Thread: How's My Welding - Not Great

Hey guys,

Below is a pic of the regulator.

I assume where the small black grommett is a guage would go? Can you just buy a guage?

Hi everyone,

Anyone have any feedback on the regulator?

Personally, I'd avoid the hassle of trying to find a gauge to suit and just buy a good quality regulator. That way you'd be able to know how much gas you have left in the bottle, as well as the flow rate. And treated well I'd wager it could very easily outlast the machine, would hold a decent resell value, and basically means you don't have to fork out in the future.

Originally Posted by gtr fan

Hi everyone,

Anyone have any feedback on the regulator?

You can get gauges separately but for the price something like LordBug's reg with flowmeter sounds alright. The budget ebay ones are not too expensive and all-in-one.

How did you go with finding thicker scrap to practice on?

Thanks guys,

Its sounds like I should just buy another reg, which is fine as I had seen that Cigweld one on ebay, which looks like a good price. Knowing the content of the bottle is one thing but knowing the flow rate would be a must wouldn't it?

Edster, I haven't had a chance to go and get some scrap yet or even touch the welder again. I will go this weekend and get some steel but probably give the machine another go in a week or so.

Every time I want to go to the garage my 2.5 yo daughter needs to come, so that rules out doing anything dangerous. Planning on throwing down a little concrete this weekend so that will keep her busy.

With the scrap metal - once you start looking you'll see it lying around everywhere. I remember when I got my first welder, I had all these scraps of Y12 concrete reinforcing bar lying around. I cut them up into 1 foot lengths and just welded a heap of them up side by side. Good practice for getting the weld penetration right down into the gaps.

In fact, I don't think there were 2 bits of steel within 100m of where I lived that I didn't kidnap and join together at some grotesque angle.

Cheers - Mick