Last Saturday was out 28th.  And, well, she didn't really ASK for a welder.  It's entirely the fault of the guy at Sears.  Been looking and Sears (of all places) had the best price on a Hobart Handler 140 at 469.99. Been hot for one for a while, like a couple of years.  My Century 70 sticks things together, but it's not very flexible even with shielding gas.  Bracket finals and stuff are coming up, November vacation, etc. so I was trying not to go buy something expensive. Mom and daughter were shopping Saturday and I was killing time in the tool department. They had a couple of welders so I asked the guy if I could avoid shipping charges by ordering through the store. He looked it up and the answer was no, it would be shipped to the house and there would be a charge. I'm comparing with Tractor Supply next door which has the Hobart sitting on the shelf for $480 plus tax, ready to take home.  So "lets see how much".   Then he says "just a minute", does a couple of more clicks.  There's a promotion that goes off Saturday night because of the 10% off "Friends and Family 6-9pm" Sunday promotion. And if the order is placed through the store kiosk, shipping is free. "Not really intending to buy today." He says "Dude, look at the price."  After discounts, $355. With local sales tax, $407 total.  Oh my.

Um, well, it's on order. That was too cheap not to go with it. So far, I'm still allowed to sleep in the house but it was touch and go there for a little bit.  I'm sure there will be a "flash back" when UPS delivers the thing.    

From what it sounds like, because she already knows you've bought it - the worst is probably over. When I've bought something that my wife wasn't thrilled about - usually car related she'll get all huffy for about 30 minutes and then it's usually over.  I told her when we first met that my one big weakness was cars - I don't really go to the bar, I don't gamble - I just love cars. I said if you can deal with that, we're going to get along just fine. Six years later and we're still together. When we first started dating - she would ask where I was late in the evening, especially on Saturday nights - I would tell her I was hanging out with my car buddies. I think she thought it was code for seeing another girl. So I invited her to come along one night - it's been cool since then.  

I have always been a car nut, but couldn't afford it when I was in school and just starting out. For me, it was hunting and fishing(and it still is...plus cars). I have been with wifey for 15 years, married for 10. I told her about my love of the outdoors and the periodic hunting and fishing trips on the first date. I also told her she had to deal with it or I could take her home. Thankfully, she deals with it...Plus, she loves my Fairlane.  

I should have mentioned that I called her on the cell and said "I gotta do this" and she went along, although not thrilled.  

She was fully aware of the hobby.  When we were dating, she came over to the house (I was like the only one in our bunch that already owned a house) for dinner.  She sees this big round night stand in the bedroom.  "That's a weird looking night stand."  "It's tires.  Got a good deal at Goodyear on tires for the Trans Am."  It was a stack of P265-60x15s with a piece of plywood on top, covered with a nice bedspread and topped with a lamp.  They were new blems, bought at a great price.  I blistered a LOT of tires with that car.  "You keep car parts in the house?"  Opened the closet - showed her the 289 block, heads, pistons, set of Crane rockers, etc, etc.  C4 trans case in the other closet.  She'll tell you straight up "I was warned."    

And I thought I was the only one that kept engine parts in the closet!!! LOL

Yup, same here. No smoking, no gambling, and a six-pack will last two weeks in my fridge (and I don't need the carbs anyway) but I got to have my cars/toys and my tools...

I'd LOVE to have a welder of my own. We have some nice Miller and Lincoln stuff in our tech shop I can use anytime, but I'd love to have something at the house. I had to borrow my neighbor's POS Harbor Freight flux welder the other day to fix a cracked leg on the kid's trampoline. Man I hate not using a shielding gas...

We just got our first TIG machine here too. Can't wait to start playing with that. And don't get me started on using the plasma cutter! I can't wait to work on Kyle's '68 just to use all this stuff!!!

Mark  

Check this out - Sears said it'd ship on the 28th.  When we got home from grandson's football practice, it was sitting on the porch.  I was in HF today and I swear I saw a bitty TIG box for like $199.  I remember reading about a guy that bought one of the HF cheapie plasma cutters and said it actually worked well.  I stocked up on 8 way screwdrivers - $1.29 a pop.  I'm always losing them or loaning them out.  My lathe and bitty mill are from HF and work very well.  Got a deal on the lathe - 20% coupon and caught it on sale, came in under $500.  

The Hobart 140 gets rave reviews and really isn't that expensive.  I pay about $45 a year for rent on a big bottle of shielding gas - I'm on my 4th year without a refill LOL.  The way I figure it, if I had got this one up front instead of the $200 Century, I wouldn't be spending another $400.  Screwed that one up - I usually buy the good tool in the first place.  I get my $ worth out of these things - I bought the Century in about 1996 and it's in fine condition.  Might give it to my son in law.  

We should be neighbors.  I haven't keep Shiner around since the beer fridge broke in the garage.  A six pack would last about 2 weeks.  After the fridge died, its spot got taken by some 4V heads and their parts stash.  Mostly now it's Lipton diet green tea.  After the kids move into their new house, then we'll have some berr space in the house.  

Yeap, buying a welder was a tough decision for me. It wasn't a big deal when I first got the Century 90 mig years ago from Sears, but that did wasn't big enough pass the sheet metal welding. So I told the wife of 33 years one day that I needed a bigger welder. Well that did not fly very good alto she was always wondering why the breaker fuse keep tripping in the garage whenever I use the welder. Her response was "if you can sell some of your car stuff laying around the garage then buy the thing". That was 5 years ago, now the Hobart 210 is part of my tool collections. It's a hobby we cannot avoid.