I’m not a real welder, mister

[Polecat]

Ok, so I still have the job of welding my RSL thumb onto my little Bobcat E10, I finally dug out my cheap Aldi ark welder (don’t laugh) I know some will say it’s a toy welder, but I did a bit of a repair on my cement mixer, after a bit of a practice run on some scrap metal as I have never welded before, ever.
First thing I did was to throw away the stupid hand held welding shield it came with, as I couldn’t see jack sh1t out of it, & i got myself a auto darkening one, yey now I could see what I wanted to butcher with my welding abilities, which is zero.
The welder was 80amp middle aisle special buy back in 2015 it came with about 8 various rods & I have used about three 6013, my welds look like I have sneezed on them, not good, so I need more practice.

When I come to weld the thumb on I believe I need 7018 rods, is this right, but is the welder amperage good enough to do 7018 rods & to penetrate into the dipper arm & thumb metal, the thumb metal is 10mm & I guess it would be high tensile steel.

 

[Smiffy]

Ok, so I still have the job of welding my RSL thumb onto my little Bobcat E10, I finally dug out my cheap Aldi ark welder (don’t laugh) I know some will say it’s a toy welder, but I did a bit of a repair on my cement mixer, after a bit of a practice run on some scrap metal as I have never welded before, ever.
First thing I did was to throw away the stupid hand held welding shield it came with, as I couldn’t see jack sh1t out of it, & i got myself a auto darkening one, yey now I could see what I wanted to butcher with my welding abilities, which is zero.
The welder was 80amp middle aisle special buy back in 2015 it came with about 8 various rods & I have used about three 6013, my welds look like I have sneezed on them, not good, so I need more practice.

When I come to weld the thumb on I believe I need 7018 rods, is this right, but is the welder amperage good enough to do 7018 rods & to penetrate into the dipper arm & thumb metal, the thumb metal is 10mm & I guess it would be high tensile steel.

Is it a buzz box with a big central dial on the front or an inverter with the little dial for the amps. I don't think the buzz box will run 7018 rods from memory.
80 amps will also pretty much restrict you to 2.5mm rods so you will be there forever. If you see much welding in your future I thoroughly recommend speaking to r tech. And getting a bigger machine. Especially if you have a buzz box.
I'm not a great welder but a modern inverter welder is so easy to use.

 

[6feetdown]

Ok, so I still have the job of welding my RSL thumb onto my little Bobcat E10, I finally dug out my cheap Aldi ark welder (don’t laugh) I know some will say it’s a toy welder, but I did a bit of a repair on my cement mixer, after a bit of a practice run on some scrap metal as I have never welded before, ever.
First thing I did was to throw away the stupid hand held welding shield it came with, as I couldn’t see jack sh1t out of it, & i got myself a auto darkening one, yey now I could see what I wanted to butcher with my welding abilities, which is zero.
The welder was 80amp middle aisle special buy back in 2015 it came with about 8 various rods & I have used about three 6013, my welds look like I have sneezed on them, not good, so I need more practice.

When I come to weld the thumb on I believe I need 7018 rods, is this right, but is the welder amperage good enough to do 7018 rods & to penetrate into the dipper arm & thumb metal, the thumb metal is 10mm & I guess it would be high tensile steel.

I finally bit the bullet last week on a Warrior 250 they do a smaller 1 which is similar money to an r tech, plus is British made and they do all the servicing spares etc.
Tidy guys too as I collected mine

 

[Vinpetrol]

Ok, so I still have the job of welding my RSL thumb onto my little Bobcat E10, I finally dug out my cheap Aldi ark welder (don’t laugh) I know some will say it’s a toy welder, but I did a bit of a repair on my cement mixer, after a bit of a practice run on some scrap metal as I have never welded before, ever.
First thing I did was to throw away the stupid hand held welding shield it came with, as I couldn’t see jack sh1t out of it, & i got myself a auto darkening one, yey now I could see what I wanted to butcher with my welding abilities, which is zero.
The welder was 80amp middle aisle special buy back in 2015 it came with about 8 various rods & I have used about three 6013, my welds look like I have sneezed on them, not good, so I need more practice.

When I come to weld the thumb on I believe I need 7018 rods, is this right, but is the welder amperage good enough to do 7018 rods & to penetrate into the dipper arm & thumb metal, the thumb metal is 10mm & I guess it would be high tensile steel.

When I looked at this I had to check it wasn’t one of my old posts . I could have written this word for word and the only lie would have been my welder is parweld !

 

[Polecat]

Yes it’s an old AC buzz box, new though cos i only unboxed it a week ago, proved the wife wrong though, when she said I would never use it, even if it’s 10 years later

I don’t see myself doing a lot of welding in the future, so I’m not looking to spend a lot, I was thinking more of what you can get off Amazon or Machine mart, what about these welders that do mig & ark in one neat little package.

 

[6feetdown]

Yes it’s an old AC buzz box, new though cos i only unboxed it a week ago, proved the wife wrong though, when she said I would never use it, even if it’s 10 years later

I don’t see myself doing a lot of welding in the future, so I’m not looking to spend a lot, I was thinking more of what you can get off Amazon or Machine mart, what about these welders that do mig & ark in one neat little package.

Same as me but buy once hopefully it will last

 

[Will_c]

Ok, so I still have the job of welding my RSL thumb onto my little Bobcat E10, I finally dug out my cheap Aldi ark welder (don’t laugh) I know some will say it’s a toy welder, but I did a bit of a repair on my cement mixer, after a bit of a practice run on some scrap metal as I have never welded before, ever.
First thing I did was to throw away the stupid hand held welding shield it came with, as I couldn’t see jack sh1t out of it, & i got myself a auto darkening one, yey now I could see what I wanted to butcher with my welding abilities, which is zero.
The welder was 80amp middle aisle special buy back in 2015 it came with about 8 various rods & I have used about three 6013, my welds look like I have sneezed on them, not good, so I need more practice.

When I come to weld the thumb on I believe I need 7018 rods, is this right, but is the welder amperage good enough to do 7018 rods & to penetrate into the dipper arm & thumb metal, the thumb metal is 10mm & I guess it would be high tensile steel.

With the thumb you’re fitting, is it a manual or hydraulic version? I’m curious how effective a thumb would actually be on a small 1-ton machine, as it’s not something you often see apart from on some of the Chinese machines.

 

[V8Druid]

Ok, so I still have the job of welding my RSL thumb onto my little Bobcat E10, I finally dug out my cheap Aldi ark welder (don’t laugh) I know some will say it’s a toy welder, but I did a bit of a repair on my cement mixer, after a bit of a practice run on some scrap metal as I have never welded before, ever.
First thing I did was to throw away the stupid hand held welding shield it came with, as I couldn’t see jack sh1t out of it, & i got myself a auto darkening one, yey now I could see what I wanted to butcher with my welding abilities, which is zero.
The welder was 80amp middle aisle special buy back in 2015 it came with about 8 various rods & I have used about three 6013, my welds look like I have sneezed on them, not good, so I need more practice.

When I come to weld the thumb on I believe I need 7018 rods, is this right, but is the welder amperage good enough to do 7018 rods & to penetrate into the dipper arm & thumb metal, the thumb metal is 10mm & I guess it would be high tensile steel.

you might manage to tack it in place ......... for someone with the necessary skills to do the job properly for you ... ...... other than that - don't waste your precious time ... good site welder'd have it on in a few hours for you - max.

 

[V8Druid]

I finally bit the bullet last week on a Warrior 250 they do a smaller 1 which is similar money to an r tech, plus is British made and they do all the servicing spares etc.
Tidy guys too as I collected mine

how're you getting on with it Andy ..... or you been too busy unpacking all yer new toys

 

[6feetdown]

how're you getting on with it Andy ..... or you been too busy unpacking all yer new toys

Not used it.
Gas bottle was empty so got a new 1 Friday.
Rcd keeps tripping it's an old 1 so hoping my mate will have a 32amp tomorrow in his stock

 

[Polecat]

With the thumb you’re fitting, is it a manual or hydraulic version? I’m curious how effective a thumb would actually be on a small 1-ton machine, as it’s not something you often see apart from on some of the Chinese machines.

It’s a manual thumb, it’s pretty difficult to get a hydraulic thumb for the E10 with the dipper being so short.