Doh! Mea culpa, @jast. I read that as the acquisition getting pushed back and missed what you were saying. I apologize for my abysmal reading comprehension skills 
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Given that apparently all too many of our members appear to be too timid to do something (or push for something) without someone ‘in authority’ to give them the go ahead, do you have any ideas about how we can avoid having board members (or heck committee chairs) from discouraging someone like you are indicating above.
Not saying it actually happened in this case, but your post made me think you had first hand knowledge of it happening in the past. Just thinking we would all be well served by members having open discussions about their ideas for the space.
I’m still new to the talk, so I’m not sure exactly how to quote you on my phone. But this can be said about many things. The Haas is not a hobbiest machine. Yet us hobbiest have one. The spectrum lazer is not a hobbiest machine. Yet we have one. Changes in committee chair and co-chairs just happened yesterday and still waiting on board approval. So no, an exact timeline is not created for the newer machines. Welding is not just about connecting two pieces of metal. It’s about making it a strong connection. And our current machines are barely good enough for tack welding. No need to waste money on other “hobbiest” equipment that may not create a weld with enough penetration and strength.
I assumed he’d heard about some “push back” and was trying to guess what that might mean. It was just a complete guess on how that might have gone down.
To be clear, if someone thinks they have a good idea on what we need etc., TRY to work with the appropriate committee if possible (odds are it’s going in someone’s space who has a say about it) and get it on an agenda. I’ve heard committees before feel like they were starved, but when I go back and look at agendas, I see it more as self imposed hunger strikes.
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Okay, cool. Just worried you had heard of similar actual incidents.
I don’t know either, but on my Android you have to highlight & fiddle til it gives you the grey box to quote in reply. I’mnot sure how to invoke it on demand, though, and sometimes it works better than others.
I have no beef with your assertions and merely suggest “we” “decide” by creating a plan, timeline, documentation, etc and work toward a goal. When I read the agenda it struck me as"shooting from the hip", so I ask. It still seems to me this agenda item is largely a place holder, given the responses I’ve seen here. (E.g. no timeline, no plan, no agenda).
FYI this is precisely why I wanted to attend the Metal Shop committee meeting, as mentioned here.
Sorry I missed it…
That works kinda lol
Can’t seem to qoute the rest. Owell. I’ll fiddle with it.
The Miller 252 was decided apon before the committee meeting. But I can vouch for its reliability and ease of use. As well as it produces a quality weld. As we have it at our shop… I’d post a picture but apparently the note4 takes pictures at too large of a file size for this page. As it warns me I can’t post it because it’s over 3mbs
Yep. At best.
As for the welds, I’ve no doubt that piece of equipment is fine, and look forward to learning to use it. I hope we get comparable TIG and stick devices as well. …
@Kentamanos & @wandrson thank you guys for being concerned and helping iron out what I meant.
I’m not aware of any good TIG welders that are not also excellent stick welders, though some of them don’t handle cellulose rod coatings.
im not all that familiar with tig. as our shop doesnt tig anything. i do know our current one is incapable of welding aluminum. Lee has mentioned looking for a good one capable of aluminum.
You need AC to TIG weld aluminum, and I would hope that it is considered a requirement. You can learn a lot about TIG with a DC unit, but you won’t do aluminum on DC.
TIG, and preferably AC is on my wish list of skills to learn.
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Lee has given me some hands on time with the current tig on some steel. and ill say it does alright. once you get past its quirks. the touch ark setup isnt as desirable as the foot petal welders. im sure he is all for getting a nice tig. as i think thats his favorite welding type.
I’m not sure if this is in response to my post, but to be clear, if the plan is to get dedicated machines for each process, then let’s do it. I was not trying to be sly, and intended to say " I hope we can get good machines for each process, including but not limited to TIG and GMAW."
Yes, yes, yes.
As a side note, at least one multi voltage (i.e. 110 & 220) machine might make work inside the 'Space easier…
If I were getting a machine, I would get a Miller Multimatic 200 w/ the TIG
kit. They run around $2200 and Can operate on 120 or 240.
@texastboneking I just found that just highlighting the desired section and hitting reply works on Android running Chrome. You need not wait or fenagle for the grey quote box.
@william_petefish
I like the look of this, and personally think it might be the way to go on this instance. So far, though, popular opinion in the talk’Space says I’m wrong and no self respecting welder would be caught dead using such a foul contraption.
I’m going to support new equipment period. But I think we should weigh such decisions carefully and be wary of going at it half cocked. Thank you for weighing in.
I’m a new guy to the metal shop and DMS. I took the MIG welding course at DMS recently and learned something about MIG welding, but I am by no means an expert. However, I believe the ALL IN ONE solution creates frustration on the part of the non-professional because of the amount of setup time required, which is sometimes caused by changing the mode of the welding equipment.
One of the main reasons I joined DMS is that I can’t afford all of the awesome tools that DMS offers. Another consideration is the duty cycle of the equipment. The average home equipment won’t stand up to the DMS usage cycle. Both of these should be considered when purchasing new equipment. I vote for the single type welding equipment. I am always a fan of buying quality over cost, too.
I’ll leave it to the committee chair and the board to determine affordability.
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Jast, it really depends on what you’re doing. Small welders can lay good beads and hold fast on thicknesses they are rated for. You can stack beads and run multiple passes to make stronger welds on thicknesses a little higher than your machine is rated for. Many machines start out with a maximum thickness of 3/8" which is pretty hefty for most hobby applications.
I weld professionally and generally use machines the size of a mini-fridge. They are very fast and efficient for production, with a lot of heavy duty parts. DMS would benefit from such a machine with the abuse it is no doubt going to take.
But I have my own shop and I have a TIG Stick combination machine and a dedicated wirefeed machine. They only have 20% duty cycle, but nothing I build at home needs that much.
Everybody has an opinion. Might as well make up your own mind and go for it!
If you want to try hobby machines though you can come visit my shop or I can meet you with my equipment somewhere else. (Portable machines FTW)
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I appreciate your opinion overall, but disagree on the usage this equipment sees @ DMS (though I hope it increases). Honestly, in the last 3 months when I have been in the warehouse, no welders have been in service; no projects were even being layed out; in fact, no one was in the metal shop.
Obviously, we want this to change, and it’s cool with me if we want to plan for that in our purchases, but I still think there needs to be a plan.
Thank you for a thoughtful analysis and for sharing your personal choices. I really appreciate it from someone who “has been there” on both fronts. I hope to be able to take you up on the offer to test drive some equipment. As mentioned, I keep pushing back my welding efforts for other projects. We all makes our choices, right? At some point it’ll bubble to the top.
Along the duty cycle topic, can anyone name an instance (personal project) of the equipment currently @ the 'Space where the equipment was not heavy duty enough?
Again, I thank each of you for throwing your opinions in. I think the best way for the BOD, MetalShop Committee & Chair to make the best decisions is to hear from the populace about what we really want and will really use; I want to see this be an informed and well-planned execution and not a seat-of-the-pants tossing of the dollars.
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i can. i had to take the project to work to get a good enough strong weld. in fact thats why you haven’t seen me welding at DMS. ill weld my parts on a reliable machine that will get enough penetration. then bring the part to DMS to use with whatever project im working on. there were days where i was cutting on the plasma cam. then taking the parts to work to weld them together. i maxed out the small machine currently at DMS and it would not penetrate. would only leave a bead on the surface. which easily broke. and this is one reason im also for the miller 252. as i know it will work great, since its what i use at work. ive spot welded things as thin as 3/32 steel all the way up to welding 1/2in steel. ive tried to use the current DMS welder twice. and both times had a failing result.
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The problem is not so much the amount of use as the quality of the users. It’s easier to break hobbyist crap, and harder to fix it. (FYI - I have a hobby MIG, and it works fine, but I know how to operate it and I don’t abuse it.)
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