I live in Missouri, electricity costs $0.08 per KWh, which from reading of folks in CA, is really cheap. Even with our cheap electricity, our houses are heated with Nat. Gas, and Water is heated via Nat. Gas (which is much cheaper / BTu). My electricity usage in the winter is about $100 / month, and my heat gets as high as $180/month. We get real cold here, but then we have a couple months on either side of the coldest and hottest months, where we don't run heat or electricity at all (like now). We do get a good amount of hail, which isn't so bad since I can fix my own roof (and have, many times) which I need to replace the whole roof in the next year or so. And my electricity/gas bills would be considered very high since I live in a 22 year old house of around 4500 square feet.
Now onto my point, let's say a minimum Solar installation costs 20k, and takes (likely a very long time around here) to pay off, even with subsidies, etc. Brand new homes are being sold in my area at around $130-$150k, which gets ya about 1800-2100 square feet, with a 'semi' basement. Since they are roughly half the size of mine, I would conservatively offer that they would use half the power/gas that I do, likely averaging $120 a month, maybe even less. Adding a 20k installation is disproportional high cost relative to how cheap new homes are. All for something that the cheap homes (which have an average residency of 6 years) can't justify any savings in.
I agree completely with the TIG. They are, unfortunately, quite cost prohibitive. My tig has the thumb control, and a foot pedal add on, I use both, depends what I'm doin. I like Mig for a lot of stuff simply because it's fast and easy. It gets used more than my TIG, however, I'm typically building steel furniture, and I like the higher capacity of my MIG.
Personally, if you are going to get 1 welder, and have a car hobby, the first one to get is a MIG. pure 'arc' welding usually refers to stick welding, which is troublesome to use on sheet metal.
Pure argon is usually only used in TIG welding, and is costly. Course nice TIG welders are big bux too! Typically one uses CO2 or argon/co2 mix, in MIG (like the mix myself). gas is cheap, tanks are pricey, but get bigger than you need, running out of gas halfway through a marathon welding night will rob you of momentum.
Flux core welding is the devil. Avoid it, it makes too much work in grinding especially on sheet metal.
I've bought some stuff from these guys (welding rods, new tips, etc) good prices, VERY FAST SHIPMENT
http://store.cyberweld.com/migwelders.html
as far as howto links...
start with the instructions that come with your welder, different types of welding equipment requires different technique, also, different materials need different technique.
I'm an engineer, and a welder, and a car repair wiz. Learned the engineering in school, everything else, I learned on my own. It is wrong to expect school to teach you anything, that's the whole point of going to school is to learn to teach yourself. I read a bit about how to proof my own welds, what they should look like, and how to test them. OK, a month later, I am a hell of a welder. Yes I had to buy a shit ton of equipment, but, it's worth it. And, since I now understand how to weld, my designs are cheaper to implement, becuase now I look at every joint I design in cad and ask.... well, how would I weld that, ah, I should change this just a little, and it would be cake... etc.
You don't NEED school to teach, just go buy a couple of welders, and start practicing. Now the shop (in my basement) includes a mammoth bandsaw, a big drill press, a bender, a big ass welding table, a big air compressor, etc.
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I live in Missouri, electricity costs $0.08 per KWh, which from reading of folks in CA, is really cheap. Even with our cheap electricity, our houses are heated with Nat. Gas, and Water is heated via Nat. Gas (which is much cheaper / BTu). My electricity usage in the winter is about $100 / month, and my heat gets as high as $180/month. We get real cold here, but then we have a couple months on either side of the coldest and hottest months, where we don't run heat or electricity at all (like now). We do get a good amount of hail, which isn't so bad since I can fix my own roof (and have, many times) which I need to replace the whole roof in the next year or so. And my electricity/gas bills would be considered very high since I live in a 22 year old house of around 4500 square feet. Now onto my point, let's say a minimum Solar installation costs 20k, and takes (likely a very long time around here) to pay off, even with subsidies, etc. Brand new homes are being sold in my area at around $130-$150k, which gets ya about 1800-2100 square feet, with a 'semi' basement. Since they are roughly half the size of mine, I would conservatively offer that they would use half the power/gas that I do, likely averaging $120 a month, maybe even less. Adding a 20k installation is disproportional high cost relative to how cheap new homes are. All for something that the cheap homes (which have an average residency of 6 years) can't justify any savings in.
I agree completely with the TIG. They are, unfortunately, quite cost prohibitive. My tig has the thumb control, and a foot pedal add on, I use both, depends what I'm doin. I like Mig for a lot of stuff simply because it's fast and easy. It gets used more than my TIG, however, I'm typically building steel furniture, and I like the higher capacity of my MIG.
Personally, if you are going to get 1 welder, and have a car hobby, the first one to get is a MIG. pure 'arc' welding usually refers to stick welding, which is troublesome to use on sheet metal. Pure argon is usually only used in TIG welding, and is costly. Course nice TIG welders are big bux too! Typically one uses CO2 or argon/co2 mix, in MIG (like the mix myself). gas is cheap, tanks are pricey, but get bigger than you need, running out of gas halfway through a marathon welding night will rob you of momentum. Flux core welding is the devil. Avoid it, it makes too much work in grinding especially on sheet metal. I've bought some stuff from these guys (welding rods, new tips, etc) good prices, VERY FAST SHIPMENT http://store.cyberweld.com/migwelders.html as far as howto links... start with the instructions that come with your welder, different types of welding equipment requires different technique, also, different materials need different technique.
I'm an engineer, and a welder, and a car repair wiz. Learned the engineering in school, everything else, I learned on my own. It is wrong to expect school to teach you anything, that's the whole point of going to school is to learn to teach yourself. I read a bit about how to proof my own welds, what they should look like, and how to test them. OK, a month later, I am a hell of a welder. Yes I had to buy a shit ton of equipment, but, it's worth it. And, since I now understand how to weld, my designs are cheaper to implement, becuase now I look at every joint I design in cad and ask.... well, how would I weld that, ah, I should change this just a little, and it would be cake... etc.
You don't NEED school to teach, just go buy a couple of welders, and start practicing. Now the shop (in my basement) includes a mammoth bandsaw, a big drill press, a bender, a big ass welding table, a big air compressor, etc.