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[metalmagpie]

How about if you lay out all your oxyacetylene gear and shoot a picture? Some idea of what tips are included would really help. I may be willing to make a deal on all of it.

Unlike a bunch of welders, O/A gear should be able to go into a single box and ship.

Not interested...

[metalmagpie]

Really, your machine settings depend on the steel thickess. The diameter of the hole isn't relevant.

MIG welding sheet metal is often a series of button tacks.

Sand the area down to bare metal (ideally on both sides but for sure at least the exposed side) before you start patching....

[metalmagpie]

You appear to be asking "how can I get metal for cheap"? The answer is you have to look for it, and when some appears, you have to be ready to go buy it. And inevitably, you will have to store it. If you need a particular piece of rectangular tube right away the only choice is to buy new....

[metalmagpie]

You need to make sure you can load your trailer so it has weight on the tongue. A single axle trailer should have 45% of the weight supported by each wheel and the other 10% supported by the tongue. Without enough tongue weight the trailer will violently whip from side to side on the freeway.
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[metalmagpie]

The problem is the 1/8" material. There is only so much you can do. 3/16" is so much stronger.

That said, you can "box in" channel in high stress areas. By this I mean choose flat bar that fits between the two channel flanges, welded in. Also, where the springs are attached...

[metalmagpie]

It is common for the 4 vertical posts to be made of heavy flat bar. It is also common for the sliding horizontal table to be made of 2 pieces of channel back to back, connected at the ends.

[metalmagpie]

You are using .023 wire, right?

[metalmagpie]

Look at the power cord. Miller used good quality wire which has the conductor size imprinted in the insulation. If it uses 16 gauge wire it's a 1.6kVA; if it uses 12 gauge wire it's a 2.5kVA. The plug might tell too. The (much more common) 1.6kVA spot welders use a 15 amp plug (NEMA 6-15, two horizontal...

[metalmagpie]

I have the same question. I don't have any copper based antisieze. I do have heat sink grease. Why wouldn't that work? In my (limited) experience tips do get some funky buildup on the threads that inhibits removal, but they do come right out with a wrench and the threads can then be cleaned easily.