Victor, New Member From Pennsylvania

[Vyyarm]

Hey, my name is Vic. I am an automotive mechanic by trade and recently got into welding, especially tig welding. I purchased a powertig 185 initially then upgraded to a 255 ext, which is a great machine and welds just about anything for a reasonable price. I do repairs mostly for people out of my garage at home after work. Mostly weld aluminum wheels for a local wheel repair shop. Have welded probably over 30 wheels by now. Very excited to be able to weld, especially aluminum which for some reason a lot of people shy away from. Everlast has given me the opportunity to get into tig welding without spending an insane amount of money. Ive had a couple of little problems with them but nothing worth writing about, but hell you'll have some problems with any company. I've welded with a miller dynasty and honestly there isn't too much difference. Anyway, I,ve started to take some tig welding classes to learn all the book work, and also im in a Metallurgy class. So im definetly excited about welded and metal forming in general. Anyway nice to meet everyone, ive been on here a little before i signed up so look forward to talking to everyone.

-Vic

Everlast 255 EXT
Hobart 140 Mig Welder

[DaveO]

Welcome, Vic! What part of PA are you? I was in the Philly area and up in Bethlehem for a while. I'd be interested to hear about your wheel repair work. Did I read that after welding those wheels have to be heat treated?

[Vyyarm]

Welcome, Vic! What part of PA are you? I was in the Philly area and up in Bethlehem for a while. I'd be interested to hear about your wheel repair work. Did I read that after welding those wheels have to be heat treated?

Hey Dave, i live in Lansdale, right outside of Philly. The only heat treating i do is preheating the wheel which makes it weld a little nicer. 80% of the work in welding cracked wheels is cleaning, then prepping the wheel (grinding out a groove on each side) then cleaning again. The actual weld takes 2 seconds. The biggest problem is making sure its clean so that you don't get porous welds and have to grind it out and re-weld. I know a lot of people stay away from wheels, but its really not bad at all. You just gotta make sure you have a powerful enough welder, a 200 amp machine, maybe the powertig 185 will do.