Got My Welder

Day before yesterday I picked up a gas MIG welder from Gaspro. A Miller 140 with Auto-Set. Got a great deal, too. It was the last one they had, their demo unit. It isn't clean and shiny, but I figure it looks the way it will look after a day or two at the shop anyway. It did come with a two year warranty. I spent the money I saved on a cool auto-darkening helmet.

I had to buy a tank for the gas. The salesman said that for thin mild steel I should use an 85-15 mix. I think one is argon and the other is C02. I have no idea what effect changing the ratio will have. I have a lot to learn.

Another thing I had to buy was wire. I got a small spool of 0.023, the smallest size they had. The next time I'm at the shop I'll get the alloy and part number so that I know what to buy in the future. I also had to buy a pack of tips that go into the gun that matched the smaller wire. So, remember, changing wire can require a different tip.

Honolulu is such a small town that as I was getting everything ready one of the salesmen said he went to school with my son Matt. His name was Gordon. The guy who recommended I use 85-15 gas. This is not an isolated case. The same thing happened at my neighborhood NAPA store and at Starbucks in Manoa. In Hawaii, everybody knows everybody.