Welcome to the group

Dave

Was in Home Depot today looking for some Lincoln (Tweeco compatible) .030 contact tips. No more Lincoln at HD. It's all been replaced by Rigid.
Wondering who makes them. Anyone have experience with them?

View attachment 1793273

 

Ridgid makes a whole line of welding stuff now. Pretty crazy!

All sorts of rods brazing, cast iron, aluminum, etc etc etc, mig wire, gloves, helmets, wire brush, anti spatter spray, etc etc etc.

Search "ridgid welding" on home depots website,.

 

Looks similar to a green harbor freight welder

 

Although the parent company is a USA company , Emerson, good or bad it is just Chinese tool made by TTI who also makes Ridgid's Orange line of tools.

Gotta suck for Lincoln to not be in the box stores for the retail/home users - or maybe not

 

Lincoln is still at Lowe's

 

HD/Husky bought out a welding accessories and pipe fitting tool company (or something like that) pretty recently. Considering Rigid is primarily sold at HD, sounds like Home Depot and TTI got together to get into the consumer/prosumer welding game.

 

We are living in the new age of monopolies and titans of griftestry.

A few companies own everything in certain sectors.

The consumers are being gutted and always lose.

Same story with the food chain, power and hand tools, media/computer programs/internet, and so on. SAD!

 

I think Europe is fighting back as I think they are passing a standard where all tool batteries have to be interchangeable

 

Right now the consumer has got a gift. Used to be expensive or didnt work well and now we can buy tools that work at 1/2 the cost they were 20 yrs ago in those dollars.

 

It's a trade off, but the way I see it mostly the consumer is losing.


Some things are indeed more accessible and generally much higher quality relative to the price (tools/welders, guitars, electronics).

Not counting the highest end stuff (always statistical outliers):

Mechanic tools, power tools, specialty stuff (like welders), have all generally gotten better., cheaper, and much more accessible! though I doubt any of them will have the durability for 15+ years of constant use.


On the other hand things like precision tools (starret), car parts, clothing/shoes, hardware, have generally all gone "5 steps down in quality and 2 steps down in price".

Try buying some non oem car parts (ball joints!), a pair of jeans that lasts over a year, a couch or a washing machine/appliance that lasts.

 

It's a trade off, but the way I see it mostly the consumer is losing.....
Try buying some non oem car parts (ball joints!), a pair of jeans that lasts over a year, a couch or a washing machine/appliance that lasts.

Yup. My garden variety Kenmore dishwasher just died. I honestly can't remember how old it was... at least 15 years. Sales person at Lowe's told me yesterday that a new one will last somewhere between 5 - 8 years.

 

They cost less. And, we now are using cheap stuff we thought was going to be disposable in a year and 15+ years in hare service. Yes, expensive things got more expensive. I am done with Starret, cost more to repair than I paid for it and now can get one works for 10 years for 29$ vs 290 and needs repair.

 

I'm all LSS or Fowler and I've never had to have any LSS stuff repaired. It's Starrett btw.

 

Got to wonder how they come to those conclusions?

 

“Sales person at Lowe’s”.

:laugh:

 

I have wrenches I paid 15 a piece for 40+ years ago. I have some I paid a dollar for 25 years ago that I am still using that I like as well or better in some cases. If I had to toss them tomorrow (which seems unlikely unless reading about it on a forum) and had to replace them at todays dollars are they junk and should have bought better ones? Seems we forget to really compare price when comparing longevity.
How long does my 300$ plasma need to last compared to a 3000$ one? Brand one shats a board cost 800 if a guy can find it, could buy 3 just for the parts and every new one has new features for free.

 

When I started cheap tools were junk, Sears was turning to junk and now flea mkt tools are usable. Harbor would at least be a first stop for almost anything today and now have more trade vans in the parking lot than home body types. They now sell wayyyy ,ore good tools than the bottom of the line and actually discontinued a lot of that as the price difference makes the better tool attractive. Why pay 2 for a stamped wrench when you can get a good forged one for 3?
It took me a while to tell the difference and to get a real grasp. Was changing in the 90s, I still bought a proto vs the Napa,,, now auto parts got a 12 inch wrench retail on the shelf for 12$ cant tell from a Diamond.

 

I have, they didnt even want to look at it and it was like new. All this quality comparison would be a lot different if one was 29$ vs 59 but its not. Some of it is 10X and the cheaper does the job just fine for most people.

 

Was in Home Depot today looking for some Lincoln (Tweeco compatible) .030 contact tips. No more Lincoln at HD. It's all been replaced by Rigid.
Wondering who makes them. Anyone have experience with them?

I wouldn't want a rigid welder; I prefer those that are flexible and can handle lots of strange situations, be it the machine or the operator.

BTW, Ridgid tools are made by the Ridge Tool Company; most of mine are plumbing-related. Makes me wonder if Ridge first got into making/selling welders for assembling pipelines, or to melt frozen pipes?

 

They got in to it due to their place in the box stores and now can simply buy it with private label and your color, ready to go. Sold in the same isle as the other tools at Home Depot.

 

Exactly

The box stores increase brand identity and Lincoln retains market share without needing to devalue their identity with price drop mentality

 

Ridgid Red Plumbing tools are made by Rigid but the Orange power tools and such are made by the Chinese company for Ridgid

 

Yep, most of the Rigid 18V cordless stuff is made by the same companies that build the Milwaukee tools, but they can't allow the batteries to interchange. Love the suck there. (Sarcasm)

 

I went to HD to see if LINCOLN prices went on close out prices in Reno,NV. Nope and no RIGID welders either. RIGID cordless seem to be a HD tool only so expect to see RIGID welders eventually so I will keep watching for close out prices on LINCOLN stuf.

 

Depends on their purchasing agreement but maybe they will send them back to Lincoln.

 

I been looking for a used one, I want a Pro Mig 140 but it would hafta be cheap if new.

 

Good for the public but,,,,,,, they are so massive they can squeeze their vendors even buy them, and come up with their own lines.

 

Good for the public but,,,,,,, they are so massive they can squeeze their vendors .

Exactly. Look at Costco. How do you think they are able to provide such a generous ( absurd and abused) “no questions asked” return policy?

Someone should do a documentary on the many small vendors who (thought they were on the gravy train) were bankrupted.

 

Rigid's got it! View attachment 20240712_114533.jpg View attachment 20240712_114533.jpg

 

Rigid's got it!
View attachment 1793647

Not to worry, there's 2 Lincoln helmets left! No markdown on them.

 

I imagine Home Depot discontinued Lincoln welders is there is a better profit margin with ridgid. also the Lincoln stuff was bigger and bulkier so ridged is smaller package and takes up less space so they can put more items up and look like they have a better and more selection of stuff. all marketing.

remember when HD didn't stock the isles full of merchandise and display boxes? you could actually pass someone side by side instead of one of you waiting for the other cart coming other way to pass first? its ALL about money.
just heard yesterday that millionaires are moving out of ski resort Jackson Hole, Wyoming? the BILLIONIARES are buying up the property so now the millionaires cant afford to live in Jackson Hole any more!

 

Tractor supply has been doing this a long time and this already looks wayyyyy better.

 

At first the home depot picture looks an awful lot like the tractor supply welding rack. It must be the orange and black blister packs, and the small containers of welding rod.

Interesting article, especially the part about what isn't known.

https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/

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It might be state or regional but the stock at my tractor S stores is pitiful. I have heard its better elsewhere but here its sorry and now pricing themselves out of it. Too bad, they really had a chance to become a real welding store but think that ship may have sailed. Looks like these guys figured out they can stock more than one roll of 030

 

Our TSC stores all went to Peavy Mart... not much change in merchandise though...

 

I didn't think Canada had TSC as an option.