I got $1,000 to spend on a welder, help me spend it.

[Markcuda]

It is my fault for assuming that the welder came with a very small roll of wire.
I looked at tons of competitors welders and lots of them showed a small
roll of wire.
That is where my assumptions came from.
No biggy, I can get the wire on Monday, if he has the ESAB.

 

[dstig1]

Mark Everlast - curious about your comments on not using copper coated wire. The reel I got with my wirefeeder is 035 cu coated wire (no idea on brand). Seems to work fine. Given that it lives in an unheated garage, I was thinking that the cu coating was a good thing. The reel is almost used up, so since I will be buying more, I wanted to get some mroe info on which one to use.

Markcuda - good deal on the larger cylinder. Unless you are doing tons of work, it will last you a long time in a home shop. I've had my 125cf cyl over a year and still on the initial fill. Now I'm not a heavy user, but it seems to hold out a lot longer than I expected. Especially when compared to my oxygen cyl for the oxy/propane cutting torch, where I went through 3 oxy cyls on the first big project I had...

 

[Markcuda]

Yup, I figured I better bite the bullet and get as big a tank as I could handle.
Speaking of handling, this 250cf is about all I want to wrestle around onto
my trucks tailgate.
The guy had a 300 something size tank, a inch bigger around
and about 5 inches taller, I said "no way" LOOLOLOLLOLOOLOL

 

[dstig1]

We don't seem to have the 250 around here. Just 125 and then 330 for the next size (and the biggest). 250 sounds like a very good home shop size. I might upgrade if I find I am running through a lot...and can find the space...

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Copper flaking for one. It gets ground into the drive roll and can cause feeding issues. It's also a contaminant. Ever wonder where that copper goes? Either into your lungs or into the weld. But regarding the wire I recommended, here's a brief summary in the first few pages about copper coated as well. It's not the only place you can find similar information. http://www.esab.com/aristorod/en/why/upload/SWR-10056-OK-AristoRod-Welder-Guidebook.pdf

 

[Markcuda]

Dave, my tank is called a "K", with the cap on, it measures 52 inches tall.
I know, that is not how the cylinders are measured.
It is about 9 inches in diameter.
If I recall correctly, it weighs 117ish pounds.

Mark, will that bare wire rust in my garage?

 

[dstig1]

My 125 is about 4' tall, 7" dia. Not too different, but a big chunk of volume!

Mark- All good and well, but when the wire is intermittently used in a home shop garage (unheated) by a guy like me...it seems the anit-rust protection of the copper coating would beat the potential downsides. I can understand why it would be best to avoid that in a production environment. I want to get one of the lager spools (44 lbs?) to avoid having to do it again to quickly or running out too fast when I really need it...

 

[Markcuda]

Dave, how far are you from EauClaire?

 

[dstig1]

Hour and a half or 2. I'm near Hudson.

 

[Markcuda]

Ok
I was born and raised in EauClaire, moved to this God forsaken state in 77.