I finally got a welder.  It’s a very small Hobart 140.  It runs off of standard 110 volt electricity, so it plugs into a standard outlet.  It came with a gas attachment and a regulator, and all I really had to buy was a bottle of gas (the Hobart came with a spool of flux core, but I only made two welds before completely giving up on that …for now…).

Here are some things I was aware of before buying a welder:

• Welding is HOT
• You really can burn your eyes if you stare into the light.  It feels like sand.  It sucks.
• I needed a welding machine

Armed with that knowledge, I decided to become a welder.  I did my due research and found one I thought would serve my needs while still being affordable enough that I could buy some metal too. Basically, all I needed was something powerful enough to weld some 1/4″ plate to make brackets, gussets, and other stuff for my Jeep.

Here’s a link

I don’t need (and can’t afford) a $5000 Millermatic just yet, but I believe this will do well as I teach myself how to glue some metal together.

I’ll post up some of the new things I learn as I go.