if you are looking at esab…better hury. I just got an email from WeldingsuppliesfromIOC that esab is going up on prices tomorrow april 6. Don know if that is true or not but thought i would pass it along.
Thanks for the replies.
After a bit of pondering, I decided that I have spent a lot of money lately so I’m gonna go cheap one more time and get a HF Titanium MIG. Also, since I am now paranoid about chinese electronics frying themselves, I’m going to go ahead and get the extended warranty thing since exchanging is stupid easy and quick (having three local stores and all).
My needs are simple on this and I really just need a working MIG of medium-small power. Multi-process doesn’t have much appeal to me even though my broken welder was one of those. Having said that though, I am intrigued by the capability of the welder I’m looking at for adding a spool gun for some functional welding of Aluminum should that need arise. That should cover 90% of my welding needs. I have a huge old stick welder for large stuff but that thing is extremely difficult to do anything 1/8" or under - just no control. So in this case, small is good… plus the portability thing won’t hurt now & then either.
So yeah, cheap out this one last time I guess.
Well the welder replacement ended up being full of drama. First, I want to lay out something for y’all that I just discovered regarding Harbor Freight’s so-called 2 year (or whatever) extended warranty.
They have changed their policy so now it’s a SINGLE USE ONLY thing. Thus if you buy a two year warranty and actually use it, the warranty then ends. No pro-rating, no nuthin’. So it’s NOT a time-expired warranty at all. Thus if you buy something that has a design flaw and it fries after 6 months, they hand you another copy of the same design flaw, pat you on the head and send you out the door to fend for yourself. If it breaks a week later for the same or any other reason, you just get to pound sand. Since their extended warranty is quite expensive, the way it works makes it a completely useless ripoff in my opinion.
But wait, there’s more! It went on sale so I went ahead and ordered one and paid for it. It was supposed to arrive last Wednesday, so I called them to see if it arrived and they said it got … “bumped”… to Late July ! Sorry folks, that’s not a bump, that’s a fail. I can understand supply chain issues or whatever, but it’s also a fail to advertise something on sale that is not expected to be in stock for several months.
And yet more !!! They then checked into it and found that they were expecting two of them to arrive for store stock THIS week. So wait a minute… my bought and paid for order is ignored for months while you go and sell store stock !!! What ???
Needless to say, that was over the line and the Titanium is a punt, as well as pretty much anything from Horror Fright for me in the future. They are now way too big for their britches and can’t run their store worth a darn.
So I simply called the place I ordered my Hypertherm from and found that they had a Miller in stock that will fit the bill nicely. The Esab is nice too, but not in stock anywhere, service is more difficult, etc. I ordered the Miller and all went smooth until I got home from work and checked my email. They suddenly require a photo ID for orders even though I have an account through which I’ve ordered stuff before, so they didn’t try very hard. My phone number is on my account and indeed included right there on the email THEY sent ME. If they had called instead of sending email into the ether, then it would be halfway to my house right now.
Anyway, once I cooled down (my fuse is worn short right now) I went ahead and took care of that, so it might be sent out Tomorrow (Monday). I’ll believe it when I see it though. I’m sure this could get screwed up before it’s all over, but we’ll see.
Good news is Box #1 arrived the other day. Also, I finished up building a wall in the garage where the CF Pro will be sitting up against. Also tidied up a bunch of wiring in the shop. Still a fair bit to go, but I’m still waiting on the rest of it as well as the plasma cutter itself, so no burning rush anyway (not on the plasma anyway - I have 3 projects waiting on the welder).
The shop has really come a ways this past week. Tons better place to work than it was just a couple weeks ago.
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I understand. I ordered a tire 2 months ago. Still not in. Took a work truck in to get a water pump changed, They said come back the 22nd wich was 20 days wait. Deer ran into the side of my truck. Only took a month and a half to get it into the body shop. ( stopped at body shop last Friday and asked if it was about ready to get in. By friday at 3 it was in the shop getting fender and doors removed while another guy was painting the new panels.) Had this self employed talk with a co worker the other day. How do they even stay in busines? And not any of them had vehicles piled up waiting. He had the same issues with his truck. took 2 months to get injectors changed. The new norm i guess. And Harbour Freight… Some love it. some of us like to only go there to see what we like and order better made else where. Not saying they dont have some decent tools. I just never got lucky enough to find any there.
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Whew! Finally got a welder in the shop again…
Seems like it should work pretty well.
Also… I already know what my first Crossfire project will probably be. The thing needs a better stand than I have it on and I can make a really nice one for a small fraction the cost of buying one (only need to purchase wheels) as long as I apply probably 80 hours of labor, haha.
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A quick pic of my first complete shop wall. Just about done with another one (wrapping the inside of my cinderblock garage with frame, insulation, drywall & smooth paint). It’s coming along. Oughtta be tons more comfy place to work than before.
Second stretch of wall partway into insulation and after mudding as of tonight:
This cost-effective Crossfire Pro thing has turned into a fortune ! 
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Pretty stoked this morning !
I’m about a day away from completing my interior wall wrap project in my shop. Only mudding, sanding & painting to go. Yaay!
I put off the most tricky part until last, which was the wall that had my breaker panel and various switches & stuff. Holy COW! there was a seemingly infinite this & that I needed to do to tidy up what had “evolved” to the condition it was in before. I would guess this is common, but there was a bunch of things that got added over the past two or three decades just to make things work, but it either wasn’t right, needed relocated or just old style and needed updating. My estimate how long it ought to take was off by more than 10x.
“Endeavor to persevere”
I stuck to it though and it’s now nice & tidy, such that it is. Then of course the piecemeal framing around it was trickier too, but it’s all done now, and solid too. I’ll post some kind pf picture later. I’m actually a little bit proud at how it turned out so far. I converted the garage from a dingy, cluttered, leaky, cramped mess into a clean, bright, comfortable spot to get some work done well into the future. Definitely worth the effort.
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Another long day, but the payoff is nice!
For my intended goals on this phase, there are zero “loose ends”. All the walls are framed, insulated, sheetrocked, mudded & painted and every outlet, switch and light are installed correctly and complete. It’s all pretty tidy.
https://youtu.be/RFfG9skgtSA
Video starts with a short clip of the shop after I completed one wall. I wish I got one before I did anything, but you get the idea kind of what it was before.
The “after” part is just after the last of the constructionie stuff got complete, so all the shop stuff is still sitting in the middle of the floor. It was out of the way a minute ago, and suddenly that same spot is exactly in the way now. Life is kinda funny like that.
There is a lot of cleaning of the STUFF to do as I begin to put it all back into place, but should still only take a couple evenings or so before it starts really looking good with a bunch of open work area in the middle.
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Making a little progress.
I need to put heavy casters under all the machines so I can move stuff around (including the yet-to-be-unboxed Crossfire Pro). Also need to start on some shelves/cabinets which will be a long-term evolution, but should be able to get a couple of each up pretty soon to get a start.
Here’s another panorama video from a few minutes ago. At least it’s kinda usable on a basic level. Space to work in at least. Just gets better from here.
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Finally got my shop set up enough to start assembling my CF Pro tonight. Yaaay!
Mostly had to get some wheels on a couple machines so I could more easily move them around and out of the way. Got that done last night on the two main ones, so game on.
Got this far tonight after eating a bite after work and visiting a while with some family that dropped by. Seems like a good place to quit for one evening.
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Very nice… You’ll see sparks in no time! Make sure you show off those precious first cuts!!
Just noticed the date on the post. Sorry, didn’t see it before now. i live in Lawrence if you want to look at a crossfire pro