[AT] TIG welding--a little OT

[Greg Hass]

I am as happy as the next guy to find a bargain either at an auction or in 
an ad.  However, as everyone knows, there are risks associated with buying 
used.  A couple of years ago I was at a combined city/county/sheriff's 
forfeiture sale at a town an hour's drive away.  It was a huge sale.  They 
had a Miller diesel-driven welder mounted on a Miller trailer, and the 
welder had many gauges to tell you what the welder and generator were 
doing.  They started it and ran it for about 30 seconds, so I know it 
ran.  However, earlier in the day I had heard some of the locals talking, 
and that welder had been part of a robbery.  When the thieves thought they 
were going to get caught, they had dumped it in a pond.  It stayed there 
for 3 days before being discovered and removed.  Supposedly it had been 
sent somewhere to have it all dried out and tested. Although I don't 
remember what it sold for, I have often wondered how it turned out for the 
buyer.

Greg Hass
Bad Axe, MI