awthorn
New member
Nice, good to hear you like it and its handling everything fine....maybe I didn't need a 220V unit, lol.
I ended up buying a factory refurbished 190 which is supposed to be here Monday. It was within $50 of a new 140 and the refurbished units have great reviews and the same warranty so decided to go for it. One of my best friends is an electrician and I have plenty of room in my panel so adding a 220 plug to the garage isn't a big deal.
Still need to buy a helmet, cheap HF table, and some other stuff but hoping to start messing with it after Christmas.
Any tips or tricks for learning? I did some stick and MIG welding in college but that was like 12-14 years ago and I wasn't using an auto darkening helmet so it was a ***** to start the stick arc. I was planning on just watching youtube videos and practicing on scrap, if that doesn't work maybe take a tech school class or buy a buddy a case of beer for some help.
Nice, the 190 is a little bit nicer than the 140!
I have had a buddy who was an certified dive welder help me along with things but I have watched TONS of YouTube videos. Below is a list of some of my favorite youtube channels for welding etc. there are TONS out there.
- weld.com
- Chuckee2009
- Welding Tips and Tricks
For Fabbing/welding youtube
- The Fabrication Series
- Bleeping jeep
- The Fab Forums
But the best advice I can give is find a steel yard and buy off cuts and make stuff. Practicing practical welding will improve your skills and have someone who knows what they are doing look over your stuff; if you don't have a buddy like i do join a FB group and post up pics.
Also, invest in some good gloves, an auto darkening helmet that goes down to 9 is nice, and maybe a glove shield. I have burned the hell out of the back of my knuckles not wanting to stop a bead to only take off my glove and find good 2nd degree burns lol.