slight upgrade(yay tax return!)

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I've been playing with this, a cheap chinese made flux core hunk of ****, and was getting fairly decent results.  So after much frustration with feed issues, flux core mess, and no adjustability, I upgraded to this.
Reply:Awsome machine! Best of luck with it!I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Nice machine. I think you'll be happy with it. Your tax dollars well spent. First thing you need to build is a cart... before the bottle falls off the workbench.
Reply:First weld with it, 1/8th thick.  Took a hammer to it,
Reply:Nice, you did good.  That has got to be a major improvement. Wise choice on machine.  Good luck !
Reply:Welds are cold, being welded on both sides is the only thing that kept it from breaking right off. I only use the guide as a referance and then tweak it to my likeing from there. That machine is very fine tunable so play around with it, you'll love it!I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:I didn't have time for more than the two. Borrowing a friends garage and her boyfriend is leaving for 3 weeks. Needed to give them some privacy.
Reply:Gotcha! Boink! Boink!I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Originally Posted by Fnord5First weld with it, 1/8th thick.  Took a hammer to it,
Reply:Auto set.I shan't be using it again.  Need to learn learn. Not stick metal together.
Reply:Nice.  I remember upgrading from flux to gas.  Night and day difference.
Reply:Bottle safety has to be stressed when a loose shielding gas tank is shown on a bench.  That tank can hurt you - it happens.  2000 psi is no joke.Nice welder - I like miller and lincoln Dave J.Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Nice machine.  Bought my 211 three weeks ago.
Reply:Got my 211 two years ago....would not trade it for all the tea in China...or anything else for that matter.   I have hundreds of trouble-free hours on it. Also use a Spoolmate 100 for aluminum and it does a respectable job. I also use it as a mobile unit with my 8000 watt Generac and it runs perfect everytime. Congrats on your wise upgrade.  POVERTY...is the Mother of InventionMillermatic 211Millermatic 140Miller Thunderbolt XLArcOne 100STS inverter w/TIGThermal Dynamics 38XL Victor Oxy/AcetyleneJancy Slugger Holemaker IIJet 5x6 BandsawNever enough time & sleep.
Reply:Cart is coming tonight or tomorrow. Just modifying something I already have. Tank was up on the bench for the pic.Told some people at work, already have 4-5 projects lined up (not including stuff for my jeep)
Reply:Got the bottle secure.
Reply:Great choice for an upgrade! How much is the MM211 retailing for now?American by birth Southern by the Grace of God
Reply:With the bottle($145), and a 10# roll($20) I paid $1244 out the door. 7.75% tax.
Reply:The flux welder you have looks IDENTICAL to the welder I have (sealey mighty-mig 100) ....I only have it a few weeks but it's just to get me started, when I get more experience (and cash) I'll step up to a better machine too, it'll probably be a while before I outgrow it anyway  Good luck with your new machine  Attached ImagesLast edited by giblin99; 02-10-2013 at 12:39 AM.
Reply:Ha!  It is the same!   I got mine in trade(used ridged scrollsaw) so I got no paperwork or anything. First thing I did after trying to run a bead was go get name brand wire.(Lincoln innershield)  night and day difference from what the previous owner was using.It should serve you well, but I bet you out grow it faster than you think.I got super frustrated tonight, abandoned the autoset feature, started with the guidelines on the door, and everything I changed made it worse(including going back to door settings) so I shut it down, put everything away, and called it a night before I started throwing things.Tomorrow is a new day though.
Reply:I've been using sealey wire, there doesn't seem to be much options easily available over here, lincoln and miller stuff don't seem to be available so figured I'd stick with the same brand for now. Still waiting on word back for an mma welding course so if I like that I'll probably end up buying and arc welder lol I can imagine the "fun" you are having with the new machine after coming from one with such little adjustments...but when you get the swing of it you'll be delighted, best of luck with it
Reply:started with suggested settings on door.I think I am going to stick with autoset until i get a feel for welding with a real machine.
Reply:Your welds are very large. With a fillet weld the legs should be roughly the same as the thickness of the base material. It doesn't really work with really thin stuff, but you should keep the beads as small as possible then. Ideally for 1/8", you'd want the legs to each be 1/8". In reality 3/16" is usually a more normal size that most people can do unless you are running .023 wire. Anything thicker and the leg should match material thickness..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Ahh, good to know.It was suggested to me today that I may have my hood set too dark. It is at shade 13. Will be doing more soon, and will try at 10-11. I can see the puddle just fine, but not really any of the surrounding material.
Reply:Clarification : legs= total width of weld, or from center to toe?Root to toe, or the length along the flat planes on your T joint. Attached ImagesLast edited by DSW; 02-13-2013 at 07:14 PM..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Perfect. So the total width shouldn't be over 5/16-1/4
Reply:Not quite sure what you mean. Each of those ares marked out with the red lines should be equal to the material thickness. So if the vertical member is 1/8", then each of those distances should be 1/8". 1/8" up the vertical wall, 1/8" across the base plate. The diagonal measurement is what it is, but the reinforcement should be even to a line drawn between the two points, or slightly proud of that line ( convex). Concave would only be acceptable if the toes were a bit taller ( say 3/16"in this example, and the lowest point of the reinforcement was still higher than a line drawn between the two 1/8" points if that makes sense.Massively large beads don't help at all. If anything they often can do more damage than good as they usually cause you to overheat the base material and the "weld" fails right at the edge of the bead in the heat affected zone..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Understood.In all, I have burned +- two pounds of wire total, and 99.9% of that has been flux core.
Reply:I think I just realized what you meant before. I wasn't really looking at the bottom piece, just the vertical. When you have two different thicknesses, you go with the thinner one for leg length. In this case the vertical rather than the base. There are exceptions to this, but in general this is true..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:.030 wire, wire speed 45, thickness/voltage 5.75
Reply:PM sent
Reply:Last T joint you are inconsistent with your travel speed and you are wandering around a bit especially towards the end. Also looks like you might be able to slow down just a tiny bit, but what I see might be the result of the inconsistent travel speed more than anything else.Overall not bad for someone just starting out. Practice, practice, practice....No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Frustrating because I was getting better results with the flux core machine(no variables as it only ran well maxed out)Running at shade 10-11 helped lots. Saturday will be all day welding.
Reply:Originally Posted by Fnord5Saturday will be all day welding.
Reply:Probably. But I doubt that I will kill the whole bottle.
Reply:Originally Posted by Fnord5Probably. But I doubt that I will kill the whole bottle.
Reply:Originally Posted by BistineauI predict it will run out 10 minutes before you want to stop welding for the day. That's the way it goes on Saturdays when it's too late to rush to the LWS for a refill.
Reply:I bought a new 212 auto set miller couple months ago loved it bought me a 15a spool gun to go with it  swell worth every time I gave for it I think you will like that one too just keep practicing I try to every dayMILLERMATIC 212 AUTOSETMILLER BOBCAT 250MILLER DIALARC HFMILLER 15A SPOOLGUNMILLER S32P WIRE FEEDERTHERMAL ARC 186 AC/DCPAKMASTER 100XL PLUS
Reply:Originally Posted by BistineauI predict it will run out 10 minutes before you want to stop welding for the day. That's the way it goes on Saturdays when it's too late to rush to the LWS for a refill.
Reply:Made a fishing pole holder for my boss.section of my bumper that I had cut off, a chunk of my old bed frame, and some 1/2" round stock from a sign holder at work that was getting tossed.Easily supports my weight on the foot peg.
Reply:The numbers on the door are usually pretty close but it depends on your power source.
Reply:I have it 99% dialed in for the thickness I most use, at least now I can work on technique instead of messing with settings.  Made a copper cable ground rope(or whatever you call it) and am taking extra time to prep.Soon I'll be fabbing up a new set of boatside sliders for my Jeep.  Smittybilt works well, but I have a better design in my head.
Reply:Originally Posted by Fnord5Made a fishing pole holder for my boss.section of my bumper that I had cut off, a chunk of my old bed frame, and some 1/2" round stock from a sign holder at work that was getting tossed.Easily supports my weight on the foot peg.
Reply:Butt smoocher?  Hardly. Charged the bastard $20.
Reply:As for wimpy, bed frame is 1/8, bumper scrap is .120 wall DOM, and the sign holder is 1/2" rod.  I would bet my life against any freshwater fish, even with my sh¡te welds.
Reply:I wish I got something a little less than what I did.  I went with the multimatic and now I have to wait a little bit on the other stuff.
Reply:Originally Posted by mfldmikeI wish I got something a little less than what I did.  I went with the multimatic and now I have to wait a little bit on the other stuff.
Reply:LOL, ok sorry at least you made some money off of him, and as far as fish go i'm thinking drag squealing bluefish and striped bass like we have on the east coast. Thats why you should post your loacation. The fish on the east coast would take that rod holder halfway to europe and up the hudson I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Northern California.  Sacramento to be exact.  The spike at the bottom is about 6", other than sturgeon, it should hold up to everything.If not, I make another $20 for a stronger one.As for buying too much machine, I've been on a top ramen and PBR diet because of this machine.  I know I'll be going thicker on material, so no regrets.