How's your local welding store??

[Ram48]

ram48,
I think I've been there. Are they just off 85 in the charlotte area? I can't remember which exit!?!

Yes they are. they moved in the past year but only a few blocks away to 419 Enterprise drive off of 32nd street. Great people, I should be picking up my torch and stuff tomorrow, but I still need to finish building my tig cooler but its on hold waiting for the parts to come in from e bay vendors and other on line sources they should all be in my hands by the weekend.

[bigjoeinkg]

I have been to the LWS stores in Frederickburg (AirGas & Arcet) & Richmond VA (GTS-Welco), Jacksonville, Fl (AirGas), and San Diego CA (AirGas). I would rank them according to customer service and selection.

AirGas (Fredericksburg & GTS-Welco) #1 for customer service
AirGas (San Diego) and GTS-Welco #1 for selection

Only bummer, GTS-Welco is 65 miles from home. AirGas Fredericksburg gets my business when I need something.

[posixPilot]

Sorry to dig up an old thread ... I travel a good deal for my job, so I've been waiting months for a week day when I could go visit some shops.

I just got back, and was less than impressed. The first shop I visited (an independent shop near Ft. Worth), I had already traded emails with regarding tank pricing and refills. I just had a few questions about lease vs. own, and the kid behind the counter seemed like he could care less; acted like I was bothering him.

Then I went to the Airgas around the corner. Prices were a little bit better, and the counter guy was more helpful. However, another customer was there trying to swap a 300cf for something smaller, and they were giving him almost no trade in value ... not something I want to hear when I'm getting ready to buy a tank. Neither of these places seemed to have much inventory, aside from the blue and red machines you practically have to step over to get in the door.

So, I'm still looking for an LWS where I actual *want* to spend my money. Any suggestions would be appreciated (DFW metro area); and a place open on Saturday would be a big plus .

Cheers
Mike

[Zmechanic]

I've got a smaller operation here I go to. I live in Leander (basically Austin), TX. It's actually one of the branch locations for a place out of Waco, TX, but I'm pretty sure it's locally owned. I've been pretty impressed with them so far. I get my gas and almost all of my supplies there. They have pretty darn good prices on filler too, especially steel. ER70S-6 in 3/32" is only $2.50 a lb from them. I was pretty impressed. I thought ARC-zone had the best prices around on that stuff. They are a bit higher on aluminum, so I guess it evens out in the end, plus I don't have to pay shipping from ordering it online. Only issue I've had from them is a contaminated bottle of Argon, which was actually their gas supplier's fault (the main place in Waco). They admitted it and fixed it no problem though.

I've never felt that I've been looked down on or not taken seriously there. In fact, they are more patient than I've seen a lot of people. Heck, just the other day, a lady walked in looking to buy "a welder". She had no info beyond that. Apparently she and her husband had some sort of business, and they used to contract it out. They had decided to weld stuff themselves. The guy behind the counter was genuinely trying to help her out by asking about application and her needs. He eventually had to send her on her way with a Miller brochure.

[everlastsupport]

It is funny how each person finds different things. Not in Dallas, but here the big stores are a joke, smaller ones are good. AirGas here is new and I do not think they will last long no matter how deep the pockets are. Welder Services are the best (they earned their name). Lake is a close second (family owned local here only). Prax is close and just OK.

[DaveO]

He eventually had to send her on her way with a Miller brochure.

That speaks well of the salesman, who could have said "Well of course you need the super duper Spiffo-matic model right here" and set her up with a big bad machine that was way more than she needed. I hope he said something like "You really need to consider this, this, and that, along with a certain amount of infrastructure to support the machine." And then I hope he said something like "Here's what you need to make a smart decision, please come see me when you decide to buy" because he deserves some consideration for imparting the knowledge.

[blasphemy000]

When I built my alternator TIG setup, I knew nothing about TIG welding besides what I had read and the videos I had watched online. I have 2 small gas bottles that I used with my MIG welder, one as a main, and one I kept as a backup in case I ran out of gas on the weekend. I called around to different places asking about having my one bottle purged and refilled with pure argon. Every place I called said either that they wouldn't purge my bottle for me(they wanted me to buy a new bottle) or quoted me some ridiculous price for purging it. I knew of a place would do it for a fair price but I had recently moved a few towns over and it was kinda out of my way to go to them. I was on my way out of town and on my way to my old town when I spotted a small welding supply shop and decided to stop and talk to them. I told them right away that I had never TIG welded before in my life and that the welder I was going to learn on I had built myself out of spare parts and had no idea if it would even work. The shop owner looked stunned(and a little impressed) that I had built my own welder and he told me he was willing to help me with whatever I needed. I explained to him my bottle situation and he said he would purge, vacuum, and fill my tank for just the price of a refill.(+1) I then told him that I would be needing some 3/32" Thoriated tungsten. He said that somebody had been in earlier in the morning and bought all of their red tungsten in that size but he recommended the 2% Lanthanated tungsten and said he'd give it to me for the price of the Thoriated since it was a tiny bit cheaper.(+2) I told him I'd take the purge/refill, a pack of the tungsten, and a pound of 1/16" ER70-S2 filler. (Every other shop in town will only sell tungsten by the whole pack, and filler by the whole pound. I understand this fully and I was fine with this.) As the owner was ringing me up he said to me, "Since you're just starting out and trying to see if your machine works, why are you buying so many tungstens and so much filler?" I told him about my experience at other shops and that I just figured that was the only way they sold it. He said, "Oh, hell, I'll sell you whatever you need. I have a scale to weigh filler. Whatever amount you want. And I'll sell you tungsten by the stick."(+3) I told him I'd still take the pound of filler, the gas, but only 3 sticks of tungsten(I figured a newbie with a scratch-start setup, I'd be sharpening a lot of tungsten in the beginning.) He was ringing me up and it came to $37 dollars and some change. I handed him two, twenty dollar bills and he goes, "You know what, you seem like a smart kid that really wants to learn how to TIG weld, I'm gonna cut you a break since you're a first time customer here." He hit VOID on the register and rang me up for $30 dollars even and handed me a $10 back. Then he reached under the counter and handed me a small booklet on the TIG process. I thanked him for the deal, the information, and the help he had given me and told him that if my machine worked I would definitely be back as a life long customer. He told me, "Don't worry about it. Anything to help out a young man willing to learn a real industry trade." I went outside, collected my filled gas bottle and was on my way. These guys went above and beyond(compared to every other place I had been to) to help me out and get me exactly what I needed. They earned a life long customer that day and I've told many people about this experience and I'm sure they've gotten more customers from the people that I have told. Overall this was the best customer service I've ever received at a welding supply shop and they didn't talk down to me because I was a newbie. Instead they offered help and information to help me out in learning something new. Sorry for such a long post, but these guys really deserve credit for the great job they are doing. The name of the shop is "Dale Oxygen" in Indiana, Pa. Just in case anybody is in the area and needs a good welding supply store.

[posixPilot]

I think I found a decent place today in Ft. Worth. Of course it's a further drive, but it's an independent shop and the guy there was more than willing to answer all of my questions, even though I wasn't spending any money. I mentioned I had been over to Airgas yesterday, and the guy chuckled and said that "they won't even help you load a cylinder over there". Ironically, while I was at Airgas yesterday, a customer said exactly the same thing (with out the chuckle) as he tried to unload his 300cf tank .

PM me if you are looking for a shop in FTW, and we can compare notes.

Cheers
Mike

[Spike]

I just moved to Fresno, CA, and haven't established myself with a welding vendor just yet.
But out in Colorado, i always went to General Air in Boulder, CO.
They always had great service, very knowledgeable staff, and would take the time to answer all my questions, and if they didn't know them off hand, they would actually do the leg-work right there in front of me to get my answers. I'm just a custom shop, and not a big production welding place, so i am by no means a big fish at a welding store, but i got great service all the same. I end up welding strange alloys and odd job processes in custom work, and they always helped me out.
I think the only time that i managed to stump the guy on getting me a part that i needed was when i was looking for the flux and goggle lenses to use when Oxy-Acetylene welding Aluminum.

[welderdude]

Another reason I love my local welding store. I went in to buy some 1/8'' 6010 and 7018s. I was a little short on cash and couldn't afford a 10 pound can of each. instead, i walked out with a 10 pound can of the 6010s and probably 5 or so pounds of 7018s they gave me for free that had sitting out in a bin to sell by the pound. they were atom arcs and despite sitting out for probably a couple years, they welded quiet nicely for practice.

[performance]

Check in with your local welding stores regarding any samples they may have. A lot of times they'll receive a 1 lb sample to give away or test, and usually it will be a box full of them. It was sometime last year I scored some rods to test, that were just enough to complete a project I had going. Not only did they weld good and finish my project, they made a believer out of me and have bought them since.

[Jason]

I went to get some 309 tig rod and couldnt find any. The local welding supply ended up digging out a few after searching for at least 10 minutes and ended up just giving them to me for free.

[DVA]

Phx, Az is the area.

Vern Lewis Welding treats everyone very nice, but they are the most expensive place to shop. They also B.S. customers, so you never know if they are giving you the straight scoop or just saying whatever it takes to sell you something. I almost bought a Dynasty 350 tigrunner from them, but the regional manager blew the sale. $7K sale blown out the door because he tried to screw around on the pricing and jerk me around.
Phx Welding Supply is exactly like your bad experience.
Praxair stores have the nicest people, are flexible on pricing, and give everyone the same respect and service whether it is for a $2 cable lug or a $3500 welder.

Funny, most of my HVAC supply houses sound exactly like your bad experience. I spent over $140K at one and the counter people still treat customers like garbage. So I started buying from their biggest competitor this year. This is the third year in a row that bad counter help has driven me to change product lines and start buying from another supply house.

I shop at the Vern Lewis in Avondale and have no problems with the service. As for prices they are about the same as Prax Air from my experience but with all welding store, your cost will depend on what account you use for purchasing. If you have a large company or are part of a large company you can typically get much better pricing than someone who just shows up to a shop to spend twenty five dollars. I purchased my Miller 252 at Vern Lewis and it was 2050 out the door with Tax, not a bad deal, best price I could find in town or on the net.