Rookie wanna-be weldor starting to make some cool things!

So I'm looking at either a Millermatic 140 or Lincoln power-mig 140c welder to start out with. Both fit my needs of being relatively compact, using a regular electrical outlet and aluminum capable with minor adjustments. does anyone around here have experience with either, or is there a consensus on the relative quality of miller vs. lincoln? The Millermatic is about ~$100 more expensive, I assume due to the auto-set feature. Is this really convenient enough to merit the extra price?

Those are just the two models that were most readily available, so if there's something else out there to look into I'd definitely like to hear about it. Any other suggestions/general advice as far as what I should be thinking about as far as getting equipment together would be great also.

Thanks all!

I don't have any experience with either (and yet to weld anything) but I've been heavily researching this for a while now. Hoping to get one for myself for Christmas. Anyhow, I didn't check on the Miller due to being more than I want to pay. But I've found very good reviews on the Lincoln 140. Some call it the MIG-Pak 140, power-mig 140 and another name or two, but all the same machine.

I'm just waiting for one to go on sale at the 4-5 local places that sell them. Reg price I'm finding is about the 600ish range. Sale price can be 150 less.

Cheers,

Unfortunately my garage at home isn't the best so I set up a shop in my basement. For welding I was thinking of rigging up a bathroom ceiling fan that fits in the opening in my basement window and running a 6 inch hose from it to my work piece. Another excellent piece of equipment I use is a roll for forming sheet and plate steel.

I wouldn't use a fan and 6in tube for anything more than a soldering station. We have that in our Hangar at work. For welding, one needs a lot more ventilation than that to do it safely.

I'm looking at the same welders.........Plenty of information over here http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210053

I believe to originator of the thread actually works for Lincoln as a welding engineer so he could help you out with all your technically questions in regards to the Lincoln.

Sweet! I'll go dig through that one a bit....

I have the Powermax 900 with a machine torch on my CNC plasma table....Way easier for cutting profiles......And a super sweet machine a Hypertherm is too!

That workshop is way too tidy

Excellent work on the boxes!

this thing saves so much time, i made a beadbreaker that works so good now all the neighbors come by and use it!

heres one more easy project. i welded a rod to my work stand then put carpet over to keep the wheels nice. it makes changing tires easy on the back for sure.

oh and a cheap truing stand under the table in the pic i made out of scrap to lace and true rims and balance my tires.

Thanks! They were pretty fun to make. I'll probably pick up another sheet of aluminum in a week or so to make some more goodies.

Yeah, the shop isn't nearly as squeaky clean as those early photos, but I do try to sweep up every day. It's better than letting everything turn to crap and then spending an entire weekend cleaning up and putting things where they belong.

Great ideas, kubiak!

You do some very, very nice work. I was looking at the supermoto XRs you were building. Top shelf work there. That extended fuel tank you made is very nice.

The black and white color scheme is superb! As are the CBR (I think?) rims machined to fit. Absolutely beautiful!

thank you kirkster70! my xr changes like the seasons, right now its all about traveling, heres the latest pic of it.

NICE!

You must have one heck of a spare parts bin!

That Repsol setup was nice as well.

Once I fine tune my skills a bit, I want to find a Superhawk 996 donor and supermotard that.

i sell most of my stuff after i change the bike around so my parts bin isnt too big anymore. i usually sell the old stuff to help pay for building new stuff!the superhawk project sounds good!

More progress made on the low-buck lift... (or magic with unistrut continued... )



I start the morning tacking two pieces of 3/16" x 1 1/2" flatbar together for the rear locking mechanism. Hopefully this will be stout enough. This is also scrap from the battery racks. They were cross braces.



I drill out the platform to accept 1/2" bolts, attach the supports, and start welding horizontal supports with one piece of flat bar. I didn't mount this all the way at the end to allow for drop-down hinges on the left and right.



I previously made a pencil mark where the KLR was perched. I raised the platform to the same exact position, and then using another piece of strut, I welded in a stop for the supports to test my idea.



Using a piece of scrap pressboard, I roll the KLR onto the platform to see how she works...



Absolutely perfect! This will do just fine. Now that I know it will work, I start adding more pieces of strut for multiple adjustments. I have decided that this is as good a home as anywhere for the lift. I had to relocate a motion light switch, then I slid the lift to the wall. I built those shelves a year ago and it's a perfect height for the lift. I just need to use a hammerdrill to mount some concrete anchors in the floor.



One nice thing about the strut is that the locking mechanism folds completely flat into the strut.



Extra adjustments attached and an extra horizontal support added for good measure. It folds easily, it's lightweight, and it's strong. Now I need to devise some sort of spring return mechanism that doesn't interfere with future drop-down ends.



Preliminary backstop welded in place, and tabs for tie-down straps attached. The tabs were the ends of the scrap flat bar. Holes already drilled! Suh-weet!



Rear tabs welded in place. I chose this postion because it was the best compromise of not running over the tab with ATV tires, yet still allowing the drop-down ends to work unobstructed.



I rooted around under my building and came up with a full sheet of 3/4" plywood I got for free. Yep, it was at one time a basement set-up for a train set. It was heading to the dump, and I rescued it. This was going to be a temporary set-up, until I priced 3/16" aluminum diamond plate. Almost $400 a sheet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Uh...... the plywood is probably staying put.

Another nice thing about strut is that I used 3/8" springnuts to mount the wood.



It's been a good day. The sun is now going down and I made some headway today. The wheel chock is temporary for now. It's been hanging in my building for 10 years or so. I plan on fabricating a proper clamp. We'll see how that goes. Of course, that will also be made with unistrut! Ha Ha!

Tomorrow I will root around in the building for hinges for the ramp and sides. I haven't spent a penny yet - unless you count $30 for the wheel chock 10 years ago! Ok, ok - maybe $10-$20 in wire and gas. That works for me!

Until then...

Looks great Kirk. I love seeing projects like this one. You took something that was junk and made it totally useable and saved a boatload of cash in the process!

Thanks!

I spent two whole days playing with the lift. Oil changes, filter cleanings, chain cleaning, adjusting, etc. on 3 bikes. It makes a pretty huge difference by not crawling around on the garage floor.

My projects were moving along quite smoothly until this happened...



A drunk driver struck my 4Runner and drove the rear axle up into the frame. Luckily, no one was injured. Now the waiting game starts. I've been wanting a new Tundra, but this isn't how I planned on buying it.

I wanted to hang onto the 4R for the kids to drive in a few years. I'm thinking it will be totaled, then I will have to spend way more than I wanted for a replacement way sooner than I wanted. Time will tell.

Hopefully the bastard is insured.