What Did You Buy Today?

[Winegrower]

Locally a guy was closing his mold making shop

Here’s a shot of the drill press that started the above post. Rockwell EFI, 24”. The column is 5.5” diameter, weighs 1200 pounds. The foot switch has forward and reverse.

 

[Mill Lee farm]

I am amazed at the amount of stuff that is just being scraped out in other departments.

Working at an Army Depot, I am amazed every day by the stuff that gets ‘excessed’….

With no way for anyone to legally gain possession… it all goes to scrap or trash.

 

[ChazzC]

Working at an Army Depot, I am amazed every day by the stuff that gets ‘excessed’….

With no way for anyone to legally gain possession… it all goes to scrap or trash.

In 1971, pallet loads of stereo gear was deep-sixed, declared water damaged when it didn’t sell in the ship’s store.

There were also instances of equipment that didn’t show up on any inventory that had to be discarded (if it wasn’t inventoried, it didn’t exist).

 

[Inferno]

Today I bought one of these



If you don't know what it is, it's a portable heart monitor to check for a couple of the more common heart conditions.
This is a replacement one, really. I took my first one on vacation back in January and think I left it in a drawer in the hotel or on the ship.
I've been feeling "weird" lately and wanted to make sure my A-fib hadn't returned. I had a small surgery that was, hopefully supposed to cure the condition that was wiping out my heart. It's been good so far.
I made changes to my meds last month after getting good news, from the cardiologist, on my heart recovery and that helped get rid of a couple side effects (one was I'd get disasterously tired a half hour after taking one of them. That's one I eliminated.
At any rate, this morning I felt weirdness in my chest and wanted to be sure. This cost about as much as urgent car copay so I pulled the trigger.
Yes, enough suspense, my A-fib has NOT returned. Whatever is making me feel "weird" isn't that. I don't feel sick. Just weird.

 

[G-ManBart]

So there are drug/alcohol addicts, gambling addicts, sex addicts, and now....welder addicts

Here at Welder-Rescue.org we feel every welder deserves to be part of a loving family, not left alone, unloved and ignored in the corner of a fabrication shop that's shutting down. We find those neglected welders, give them a thorough cleaning inside and out, replace all the cables, cords, torches, flow meters and hoses, fix anything that's wrong, then put them through a rigorous testing process to ensure years of happy arc time with their new families. #Ithinkihaveaproblem

A Millermatic 250X, two Millermatic 251s and a Spoolmatic 30A I brought home today. The truth is this was an auction about 15 miles away and I was able to stop by and do the preview on Friday afternoon. I put lowball bids on all of them because I don't need more welders, but I get a kick out of fixing them up. I honestly didn't expect to get any of them, and then the online auction had some sort of technical difficulties so all of my lowball bids stuck. I was watching it live Friday night and couldn't tell what was going on and didn't think I got any. I woke up Saturday to a winner's notification. For once the last-minute snipers didn't win!

It's actually surprising how much time it takes to really go through a machine like this, but I find the process relaxing and enjoy getting them all set up to go back to work again. It also winds up being really good practice because I run the heck out of them when I'm done. I'll go through a couple of pounds of wire making sure everything works properly and that lets me work on technique or experiment with a new idea.

My wife will come into the shop and laugh at me when I'm in the middle of one of these. I'll have it all torn apart, have ear protection on and going to town with a paint brush and a shop vac...just zoned out cleaning

 

[Papa Charlie]

So there are drug/alcohol addicts, gambling addicts, sex addicts, and now....welder addicts

Here at Welder-Rescue.org we feel every welder deserves to be part of a loving family, not left alone, unloved and ignored in the corner of a fabrication shop that's shutting down. We find those neglected welders, give them a thorough cleaning inside and out, replace all the cables, cords, torches, flow meters and hoses, fix anything that's wrong, then put them through a rigorous testing process to ensure years of happy arc time with their new families. #Ithinkihaveaproblem

A Millermatic 250X, two Millermatic 251s and a Spoolmatic 30A I brought home today. The truth is this was an auction about 15 miles away and I was able to stop by and do the preview on Friday afternoon. I put lowball bids on all of them because I don't need more welders, but I get a kick out of fixing them up. I honestly didn't expect to get any of them, and then the online auction had some sort of technical difficulties so all of my lowball bids stuck. I was watching it live Friday night and couldn't tell what was going on and didn't think I got any. I woke up Saturday to a winner's notification. For once the last-minute snipers didn't win!

It's actually surprising how much time it takes to really go through a machine like this, but I find the process relaxing and enjoy getting them all set up to go back to work again. It also winds up being really good practice because I run the heck out of them when I'm done. I'll go through a couple of pounds of wire making sure everything works properly and that lets me work on technique or experiment with a new idea.

My wife will come into the shop and laugh at me when I'm in the middle of one of these. I'll have it all torn apart, have ear protection on and going to town with a paint brush and a shop vac...just zoned out cleaning

View attachment 451993

Great score. Been looking for a Millermatic 252 for some time. All of the auctions around me, end up going for ridiculous prices. Watching a couple more, but don't have much hope. Still days away from auction close.

But you never know. I have won some things that I thought I had no chance on, but it has been a long time since that's happened.

Again, congrats on your score.

 

[G-ManBart]

Great score. Been looking for a Millermatic 252 for some time. All of the auctions around me, end up going for ridiculous prices. Watching a couple more, but don't have much hope. Still days away from auction close.

But you never know. I have won some things that I thought I had no chance on, but it has been a long time since that's happened.

Again, congrats on your score.

Yeah, welder prices have gone nuts around here as well. A new Millermatic 252 is $4,300 now when they were ruder $3K just 2-3 years ago, so that's part of the problem. I had a 252 before I got my current 350P (way more than I need) and they're a really nice machine. The only thing I didn't like was that you had to turn the dials a lot to make wire feed and voltage changes. I read somewhere that Miller had feedback on the 251 saying the dials were too sensitive, which they were a little bit, and they went too far in the other direction. The 350P is in between and seems fine...which it should be for what they cost!

 

[Firstram]

Yeah, welder prices have gone nuts around here as well. A new Millermatic 252 is $4,300 now when they were ruder $3K just 2-3 years ago, so that's part of the problem. I had a 252 before I got my current 350P (way more than I need) and they're a really nice machine. The only thing I didn't like was that you had to turn the dials a lot to make wire feed and voltage changes. I read somewhere that Miller had feedback on the 251 saying the dials were too sensitive, which they were a little bit, and they went too far in the other direction. The 350P is in between and seems fine...which it should be for what they cost!

The 251 has the same analog adjustments as a 250. The digital readout was messing with their heads trying to set the perfect setting. The 251 still had a copper transformer and the power switch was in plain sight right on the front panel! I guess hiding the switch in the back saves 4 feet of wire but, it's stupid.

Having used a 350P with an AlumaPro gun I will always lust for one but, that's not happening!

 

[G-ManBart]

Yeah, I never worried about display numbers much but did think they were a bit overly sensitive. The power switch on a 252 is still in the front, just moved down and out of the way a bit so it's harder to see, but also harder to damage.

I was lucky and able to get a good deal on the 350P and an even better deal on a 25ft XR AlumaPro...it's a beast and probably more than I will ever need!

I actually sold this 252 with a Spoolmatic 30A to pay for my 350P.

 

[pontiac428]

I love my 251 with the spool gun, but I would really really like to move up to the 350P! Spool gun feeds fine and works great, but pulse is a game changer.

You say they're over 4k now? Sheeeee--t. I paid $1700 for mine new from Praxair on a small discount. Time has passed, but wow. Last year, I choked on the inflation when I bought my Spectrum 875 and Dynasty 280DX. Where's my time machine? Always forgetting where I left it last.