Miller 251D Big Blue

[SmokinPRanch]

I repaired a bucket on JD 401. Had been used with road salt and finally give up. Removed the skid plates and cut out all the old with a plasma and grinder. Fair bit of dirty, nasty work.

I used 3/16 plate since it's what I had on hand.

Welding did take a while as I wasn't...

[SmokinPRanch]

I'm with Sundown....you can hire out a lot of tig welding for the price of even a used Syncrowave.

Might look into a "poor man's tig" set up for your Thunderbolt.

Al

[SmokinPRanch]

Looks like a pretty efficient design.

The cable reels off the back look different from what I've seen before. Usually they are inside of the trailer. Might be a good idea, just not sure.

The bottles being low are good for changing them out as long as they are protected...

[SmokinPRanch]

I've got a Dialarc 250HF. Run it off a 60 amp 220 breaker. Never had a problem up to about 160 amps.

One thing some talk about is duty cycle. All I know if I don't know what the duty cycle is of the Dialarc because I've never ran into it. Last couple days been repairing a tractor bucket...

[SmokinPRanch]

The guys from American Chopper aren't real fabricators...they are businessmen. They make very little that is involved with those bikes. A few ornamental pieces. They bolt 'em together and create a side show. Marketing...they are experts at it.

What they have is clients with deep pockets...

[SmokinPRanch]

We use a Maxstar 140 at the plant I work for. Has been a very durable machine. I ran some 3/32 7018 Excalibur with it Saturday night on some motor frames and it welded real nice. Had it on a 110V circuit so I wouldn't have to hunt down a 220 outlet. Some of the guys use it to run scratch start tig on...

[SmokinPRanch]

I've got one of those "buddy of a buddy of a buddy" deals for a Miller 251D Big Blue machine. The only real details so far is that it works "great" and is in "construction site" condition.

I done a little research and from what I've found....
Diesel...

[SmokinPRanch]

If you're just starting out you might want to reconsider your tool priorities. Plasma cutters are nice after you have everything else. Unless your doing a lot of plate and sheet work you might find it collecting some dust.

Setting up the plasma will cost a few bucks. Maybe better spent...

[SmokinPRanch]

Can take a look here it might have a couple ideas you can use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgA0i1AYh30

The frame is gonna have to be heavy and stout to do any bending or you'll be chasing it around the floor.

The heavier the top the better but also more...

[SmokinPRanch]

Here's a "vise" I fabricated a while back. Not the ultimate and doesn't replace a real vise but has some handy features.

Long pieces fit through, can be leveled and the rods used as a reference, holes to mount swivels to hold weird pieces, swivels and adjustable for elevation,...

[SmokinPRanch]

Looks good. Top caps are a nice touch..are they welded or slip on?

Are you notching the pipe or just fill welds?

Nice to have clients with deep pockets.

Al

[SmokinPRanch]

The fella where we bought our truck from told us about another dealer that had sold a mom and her daughter a cute suv for pulling their horse trailer. Told them all about how it was built like a truck yet rode like a car and got great fuel mileage. He was even nice enough to have a hitch installed on...

[SmokinPRanch]

[QUOTE=Some Creep;242678]You can download free DWG viewers online./QUOTE]

And I wish every one of my clients would take the 10 minutes it takes to do so.

Famous last words..."I can't open that file you sent me, can you make it something my computer can open?"...

[SmokinPRanch]

Sonora, a "cheap",easy way to convert your drawing to .jpg is to get what you want on the screen and hit the "print screen" key on your keyboard. Then go to the Windows Paint program and paste it in. It will give you a screen shot of your drawing. Depending on your version of AutoCAD...

[SmokinPRanch]

When considering price take into account the amount of equipment that you need to have. You aren't just charging for your time. You are charging for the equipment and your skills at using and choosing the proper equipment.

For small jobs, it depends on your business. If you find these...