Fabricating a new splitting wedge

[fdoberman]

Something tells me you aren't the local Wal-Mart greeter as you have the personality of a toilet seat!

Gee Gink, ya got me there. Walmart rejected my application because they cross checked it against their Security log and determined I had previously been asked to leave the store for sitting in a dressing room and hollering there was no toilet paper.

 

[fdoberman]

Uh uh...

Hobart is now made in the USA, by Miller. WRONG! Hobart & Miller are both BRANDS owned by ITW. "Made in USA" translates to ITW assembles both products in the US from off shore subassemblies made by other ITW owned companies.

I have my Handler 140 and it makes good strong welds. It clearly says on the box and the machine that it's made in the USA. Do a little research on what percentage of the work is necessary to claim USA manufacture.

It even has a Miller gun on it. Factoring in the price which is more than double a HF wire feed welder of the same rating means that it is much better than any HF of the same rating, and even some of higher ratings.

The ground clamp they supply you with is the problem on these, it's about worthless... no contact area for the weld current to run through the work into the machine. Even replacing it with a HF not pure copper knock off of a Tweco 400 amp clamp greatly improved the welds. I can only imagine how much better a real Tweco clamp could be... might get me one.

Try brazing or even soldering a 1" square of copper to the clamp. If you don't have copper available a couple quarters, one on each jaw will work well.

I built my own welding cart with it... threw the finished welded pieces/cart on the floor several times. No problems with welds breaking or showing stress.

And yes, there are limitations to a 120 volt machine. Metal thickness... max is 1/4" on my Hobart (technically overrated... it really is 1/8" in one pass max due to amperage limitations) Otherwise on sheet metal and general farting around with light/medium fab projects, it's perfect.

Not to mention if you needed to bring it somewhere and plug it into a generator to fix a truck out in the woods or whatever, it is much easier to do so with a 120 volt machine. Have you tried running the 140 off a generator yet? There are a couple tricks you might want to know about when you do.

That's why I bought my Hobart 140. 450 bucks for an entry/mid level machine isn't cheap. HF welders are cheap and are one of the few things I refuse to buy from their store.

I did lots of comparisons/parts list cross-referencing, and reading reviews to decide on the Hobart over the Miller. It was worth it and is a very good machine. Why waste another 400 on a blue machine that has nothing more than an autoset feature that you don't want and a metal feed system mount?
I agree the blue machine isn't worth more than an extra hundred, without the autoset option.
Sorry you got one with a dud of a WF pot. You should've called up Hobart as soon as it happened. They would be happy to help get that fixed and might've sent you a new one free of charge. Give them a call, maybe they'll do so even though you're probably out of warranty.

ITW owns Miller, Hobart, and another company (SMITH, but don't tell Hofart or Miller employees, it ain't on their list of information they need to know.forgot that name) The only differences between the Hobart 140 and Miller 140 is the autoset feature and that the Miller has a metal wire feed motor/roller mount rather than plastic. They use the same guns, same carriage/housing, and even the switches for power, WF pot, and such are the same. Different paint, faceplates, and names... very few parts are different.

There are so very many differences between Miller and Hofart machines above and beyond the plastic feed drive. Given ITW's 80/20 business model the machines may become closer relatives as time goes on. Dig into the archived Hofart weldtalk board around May 2005, there is extensive admission about both off shore components from ITW owned companies. That employee was fired for stating truth.

 

[AIM]

I'm about half afraid to jump in here but here it goes.

To the OP.
I doubt your 4 ton splitter could run a 4 way. On select pieces it likely could but I doubt very often.
That being said. If you want to do it though it would be a fun project to do. Plus it will all be with thicker steel that will make learning to weld a bit easier.

As for the welding part.
:disclaimer: "I aint certified to weld squat"
Regardless of what rod is BEST for that project or any other.
Set your machine on DC. (straight or reverse won't matter much) Set the amps to around 90.
Grab some 6011 1/8" weld away.
6011 is about the most forgiving rod out there. We call it farmer rod because you can burn through paint, rust, grease etc.
6011 splatters quite a bit compared to about any other rod plus it will not give you a nice smooth bead but it is about the easiest rod to learn with.
6011 is about 95% of what I use.

 

[avason]

Gink595 You gots skilzzzz man!

 

[12vdzl]

Gink if you're ever in MI, id sure like to learn to fine tune my welding skills from you.

Hit me up sometime.

 

[gink595]

Gink if you're ever in MI, id sure like to learn to fine tune my welding skills from you.

Hit me up sometime.

I'm just south of the border, Indiana. I'm a Michigan native though!

 

[CJ1]

I don't profess to have much experience with A/C rod but the limited experience I have had with 6013 is bad. It is actually worse than the HYP or hippie rod that was used pipelining. 6011 runs much better than the 13 but if you have a D/C machine why wouldn't you use 5p+ or 6p rod then cap with 7018 to build up some skill. I use either my mig or 7018 for just about everything anymore unless I am welding a tank where I have to seal something up then it is the P rod. CJ