Outside Welding Area

[wachuko]

I ordered a https://yeswelder.com/ last week. It is supposed to arrive in a few more days. I know that most guys will laugh at me for buying this brand, but I have done a lot of research on them and found nearly all positive feedback. Their 205 DS is extremely popular because of dual voltage capability. I ordered the 250A aluminum ready one. With 20% off coupon I couldn't pass it up.
I do have a Lincoln TIG200 also but all of the name brand welders have gone up in price so high that a hobbyist can no longer afford them. My Lincoln has literally doubled in price since I bought it 6 years ago.

636.00 shipped to my house… very tempted… The Eastwood that I have can’t do aluminum… Can you share your experience in a dedicated thread, when you get it?

 

[erikmannie]

I will start with the (outdoor) welding stand. All of the materials that I use will be mild steel.

I have over 40’ of 1”, .050” wall tubing. This is exactly what they use for mufflers.

I have 20’ of 2” square tubing. The wall thickness is about .0625”.

I have a lot of filler material: solid .035” MIG wire, 3/32” 6010, 1/8” 7018, 1/16” & 3/32” filler wire for TIG & gas welding, as well as brazing rod & flux.

The budget for this stand is zero.

 

[7milesup]

636.00 shipped to my house… very tempted… The Eastwood that I have can’t do aluminum… Can you share your experience in a dedicated thread, when you get it?

Did you put in "MIG20" for the 20% off? Mine was $472.64 for the 250A to my door.

 

[wachuko]

Did you put in "MIG20" for the 20% off? Mine was $472.64 for the 250A to my door.

Oh… I was looking at buying the TIG250P…

I have an Eastwood 200 Amp DC TIG Welder that has not seen a single day of use… One of those purchases I regret… I now know that I should have spent more for the one that could weld aluminum

 

[erikmannie]

Here is a functional stand:

 

[wachuko]

Here is a functional stand:

View attachment 399268

Your stand? Or something you are looking at?

 

[Aaron_W]

I ordered a https://yeswelder.com/ last week. It is supposed to arrive in a few more days. I know that most guys will laugh at me for buying this brand, but I have done a lot of research on them and found nearly all positive feedback. Their 205 DS is extremely popular because of dual voltage capability. I ordered the 250A aluminum ready one. With 20% off coupon I couldn't pass it up.
I do have a Lincoln TIG200 also but all of the name brand welders have gone up in price so high that a hobbyist can no longer afford them. My Lincoln has literally doubled in price since I bought it 6 years ago.

If I were buying a welder as a hobbyist today, I'd definitely be looking at some of the import brands, Lincoln, Miller and ESAB prices have gone nuts. The Miller welder I bought in 2019 has increased in price 34% in less than 3 years. Strangely Hobart prices have stayed about the same even though ITW owns both Miller and Hobart.

When I was shopping going with one of the big names was a 50-100% price increase, now it is more like 300-400%. Harbor Freights Vulcan 220 is $949, the comparable Miller 215 or Lincoln 210MP when set up to do TIG is around $2800. In 2019 when I was shopping the HF welder was priced about the same, but the Lincoln and Miller welders only ran about $2100 and sometimes you could get a rebate knocking off another $100-200.

I'm glad I bought my welder when I did because I had trouble convincing myself it was worth spending almost $3000, there is no way I could have justified spending another $1000. If I was buying today I would probably go with a Harbor Freight Titanium or Vulcan simply because they get decent reviews and HF makes returns easy if you get a lemon.

Here is a functional stand:

View attachment 399268

All my welding is done outside. I built my cart with 8" pneumatic tires so I could wheel it around the backyard, over a mix of asphalt, concrete and dirt. My "welding table" is just a 2x3' hunk of 1/2" steel plate I put on a workbench. I take a wire wheel to it now and then to knock the rust off. I've got a yard with a solid 6 foot fence that backs up to an employee parking lot for a bank so I don't have much worry about people seeing the arc directly. Very little traffic except at 7-8am, noon and 5-6pm, and almost none on the weekends.

I like your idea for a stand, I was just thinking about making something like that, just have to keep watching the cut offs at my metal supply for suitable material.

 

[erikmannie]

@wachuko

That is a picture of a stand that I found online.

 

[erikmannie]

This is the test stand that I am going to build. I will have to get materials, but it won’t cost very much.

I will add some screenshots from the video.

 

[erikmannie]

Here are some screenshots.

Spoiler alert: you can do all positions with plate, sheet, pipe or tubing.