Author: Patrick Moreau

A few advices on welding equipment, MIG and TIG welders, plasma cutters. Identify the types of welding projects and materials you will weld most of the time. Are you creating metal sculptures? Do you intend to restore an old muscle car in your garage? Does the motorcycle you bought years ago require some fabrication? Maybe you need to do basic repair on farm equipment. Taking the time up front to identify the projects that will occupy the biggest percentage of your welding activity will help you determine the specific thickness of metal you will likely weld most often — and ultimately help you select the most suitable welder. Time to get a bit more specific. Let’s take a look at what welding process you can use for each metal type. Keep in mind that many of these materials are also processed using varying combinations of two or more metals to reinforce strength and functionality.

Several MIG welders guides: how to become a better welder and how to choose the top welding equipment. How do I choose what size Tig Welding Rod should I use for the job? For sheet metal up to 1/8” thick, don’t use a welding rod that is bigger than the thickness of metal you are welding…at least not much bigger. A good example…is using a 3/32 rod for welding .040 metal. That will just give you a fit. The amperage is low and the weld puddle needs to be small in order to prevent blowing a hole…and then when you dip the rod into the puddle, the rod is a big heat sink and sucks the heat right out of the puddle making it hard to maintain a consistent size bead. But Beginners should probably not be practicing on really thin metal. If you are a beginner you should be practicing on around 1/8 ” thick metal, and the bigger the rod, the easier it is to feed. For 1/8 ” metal, Use larger diameter rods (3/32” to 1/8”) So here is the rule….thin metal, use a thin rod Thick metal, use a thicker rod. This might seem like a no brainer, but I have answered a lot of questions like this about the rod melting before it gets to the puddle. If torch angle and arc length are right, its usually the rod size.

Delivery of parts to the welding station in an organized and logical fashion is also a way to reduce welding costs. For example, one company was manufacturing concrete mixing drums. In the fabrication process, the company produced 10 parts for one section, then went on to make 10 parts of another drum section, etc. As pieces came off the line, they were put onto the floor of the shop. When it was time to weld, the operator had to hunt for the pieces needed and sort through them. When the outside welding expert pointed out the amount of time being wasted in this process, the company started to batch each one on a cart. In this way, the pieces needed to weld one drum were stored together and could easily be moved to the welding area. This type of scenario is also true for companies that may outsource parts to a vendor. Though it may cost more to have parts delivered in batches, it may save more in time than having to organize and search through parts to be able to get to the welding stage. How many times each piece is handled in the shop may be an eye-opener to reducing wasted time. To measure such an intangible as this, operators are asked to put a soapstone mark on the piece each time it is touched – some companies are surprised to find out how many times a part is picked up, transported and laid down in the manufacturing process. In the case of one company, moving the welding shop closer to the heat treatment station eliminated four extra times that the part was handled. Basically, handling a part as few times as possible and creating a more efficient production line or work cell will reduce overall costs. Looking for the best Welding Supplies? We recommend Welding Supplies Direct & associated company TWS Direct Ltd is an online distributor of a wide variety of welding supplies, welding equipment and welding machine. We supply plasma cutters, MIG, TIG, ARC welding machines and support consumables to the UK, Europe and North America.

Not all aluminum alloys are weldable: For example: 7075 and 2024 are not considered readily weldable using TIG welding. You can usually TIG weld them and they might be fine for a tool tote or some little art project…but don’t be fooled. You can’t depend on the welds in critical applications. Take a tree stand for instance. Lets say Joe gets a good deal on some aluminum angle iron at his friends scrap yard and he decides to make a tree stand. Joe has no way of knowing what alloy of aluminum he got from the scrap yard. He makes the tree stand, it holds together and looks just fine. The welds are real pretty…like a stack of dimes. One day he is sitting in his tree stand about 20 feet up a tree. The stress corrosion that has been happening on a microstrucutural level since he finished welding the tree stand finally comes home to roost and CRACK!!

MIG Welding Increases Welding Speed: In addition to welding aluminum and other softer metals, MIG-welding works faster, provides cleaner welds, and handles many different types of metals. The downside is its complexity. MIG Welders need direct currents, a steady stream of inert gas, and precise control of their torches. The amount of heat generated from MIG welding provides the deep penetration required for a strong weld, while also melting the feed wire rapidly enough to maintain a higher welding speed than other techniques. Given the inert gas required for MIG welding, keep in mind that this technique cannot be conducted in windy areas. The Right Stick Electrode Increases Welding Speed: There are three kinds of electrodes used for stick welding: fast-fill, fill-freeze, and fast-follow. While each electrode has its advantages, the fast-fill electrodes melt quickly and allow welders to work faster.

Never forget that welding, when done improperly, can be hazardous. Electric shock, fumes and gases, arc rays, hot parts, noise and a host of other possible hazards come along with the territory. The ultraviolet and infrared light rays can also burn your skin — similar to a sunburn but without the subsequent tan — and your eyes. This is why the best MIG welding operator knows how to stay safe.

Look for ways to support your hands. Having good support for your hands or arms is crucial for moving the torch with precise control. I do my best welding when the base of my hands or my wrists is supported in some way. Often you can rest your wrists on the part being welded. I keep an assortment of wood and metal blocks near my welding bench, and I often can get better support by positioning a block to rest my torch hand on. There are occasions where I rest my forearms, or even my elbows, on something for support. Many welders set up special support bars, positioned parallel to the joint being welded, and they slide their torch hand along the bar to help follow the joint with fine control. For some out-of-position work, I’ve had to rely on resting only my shoulder on something, and while not ideal, it’s better than having no support at all. Even placing my hip against something stationary can offer a bit of support, but I can’t weld very well when standing ‘free,’ with no support at all. Source: https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/.

Buy an existing business? There are some places where you can sell your business or buy a a new business. Businesses are bought and sold every day, maybe you want to enter a new market or you want to exit a market. Maybe you think your business will expand to a new level with another owner and you reached the ceiling of how high you can develop it. Let’s see some successful business deals and discuss a little about places where you can buy or sell a business.

Any business can be sold! Even websites, that are not really businesses, can be sold for a lot of money. Deadline Hollywood started off as a column in the LA weekly, in 2002 by Nikki Finke. The column itself was basically an informative entertainment column based around the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Nikki decided to take her now well-known columnto the online world, and the site first went live in 2006 as a blog. She decided upon calling it the ‘Deadline Hollywood Daily’. It was so popular that in 2009 the Mail Media Corporation bought it from her in a lucrative deal with $14 million. The website has since been changed to deadline.com. Wonkette is a website that was established in January 2004, it was part of the Gawker Media Network, and it’s founding editor was Ana Marie Cox, who has also been the editor of the well known website suck.com. Gawker Media thought a downturn in the internet boom was on the horizon, and not wanting to lose all the money they had poured into the website they sold it. The buyers were Ken Layne and his business partners, paying $12 Million in 2006. It’s also worth mentioning that Ken Layne was also the editor of the site at the time he and his partners bought it.

Advices for buying a business: Thinking a broker will do all the work in promoting your sale can be deadly. You are the best promoter for your business. Who knows your business better than you? No one is more motivated, passionate and knowledgeable about your business than you. A broker may be getting you some activity, but it’s important that you continue to promote yourself as well. After becoming frustrated that leads were not developing, I realized that I had to be a promoter of my own business sale. But, the trick was to promote a sale without getting it out in my community, my customer base and my employees. How was I going to do that? Where do I find people that would be interested in purchasing my type of business? See extra info on Sell your business.

Shopify Exchange is one of the newest marketplaces you can use to buy and sell online businesses, and it’s the only platform that specifically focuses on Shopify businesses. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, but the main advantage is that when you buy an online business for sale on the Shopify Exchange, you know you’re getting a Shopify store. Since Shopify is one of the top and most highly recommended ecommerce platforms in the industry, (we discuss why in our Shopify Review: The Pros & Cons of Selling on Shopify article) this is a good thing! It’s also great because Shopify sellers integrate their stores directly with the Shopify Exchange, so they can’t edit or change any of the data that gets pulled into their store’s sales listing like their traffic and revenue numbers. This means that you’re less likely to have any of that important information withheld from you by the seller.

Flippa has been the go-to place for years for finding good profitable and established websites for sale. Like any other marketplace, there are sneaky people (let’s call them criminals) who will try to trick and scam you. Flippa is getting better and better in tracking them down. Also, buyers are now more sophisticated then they were when Flippa just started out. There are some great websites with a solid track record that you can find on Flippa. Budget starts from as low as $500 or even $100 for a starter site, all the way up to $1,000,000. Unlike some other marketplaces, Flippa doesn’t have an official vetting process, meaning, everybody can list anything. This is where your experience as an investor comes into play. You may see an “Editor’s choice”, but that doesn’t mean you should let someone else do the due diligence. On the screenshot below you can see the Editor’s choice icon or just click here to see all the latest editor’s choice picks. Couple more important things to note. Flippa is a marketplace that also sells domain names, apps and e-commerce websites like Amazon FBA and Shopify stores. Furthermore, it is an auction-based (like eBay) marketplace. This means that buyers are bidding against each other, the seller can set a reserve (the minimum price for which he intends to sell his asset (website)).

Craigslist is a no-frills, essentially text-based marketplace for virtually any and all products sold. The site is categorized by Country, State, Territory, with listings from the United States to Africa. Clicking on a specific State or Territory allows merchants to post products to sell based within the “For Sale” and “Services” sections. Once registered merchants can create a Craigslist post and upload an image and description; the post “masks” the contact email so that the seller remains anonymous to individuals looking to purchase items or services. Craigslist has the look and feel of old-school online forums; there are no product amount limits, no buyer or seller programs, and few restrictions. A good place to sell products but not the best place to drive your business marketing strategy. You might be surprised by the sales volume you get off Craigslist.

BizForSell is number #1 Go to for business sellers, business brokers and buyers. bizforsell.com is one of the biggest and most reliable business selling marketplaces in the world. We aim to solve the unique problems business sellers, business brokers and buyers have to face while selling or buying bussiness. We offer very convenient options for sellers, buyers, and brokers of businesses. Business buyers can easily browse businesses locally and find the best possible deal . With a fast-growing audience of sellers, buyers, and brokers, you can be sure of finding something suitable for you on this marketplace if you search! We provide solutions to sellers, buyers and brokers worldwide. Source: https://www.bizforsell.com.

Working and earning money from home can look like a dream, but it can also be a reality. You can be cautious of the strategies of making money by working at home, but they do exist. Here are some of them :

If you really want to cut the employer cord, or don’t have an area of expertise or desire be a contract worker or freelancer, you can start a business. Many people are scared off by the complexity of starting a business, but while there are a lot of steps, they can be fairly easy to implement. In fact, you can have a business up and running within a month. Businesses are usually divided into product-based and service-based. In product-based business, you sell a tangible good, such as gift baskets, craft goods, or an invention you made. However, the internet also provides for the sales of digital goods, as well. A service-based business involves providing a service, such as home cleaning, childcare, or digital design.

Car Rental Provider: Getaround is the sharing economy’s answer to rental agencies. The company allows you to rent out your car on an hourly or daily basis, starting at $5 an hour. Depending on your vehicle’s market value, you set the price per hour, and Getaround takes a 40% cut to cover 24/7 roadside assistance and driver insurance. According to the Getaround, earning potential for renting your car when you’re not using it is up to $1,000 a year.

Get dressed. “I find that the most important thing for me is to keep a regular routine and to shower and dress every day as if I were going to an actual office,” says Jenifer Kramer, Principal of West Hollywood, California-based Jenerosity Marketing. Catherine Waldron, education specialist, with Enfield, Connecticut-based language curriculum company QTalk Publishing, agrees, and says she showers and dresses for work every day. “Getting dressed makes the home office more like a real office, and tells and reminds everyone, especially you, that even though you may be sitting on the sofa reading, browsing the Web, or talking on the phone, that you are actually working,” she says. Read more info at Make money online working from home.

Another popular freelance platform is Fiverr. It’s similar to Upwork as you can get paid to do just about any task where the completed work can be delivered electronically and setting up a profile here gives you additional exposure to potential freelance clients. Fiverr gets its name from the fact the freelancers can charge $5 (or more) per gig. For select tasks, some sellers charge up to $10,000 per task. Now that’s a serious payday! Many Fiverr customers like to hire freelancers like you to design eBook covers, create company logos, write blog posts, create digital videos and audio recordings, and other tasks they don’t have the skills to complete. My wife and I have personally used Fiverr to hire somebody to create a book cover for a self-published book. One the gig is complete, you get paid.