Project 1 from Rambozo. Category: Shop Improvements
140ST saves the day. I needed to turn a bunch of recycled pool fencing into a temporary dog run around an old shipping container in the back of the yard. It was pretty windy so stick was my best option. Except there is no power anywhere near there. 240V was out, but I could run a 100' 12ga. cord to get some 120V out there. It was that or drag out the SA200, figure a way to get it back to that part of the yard and no doubt have to go get some fuel and such. A big PITA. But with the little 140ST I could put it, a grinder, and a sawzall on a small service cart and roll right over. The fence was all cut into 7 foot sections and had different length feet on it, as it came from a stepped installation. I also found that a lot of it was full of water, when I cut off the feet, and most was rusted paper thin in places. But it was what it was and this didn't have to be pretty just functional for some new boxer pups that need a place to hang out for a while. I had a gate section from some other remodeling and just flipped one section to make the hinges line up. No idea how long this will be here, so I just ran a few beads to tie it to the container here and there. Easy to grind off later, but strong enough to hold it up. The heavier stuff went up fine with 3/32" 6011, burning right through the years of rust and paint. But when I got to the really thin stuff, it was a bit too much. I think the original wall was .049" or .065" but it was quite a bit thinner where the rust had worked on it. I had some 1/16" 7014 that was really old, but I gave it a try. It was a perfect match for this. Cranked it up to about 45 or 50 amps for the thick areas and down as low as 30 for the really thin sections. One thing that did stand out is that even an amp or two can make a lot more difference than it does on a transformer. At such low settings the hot start feature was very obvious and a real help. Even in places where I was welding .030" to the half inch thick corners, it was not that hard to control. This was the first time I really got a chance to use it much. The best thing is no one can believe something this small can really weld and had to come over to see for themselves. I expect there will be a few more of these being sold soon. By the time I remembered to grab a few pics, it was getting dark. I'm expecting another section with another gate to finish it off tomorrow, so I'll get a better pic of the whole thing when it's finished.
Long arc, short arc, heliarc and in-the-dark!
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