[Steve91T]

Hello, my name is Steve, and I just bought a welder. I've never welded before, but have always wanted to. I've watched Stacy David enough to have a clue, but that's about it. I just purchased a cheap, less than $200 MIG welder with .035 flux core wire from Northern Tool. Should have just enough power to get me into trouble (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Anyway, I have Corbau racing seats in my 97 Camaro. The brackets suck. I did give one guy $200 to "fix" them. He promised me he'd cut and weld them to allow for a lower, and more reclined seating position. All he did was add washers to lean the seat back. I'm kicking myself for even giving this guy money.

I'm going to get some metal stock at Lowe's to practice and then once I'm not as scared, I'll start on the passenger seat. I figure I'll get better and will do a better job on the driver's seat.

I think Friday is going to be the day I give this a try. I would love it if you guys could give me constructive criticism. I'll post pictures and update as I go. You won't hurt my feelings. I'm fully expecting some of you to say things like "my grandma could do a better job!" That's fine with me.

So, will you guys help me? I know this forum doesn't have the most traffic, but I know that you guys know safety and are very experienced with this kind of thing. My goal is to rework the brackets to give me a lower, and more reclined seating position, along with making the brackets safer.

I'll take the passenger seat out tomorrow and start taking pictures.

Thank you,
Steve

[Steve91T]

Got the wire speed dialed in, and it was running much smoother. Still, no matter what I tried, I'm not getting any penetration. This little welder is supposed to handle an even thicker gauge metal. I don't understand how they figure that. So, I'm going to just tack my bracket together and have someone else weld it. I'll start a new thread with my new bracket design and get some opinions from everyone here.

Thanks guys, I'll return this welder and see if I can't pick something else up that'll work better.

Steve

[Blainefab]

Thanks guys, I'll return this welder and see if I can't pick something else up that'll work better.

Steve

Good choice. My experience with bottom end welders is very similar - with 1/8" metal you'll be at full throttle, and the effective duty cycle is about 20% - meaning the welder shuts down for 8 seconds out of 10. It might work for 18ga but we rarely need to weld stuff that thin.

There are several 'what welder to buy' threads here, the bottom line is a name brand 130A gas shielded machine is the bare minimum, and upping to a 230V 180A is not a huge amount more, and opens up a lot more functionality.

Take that welding class and see if you really want to be a weldor - if so, make the investment in good hardware. If I was looking today I'd shop Craigslist for a used Miller/Lincoln/Hobart.