, and the ones that I bought for work start around $500 (JBC btw, I've convinced our entire engineering lab that they're the best). When you go really cheap on soldering gear, overall power, tip temperature regulation, tip plating quality, and iron longevity are all reduced, sometimes to the point of unusability. What do you lose when you go cheap on TIG machines?
    - convolvatron 9y ago
      not too much really. power. 200A gets you pretty far, but 100 isn't enough for some things. if you don't get AC you can't weld aluminum. without a water cooler you have to make sure not to run the head too long without a break, but for personal use its not too bad. if you get one without the argon valve and control its a pain, but its usable (you have to stopcock open the argon before use and turn it off, so you go through more gas). cheaper ones might not have the HF start so you need to scratch start, which is a pain, but livable. the only thing to really be wary about with the cheaper deals is that they often don't include the head, sleeve, controls, ground clamp, argon fittings and regulator. so those might add some hidden cost. regardless you need to budget another ~$300 for a tank and gas. but the difference between low end and low end professional is alot of money, so I would definitely recommend skimping a little. since the tips are consumed there isn't much of a wear issue really. a super cheap option is a used stick machine with a tig head if you can live with all of the above limitations. if you upgrade you can carry forward the tank, regulator and head.