Today I ran into a little issue.. I have the right pedestal set aside all ready to prime, sand and paint, But the left pedestal I can't lift onto the work bench to gut the mechanicals out, So I figured I would run out get some supplies - and make a wooden gantry and mount a simple rope pulley to it..
Off to Harbor Freight I go.. I got the stuff I need and headed out to the big box store for wood. I'm pretty good at just getting what I need and leave but out the corner of my Eye I spot a the new Vulcan 215 Mig welder in the 3 day sale tent for 200.00 off. I've been looking at CL over the last couple months to find a replacement for my Lincoln sp175 welder thats 20+ yrs old with no luck. And every-time I'm at HF I keep looking at this new Vulcan line which they claim is equal to Lincoln and Miller for half the cost - and each time I just tell my self its HF it has to be junk. I've looked at a couple reviews and read on a couple sites that these welders were designed by a real engineer from Lincoln, so while I was there I asked to see a manger and told them my concerns and asked if it was really designed by a Lincoln Engineer - without hesitation he said yes it was.
Now I now your laughing in your chair so hard tears are coming out, But HF is trying to improve there brand with some new tool lines.. and it just so happens that they jacked a Lincoln engineer to design their new Vulcan welder line-up, so if there are any hiccups or issues with this first run of machines then all the R&D they put into this new line will go up in flames, along with there comparison claims of equality with Red and Blue.
If you thought you were done crying - oh no, theres more.. It was priced like that because it was an open box ( Store calls it a rental ) that some one bought and returned - It gets even better.. hope you have a towel - because it was a return and was price to move, It only has a 5 day return policy. I went trough the contents of the box pulling everything out and checking against what should be there - checked the welder over and all the contents, which were still in their plastic bags... The accessories box still taped which means this welder appears to have never been used, Or the person but it all back tit for tat.
I only have 5 days to make sure theres no issue, so I head strait home to set it up for some test welds. I hook everything up, don my helmet open gas valve... Nope.. my tanks empty, and go figure its the weekend. I already know the welding stores are closed.. so I hit the net looking to find a place to refill on a weekend, I searched and made calls with no luck... I had one last idea to try out hydroponic stores. I called another dozen places and finally found one that has CO2, Unfortunately they only carry 5-10 and 20lb filled tanks.
Knowing I only have today and tomorrow to test this out or bring it back, I went ahead and bought the 20lb filled tank went home and did some test welds, I soon found out after only a couple of welds that its easily better then my old SP175 because of the newer technology it has like Pre and Post gas, Synergy setup, 110v or 220v, a better duty cycle to name a few. The only con I see right off the batt on this welder is the torch which seems a bit flimsy, real light and looks like it would break after a few falls, the work clamps good - knobs all rotate smooth, and case feels sturdy.
Last but not least, The test welds I did looked just as good as with my Lincoln but now I should be able to do single pass on 1/4" with out stopping to cool down every few minutes because I have more head room.
Unfortunately I wasted a whole day running around calling to get this welder tested out. I had to because I would not have any time during the week to do this. And I really need a new welder for a future fence project I've been putting off.
So it was a good day all in all but I got nothing done on the Lathe today ..!
Tomorrow Ill build a gantry and get back to work & be ready next weekend to paint the pedestals and chip tray hopefully.
I usually get allot done on weekends so I just thought I'd show you why I didn't this weekend.
