Did you know that Arc-Zone.com has an eBay store?

For the most part you’ll find the same high-performance welding accessories that you’ll find at the Arc-Zone.com store, but soon you’ll also see an entire array of product that we have received as part of our Cash in and Trade up program. Some gently used, and some, well, you’ll have to see for yourself.

You may also find items that have not moved as quickly as we’d have liked from our warehouse….

And speaking of our warehouse, we have moved into a space with a larger warehouse space, which means that we’re cleaning out the storage locker… and we’ve hired Scott Reiman (pictured left), as head of operations. He’ll also be taking charge of the eBay store.

If you’re a regular Arc-Zone.com shopper, look for an announcement soon in your email inbox.

At Arc-Zone.com we just added BOOKS to webstore. And not just your basic how-tos either. The collection of books goes beyond the basics of welding and metal fabrication to include books that will inspire. Sample titles include How to Restore Metal Auto Trim, Dream Garages, American Hot Rod and Performance Welding. A complete listing of Arc-Zone’s welding books for sale can be found online at www.arc-zone.com.

Add to your welding library today!

Got a call from Matt up in North Dakota today. Brrrr. After we compared weather (Bismark 11, Carlsbad, CA 59) and talked politics (it’s Super Tuesday) we got to the real reason he called.

Matt is taking TIG Welding classes, and is setting up his weldshop. He just bought a Lincoln Invertec machine and needed a whole TIG torch set up to go with it.

His first question was “Do you sell Lincoln torches?”

(more…)

Lots of exciting things in the works for 2008 for Arc-Zone.com but in the meantime, Carmen is going to Hawaii for a little R& R.

The rest of the Arc-Zone.com team will be hard at work until December 25 when the office will be closed until January 2, when order processing and shipping will resume.

Thanks to everyone for a great year!

and A L O H A !

I just love the  new site.  It’s so easy for us to update, add new product, and hopefully for our customers it will be easier as well.  Please let us know if there is something on the site that you don’t see….  that you want…   or information that would help you make the right buying decision.

Carlsbad, Calif., —Arc-Zone.com® Inc., the first internet-only company to sell welding and cutting accessories online, launches its new web superstore. The new store carries more products than before, and includes features that make shopping online even easier.

· Detailed photos and custom graphics for easy navigation

· Secure checkout to pay with credit card, PayPal or with your pre-approved Arc-Zone.com account or store credit. Or, choose Google Checkout.

· Easy Sign-In for regular shoppers– save your contact information and multiple shipping addresses, and track your order status.

· Real Time domestic and international shipping quotes from UPS, DHL, FedEx and the US Postal Service.

· Live Chat with customer service representatives from technical sales, shipping and even accounting.

Behind-the-scenes the new Arc-Zone.com store offers many features so that Arc-Zone can continue providing quality products, superior technical consultation and unsurpassed service and support.

The streamlined content management system allows product to be added easily. “Welding is such a diverse industry,” says Jim Watson, Arc-Zone.com’s president and founder. “Discovering new products that improve weld quality, lower costs or minimize variables is one of the things I enjoy most about this business. Now once I’ve identified a high-quality, reliable source we’ll be able to get these products to the market quickly.”

Another feature that will benefit Arc-Zone’s online shoppers is that account managers can add store credit to a customer’s account or offer special pricing such as in the case of a school, distributor or reseller.

The entire store was developed using Zen Cart, by Arc-Zone’s web developer Jon Wade. “Zen Cart is a well supported open source e-commerce solution with a diverse user / developer community that will allow us to continually modify the store to best serve our customers,” says Wade.

Founded in June 1998, Arc-Zone delivers proprietary, brand name and OEM replacement parts and accessories for GMAW, GTAW and Plasma Arc Welding and Cutting applications to customers worldwide.

For more information, visit the Arc-Zone.com web site at www.arc-zone.com, call 800. 944.2243 (Tollfree US) or 1.760.931.1500 (worldwide)

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One of my favorite songs is the one that Kermit The Frog sang on the Muppets show:

It’s not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or
yellow or gold-
or something much more colorful like that.
It’s not easy being green.

–more–

You may not think a company like Arc-Zone.com, a welding supplier, would be environmentally conscious, but we are. Not in a big splashy way, but it’s part of our corporate culture. Maybe its because we’re a California company, or maybe its because our company founder Jim Watson has really taken the lead in that area of our business.

Jim doesn’t like to brag, but he’s a pretty cool guy. And, he backs up his beliefs with action.

Take this environmental thing… at Arc-Zone we take our paper “trash” and turn it into packing materials. Sure, sometimes we use styrofoam popcorn, but that comes from the Salon where Jim’s wife Gina works. Instead of throwing it away, Gina brings it home, and Jim brings it to the office.

And even though Carlsbad does not require– or even offer– recycling for businesses, we recycle. Jim takes all the recycling home and puts in his curbside bin.

These are small things, and Jim doesn’t like to brag about it, but we did convince him to let us make a video and submit it to Current TV. Look for that video on this blog soon. Or check out JoeWelder.com.

to Locks of Love!

I don’t usually talk much about my co-workers at Arc-Zone.com, but every now and again one of them does something I just have to talk about. Especially if it’s something cool.

Hanna, Arc-Zone’s new sales manager recently got her haircut. And while a haircut– unless your name is John Edwards and you spent $400– is not particularly newsworthy, in this instance it is indicative of the kind of people we have working here at Arc-Zone.com.

You see Hanna is donating her cut hair to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that makes wigs out of real human hair for kids suffering from long-term medical hair loss. So not only does Hanna look great– her long blond hair can be used to make a kid look great too! Good Job Hanna! and thanks for letting me share your story.

And a shout out to Jeff at Detours Salon–   he cuts my hair too, and does an awesome job!

At Arc-Zone.com we have a lot of international customers. We’ve delivered TIG, MIG and Plasma Arc Welding to fabricators world wide: Canada, Brazil, Israel, England, Spain, Guam, Greece… to name a few.

However, I think I’ve found the most GLOBAL of Arc-Zone.com’s customers… Matt Binns of Giant Globes.

Matt purchased a foot pedal from our eBay store, Arc-ZoneAuctions, where we sell some of the same product you’ll find in our Arc-Zone.com webstore –you know the high-performance MIG, TIG and Plasma Arc Welding accessories you need to Weld Like a Pro(tm). Sometimes on our eBay store you’ll find a really good deal. Sometimes you’ll find an item we’ve taken in on trade, or refurbished in-house…

Matt, however, wasn’t entirely pleased with his remote amperage foot pedal for his Miller Dynasty because the photo we had in our eBay store– and the price– was wrong. Yeah. Ooops. Big ooops. We quickly refunded Matt the difference in price on the foot pedal and sent him a big ole apology, and an offer for the foot pedal shown in the picture. He declined the offer to swap, and was really super nice about the whole misunderstanding.

In the exchange of emails, however, I noticed the tag line on his email, “Oh and as a bit of self promotion, buy a globe from me at: http://giantglobes.com”

So I clicked.

Wow. I don’t know about you, but I would love to have one of these finely crafted globes on display in my sculpture garden!

“We make the globes from 6061 -T6 tubing, which we bend ourselves, continents are made from 3003-0 sheet, we bend them ourselves using a variety of old and new methods, including an English wheel,” says Matt.

Almost all the welding is done with a Miller 210 MIG welder with a spool-gun, as it is really hard to weld the intersection of two tubes with a TIG torch. If anyone has any tips on how to weld two tubes (Tubes are 1/2″ OD up to 2″ OD) at right angles without notching them, leave a comment– we’ll pass it on to Matt!

Matt says “The globes can rotate on their axis if required on weatherproof silent bearings. We also motorize them.”

What are you fabricating today??

HOT OFF THE PRESS (as it were) FROM BERNARD:

Packaged with Miller SuitCase 12RC and X-TREME 12VS wire feeders comes standard with Bernard’s Centerfire contact tips

BEECHER, Ill., August 20, 2007—To meet the demanding needs and harsh environments of construction, shipbuilding, heavy manufacturing and rental applications, Bernard introduces its first ever self-shielded flux-cored gun, the Dura-Flux™.

To increase operator comfort, Dura-Flux guns feature a non-metallic trigger that absorbs less heat than metal triggers. The trigger is also made with a sealed microswitch, which keeps out dust and dirt, to provide a long work life. Welders will also appreciate the smaller trigger guard, which improves maneuverability compared to guns with larger heat shields.

“The small trigger guard doesn’t obstruct our access to narrow access joints the way the larger heat shields do,” says Daniel Stinson, Ironworkers Local 492, Nashville, Tenn. “We usually end up removing the heat shields so that they don’t get in the way while welding joints without much room to maneuver, such as the bottom flanges on structural jobs.”

The Dura-Flux is rated to 350 amps at 100 percent duty cycle and can handle higher current loads at reduced duty cycles. It accepts flux-cored wire up to 3/32-in. and is equipped with a heavy-duty monocoil power cable and Bernard’s Centerfire™ contact tips, which last up to three times longer than other brands.
The Dura-Flux gun also features interchangeable power pins and trigger leads for compatibility with both Miller and Lincoln products, along with power pin liners that are easily changed without tools to simplify maintenance.

The Dura-Flux will be packaged with Miller SuitCase™ 12RC and SuitCase X-TREME™ 12VS wire feeders for a limited time beginning in August. The gun’s inclusion comes at no additional charge, a $400 value.
The Dura-Flux gun shipped with Miller SuitCase feeders is configured to meet the precise application requirements of most users. A 15-foot gun with a 6-inch, 60-degree neck is standard. In applications that require a shorter gun, Bernard’s gun exchange program allows welders to exchange the unused Dura-Flux gun shipped with Miller SuitCase feeders for a 10-foot gun.

A variety of jacketed and armored Dura-Flux necks are also available.

Bernard Welding Equipment, located in Beecher, Ill, manufactures premium GMAW (MIG) welding guns, consumables, accessories and manual arc products. For over 50 years Bernard has been an innovator in heavy-duty MIG welding and a contributor to improved welding productivity.

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Arc-Zone specializes in TIG / GTAW Welding equipment, however we do sell MIG guns… you can shop online or give us a call. And keep a look out, we’re launching a new webstore soon, and you’ll see lots of new product, live chat, and more.