If you are in the market for a new welder this looks like a deal. I’m going to see if the boobed banker will front my the money for this. Sometime the coupons vanish in the wind.
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Tom, I remember when smokey the bear was shilling for the forest service, now it’s Chinese welders…things have changed.
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Yeah the whole animated bear thing just kinda freaks me out.
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I only wish I knew about youtube years ago. Some of these guys made fat bucks from these and the ones that do reviews of products are right up there. I think the biggest grossing youtuber is some guy that reviews toys and video games. Anyway how sweet would it be for manufacturers to send you free stuff so you can review it. Still arm wrestling with the banker about this welder. I guess I wanted the AC for Aluminum but don’t really need it. I’m actually getting a yen to do some TIG and don’t have a welder set up for it any longer. Thinking that if AirGas will fill one of my oxy bottles with argon mix I may do it. The Tig torch for this thing is extra and a foot petal is a hundred as well but having that control is worth it to me. When this guy puts his real face on you will be glad he uses the bear, Cody.
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I realize marijuana is legal in Michigan now, apparently this is evidence.
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Not guilty, I swear. My delusions are strictly self generated.
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Hey TomH.
About two years ago I was on the same hunt.
Small welder systems of course by US made Miller and Lincoln.
The diffnert Chinese system manufactuures like you’ve put up.
Then the different Western Europeans. ESAB as comparable capabilities and price wise with the Americans.
I went with Forney. An American Company name for support and service. They use one of the Italian welders making for them to their specs.
Mine was an actual in-store previous model, discontinued close out. Great price eh-yah. But watch for limited availability on those add-on foot pedal and torch systems!
Only Miller, Lincoln and ESAB have for sure compatibility within their systems.
S.U.
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I like my MIG Forney welder. It does everything I need it to do. Lots of stores carry the tips and other parts.
Bob
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I doubt they will fill it, because they have to degas it and then probably repaint it. They will most likely trade it.
I’m still tinkering with the idea of a putting a tig torch on my mig… Can you only tig weld aluminum with AC? If so half the motivation just went out the window…
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Your probably right Sean. I have some bottles that came from a local fire department for storing compressed air for their Scott air packs. The AirGas place in TC is the only supplier for a long way now so they aren’t real interested in much accommodation. When I was still using oxy-acet I was just using small bottles that I exchanged at Tractor Supply.
I’ve never used a spool gun and don’t know if they convert DC but you do have to TIG aluminum on AC. It’s takes some practice. I only ever TIGed aluminum handrail and it’s been about 35 years since I last did that.
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I alum. weld with spool gun, and, or stick weld. Spool gun uses 100% argon, clean, clean, clean! then weld. some hybrid alum. takes weld, grind out 1-3 times for compatibility with wire, or sticks used.
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Al F. and to grind soft aluminum you first chalk load up the grinding disc, yes?
S.U.
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It all takes practice and a steady hand and a bit of patience prepping.
My mig supposedly I can get the spoolgun for aluminum. I think I have to use 100% argon with it. However, I saw a video if not the one posted, one similar. where they skipped the spoolgun. I don’t know if that works with all migs or not.
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Are any of these vacuum gauges suitable for gasifiers. They seem the same as this one. 2.5" Vacuum Gauge 0 to -30"WC / 0 to -2"Hg, Back Mount
but much cheaper.
https://www.amazon.com/vacuum-gauges/s?k=vacuum+gauges
I don’t see any in InWC just inches of Mercury.
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Thanks. I guess I wasn’t aware of that criteria. I’ll just order the 29 dollar one.
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If you only use inches of Mercury you’d still be able to judge the system. The big part is comparative draw on the gasifier.
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The inches of mercury will hardly show up on the gauges. I have tried them before but didn’t work out well 
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Here’s a note put together a few years ago about atmospheric pressures/vacuums:
for the relatively low pressures/vacuums that we are working with-----
It’s all based on the weight of the atmosphere on earth which is approx.
14.7 psi.
If we use a barometer to measure pressure or suction, we find that a columm on mercury 30 iches high (or 760 mm high if you like the metric system) represents this number.
Sometimes this 30" Hg (Mercury) point is refered to as “1 Bar” (One barometer).
In that system, 2 bar would be 29.4 psi, etc.
You could use a column of water for your barometer, but it would have to be about 32 feet high (or roughly 400 inches high) for the water to equal the weight of 30 inches of Mercury.
People in the natural gas delivery business sometimes use “ounces per square inch.
1 oz/sq.in = 1.73” water column, for instance.
Scientist sometimes like Pascals or kPa (a 1000 Pascals), since one Pascal is pretty small.
This list of conversions goes on an on,
See:
but we are generally interested in lower pressures or “suctions”. So that’s why we usually use the “Inches WC” (Inches,Water Column) gauges, sensors and U-tube manometers.
Table of presure readings. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need or want a pressure or vacuum gage that reads any higher than about 30"WC, and that’s only about 1 psi.
In fact, a lot of the pressures, both plus and minus, that I see are in the 1"WC to 6 0r 8"WC range.
Conv Factor 27.7
psi WC, Inches
0.25 6.925
0.5 13.85
1 27.7
2 55.4
3 83.1
4 110.8
5 138.5
6 166.2
7 193.9
8 221.6
9 249.3
10 277
11 304.7
12 332.4
13 360.1
14 387.8
14.7 407.19
Pete Stanaitis
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I have questain about coating my forge ceramic fiber blanket, what would be a good thickness of refractory cement too coat my blanket, Or should i use rididizor instead of shelling the blanket with refractory cement.
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