Hi from the High Desert in Southern Ca

[sleeper]

Hi Folks, I stumbled upon this site looking for information on an electric spot welder and thought I might sign up. I don’t know that I’ll be able to contribute much as far as welding, but you never know.

First of all I am not a welder although I have been sticking metal together for many, many years. I did take some classes at a Community College some 40 years ago as part of an Automotive Machinist Program. I had 1 semester of Arc Welding and 1 semester of Gas welding, but I don’t remember much. I weld at home and at work, but when it comes to critical or big stuff I have a local welding shop that I use all the time.

I have an old AirCo 2.25DT-2-A and a Lincoln AC-225 Arc Welder. I had an AC/DC 225 on my wish list for years but by the time I was able to buy one I could only find the AC model. I also have the Lincoln Pro Mig135 and an oxy/acetylene set. Someday I would like to have a small Plasma cutter, but I’m not anywhere near there yet.

Anyway I have lots to learn and one thing I completely missed when I went to school was welding aluminum. I’m not in any hurry although I do have some projects piling up and maybe sometime soon.

Just to give you an idea of how small a home operation I have, this is a photo of my shop.

[Gasgiant62]

Hi sleeper, i just signed up myself today, haven't started welding yet, bought a land-rover discovery that needs a boot floor, dont know if i've bitten off more than i can chew but i'm going to give it a go! i love your work shop it's cool, i'm waitin for the rain to stop so i can get cracking, on a steep learning curve.

[soutthpaw]

I would find a better place to keep tha= 5 gallon gas can.

[sleeper]

Originally Posted by Gasgiant62

Hi sleeper, i just signed up myself today, haven't started welding yet, bought a land-rover discovery that needs a boot floor, dont know if i've bitten off more than i can chew but i'm going to give it a go! i love your work shop it's cool, i'm waitin for the rain to stop so i can get cracking, on a steep learning curve.

Thanks, Gasgiant62. I’ve been reading through a lot of posts here and there sure are a lot of talented people and I have learned a lot just in this short amount of time. I wish I would have thought to do to go to a an actual welding forum with real experienced welders years ago before I bought most of my equipment, because now I realize that I made a lot of poor choices.

I still haven’t decided on what equipment is best for a home repair shop, but I’m now thinking that I may try to sell some of my stuff and try to find a combination stick/mig welder that I can afford. I plan on retiring in 3 years and I need to save as much as I can to get through the initial shock of having my income cut in half. Who knows maybe I may be able pick up some extra spending money making small repairs after retirement.

I’ve been practicing custom fitting pre-made 8’ railings which I find a lot of fun and want to try some custom design stuff once I figure out where to buy the steel. I also need to get the painting part down because I under estimated how many cans of paint and ran out of paint. The second can turned out to be a different color so I’m going to have to repaint the whole thing.

Originally Posted by soutthpaw

I would find a better place to keep tha= 5 gallon gas can.

LOL, yes I suppose you are right. It hasn’t had gas in it for a long time, maybe 10 yrs, because I can’t afford it.
I used it for a generator but I burned it up yrs ago. I store an Aluminum Crossbed Truck Box for my Pickup under the work bench and there was just enough room to put the gas can. I don’t know if I’ll ever use again unless I get another generator.