Please warn my cars...
 

I bought an air compressor tonight. My cars can run, but they cannot hide! :twisted:

I went with a Sears Craftsman, 30 gallon, 6+ cfm at 90 psi. On sale for $279 from $329, plus there is a $20 rebate. And the local store did not have the impact wrench I ordered online, so they allowed me to take an Ingersoll Rand that cost $60 more, at no additional charge! I felt bad for them, so I bought more stuff, including a socket set, some extensions and adapters, an accessories kit and an air hose. Now I only need about 100 more pieces to have a decent setup :lol:

Congrats. Looks like we need to make a HF run. I need a drier and some other peaces.

Azn Drgn came by two weeks ago and “rewired” my free Colman compressor so now I want to hock them up together. That would give 275 psi (150psi Craftsman plus 125 psi Colman) of available air. Plenty to run my grinder non stop :!: :lol: :wink:

Porkchop. Welcome the the bottomle$$ pit of tool$. In the long run they always pay off one way or the other. Saving $, time and warming the soul from a job done well. and if none of the above, the bigger ones can be used to beat the cr@p out of something.

Dave R, there is a way to make an reduced dew point, in line air drier from a cheapo cube fridge and an auto tank purge unit.

Speaking of HF. I am going to break my cardnal rule and purchase something electrial from HF. They have a bottom of the line TiG unit for $200. I bet that in the long run it will be $200 wasted but as the shop is now fully unfunded from wage $ that is about what the budget is good for. $200 is a drop in the bucket on the real unit I want. Got some Aluminiouminounimmoum projects planned...

Kurt:

If you are ready to turn pro, I know two people who are looking to have cro-moly (sp?) roll cages welded up. They have been searching for two weeks, and have not been able to find anyone who can fit them in before racing season.

Kurt, thank God you can finally pronounce AluminIUM, not too sure about your spelling though.
Dirk

Kurt, I have been looking at the same Tig unit for steel sheetmetal. I think you may have a hard time welding Al cleanly with that unit. Its DC only and does not have a foot pedal or thumb slide for current control. I would think it would be hard to regulate the amount of heat. Of course, I think you can take it back if it doesn't work.

Now if you take off the front panel and direct wire a variac instead of that knob you are in business... Add a signal processer and get a square-wave signal and you are really set.

I was going to see if I could rig a foot pedal and cable setup to the knob if single settings were a problem. I doubt it will work if it is a detent and move only unloaded setup. I know it is a POS but I don't have CFO aproval for $5K for the welding center I want.

I will be making cages in the future but for now the house and pending kid is taking up my "free" time.

Kurt,

How's that plasma holding up to abuse? They seem to all be in the $1,000. and over category. Happy with it still?

PS: Got my Shure Benches installed over the weekend in their new home. Built them 'in' on 2x12 platforms. Looks pretty cool.

Keith

On a welding/plasma note, check out these guys http://www.usaweld.com/

I found there ad in GRM and ended up buying my plasma cutter from them. My buddy picked up a bending MIG gun from them, very trick. I talked to the owner via phone and email at length and he was very helpful, not to mention very fair with pricing.

Those look nice Chris. They have some good products. Too bad they don't show MSRP on the site. I guess its time to pick up the phone.

Kurt, I was thinking about doing the same thing. I just have not had the time to go to HF and check out that unit to see if its a variable current setup or just a multi-click. It may not be too hard to wire in a foot pedal.

btw, You should be able to pick up an AC compatible stick welder and add a $40 tig torch for Al. I have been wanting to experiment but don't have the time. Of course, my inherited TIG setup is still sitting in FL.