It's only been sitting collecting dust for 5 1/2 years but yesterday I finally got around to trying out the welder. A friend came over and showed Tommy and me how to weld some beads on some square steel tubing. Right now just concentrating on stick welding. I've got the argon setup for doing Tig but for the stuff I plan on doing right now (target stands) stick welding should be fine.

I am having a hard time seeing anything but the end of the rod and the puddle. I've got an auto-darkening helmet and I don't see how you guys can start a weld without one.

I drag the rod to start an arc ... it gets easy after a while. I've thought about getting an auto darkening hood, but I already use the darkest glass I could get and I worry about burning my eyes. I've done that once and NEVER want to do it again.

Went toy shopping at lunch...

http://www.dewalt.com/tools/metalwo...aws-d28715.aspx

You'll love it. Chop saws are really great tools. I use mine all the time. If you replace the fiber blade with a carbide tipped steel version it becomes even more useful, and the cuts get much more accurate.

And so it starts. Hee hee hee hee!

... and if you get bored with it stock at some point you can trick it out with an adjustable cross-slide and mount a milling angle vise to it for super accurate miter cuts. Yanno, if ya get bored or somethin'

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WooHoo! Took some U-shaped channel last night, cut it at 45 degrees and welded it back at a 90 degree angle. I think it would have been easier to just butt one piece up to another at 90 degrees but I wanted to try that.

This morning I stopped by the local welding supply place and bought 40' of 11 gauge 1"x2" rectangular steel tubing and 20' of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/8" angle. Tonight Tommy and I will be making some target stands.

See above