Which high dollar welding machine is right for me?

[rustyshakelford]

Drill stem isn't designed for structural use and most counties would require engineer drawings and approvals for any type of building larger than a shed. Magnetic drill stem may cause arc blow at lesser amps than normal but usually arc blow doesn't occur until burning rods over 5/32". If you are approved to use drill stem, I would guess you'd probably be using 1/8" rods and properly coped joints. That's a lot of cutting and fitting. 95% of welding trucks in the last 70+ years have only had a DC welder.

No building code where I'm at. Just seem farmers use pipe as long as I can remember. Only holding up the roof and to not blow over. I'll consult with smarter people than I. My brother is a mechanical engineer. I'll have him run some numbers.

Drill stem pipe used to be really cheap, but now I don't find the advertised prices that great. I would much rather opt for good structural steel. Have you priced out the red iron prefabbed steel buildings. They may not be a much greater price than what it will cost you in drill stem, although you would need to buy the whole building at once which may upset your budget.

3.5" was $62 per 31" 2 7/8" is around $42 per stick. Very comparable to wood in price. Prefab building would require me to pour the slab or atleast the footings and a lot higher install price. Don't know if that's something I can work on by myself.

When looking for a machine to use it doesn't matter the diameter of the pipe or square tube. It is the wall thickness that will determine the amperage you will need to do the job. As the duty cycle of the machine you are looking at goes up so does the price. Because you think you will be welding up in the trusses you might consider a spool-on gun. You might be able to sell it when you finish the construction of the building.

I'll look into that. Thx.

General consensus is not to be overly concerned with getting an ac machine.

Brett

 

[arrow]

Thanks for not rubbing it in about missing out on the deal of a lifetime on amazon for one of y'all's awesome welders. I could've made that work if I had gotten that deal. I was a couple hours late! Great input also!

Brett

These welders are still available. You state "could have made that work" but you'd still be way ahead of the expense of the price you were thinking you'd need to pay even if you got this welder directly from Everlast.

 

[CJONE]

I have had ALOT of experience welding on drill collars and heavyweight drill pipe. NOT FUN. One section was so bad a chipping hammer would stick to the end of the cutoff section. I ended up wrapping the cables on it and running a couple of passes of 5p before the 7018 could even get close to sticking. Sometimes AC could be used with limited success. Shields advise is good, stick is hard to beat for pipe. A mig is next to useless for heavy magnetism and outdoor welding. CJ