Synergic Pulse or Ordinary MIG?

[Baz-Cem]

Irondarren, thanks for the link,

Not as much as I thought. I'm going to startup proper soon and I need a good size bench.

I need the bank manager to be kind so I can get a good mig form steve

I picked up a Record No6 vice for £25 in good condition, well pleased.

Baz.

 

[irondarren]

good one on the vice, of course you will need to make a good fame to site the bench on, means some heavy box section like 70mm with 4mm thick wall and that wont be cheap

 

[Baz-Cem]

I fancy making the bench height adjustable some how and on castor so I can push it out of the way.

The unit I'm going for isn't that big so I'll want to make best use of the space. Its a railway arch that just been referbed, Everything is new, still got the fresh paint smell. 625 SQ/Ft for £56 a week, with planning for light industrial.

How much do you think a 5 x 10ft, 10mm plate will weigh?

Baz.

 

[shenion]

How much do you think a 5 x 10ft, 10mm plate will weigh?

10mm is 0.393", closest in my book is 7/16 or 0.437"

Weight reference book says 7/16" is 17.87 lbs/foot.

So 50 sq ft * 17.87 = 893.5 lbs

893.5 * 0.393/0.437 = 802.6 lbs

That's a lot of weight

 

[Baz-Cem]

Thats around 350 Kgs, With no forklift I wouldn't be able to get it off the wagon.

Could I go with thinner plate? what would be the downfall with this?

Baz.

 

[irondarren]

the thinner the plate the more chance of destorting it. means you need more braces in the bench to compensate. And dont heat things up with gas on the bench

 

[Baz-Cem]

Anyone know of any web sites with designs for this type of bench that can take this much weight?

 

[Baz-Cem]

I just remembered that I might be able to collect some 10mm (at least) 2ft square plate from an old yard near me, just got to find the best time to go and get it

Just as long as the frame is totally level it shouldn't matter if its one big plate or a few smaller ones should it?

 

[irondarren]

Actually Baz a small bit of thick plate can be useful, 2 ft square would be nice. could mount a vice to it. If its thicker than 10mm can be used for brazing. or like my old 8mm bench will get cut up for plate. (got a nice few drain covers to make from plate, should use half off my old bench for it )

 

[Baz-Cem]

Irondarren, Sorry m8.

I worded that post wrong There are at least 10 of those plates at the yard, What I should have asked was. If I got them all, could a nice big bench be made from it all or would it be better with one big plate?

Baz.

 

[Welderpaul]

There are a lot of companies that deal in second hand steel. We have bought 25mm - 50mm plates from them before - usually rusty, but ideal for a bench. The one in my corner of the shop is a 50 x 50 x 8mm angle frame with a 10mm plate on the top. Just a thought, if your bothered about weight, can a hiab get close and put it in through the doorway? If your not planning to use the surface as a flat reference table it doesnt matter that it will be made from a few offcuts. It would be difficult to get a truley flat surface without using one piece of heavy plate.

 

[Baz-Cem]

I just want the table to use much the same way as you use your's. I'd knockup a frame bolt those plates on to it and then add the tee section angle to it.

But if that's no good the unit door is about 12ft high and the hiab sounds good if my supplier use's them.

 

[malcolm]

I'd go for a single sheet of steel - bit more pricy maybe but much easier to keep clean without all the gaps.

Mine is about 10mm thick - bought it second hand from an auction with a few useless small presses bolted on. Came in at £40. It's a handy size at about 5 foot by 3 foot. It's great for hammering, but it's warped across it's length by about about 4mm so is useless for positioning big stuff. Wouldn't go any less thick than that.

There's a rusty bench outside that's 6 foot by 4 foot, but it's got a 1 inch thick top so we can't move it to anywhere useful.

 

[Welderpaul]

Amazing reach some of those hiabs. Stick your completed base frame near the door, hiab the plate on top and drag the bench to where you need it!
I would weld the plates to the top rather than bolt. Any protruding bolt heads on the surface of the table become a mega pain in the ****. Plus drilling that many holes through thick plate will mean getting hold of a mag drill.

 

[Baz-Cem]

Thanks for the advice as always lads

I think I will help with the relocation of those plates. I'm bound to find a good use for them

I've always been planning to have the bench on castors anyway for ease of movement.

Baz.

 

[AGRI-FIX]

I use a Pulse MIG for most of my work. It is a Butters 215 Synergic. I have had it for four years now. It cost me 1250 + VAT when new and I think you can still get them now. You can get all the spares for them but this is a bit slow. I also have a 200 AMP EWS welder which is new. I bought this because the Butters broke. Complete new boards for the Butters are just shy of £600.

I use the pulse and like it because it weighs 27kg and this includes a 5kg reel of wire and I have fitted it with a 5m torch with Teflon liner.

If you are welding the same guage steel regularly then a standard MIG is fine but I find with my job I can change metals as often as a woman changes her mind and it is just so much easier with the pulse. Set the thickness, set the metal type and away you go. The EWS welder cost me £500 @ 200A and is perfect if you are welding the same stuff over and over.

Clean metal is key and with a single feed roller so is the wire quality. You also need to clean or change the tip regularly and the shroud. Cheap throw away items so don't skimp on them it will save you nothing.

The EWS has one feed roller the Pulse has two. I can put **** through the pulse but not the EWS. Use a wire cleaner before the feed rollers. I just poke mine through a piece of ordinary foam and some people use a piece of tennis ball but I think the rubber on the ball with cause drag and shorten the life of the feed roller motor.

If you are welding ali a pulse is best ebcayse you have to change the wires about on a normal MIG. A pulse will also weld stainless because it puts in less heat overall. Too much heat on stainless and it destroys the metal properties and it will rust. Welding in new CATS on motors needs stainless and low heat.

I used to have a Clarke 155 when I first started out welding some 15 years ago. I found that everything had to be absolutely spot on. No dirty wire, no rusty wire, poor AMP control, crap wire feed etc etc. I took it to the local tip when it was still in working order and I hope some poor git never took it home to use.

Sorry Shenion just my opinion of Clarke after my experiences with them. If someone offered me a Clarke for free I would weld their butt up with it so they could experience the same pain I did. LMAO.

There are a plethora of Migs available and the best advice I can give you is buy the best you can afford. My EWS was cheap and seems to be OK but time will tell. In my job it needs to be as happy in Cowshit and dust as it is in a workshop.

I have used my pulse to weld up a tractor loader bracket at 20mm. The guy used to abuse it by lifting over 2 ton when the absolute rated max was 1.4t. Good penetration from both sides was a must. The Butters pulse sorted it with no effort at all. This was a critical job for health and safety and LOLER regs. The new EWS would not have done this to a safe standard.

The crux of that statement is: Buy the welder you need to do the job properly don't just make do. Happy welding.