First Fab Project - Ski Bench

[matttys]

So I learned to weld while getting an MBA (not really in the general course track) and I haven't had a real project beyond fixing broken pieces of metal or making a headlamp for my little DRZ134SM.

This is my gift to one of my groomsman. He owns a ski shop here in the mountains of Ohio. What ski shop is complete without some swanky ski seating?

I used 1.5" steel tubing with a 0.065" wall and made up this bench. I have a Thermal Arc TA185 TIG welder and it worked very well. Through work I was able to get a metal cutting circular saw - it is amazing. It will cut metal like a wood 2x4. No heat and it's super precise. The skis were scammed from my ski shop buddy and my father in law. . . I told them I was going to be on Junkyard Wars and I needed the skis for the show! Tek screws (screws with a drill point on the end) were used to hold the skis down to the tubing.

In the end I've got about 8 hours, a refresher course on trig and $65 worth of materials in my project.

 

[Zengineer]

Heh, I like it! Nice bit of creative recycling.

 

[ghlkal]

Nice work.

So I learned to weld while getting an MBA (not really in the general course track)

good for you -- needed a diversion from all the homework, I'm sure

 

[gts340]

That's very nice. You could probably make a good sized car payment doing projects like that on the side.

 

[52Ford]

Give me Rossignol or give me HEAD!

 

[matttys]

Give me Rossignol or give me HEAD!

Haha, that comment will be made fairly often while the bench is in service at the shop. I was really amazed that the Head/Fox made in Boulder Co. ski was the hardest ski to drill through. It had metal sheets everywhere. . . all the rest were mostly resin.

 

[matttys]

And this little guy was a great help. One of the best gifts I've ever received!

 

[Jononon]

Nice job

A pair of skis on the bottom of one of those would make for an excellent youtube video or major spinal injuries.

He owns a ski shop here in the mountains of Ohio.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Looks like you have a nice place to work.

 

[matttys]

Nice job A pair of skis on the bottom of one of those would make for an excellent youtube video or major spinal injuries.

Since I'm not actually going to be at the shop very often, I intentionally did not put skis on the bottom of the chair. I could see some pimply-faced employees grabbing the bench while there was downtime.

 

[robertlynk]

Great job my son did something similar with snow boards and made kits

 

[matttys]

If you made a jig, doing kits would be fairly easy. Then someone would just need to get the skis or the board.

Snowboards would definitely be the way to go for ease of install.

 

[evil_twin]

The only thing I would have changed with your bench is to flip the armrest skis over. So they face down. Other than that, it looks great!

 

[matttys]

The only thing I would have changed with your bench is to flip the armrest skis over. So they face down. Other than that, it looks great!

Yeah, but then you see the black bases. . . not as cool in my opinion as a the logo'd top coat. Also the arm rests are cross country skis so they are not flat on the bottom.

 

[autoclassicnut]

good idea! this should be moved to the fabrication section....good work!

 

[benjamin.eby]

That looks Freakin sweet!

 

[dankeenan]

You could always turn them the other way to the tip is to the back. That way you do not hook things on the points, and still see the logo. Looks very nice!

 

[simontudor]

haha thats really cool