Got some sticker shock today; exchanged a bottle of Argon for my TIG welder. Price jumped 30% over last summer.
That means bolt handles will go up!

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Got some sticker shock today; exchanged a bottle of Argon for my TIG welder. Price jumped 30% over last summer.
That means bolt handles will go up!

As an HVAC contractor, we buy a boatload of refrigerant, as well as oxy/acetylene, and nitrogen. All of it has gone up in the last couple years, but refrigerant is getting ridiculous.

Sandpaper, stock finish. steel, propane, oils EVERYTHING has taken huge price jumps. Instead of trying to redo price lists, a "COL surcharge" might be the solution to keep one's head above water.

Might be the best way to go.
One more thing that is crazy; Scotch Brite Belts are way up. I use a lot of them.

I have a job coming up where I need a 1.375 dia end mill to make a cut in a fixture. Yep got sticker shock, $ 138 WOW.

What pissed me off is last week I got in a overstock flyer from the same company. The sale price $ 33, for the same cutter.

Makes me really wonder about their mark up and and just how many they over bought several years ago in order to try to currently move any over stock out the door.

JW

Yeah, I have a couple of personal projects requiring new handles and, yup, my Argon tank is empty. Last time I refilled it was quite a shock, I can only imagine now. Ouch, I can't pass the costs on to anyone but myself.

Yes you have to shop around for end mills. And don't get center cutting ones unless you really need that; they are much more expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Got some sticker shock today; exchanged a bottle of Argon for my TIG welder. Price jumped 30% over last summer.
That means bolt handles will go up!

AH-OH!

Hip

Where do ya'll get end mills from? Don't mean to steal the thread. My argon tank last me a long time. The argon co2 tanks go fast though. I do alot of mig and a little tig. Mostly farm stuff.

God Bless, Louis

Yours was done before the price increase! You should get it tomorrow.

We use liquid nitrogen on the farm. Three years ago it cost $47 to fill a 32 liter Dewar Flask. Now it cost $150.

I have two full argon cylinders, should last me the rest of my time. My TIG welding has dropped off the past few years, one of the benefits of being retired.

Back about '85 I got a 100# propane size acetylene tank. (400+cu/ft) did a whole lot of welding and cutting, blacksmithing with it for years. Still runs the gauge up the same as it did when fresh.

UnFunny thing: was building the shop, working on a scaffold. Just turned the torch off and came in for a couple hours rest and lunch. Went back out and messed around half hour gathering material, putting leathers on etc. Climbed up and smelled acetylene strong. WTH? torch was off tight. Then I noticed the red hose was in small pieces for about a foot. Got down and ran over and shut the tanks off. Damned squirrel had eaten the hose up. I have no idea how long it had been blowing gas out. Had to pull the hoses and go have them repaired. Never had that happen before or since. All these years on that same tank.

I have a 300/cu/ft bottle of CO2 never touched.
Haven't been able to work in the shop much in 9 years, not at all in three. Used to have 5 sets of tanks. Have traded and given 3 sets to friends.

Randy: wish your son could have brought me about 100lbs of hog back straps in trade when he was up here last week. Keep it in mind for the next trip up.

George

quote:

WTH? torch was off tight. Then I noticed the red hose was in small pieces for about a foot. Got down and ran over and shut the tanks off. Damned squirrel had eaten the hose up. I have no idea how long it had been blowing gas out. Had to pull the hoses and go have them repaired. Never had that happen before or since. All these years on that same tank.

Lesson learned always shut the gas off at the tank

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

WTH? torch was off tight. Then I noticed the red hose was in small pieces for about a foot. Got down and ran over and shut the tanks off. Damned squirrel had eaten the hose up. I have no idea how long it had been blowing gas out. Had to pull the hoses and go have them repaired. Never had that happen before or since. All these years on that same tank.

Lesson learned always shut the gas off at the tank

That don't always do it; you need to back off on the regulators.

quote:

Originally posted by youngoutdoors:
Where do ya'll get end mills from? Don't mean to steal the thread. My argon tank last me a long time. The argon co2 tanks go fast though. I do alot of mig and a little tig. Mostly farm stuff.

God Bless, Louis

I gave up on cheap flebay carbide:

https://www.kodiakcuttingtools...riable-index-4-flute

I run Argon on 10 Cubic and weld a shit load per tank

Reading this thread is like a Midway ad, everyting is in percent.
What does that work out to in Dollars per tank of argon (tank size) and how long does it take to use a tank.

Cost jumps like those stated are going to have to be reflected in future work done, no matter what.

I am planning to start hobby TIG welding and am assuming the small tank will work out best for me. Corrections on that theory are appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
Reading this thread is like a Midway ad, everyting is in percent.
What does that work out to in Dollars per tank of argon (tank size) and how long does it take to use a tank.

Cost jumps like those stated are going to have to be reflected in future work done, no matter what.

I am planning to start hobby TIG welding and am assuming the small tank will work out best for me. Corrections on that theory are appreciated.

I was a boat builder for years, the price of argon fluctuates like anything else over time. No need to panic. The smaller the tank, the more you pay per cubic foot. The sweet spot is the 150 cu ft tank because you can buy it and therefore own it and thus no demurrage fees. Of course, this is the same for an 80, 40, etc except you pay more per cu ft. You can take it to any supplier and they will trade it out, regardless of company sticker, at least that's the way it's been here in Alaska for the last 40 years that I've used thousands of cubic feet. Retired now, thank the stars, and a 150 will weld a bazillion bolt handles...

The shock of argon prices going up in terms of 'what to charge' is kinda ridiculous. Let's say it went up 100%. That ain't gonna make the cost of service go up the same. For example, I'm building a 21' skiff, one that I've built six times. I know from experience that it will take four 150 cu ft tanks of argon to complete. Before the increase, I paid $89 a tank. The skiff before the increased price was $22,000. you do the math for the price increase when I next build the exact same skiff.

So, add a buck or two on top of your efforts unless you're lazy with the gas.

You may consider having your endmills reground.
I've used MCC Tooling in Garland, Tx for over 20yrs. Unless I need a full dimension endmill or other cutters, their regrind is better and last longer than quality new ones at a fraction of the price.
http://mcctooling.com/index.html

No one said that calculating the extra price of argon used per bolt handle was hard to do.
In reality, it equates to about 40 cents more.

Talk about things going up. was running the racks at a local cabela's store the other night and noticed a common well used VZ-24 mauser. Was ready to pull out the wallet until I looked at the tag.
$600.00 and the bolt numbers didn't match. I seem to remember not to long ago one could buy a VZ-24 action for a couple hundred bucks!

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
You may consider having your endmills reground.
I've used MCC Tooling in Garland, Tx for over 20yrs. Unless I need a full dimension endmill or other cutters, their regrind is better and last longer than quality new ones at a fraction of the price.
http://mcctooling.com/index.html

We grind our own.
I can't imagine working in a shop without a couple old cutter grinders.

Everything costs a lot more than it did last year, but there's no inflation? Maybe if we print up a few more trillion and hand it out prices will go back down.

quote:

Originally posted by Kolo-Pan:
Talk about things going up. was running the racks at a local cabela's store the other night and noticed a common well used VZ-24 mauser. Was ready to pull out the wallet until I looked at the tag.
$600.00 and the bolt numbers didn't match. I seem to remember not to long ago one could buy a VZ-24 action for a couple hundred bucks!

You're about 10 years behind times, and time flies. 20 years ago Big5 Sports was "saling" VZ-24s for $49.95, regular price was $69.95. I bought a few, wish I had bought more than I did.