🔧 Technical Going on a welding journey.....

[Jon01]

It is all about getting after it! Great to see you trying, that tigging looks good, keep going Jon!

Yup you are exactly right man. Just go do it and stick with it when it doesn't go right.
Your and Broke EF 's projects are what spurred me to get this thing out of the case and figure it out.
That and being tired of paying someone else to fab stuff when I have all of the tools needed right here.

It is really relaxing and fun growing the skill set.

 

[Chris91LX]

Tig is so much more satisfying but way more difficult. No sparks or spatter and much cleaner welds. You just have to be way more precise on the cleanliness and correct fit of the pieces you are welding, and the gear is also way more expensive. I've been working on tig for a year or so, even took a course at MCC in the spring.

Ugly as hell but made this fitting to check for exhaust leaks on my car today.

 

[GTPpower]

Everyone should learn how to oxy-acetelyne weld first. After that, you learn to appreciate every other process.

 

[Jon01]

Tig is so much more satisfying but way more difficult. No sparks or spatter and much cleaner welds. You just have to be way more precise on the cleanliness and correct fit of the pieces you are welding, and the gear is also way more expensive. I've been working on tig for a year or so, even took a course at MCC in the spring.

Ugly as hell but made this fitting to check for exhaust leaks on my car today.

View attachment 67358

I couldn't agree with you more.
Once I got a little more comfortable I was welding in shorts and sandals. No drama or mess.

Did you make your own back purge setup there? Looks good!

Everyone should learn how to oxy-acetelyne weld first. After that, you learn to appreciate every other process.

I was great with a torch back when my dad and I took some night classes...in high school.
I credit that for the ease at which I am picking up tig welding.
And the high level of cleanliness I am applying to the parts: Run under stainless wire wheel, clean with brake cleaner then rubbing alcohol.
I may be overdoing it but if it makes the learning process easier then it is worth it.

 

[Chris91LX]

Did you make your own back purge setup there? Looks good!

I made it so I can pressurize the exhaust to check for leaks as I'm chasing a noise in the exhaust right now, but could easily convert this for back purging as well.

 

[Broke EF]

Yup you are exactly right man. Just go do it and stick with it when it doesn't go right.
Your and Broke EF 's projects are what spurred me to get this thing out of the case and figure it out.
That and being tired of paying someone else to fab stuff when I have all of the tools needed right here.

It is really relaxing and fun growing the skill set.

I am always shocked (and humbled) to hear that I inspired people. To me, nobody even follows my projects, so when I see confirmation that someone does its crazy to me.

I am glad I can get people building though! Whatever "skills" I may or may not have were all self taught. I am usually not afraid to just dive in and figure it out. Seeing some "pro" work had lead me to believe I am not as terrible as I think with some stuff. But the point is to just get to work. There is a ton of GOOD info on youtube, lots of great people who can and will help, and there are also a lot of fun projects on cars that can teach you a lot about fabrication without any risk really. I started by building a turbo kit for a buddy after we mathed out that we could buy ALL the tools (including a MIG) all the material, and all the parts for about half of the cost of a current (at the time) turbo kit. Add to that it got us better parts, it was a no brainer! That is a great first project for a lot of people, and being that its not structural or safety related you can get away with the lack of skills without too much risk.

Anyway I am babbling again. Everybody keep up the good work, and get out to the garage!!!

 

[b00sted]

You should look into incorporating a hitch to mount your vice on. Gives you tons more versatility. Here's a YT video with some ideas.

That's a good idea. I'm limited on garage/bench space, so this would be perfect for being able to put the vise/grinder/etc on the shelf out of the way when I don't need it.

 

[greasy]

I met a disabled veteran back in June for a TV show I helped film on behalf of DEWALT where we donated a bunch of product to make his garage into a woodworking shop. It is a pretty sweet setup for him, everything is at the proper height so he can work out of his wheel chair. We stay in touch every so often and he was sharing some of his projects he built, I told him if he ever needed some metal fabwork done I would help him out. He wanted to build a 3 tier display shelf for his mom out of 1.5" tubing and lay 1.5" wooden shelves on top. I told him I would pick up materials and make it for him, he just needed to cover the cost of the steel. He is transporting this to New Mexico so I needed to make it so it came apart easily. In hindsight I probably could have built this out of a lesser gauge steel instead of 11 ga. Thing is a tank!

I bought the stuff on Friday and finished up yesterday, came out pretty good. He seems pretty pumped and coming by to pick it up today.

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

damn bro, need to stop over one day when you're working on stuff.
awesome

 

[greasy]

damn bro, need to stop over one day when you're working on stuff.
awesome

Thanks Gav, anytime. Next time I plan on working I will let you know.

 

[greasy]

The base that comes with my 14" DEWALT saw is shit......utter shit. The fence is shit, the angled cut miter is shit, the chip collection is shit, prone to slightly inaccurate cuts which are shit.

I was going to buy this super nice piece from Saunders Machine Works (below), but what kind of fabricator would I be if I didn't make my own! Priced out making one and it will be about 45% cheaper to make on my own plus I can make a fancy little chip collector deal to cut down on how much I SWEEP THE FUCKING GARAGE FLOOR! I am trapped in my house because of potential rona infection, but once I am better or hopefully tested negative I will pick up the materials and make a much better piece. Details to follow.....

 

[greasy]

Picked up a 24” x 24” piece of 3/16” plate, 3” C-channel, and a 2-1/2” piece of angle iron today. Pulled apart the original saw and mocked up the position of the saw on the plate. This plate is huge, but will be way better for accuracy and ease of work. Drilled a couple of mounting holes into the plate and bolted it down. Plugged it in to make the relief cut in the base. From there I was able to lay out positioning for the C-channel on the bottom, 16” on center. I have a DEWALT rolling/collapsing stand ordered that I will mount this to. Welded the C-channel to the plate.

I need to drill the plate and angle iron for the fencing. I debated welding the fencing, but I think having it slightly adjustable might be better in case something tweaks I can easily adjust back to 90. I also need to drill the bottom of the C-channel for mounting onto the stand. Still working on figuring out a clamping device, but I will probably utilize the stock clamp in some way.

 

[greasy]

Added the fence and integral clamp along with rounding out the corners of the table so I wouldn't stab myself walking around it (which would for sure happen). I need to to figure out if I want to add a separate apparatus for 45 degree and/or "any" degree cuts. I can currently just clamp a 45 degree clamp if needed. Also I need to add some sort of chip collector on the back side which I will make out of sheet metal. Outside of that I have to drill mounting holes on the bottom of the C-channel for mounting to the stand which should come tomorrow.

Saw cuts beautifully now, much more accurate. Looks like the cut may be only a 1/64th off now from top to bottom. That is much more acceptable in my opinion.

 

[greasy]

I got my rolling stand in on Friday, drilled holes in the C-channel for mounting the saw onto the brackets (what a PITA that was) and mounted the saw onto the brackets/stand. Came out great with the exception that the table height allows for the material to run directly into the crossmember for the upright stand.

That wasn’t going to do me any good so I cut out the tubular cross member and added in a square one that is basically and extension of the table. Came out pretty nice, just need to unbolt it and paint it black.

 

[JimmyGT]

Dude that dewalt folding work table is my fucking jam! I am a Milwaukee fan boy but that table! I’m about to buy another. Sick work on the base for the saw! Came out killer

 

[greasy]

Dude that dewalt folding work table is my fucking jam! I am a Milwaukee fan boy but that table! I’m about to buy another. Sick work on the base for the saw! Came out killer

Thanks Jimmy!

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

 

[greasy]

I was struggling with what to do for a bender Pro Tools had a bad ass manual bender, but with a manual bender you need to anchor it into the floor just because of the force required when bending tube. I don’t want to mount this to the floor for a a couple of reasons; first being I don’t own my place so I don’t want to drill into the garage floor to install anchors, second being it is going to take a up a bunch of usable space in the garage fixed to the floor. I don’t want to not have the ability to move shit around or make it a process to when I do need to move something. I also don’t want to lay out $2-3K on a turn key hydraulic/pneumatic bender. Last week I came across this bad ass piece from Swag Offroad which converts your manual bender into a pneumatic bender, all you have to do is buy a pneumatic ram from Harbor Freight, weld up the pieces from Swag, and you are ready to go!

Thinking about buying an additional DEWALT stand to mount the this setup in like I did for my cold cut saw, all in on this setup would be roughly $750.

 

[Gamble]

Tig is so much more satisfying but way more difficult. No sparks or spatter and much cleaner welds. You just have to be way more precise on the cleanliness and correct fit of the pieces you are welding, and the gear is also way more expensive. I've been working on tig for a year or so, even took a course at MCC in the spring.

Ugly as hell but made this fitting to check for exhaust leaks on my car today.

View attachment 67358

You should be much better after a year. A few simple changes will be a game changer for you. Check gas flow, torch angle, filler size etc. also looks like you are using too much amperage or moving too slow.

The top piece should be smaller so the filler fits on the edge between the two pieces if you can. On a thin plate it’s hard to do
I think the biggest thing is you didn’t clean the material.
think of welding like painting. You should spend more time prepping than actual welding. A nicely prepped piece changes everything. All those crazy welds you see online, the people spend a lot of time preppin, deburring and cleaning before dropping a bead.

This is the first bead I dropped in probably two months on some .100 aluminum. Not perfect but not bad.

 

[GTPpower]

You should be much better after a year. A few simple changes will be a game changer for you. Check gas flow, torch angle, filler size etc. also looks like you are using too much amperage or moving too slow.

The top piece should be smaller so the filler fits on the edge between the two pieces if you can. On a thin plate it’s hard to do
I think the biggest thing is you didn’t clean the material.
think of welding like painting. You should spend more time prepping than actual welding. A nicely prepped piece changes everything. All those crazy welds you see online, the people spend a lot of time preppin, deburring and cleaning before dropping a bead.

This is the first bead I dropped in probably two months on some .100 aluminum. Not perfect but not bad.

View attachment 75614

Are those clear cups worth the money? Do they blacken quickly?

 

[Chris91LX]

You should be much better after a year. A few simple changes will be a game changer for you. Check gas flow, torch angle, filler size etc. also looks like you are using too much amperage or moving too slow.

The top piece should be smaller so the filler fits on the edge between the two pieces if you can. On a thin plate it’s hard to do
I think the biggest thing is you didn’t clean the material.
think of welding like painting. You should spend more time prepping than actual welding. A nicely prepped piece changes everything. All those crazy welds you see online, the people spend a lot of time preppin, deburring and cleaning before dropping a bead.

This is the first bead I dropped in probably two months on some .100 aluminum. Not perfect but not bad.

View attachment 75614

I do a whole bunch of stuff wrong, lol. That piece was not really matched up well like your piece was as far as gaps and lining up the edges. I was pretty sloppy with the cutting and definitely had issues with torch angle, travel speed and probably the amperage too. I'm still using it on 110 as I've been too lazy to run a 220 outlet for it. Plus I have a tendency to jump right in without any practice or test passes. I can usually get one or maybe two things right, but rarely get it all together for more than a short run.

 

[Gamble]

Are those clear cups worth the money? Do they blacken quickly?

meh. they get dirty and are just ok. If you are welding cages or things like that you can see through the cup but otherwise they don't do much. Forget to turn on the gas once or dip your tungsten and they turn black and become worthless. I just didn't have a standard #5 on hand. I'm usually a #7 gas lens but this is just what I had on this torch at the moment.

I do a whole bunch of stuff wrong, lol. That piece was not really matched up well like your piece was as far as gaps and lining up the edges. I was pretty sloppy with the cutting and definitely had issues with torch angle, travel speed and probably the amperage too. I'm still using it on 110 as I've been too lazy to run a 220 outlet for it. Plus I have a tendency to jump right in without any practice or test passes. I can usually get one or maybe two things right, but rarely get it all together for more than a short run.

I used my welder on 110v for YEARS. It works fine as long as you work within its limits. That being said some welders can spit out 90amps on 110v and some can do upwards of 150(or so they claim)
Check gas flow, tungsten stick out, clean with a flap disc. Just those 3 simple things will help. Torch angle takes a little bit of practice.
If you need parts cut, I can CNC plasma them for you.

 

[greasy]

Building a rear brace for WhiteKnuckleScat. Kind of jealous he’s getting this one ? I have a tube notcher now and made some adjustments this time around and things are going much smoother. The adjustments I made are bigger cups for mounting points. When I made the first brace I used 1-1/4” cups which didn’t give us any room for variability between the chassis. At the track day when I tried mounting up the brace in his car it was about 1/8” away from working, the brace slid into place but I couldn’t spin the nuts on the seat pan connections because the cups were too small. The 1-3/4”cups will give us that space. Also redesigned the brace a little bit. The plan is to create a jig for building these once I’m finished so I’m not beating up my car making them.

Not finished just yet, still need to add in some additional bracing, but it is turning out great.

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

It's looking great Jim! Can't wait to test fit it

 

[Mook]

TCG, home of the Dodge trunk cross brace thingy. I like the sound of that.