Show us your welding projects

RossRinSD · Nov 9, 2011

jinjaninja said:
hey guys, first post

as to the circle tricks, im currently a 1st year apprentice metal fab for a rally car shop, so im working my way through the learning process also.

The boss told me the most important aspect is a dry run. Make a pretend/practice sweep and make sure you can do the whole sweep in one arc. If not, break it up into even sections and practice the **** out of your starts and stops to minimise visual and structural impact.

As to my projects, im currently of work for 2 months due to being a retard and breaking my finger lol, so i have nothing awesome to show ... but will be sure to get some as soon as im back

I found a quick sidestep and squeeze the trigger again before the bead cools and stops glowing worked best for me.

But, I've never had any sort of instruction with this stuff. My boss got tired of the 2 or 3 day turnaround on stuff we farmed out, so she let me pick up a Hobart 135. We started with the flux core till the spool ran out, and then picked up the MIG conversion and learned that one, too.

bluebolt · Nov 10, 2011

mrpowderkeg said:
Buddy wasn't happy with his adapter that he has to run on his 427 ford. It's a dove intake, and he has to adapt it to a dominator flange, it makes thing really tall. I guess dove at one time made a few intakes with dominator flanges but they are not currently available. Or so I've been told....

So I called in a favor from a friend, and had him mill off .750 inch off the intake, and also .750 inch off the adatper

We took it to my shop and welded the adapter to the manifold

And after some grinding inside, smoothing out the transitions and opening up the inside to the larger flange it came out pretty good

Nice! So is the motor going in the Mustang or 1967 Fairlane?

mrpowderkeg · Nov 10, 2011

That intake is for the mustang, Dove medium riser heads. BUT things may have changed, there is talk of going tunnel port heads and going for broke on it. The heads for the mustang are done, but we are not happy with the results. The machinist didn't do what we wanted and we were left with good but no optimal flow numbers. I think the heads will be on ebay this winter... Maybe the intake will be to...

The engine in the Fairlane is a real 406.

NASTYZEN · Nov 10, 2011

Nice work. :thumbup:

A**holes Garage · Nov 10, 2011

Jim Stabe · Nov 10, 2011

A**holes Garage said:

That's really nice!

KMinAF · Nov 11, 2011

This is my recumbent that I made from plans sourced at recycledrecumbents.com

It has been a blast to ride as well as the most comfortable bike that I have ever ridden.

I used my Lincoln Weld Pack 155 with fluxcore wire turned way down low. It was made from two old mountain bikes, some electrical conduit and lots of spare bike parts. After completion I had the frame powder coated and it has held up great.

ZTFab · Nov 11, 2011

Some Sheet metal parts for I prototype I started building today.

These are made from 16ga (.062") cold rolled steel. After I sheared and broke them I TIG welded them with .030" ER70S-2 wire using a "lay-wire" technique.

Parts tacked up

Corner to corner fitment

Welded

Hammer shown for scale reference

All done!

welder4956 · Nov 11, 2011

mrpowderkeg said:
We took it to my shop and welded the adapter to the manifold

And after some grinding inside, smoothing out the transitions and opening up the inside to the larger flange it came out pretty good

Beautiful work! Just wondering, do you have any problem with distortion when welding machined parts like this? I have always worried about aluminum parts, especially engine parts, distorting when doing repairs and try to bolt or clamp them to something heavy to keep them from pulling.

flingwing1969 · Nov 12, 2011

A**holes Garage said:

Sweet. My dad had one of those bbqs and it was great!

flingwing1969 · Nov 12, 2011

ZTFab said:
Some Sheet metal parts for I prototype I started building today.

These are made from 16ga (.062") cold rolled steel. After I sheared and broke them I TIG welded them with .030" ER70S-2 wire using a "lay-wire" technique.

Parts tacked up

Corner to corner fitment

Welded

Hammer shown for scale reference

All done!

TIG is so sweet! Lovely work. :bowdown:

A**holes Garage · Nov 12, 2011

Jim Stabe said:
That's really nice!

flingwing1969 said:
Sweet. My dad had one of those bbqs and it was great!

Big Green Egg on one end
55000 BTU gas on the other

b-body-bob · Nov 15, 2011

welder4956 said:
Beautiful work! Just wondering, do you have any problem with distortion when welding machined parts like this? I have always worried about aluminum parts, especially engine parts, distorting when doing repairs and try to bolt or clamp them to something heavy to keep them from pulling.

I think your concern is valid. I had an aluminum bellhousing crack radially and after it was tigged the dowel holes didn't line up to the dowels in the back of the block.

NASTYZEN · Nov 15, 2011

Teeni R/C exaust mod
Tig fusion welding .022 wall 316 stainless steel tubing.
1/16 Thoriated tungsten electrode . 15 cfh. Argon

z28snksknr · Nov 15, 2011

I'll post my boogers:

A shot of one of the welds on my Y-pipe for my camaro exhaust before I cleaned it up:

Welding a round piece of pipe is a challenge. Notice how inconsistent my bead is. That's because it's my first time with round stock (and I'm a newb).

The whole piece (not all are my welds):

I never got so much satisfaction from looking at a hunk of twisted metal tubing.

It's a shame I'm too poor to buy much steel for projects these days.

mrpowderkeg · Nov 15, 2011

welder4956 said:
Beautiful work! Just wondering, do you have any problem with distortion when welding machined parts like this? I have always worried about aluminum parts, especially engine parts, distorting when doing repairs and try to bolt or clamp them to something heavy to keep them from pulling.

For me it's hit or miss. I've done some GM intake manifolds where for some reason they start leaking water from a corroded cruddy intake. That's a mess to do, but so far they never leak or are warped to where they cause a problem. We figured that if this 427 intake warped we would have it machined on the mill, but when we checked it, the intake flanges and carb flange are good to go with no machining necessary.

outtaplace · Nov 16, 2011

ZTFab said:
Some Sheet metal parts for I prototype I started building today.

These are made from 16ga (.062") cold rolled steel. After I sheared and broke them I TIG welded them with .030" ER70S-2 wire using a "lay-wire" technique.

ZTFab - Super sweet welds!! Can you describe or show an example of a "lay-wire" technique in action/progress??

ZTFab · Nov 16, 2011

outtaplace said:
ZTFab - Super sweet welds!! Can you describe or show an example of a "lay-wire" technique in action/progress??

Thanks.

Here is a quick model I made in Solidworks to show how I did that particular joint style.

You literally Lay the wire in the groove of the joint and apply a slight amount of pressure, bending the wire so that a portion of it is laid flat. I used a steady hand motion with the torch to achieve a smooth bead profile. Amperage, speed, and knowing how to watch the puddle are key in not letting the wire ball up on the end.

Hope that helps.

neonnblack · Nov 16, 2011

I tried that with a O/A torch once, didnt work out to well, haha.

outtaplace · Nov 16, 2011

ZTFab said:
Thanks.

Here is a quick model I made in Solidworks to show how I did that particular joint style.

You literally Lay the wire in the groove of the joint and apply a slight amount of pressure, bending the wire so that a portion of it is laid flat. I used a steady hand motion with the torch to achieve a smooth bead profile. Amperage, speed, and knowing how to watch the puddle are key in not letting the wire ball up on the end.

Hope that helps.

So it looks like you're melting the wire into both sides of the base metal simultaneously...pretty cool stuff. I need to practice, lol. Thanks for the cool drawing.

SWT Racing · Nov 16, 2011

ZTFab said:
Thanks.

Here is a quick model I made in Solidworks to show how I did that particular joint style.

You literally Lay the wire in the groove of the joint and apply a slight amount of pressure, bending the wire so that a portion of it is laid flat. I used a steady hand motion with the torch to achieve a smooth bead profile. Amperage, speed, and knowing how to watch the puddle are key in not letting the wire ball up on the end.

Hope that helps.

Nice!

I've never tried the laywire technique on steel before. I did try it out a long time ago on some thick aluminum on DC using Helium once, which was pretty interesting.

SWT Racing · Nov 16, 2011

welder4956 said:
Beautiful work! Just wondering, do you have any problem with distortion when welding machined parts like this? I have always worried about aluminum parts, especially engine parts, distorting when doing repairs and try to bolt or clamp them to something heavy to keep them from pulling.

Castings like an intake manifold are usually pretty rigid, with a lot of shape that helps prevent much distortion. I always check, but the softer gasket will usually take up the variance. If the 1050 Dominator flange did not have the somewhat vertical section, and was instead a flat plate and welded onto the manifold, I would expect more distortion.

If it is a smaller part, or uses a machined surface with an o-ring, things get a bit more complicated.

ZTFab · Nov 16, 2011

Small material rack for my brother's truck.

1.25" x .090" square tubing to 11ga cold rolled steel.

TIG with .045" Er70s-2 on my Syncrowave 250DX TIGRunner, straight Argon @ 20cfh, 3/32" thoriated Tungsten, #5 cup with 125amp base machine setting using the foot pedal "till it felt good".

welder4956 · Nov 16, 2011

ZTFab said:
Small material rack for my brother's truck.

1.25" x .090" square tubing to 11ga cold rolled steel.

TIG with .045" Er70s-2 on my Syncrowave 250DX TIGRunner, straight Argon @ 20cfh, 3/32" thoriated Tungsten, #5 cup with 125amp base machine setting using the foot pedal "till it felt good".

With 0.045" wire, do you use a handheld wire feeder, such as a TIG PEN or cold wire feeder? I used to weld hermetically sealed valve bonnets on nuclear subs using 0.035" or 0.045" wire that was cut from a spool and straightened. I like welding with small diameter wires, but the smallest diameter I can get locally in straight lengths is 1/16". I can see where a TIG wire feeder would be handy on the work bench using a 10 lb. or 30 lb. spool of 0.045" wire.

ZTFab · Nov 16, 2011

welder4956 said:
With 0.045" wire, do you use a handheld wire feeder, such as a TIG PEN or cold wire feeder? I used to weld hermetically sealed valve bonnets on nuclear subs using 0.035" or 0.045" wire that was cut from a spool and straightened. I like welding with small diameter wires, but the smallest diameter I can get locally in straight lengths is 1/16". I can see where a TIG wire feeder would be handy on the work bench using a 10 lb. or 30 lb. spool of 0.045" wire.

Nope, fed by hand while wearing a pair of Tillman kidskin TIG gloves.

I have down to .030" 70S TIG wire in standard 36" lengths. In fact, I stock .030", .035", .045", 1/16", and 3/32" in 70S. I also carry down to .045" in my aluminum and stainless wires.

I buy it from weldingsupply.com since they stock it and are usually cheaper than my LWS.

I prefer thinner diameter fillers as I have better control of how much, or little, filler I apply to the joint.

MP&C · Nov 17, 2011

Working on a 55 Chevy wagon, didn't really want to use those contact pads between the A pillar and the door, and have seen too many failures in the spring type loom deals. While working on replacing the hinge pins, began to brainstorm while the hinge was apart.

The cut into the hinge was 5/8 deep, Hinge cleaned up, scribed, and then cut using .045 cutoff wheel in 4-1/2 grinder:

I used some 16 ga steel bent into small angles. Angle pieces trimmed to fit opening, tacked in place, and heat applied to follow bends of the hinge:

Mig was used to tack weld and join the two halves, the tig was used to final weld the angles to the hinge. (not very nice looking, but functional

) Then some grinding to smooth things out:

Wire dumps out right by the pivot point for minimal movement during opening/closing.

Wires and protective sleeving run in place........the first wire used as a pull wire, tied a knot into it and taped some sleeving tight on the other side of the knot to pull it through:

Then the same pull wire was stripped in the middle to pull back and forth, using as a pull wire.

Installed, a view under the dash to show the hinge both open and closed with no chaffing issues:

Should be able to adapt this for other vehicle hinges.

*****************************
edited for a detail I missed ..........
*****************************

One thing to keep in mind is the effect the spring mechanism has on your wiring path. Shown here in the original form, this hinge uses two spring clips riveted onto the hinge bracket to hold the door open. (red arrows)

Over the years, some of the more "well used" hinges may show some metal has worn away where these clips have rubbed across the hinge. Where I wouldn't worry so much about this effect if rubbing across a solid piece of steel, after modification we now have a piece of 16 ga metal that would be more susceptible to damage and possible intrusion of the wire path given the same amount of wear. With that in mind, drill/grind out the rivet and remove the clip adjacent to the wire path to eliminate this as a future hazard... Shown below you can see the lower spring clip has been removed. Three remaining per door should still be more than sufficient to hold the door open. For this modification adapted to other door hinges with exposed springs to hold the door open, be aware of the hazard they pose in pinched/damaged wiring and plan accordingly.

AussieDan · Nov 17, 2011

Great idea and execution!

e-tek · Nov 17, 2011

Robert - that is just a fantastic bit of design and fabricating! Great idea and it turned out wonderfully. I've seen a LOT of ways to get wiring to the door, but this is one of the best (OK the best!) I've seen.

Thanks - as usual - for sharing your work and ideas. :bowdown:

NASTYZEN · Nov 20, 2011

Robert, you sneaky devil.... that is a clever trick! :thumbup:

smooth72 · Nov 20, 2011

Robert, That is really cool.

lilredex · Nov 20, 2011

Here are a few....

A bender.

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Drill press fence for the times you want all those holes in a straight line.

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Another version with a moveable pointer to space the distance between the holes (as you go without measuring).

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Drill press hold downs.

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Vee blocks for drilling round stock on the drill presss.

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These are for changing U-joints in a vise when you are all alone........sure beats trying to postion loose sockets or whatever.

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This is your helper to hold up the other end of that drive shaft. Has also been used to weld up small projects............easy to move outside and do the crappy jobs there. Made from an old brake disc and other junk on hand.

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Woodworking vise. The screw and nut were a garage sale find, with 1/2" plate pieces, rods, etc, from the junk box. The wooden jaws are hard Maple boards scrounged from crates.

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Sliding carriage for a drill press vise......no excuse for holding things in your hand with this device.

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As you can see, an entirely new door opens in your workshop......once you have the capability to weld. Got lots more of this kind of stuff if there is interest.

JonBoehman · Nov 20, 2011

Love sliding carriage ideal. I believe I will make on today.

1984Datsun · Nov 20, 2011

Weld, weld, weld... what have we got here? :bounce:

I finally got around to starting my welding cart project... I need to get the Hobart off of the old coffee cart so I can put tools and **** on it and roll it all around the shop...

So... here are close ups of a few welds...

Not the best I've ever done, but definitely much better than the worst I've ever done. Good enough for me, and they'll definitely hold, especially once I actually get the cart closer to done, where I plan to weld the hell out of it at every joint until it really is one solid piece... (all I mean is going in and filling all empty joints... anything that can be welded will be welded)

and an overall picture of the current cart progress... that stray piece of square tube with the welds on it is made of the cut off pieces that I'm too lazy to throw into the scrap bin... I'm making the last bottom support out of them...

Hiding in the bottom left corner, you can see part of the formerly pristine file cabinet that I'm going to use as the toolbox on my cart... it's already broken in... scratches and burnt paint... since I used it as a welding table... :spit:

Been grinding, welding, fabbing, and swearing all day yesterday and today... Still got a little more to do yet, most important would be mounting the casters... I will fab up gusset plates that will be welded on each bottom corner for more strength and support, and will drill and tap them for the 3/8"x16NC threads on the casters...

The casters I'm going to use are all swivel casters... the two with brakes will be on the front of the cart (which is where you look right at the control panel of the welding power source) so if I back it into a corner, I can still get to the locking casters to keep it from rolling over my *** in the middle of running a weld bead... if you put them on the back, I reckon you'd be pissed at yourself for doing so... :lol_hitti

And yes, that's a can of gas way over yonder there... don't yell at me...

I'm using my Hobart Handler 140... running .035" flux core wire. I personally like flux core more than solid gas shielded wire on this kind of project... stronger and the nature of flux core and its slag just makes me take my time... however, the MIG process would be much more convenient on thin **** where the stop/start method is very handy... Slag and stop/start do not mix, according to my common sense. Not to mention how the slag from flux core likes to roll around to the backside of thin stuff... hmm...

My next project will be even more interesting... 1/8" or 3/16" plate front bumper for the Ranger... it'll be complete with provisions for a 12,000 pound winch and a set of KC Hilites Daylighters... and will be welded from the front and the back to ensure strength...

Gotta scoop up the material, and then I can do some CAD (cardboard aided design) and get the bumper looking right, then bring it all to the local CC where they have a CNC plasma cutting machine... much more accurate and mcuh less time consuming than cutting each piece with a cut off wheel.

I'll probably switch to the 10 pound spool of .030" flux core for that one, since I'm dead sure that a partial 2 pound spool of .035" ain't gonna be enough... since this thing will be running full out, I'll be taking the side off and putting a box fan in to cool it off good so the duty cycle should hopefully be extended. If that 'experiment' does work, then I might be rigging up a mini squirrel cage blower and a custom side cover... function over form... if something makes something better, I'll probably do it... :beer:

IDASHO · Nov 20, 2011

Lots of cool projects in here!

Traditionally all of my fabrication projects revolve around solving some sort of problem. I also like to incorporate "found objects" in my projects, in an attempt to recycle old steel as well as add some flavor to it.

This is one of the latest. A very simple boot scraper, made out of some sort of gear I found in the metal dumpster at work. The broom head was also in the garbage at work, somehow broken in half.

So the broom head pieces were cut to similar lengths, the gear cut in half, and a bit of scrap angle iron was used as cross members.

Then a bit of paint... and Boom! A cool boot scraper for the front door. :beer:

Ditchdigger · Nov 21, 2011

IDASHO said:

Wow! The thing that pops out at me other than the cool idea is just how worn out that huge sprocket is.

IDASHO · Nov 21, 2011

Yeah... it was WELL used! :thumbup:

mcmlvif100 · Nov 22, 2011

It is most likely the drive sprocket from a Caterpillar (or similar brand) track-type tractor / crawler. Lots of miles on that one. Clever re-purpose. Like the colour but it would look good in Rustoleum "old Cat yellow" as well.

NASTYZEN · Nov 22, 2011

IDASHO said:

Nice! Just don't fall on it............

jkm4874ford · Nov 22, 2011

Wow some pretty cool stuff on here. A few things this amature has done.

G1K · Nov 22, 2011

I'll play too:

A tool I made from a craftsman socket, some round steel bar, and a gage pin. It's used to engage a propriatary nut.

Stand for a surface grinder

Closeup of bracket

Good end of an aluminum brembo lever welded to a replacement business end:

Triumph TR-6 Replacement crossmember

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