Lost my house right after buying a welder

[jdhendrickson]

Pardon my french, also thank you to the helpful people

Is this one of those joke threads, where they have the really whacked storyline and they wanna see how many serious replies they can get. I mean cuz the part here where he says he learns quick kinda gave it all away for me. And I don't think you'll find a book in a library about how to wire and weld in your apartment. Didn't he say he walked off a job because of some questionable saftey concerns? Your pullin all our legs. Well I got one too. I Know a good electrician that can solve your problems, his name is Dr. Phil, and if your wife gives you any grief about that chopper in the front room while in alot of debt, have her call Dr. Laura or Oprah. If all else fails call Jerry Springer and no he doesn't sell front ends for choppers. Hypothetically If this were actually true, I guess we'll be seeing a bunch of new homeless people standing in front of a burning building on the news in Texas. And I got 1500.00 cash for the welder that you could put toward the debt that you owe someone for their services. And you could save the money from having to wire anything up and having to store the welder. Nice one, have to be more creative on the next one.

Out of respect for fun4now I am pulling my reply. I will try to be more positive and post some pics. My temper is what got me in this mess in the first place really. Old dog, hard to learn new tricks.


As for you Plummer feel free to email me directly so we can discuss this.

[fun4now]

some just want to do it themselves, make shore its done right not just cosmetic. i suspect others just want a project to keep busy.

[Sberry]

I see old tractors, all painted, fixed up better than they were new, can barely give them away, then there is a bucket of rust with the wheels fall off and guys go ape **** over it, go figure?

[harcosparky]

I agree there are some options as were brought up, personally the bike would be way down on my list while I figured out a way to money up.

Well he could be building the bike to sell, or probably not.

In either case having anything " half completed " is never good.

In any case, should the need for money become more pressing, a completed bike would be easier to sell than a 'work in progress'.

[PLUMMER]

Is this one of those joke threads, where they have the really whacked storyline and they wanna see how many serious replies they can get. I mean cuz the part here where he says he learns quick kinda gave it all away for me. And I don't think you'll find a book in a library about how to wire and weld in your apartment. Didn't he say he walked off a job because of some questionable saftey concerns? Your pullin all our legs. Well I got one too. I Know a good electrician that can solve your problems, his name is Dr. Phil, and if your wife gives you any grief about that chopper in the front room while in alot of debt, have her call Dr. Laura or Oprah. If all else fails call Jerry Springer and no he doesn't sell front ends for choppers. Hypothetically If this were actually true, I guess we'll be seeing a bunch of new homeless people standing in front of a burning building on the news in Texas. And I got 1500.00 cash for the welder that you could put toward the debt that you owe someone for their services. And you could save the money from having to wire anything up and having to store the welder. Nice one, have to be more creative on the next one.

Greetings all,

I am more of a grease monkey than an electrician but I learn quick. If ya'll point me to some books that a novice can understand I'll check em out from the library

Thank you all kindly,

-jdh

[fun4now]

jdhendrickson
have you looked into getting a used MIG to get the job done?? it wont have the same look but definitely essayer to run power wise. just more sparks, witch could alarm the neighbors. TIG would b e less noticeable, but with your power restraints an inverter is really your only option. problem is inverters are not cheap. even used they pull high $'s. mine would probably sell today for more than i payed for it last year. but it is an option, some times you get lucky.
looks like some one is selling a M-35 on the board now, but its a way off from you so shipping might make it not such a good deal. but it would make a great addition to the syncro 250 when you do get back into a shop.

gangel99
Where I now live (in the SF Bay area)
&
Kind of unusual

i thought those to sentences went together, i figured you would think nothing " Kind of unusual " after living there for a wile.
after Texas i'm shore it all was at first, but i thought you got used to it before long.

[gangel99]

Finding a cheap place to work

I used to live in Dallas a long time ago and there were pretty cheap places you could rent for work. Very similar to storage places - kind of a big garage with a roll up door - but the tenants were commericial; one-guy auto body shops; window tinting; car stereos, and the like. There were a bunch in both E Dallas and S Dallas.

Another idea is to find a small auto-body or bike repair place and offer to let them use your synchrowave in exchange for you using their shop. You could post a free ad on craigslist.org - something like 'shop space wanted in exchange for use of tig welder' and see if you got any bites.

Where I now live (in the SF Bay area) there are two places that offer a full machine shop with all types of welders by the hour or by the day and they are pretty cheap. One is oriented to artists and the other is oriented to inventors - especially robotics - but neither one cares what you actually work on. Kind of unusual but there might be something similar in your area. I found them on craigslist.org when I did a search looking for a welder.

Other options are to find a community college, art school, or adult education school with an autobody or welding course and enroll so you can use their shop. Although I have a shop I've been thinking of doing this myself just to have access to more tools - cost here is $225 per semester which works out to a little over $50 per month.

Years ago I had a roommate who rebuilt his motorcycle in his bedroom. I don't recommend it. When it was done we had quite a time getting it down to the street from the 4th floor (walk up).

Best of luck!

[fun4now]

he is going to weld on the back porch, cement.

[tigman250]

I am starting to wonder if any place around here rents a nice mig welder. From what I have seen they run off of house hold current and that would be good enough to get me rolling.

i would stay away from Mig welding inside of a dwelling, Tig you could get away with but not Mig, waaaaay too manny sparks!

for the small stuff you will be welding you could probably get away with a 40A breaker, i would still advise against welding in a appartment....but if you must keep the shades pulled and don't weld at night LOL.

[fun4now]

a HH140 referb if i remember was about $400.oo i just cant remember the place that sells them, i'll have a think on it and get back to ya.
as for the renting thats definitely an option. you may need to make a plug adapter as welding plugs and dryer plugs are a little different but that should only be about $30-$40 and you will have it for a long time and can turn it into a nice extension cord later or now for that matter. my LWS rents out welders but not shore the prices would be in line with your's but its a good place to check. all the rental places by me don't carry welder's, just my welding store. about $50 a day better for weekly and even better at monthly. but you could buy a small one for the price of a months rental.

great looking bike, not much of a basket case any more. i can see why you are itching to get it finished. the closer to done it gets the more you want it done.

. I hadn't thought of just trading down. Which dynasty rig would you suggest then?
the dynasty 200DX should be fine for a bike build. plenty of power for the larger stuff (even if you have to stick weld it) and will adjust down low enough for the thinest of sheet metal or aluminum.

[fun4now]

i understand not wanting to part with the syncro after saving so hard to get it. it took me around 3 years to save up for my TA-185 and its well below the $$ of your syncro.
having ridden all my life i also understand the need for a bike. i have 4 quads in the yard now but its just not the same after a few cross country rides you just never happy without a bike to jump on now and again. quite the stress reliever no question about it. best of luck to ya, if you were closer you would be welcome to stop by and stick a part here and there as needed in my shop.
basket cases are getting harder and harder to fins as of late, too many see the TV show and think they will make one of there own and they end up in a corner or way over priced for what they are. too bad really i would love one to play with myself. just no $$ to get there now, some day maybe ???

a dryer outlet if its 240V would run a TA-185 or Dyn200DX no problem. its size would make a trip to the back porch for a quick weld very doable.
with the back porch and a dryer outlet in mind, maybe you could find a way to swing a HH 187 or used HH 180. it should cover your needs all be it not TIG but definitely get the job done. small and portable, stick in back in the closet when done. a small Co2 tank and you would be good to go. i would say a 140 but it may not be enough for the engine mounts. but an older MM175 ot HH 180 should get the job done at a reasonable price.

looking forward to the pic's
James

[jdhendrickson]

Pics or it didn't happen

As promised a pick of my bike. Well i gotta get to work folks. but when I get off work tonight I will post a pick of my welder sitting all by it's lonesome in the storage. heh

[jdhendrickson]

Where do you live ?
Do you have riding buddies that would trade shop space for use of your welder ?

I live in dallas texas, and currently I don't have any buddies here at all really. All my friends live in austin. We moved here so I could be close to my ex and my son.

[jdhendrickson]

This is just a thought,but I was in your situation once in the early 1970s.I asked around and found a local marina that occasionally needed aluminum welding done and machine work,but not enough to justify purchasing a welder or other machinery or employing a full time or even a partime weldor or machinist for that matter,so they thought.This is how the deal went down: they set aside about a 20 x 50' section of there shop for me to use as my machine shop and I moved 1 of my lathes,1 of my bridgeports,1 of my surface grinders,1 of my tig machines ,my hydraulic press,a mig welder and numerous hand & air tools along with my 50HP air compresser.I had all of the wiring,disconnects and buss bar that I wired up my self and this made a pretty decent shop for me.The deal we made was this: We figured out that $15,00 an hour in that day was a respectable wage to pay me,considering that all of the equiptment was mine (they charged $40.00 per hr. for me)and they were going to pay the electric bill for thier 480 volt 3-phase service that had actually had the meter pulled because they had no use for it.They even paid to have an electricion come and upgrade the transformers and set the meter,because in a commercial building,a liscence was required and he did not have a problem with me doing all of the wiring,then using his license to get everything inspected,so it was a sweet deal.This deal went on for near 15 years ,but I started working 10 or 15 hours a week for them and it eventual turned in to a 40-60 hour a week job,because they kept finding more and more for me to do,though it did get a bit stressful with my job in a local plant also wanting me at least 50 to 60 hours a week,but I was raising 4 sons and God knows I needed the money,so it worked well,until I had an accident in the plant that resulted in a serious spinal injurt and was forced to go on disability and I had to stop working both jobs,then brought all of my tools and machinery home,to my shop that I had built a few years ealier in my spare time between jobs.By then,my sons were old enough that they started doing side jobs out of our shop,but it was a sweet deal while it lasted and I had a full set of keys to all of thier facilitys,so I could go there and do sidejobs or whatever I wanted,as long as it was not marine related or in any conflict with thier bussiness.Hope this helps.
tooldude56

I am real sorry to hear about you getting hurt, I hope that you mended all right and aren't in pain to this day. So far I have been lucky *knocks on wood and have avoided being injured. Half the time because I was willing to walk off of a job rather than work in unsafe conditions.

**** ocean spray had me throwing boxes into an x ray machine for 12 hours a shift, (they had a metal filter blow up but didn't want to throw out all the jice that had been processed) but they cut the lead guards off so the boxes would go faster, I told em put em back on or I am gone folks. Got my walking papers that day.


I will check around a bit, there is one machine shop I know of that has done some work for me a few times they don't weld anything though so it might be worth a shot. I am starting to wonder if any place around here rents a nice mig welder. From what I have seen they run off of house hold current and that would be good enough to get me rolling. I appreciate your reply though and will keep my eye out for any marina's or other places that might need someone to stick together some metal for them.

[jdhendrickson]

Welcome
I think I would agree with SBERRY, The bike would be the least of my worries. bikes cost alot to build At any rate good luck

Thanks for the kind words. They aren't as expensive as you might think if you are starting with a basket case shovel head and you know how to turn a wrench and read a manual. You have to be careful though, that "good buy" can turn into a money pit if you get a pig in a poke. I have less than 5k in this bike.

We have a good place to live, we are both making money even if it's not much, and the credit card debt is going down slowly but surely, even so I ain't dead yet and the bike is on my brain!