How it starts...

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A buzz boxThere are no small projects
Reply:Sorry, using Netscape seem to give problems...A buzz box…I’m told that’s how it starts.      You see one for sale, whether it’s new or used and you say, “Hey, that would be handy”.      You think of an old friend that has admirable skills and remember that he can weld.     “It looks harmless, I think I’ll give it a try.”     To avoid the scrutiny of others, you wait until you have a quiet moment, by yourself, and you turn it on.     The monotone buzz is mildly hypnotic, it entices you to unleash the power within.    Using two hands you lean in and …one small spark and the electrode is welded to the work.   It’s ok, a quick wrist flip and its free for you to try again.    A larger spark and again, the rod is welded to the metal.    A wave of frustration begins to build, but you fight it back.   After all, there are literally millions of persons you have learned to weld including your old friend.   It’s a bit like your first cigarette.   Within seconds of your first drag, you’re convulsing, turning green and possibly throw up…but you still take and another puff.   The hypnotic hum and the aroma of melted metal spur you on and with the next strike…There is, one inch of the finest weld bead mankind has ever seen.   Tears well in your eyes as you admire it from every angle.   You want to call family and friends to witness your absolute mastery of electric fire, but instead, the helmet drops and you go in for another pass.   The next three hours are spent in near insane frustration while you attempt to repeat that 1 inch of metal perfection.    Beaten and out of rods, you turn off the 220v hypnotist and sulk away.      For the next several days, from time to time, you can still smell the acrid smoke and actually hear the crackle.    At this point, most people either quit and accept failure or dive back with the intention of winning.     You’re a winner, but you know you must seek the council of experts for they’re everywhere and willing to offer their advice.    They don’t know it but they couldn’t refuse even if they wanted…they too have been hypnotized.    You call you old friend and download all his knowledge.    Armed with a wealth of new information, you go back into the trenches, fire that ***** up and start joining metal.   It’s so easy now.   You command molten metal to flow exactly where you want it.    You eventually hit the off switch, not because you’re tired, but because, again, you’re out of rods.    You’re hooked.    Proudly you approach your welding councilor and paint a portrait of your success.    He say’s, “Oh yeah?  You think stick welding is cool, wait until you try MIG!”     With the self control of a new puppy, you pry for more information about this new, what was it called…MIG?   You find yourself, surfing the net studying about the technique.   The idea seems simple enough, but the equipment is 3 times what you paid for your AC225.    The idea of clean controllable welds with no slag haunts you for days.   You can’t help but troll the aisles in Lowes and Home Depot, if only to touch a Lincoln SP135.      Still, the cost is an obstacle, mortgage, or maybe tuition must come first.   An idea starts to brew.   Nah, it’s a silly idea, after all, what product could you make with a MIG welder and actually be able to sell?    On the drive home, out of nowhere, dozens of craft shops have popped up, each with a front yard full of…Yes…welded stuff.     Later, while it’s just you and the buzz box, it’s hum plants the idea that you might be able to test drive a MIG at a local dealer.    Before you realize your car keys are in your hand, you’re walking through the door at the dealer and standing before row upon row of beautiful Red, Blue and Yellow cases.   They’re so many to choose from.   Instinctively you, you start at the biggest one.   Like an unchaperoned eight year old in a toy store, you play with each one as you walk the aisles.    The only bells of reality are the price tags.    Quickly, you surmise that if you can’t lift it, you can’t afford it, so you migrate to the end of the row to where the bread box sized ones wait.   Smooth as oil, the sales person leads you to the backroom where a shiny brand new unit hums that familiar note.   There are new gloves and a new auto darkening helmet (complete with a NASCAR logo) are ready.   The finest confectioners in France are unable to squeeze a bead of cake icing as well as the MIG artwork the salesperson puts down.   With a smile, he hands you the torch.   It might as well have been a crack pipe for the influence it will have over you.     With the business end of the electrode so much closer to your hand, you’re certain the hours of frustration over learning to stick will be but a distant memory.   Oh no, there it is, mocking you as your lens goes light, the wire neatly welded to the work.    The salesperson swoops in with a pair of cutters to save the moment.   Nod, brace and squeeze.   Less than 10 seconds later, your mind is made up.   This shiny red/blue/yellow breadbox is coming home with you.    Of course, you have to also get an auto dark helmet, but for the sake of your wallet, you go for the all black one.   Driving home with a rental tank in the back and your new best friend, although still in its box, actually seat belted in next to you, you banish the logic that you just spent 10% of the cost of the car/truck that your sitting in.   Back at home, old and new are setup, each waiting for their turn on the outlet.   The hypnotic hum and blue haze have you intoxicated as you weld late into the night.   This time you finally call it quits because you have run out of metal.     For the next several weeks, you find yourself eyeballing curbside trash to see if there is any usable metal.    You now have your welding gas supplier and local steel yard on speed dial.    The kitchen table is covered with sketches and plans for hundreds of ideas of things to build.     There a pile of old machinery, racks, fence and lawn mower chassis accumulated behind your garage.   You neighbors see a junk yard growing, but you see gold in the form of although rusty, usable steel.     You’re hooked, a junkie with a single minded drive to start your next project.    You’re proud to show off your frequent filler card given to only the best customers of the welding gas supplier.    Two days after not breathing blue metal smoke and you get the shakes.    Your forehead has a permanent stripe from the helmet and you can focus on anything, without first making a sharp head nod.   If it weren’t for the skills you now possess, you’d be pathetic.By chance, you cross paths with your old friend and councilor.   Like old war buddies, for the next hour, you sit and narrate every bead and pass, of all your projects.    Where there would otherwise be pictures of your kids cascading from your wallet, there are close ups of your best work.   Your friend knows you’re hooked, and he’s proud of that.   Your acrid fragrance tells him you’ve welded within the past few hours.   Still looking over your work, his brow furrows and for a moment you panic.   He’s going to be critical.   Doesn’t he realize that you’re in the state that you are, in part, because of him?     He rubs his chin and says, “You know, this type of weld is a tricky one to do with a MIG and still have it turn out nice.  You exhale in relief that he does in fact appreciate the same details as you.   He continues, “but if you want to make it true artwork, you’ll have to go TIG.”From that point it’s all over.   You’re already an addict and now you’re told there is a better drug, a super crack called TIG.    Your friend sees the look on your face and smiles.   His task is complete.There are no small projects
Reply:That's a good one.  I can definately relate...all I can say is that there ARE worse addictions, but only a few are more expensive....antique tractors, cars....I have lots of friends that are into the 2-cyl tractors.  One told me that if you are wondering if restoring old tractors is the right thing for you, go get all your money out of the bank, walk outside, and throw it up into the air...if you enjoy watching it all blow away...it's the right hobby for you.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:yeah, cars. try boat racing -everytime i blink my eyes, they have a new safety rule. I think they believe you're not safe , unless you are rich or  bankrupt . -the A P B A ; specifically the O P C division .
Reply:imagineer : the way you have w/words, & spin a yarn, why don't you write a sequel  to something like "Murder on the Nile?"  i think you're losing time while you could be "makin  a  buck ?" (translation- you're good " )
Reply:Originally Posted by Roy Hodgesimagineer : the way you have w/words, & spin a yarn, why don't you write a sequel  to something like "Murder on the Nile?"  i think you're losing time while you could be "makin  a  buck ?" (translation- you're good " )
Reply:"you find yourself eyeballing curbside trash to see if there is any usable metal"..Funny as it sounds, but to me it's the truth. Great story!!!
Reply:i dont know what your talking about i can stop welding any time i want to i just dont want to good story ChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Chopper  5  ;  isn't that what the addicts  say: " i can quit anytime I want to ? "     ( chuckle )    P S : readin this stuff is  fun
Reply:story well told....  wtg imagineer..sure takes one back to the purchase of the first cracker box...  so do we all need to have a visit with the (shrink) or get him to fire up the cracker box and see the light. well wrote, well done.. we all wait for the second chapter.
Reply:Originally Posted by imagineerThanks, actually, I have been working on a book for several years.   Basically, it's a collection of embellished stories of my mis-spent youth, sort of like Patrick McMannus or Garrison Keillor, but a bit more adult natured.    Some day I cull it down to a few hundred pages and submit it for publication.      Thanks again.
Reply:Imagine..  Have you been stalkin me?   That story sums up the last 4months of my life perfectly .  I'm at the point in your story where a friend(all of you), lets me know there is something better than mig.  The tig will be next .  I don't feel so alone now knowing there are others out there with the same addiction.  Shall we start a support group?
Reply:Originally Posted by babydaddyImagine..  Have you been stalkin me?   That story sums up the last 4months of my life perfectly .  I'm at the point in your story where a friend(all of you), lets me know there is something better than mig.  The tig will be next .  I don't feel so alone now knowing there are others out there with the same addiction.  Shall we start a support group?
Reply:your story  is my life
Reply:Originally Posted by Roy HodgesChopper  5  ;  isn't that what the addicts  say: " i can quit anytime I want to ? "     ( chuckle )    P S : readin this stuff is  fun
Reply:Aw, no  problem, just drink some brazing flux-that oughta stop the shakes -permanently !!!!  ( just kidding , don't try this at home  folks .
Reply:i put that on my cornflakesChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Originally Posted by chopper5yes thay do but im not one ,,,can any one spare  a rod or two 6011 7013 any thing will do it helps stop the shaking
Reply:Acceptance is the first step……..  I can so relate.  I Was going to buy a Lincoln AC225 (tombstone) and decided that the DC option would be good, but since it is ONLY a little more to get an HH 180, why not?  Then I find out my next door neighbor has one that he will let me borrow anytime, so I make a really long friendly type 220 Volt extension cord that will reach his back yard for the little MIG.  Now I want to have that real pretty TIG weld, but my welds did improve with the c25 option.  How come the HH 180 cart won’t hold a 384 cu. Ft. tank?  Guess that will be a good project, because I NEED it to be portable!  Now I think I might NEED a straight Argon tank for Stainless, but how about a CO2 tank too as it is MUCH less to weld per hour?  Then there are the tanks for the O/A setup.  It is a good thing that I found a shop closing so I was able to purchase tanks at a really good price!  It is amazing how much NEEDS to be welded lately!I can quit anytime I want too, but I just don’t want to…..Yet!   What do you think the third tradition would be for a support group?  I love to read these posts and have learned much, and am very grateful for the insight.  It is said that a wise man seeks council, and after listening to you guys I think I NEED a TIG after all!  I want to build a DC welder out of batteries too, but am a little unsure of the amperage control, although I did see one of the postings on a variable coil arrangement where you just clip to the coil where you think the amperage might be just right for your application.  Practice, Practice, Practice.  Thanks, it has been a gas!P.S.  Someone illegally dumped a box spring and mattress behind the store and I did get the metal parts, grind off the angle, practice welding the springs, and wires that held it together.  I can now weld so when the metals are bent they don’t break at the weld, so it is going well and my grinding is improving!  P.S.S.  I am going to modify an old microwave to hold rod and keep it nice and dry!  You never know when you might need some rod in a hurry…HH 180 HF O/AHF Plastic Welder HF 14" CutoffHF 4 1/2" GrinderMiller big window elite Dewalt 18 Volt Cordless 4 1/2" GrinderGNB 48 volt 500 AH battery (At 5 - 8 hour rate)Mostly Things that start with H
Reply:****, how long did that take to write... If I had a diary that's what it would say. I'm still in the MIG mode, saving up my pennies for that elusive TIG high!!!Sure, I can fix it... I got a welder!!!
Reply:I can relate.Trying to master TIG   IS  addictive.  Now I want to buy a house with at least a 3 car garage so I can have more permanent space for a hoped-for-TIG machine to go with my 210 MIG and Cutmaster 38.  It's a real pain to move the cars out, etc, etc,This can become an expensive hobby, what with higher mortgage payments and increased use of consumables.
Reply:someone mentioned a microwave to keep their rod dry. might work? I gave up years ago. i just put in in the oven , about 300 degrees 'bout an hour , does real well. i tried the refridgerator thing with light bulbs -it doesn't work ( for ME , it don't ). OH , i own a brand new rod oven , paid $700 for it. unplugged it after the electric bill went up $60/month !left the door open on it, just store some rod there , what a waste . back to oven drying / i can try some old damp 7018 , welds as porous  as  a sponge -really,then oven dry it- welds be yew tifully .
Reply:Originally Posted by fwalz3****, how long did that take to write... If I had a diary that's what it would say. I'm still in the MIG mode, saving up my pennies for that elusive TIG high!!!
Reply:He's NOT playing, but doing research, and besides I'm sure that something NEEDED to be TIG welded.HH 180 HF O/AHF Plastic Welder HF 14" CutoffHF 4 1/2" GrinderMiller big window elite Dewalt 18 Volt Cordless 4 1/2" GrinderGNB 48 volt 500 AH battery (At 5 - 8 hour rate)Mostly Things that start with H
Reply:That was great imagineer How a bout another installment?the story is quite right wait till the TIG bug strikes,,done the stick and the mig got all the gear for the TIG..problem now is getting a bottle of pure argon, cant buy a bottle got to rent from gas suppliers not economical for DIY to rent a bottle, still searching, small disposable possible but again expensive to play. problems problems..some might say its imposible
Reply:Originally Posted by BrettThat was great imagineer How a bout another installment?
Reply:You truly wrote your narrative well, so I will not in any way try to detract from it.My timeline was a bit shorter -  three years ago, I went straight into an SP 135 at the urging of a friend of mine - seems he had a hidden agenda since his wire feeder had pooped out on him....Anyhoo, after burning 3 small spools of flux-cored wire and having a sculpture that was somewhere between a stealth bomber and a bread-box with chicken feet, I was HOOKED.I didn't just take the plunge, I dove out of an airplane - last year, my Lincoln Power MIG 350 MP arrived.  Oh my !  I'm still not sure about how to deal with a machine that seems to have more talent than I do, but let me tell you this -I sure as **** am enjoying the training!  I still have the 135 and I still enjoy using it, but that 350!Is TIG on the horizon?That's another short chapter....Mb
Reply:Thoroughly enjoyed it - keep it coming!!
Reply:Tig   Thebuzzzzzzzzzzzzz Hummmmmmm Got The Bug
Reply:Ahh the Buzzbox, no mention of OAW? For me the progression went Buzzbox, OAW, MIG, TIG. To me the fondest memories of trying to master welding came durring the progression from the barbaric craftsman ARC welder to the finess of gas.
Reply:Wouw that´s a gr8 story,   it reminds me of a lot of feelings I usually have....However I had to sell my buzz box, need to sell my O/A equipment so I can buy a SP175....I can say I dominate all the procesess (well I can´t do stick vertical or overposition) but man, welding is the paradise. TIG is the best of course, but I can only try it at school, 1,500 bucks it´s just too much for me now. good luck eveyrbody,,
Reply:that story be great if it had a couple paragraphs.