Workshop welder

[TomWeldingSuppliesDirect]

@El arado I apologise if I in any way offended you with my attempting to help out OP with a suggestion of a machine. I used the phrase "In my opinion" as it genuinely IS my opinion that these machines are some of the most robust machines for farm use for the amount of money you are paying.
I'm sure the many farmers who have purchased an Oxford MIG Welder from ourselves would agree with me.

I'm not going to lie to you and say I know absolutely every little thing about welding as I've not been around long enough to have the knowledge that I'm sure yourself & many of the other members of TFF have & I thank you for educating me somewhat on different technical terms as regards welders.. but had OP asked this information then I would have done every little thing I could to make sure that I found it out and passed it along to him.

I just wanted to touch on a few points you made.

Binzel torches - As @Blackleg said we say "Genuine Binzel Torch" as many welding distributors offer fake chinese made copies, we want to make it clear that these torches are the real thing... Quality torches. I do, however, agree that Tregaskiss or ATTC torches are some of the best torches you will find on the market today but I believe Binzel are still sitting up their along side them as regards quality.

Parweld package - Yes, this inverter is made in China. Yes, it's nothing amazing compared to the likes of Miller, Fronius, EWM, Kemppi or Lincoln.. But you're going to be paying a hell of a lot more for any of those companies equivalent machines - EWM's 162 Pico inverter is a going to set you back around a grand if you're looking for a brand new one. I'm not knocking EWM in any way, I know they're amazing quality machines.
We are trying to provide an affordable solution for those that need a stick welder for farm use. This is exactly what the TFF Parweld XTI 160 Package is. I’m sure the 30 odd TFF Members that have had this package from us will agree that this machine does exactly what is say on the tin and that they’ve had no problems with it.

Plasma Cutter - I have no message from you regarding a plasma cutter, If I had received a message and it's gone missing I do sincerely apologise as I would have done my best to give you a sufficient answer to your question. I'll never ignore a sincere question from anyone.
Regarding the safety thread, I didn't know there was one as I don't spend mass amounts of time on here, although the time I do spend here I enjoy. I'll do my best to give some input to the thread in the future, hopefully my knowledge will be even remotely helpful.

There was no need for your scathing attack.

I apologise for what you state to be my apparent lack of helpfulness (Which was certainly not intended) but as a young representative of the company I'm doing my best to help out with the knowledge I have.

Have a great day everybody, Tom - WSD

 

[Grassman]

@TomWeldingSuppliesDirect
The last thing you need to do is apologise.

 

[El arado]

I quite agree, there is no need to apologise; @tom, equally I don't think I scathingly attacked you. What peed me off was the Oxford ad' (Oxford MIGmaker 180-1), my first observation was the voltage selection - 24 on the pic's, 6 in the spec', pic 4 - do all m/c's have 6 screws missing? - lol. The only error was suggesting alternatives before you ascertained the OP's requirement. Just look at other posts on here, "Workshop Projects etc.", gives you an idea as to what people are doing. And lets face it, the Parweld Inverter will never replace the Oxford 180 Oil Cooled in terms of reliability and duty cycle, but carting them about is a different story!
Regarding "Genuine Binzel Torch's", once Parweld moved over to the Hyperflex cable(20+ years ago) their "copy" torch was much better than the Binzel; yes I agree there are a lot of very questionable imports from China.
You did answer me regarding the Plasma, but had no information.
I am a farmers son, was always taught to tell the truth and speak my mind and whatever you do "do it properly" (if I didn't, I received a "hobnail" boot up me a_se).

Info for Oxford - mount the stack vertically, top plate will not get so hot.
The fan looks central in the back plate - just where the Gas Bottle is mounted - impairing air flow.
The discharge resistor for the cap's (mounted between the contactor and stack) needs mounting securely, the legs break with vibration.

No hard feelings......"I'm OK really"......lol

 

[Jim75]

I wouldn't let this little spat put you off - if you haven't done much welding (or any), then get a basic stick welder to start with - you can always upgrade later if you want to, but go for an inverter type if you can afford it.

The most important thing with welding is to have an auto-darkening helmet as the basic "face shields" supplied with most welders require you to hold it with one hand - you also have to guesstimate the striking point as you can't see through the glass until the arc strikes! An auto darkening helmet will allow you to safely see what you are doing before, during and after the weld.

Don't let this put anyone off one of the parwelds. Had mine over a year now from WSD and it's a great little tool. Anything that's beyond me I take to the local smiddy anyway. It'll quite comfortably tick along all day if need be and for the price of it you can't go wrong.