Show us your welding projects

[sqznby]

Thank you, and ya know what; I failed to take any pictures of the production of this one other than the ones here because I was more focused on the machining of the pump bulkhead than the tank itself, having built a few like this.

This tank is a 30 gallon diesel tank in the truck seen in the background of the first picture. The filler is in the back left of this photo, the outlet is a sump in the front left, and then the returns came back in through the top into tubes that were submerged. Oh, and an ROV. This is all for the sake of air removal. The fuel system also has a FASS air / water separator lift pump. The return has three points of connection; one from the FASS that recirculates, one from the ECM and low pressure side of the injection pump because the ECM actually has a fuel cooler plate on it and is cooled that way, and then lastly there is an injector bypass return for the fuel rail. All operate at different pressures so I wanted them to return to the tank correctly.



My tank baffles end up looking like some version of this ^, depending on the dimensions.


Older photo, pre left arm tat. lol.

Nice man, looks great. I like the machined bulkheads.
Did you weld up the inside?

 

[PowerWagonBuilder]

Nice man, looks great. I like the machined bulkheads.
Did you weld up the inside?

Thank ya! I like to make things serviceable when I can.

On both of these tanks, I will weld the inside corners where I can get to them, then the baffles go in but they just get some stitches in areas that are low stress to reduce any fatigue cycling. The diesel tank above has been in the truck for about 6k miles so far and no issues. I leave a shallow air gap across the top too, so there is no rubbing or anything either from the baffles and so that the tank can back vent easily as it is being filled.

 

[Beerhippie]

Dumb, simple welding project--the kind I wish I had more of--for one of the owners of the brewery:

It's a cooling water pick-up for his historic speedboat. He tried to weld it himself, but didn't understand what welding prep is, so was welding through layers of paint and rust. He also attempted to run a continuous bead--totally unneeded, and the water line is brake line tubing, while the skeg is 1/4" steel. He blew most of the line apart. I figure it needs some good strong tack welds and, if he wants it faired in, we'll do that with filler. Only blew through the brake line twice, but I've gotten damned good at fixing that.

Probably a better place to use brazing, but my welders are better than my acetylene/oxygen torch is.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I might have gone withe epoxy or soldering.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Dumb, simple welding project--the kind I wish I had more of--for one of the owners of the brewery:

It's a cooling water pick-up for his historic speedboat. He tried to weld it himself, but didn't understand what welding prep is, so was welding through layers of paint and rust. He also attempted to run a continuous bead--totally unneeded, and the water line is brake line tubing, while the skeg is 1/4" steel. He blew most of the line apart. I figure it needs some good strong tack welds and, if he wants it faired in, we'll do that with filler. Only blew through the brake line twice, but I've gotten damned good at fixing that.

Probably a better place to use brazing, but my welders are better than my acetylene/oxygen torch is.

That pickup looks awfully small. Is it part of some little outboard?
Second Q, what are those colorful little caps to the left of the vise?

 

[txvwnut]

Dumb, simple welding project--the kind I wish I had more of--for one of the owners of the brewery:

It's a cooling water pick-up for his historic speedboat. He tried to weld it himself, but didn't understand what welding prep is, so was welding through layers of paint and rust. He also attempted to run a continuous bead--totally unneeded, and the water line is brake line tubing, while the skeg is 1/4" steel. He blew most of the line apart. I figure it needs some good strong tack welds and, if he wants it faired in, we'll do that with filler. Only blew through the brake line twice, but I've gotten damned good at fixing that.

Probably a better place to use brazing, but my welders are better than my acetylene/oxygen torch is.

Tig brazing would've worked for this job as well.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Look like screw drivers Kay.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Look like screw drivers Kay.

Look kinda fat for screwdrivers.

 

[y'sguy]

Dumb, simple welding project--the kind I wish I had more of--for one of the owners of the brewery:

It's a cooling water pick-up for his historic speedboat. He tried to weld it himself, but didn't understand what welding prep is, so was welding through layers of paint and rust. He also attempted to run a continuous bead--totally unneeded, and the water line is brake line tubing, while the skeg is 1/4" steel. He blew most of the line apart. I figure it needs some good strong tack welds and, if he wants it faired in, we'll do that with filler. Only blew through the brake line twice, but I've gotten damned good at fixing that.

Probably a better place to use brazing, but my welders are better than my acetylene/oxygen torch is.

OK!, so do we get to see photos of said historic speedboat? I for one would love it. I have a real weakness for such stuff.

 

[Beerhippie]

That pickup looks awfully small. Is it part of some little outboard?
Second Q, what are those colorful little caps to the left of the vise?

It's a vintage mahogany speedster. I don't recall the make. As for line sizing, hey, I'm just the welder! He picked it. It does seem small to me, too.

Those are my over-flow screwdrivers. I have a rack on the opposite end of the bench for my regular users. I like to keep stuff I don't use well organized

 

[kaymccampbell]

Look like screw drivers Kay.

You win.

 

[Old Man Roger]

You win.

There was a forced perspective to the pic.

 

[Beerhippie]

There was a forced perspective to the pic.

Fairly short DOF, but no forced perspective. Those handles are fat--which is why they live in the "screwdrivers I don't use" rack. I let other employees from the pub and brewery pick through those to replace the ones they never put away and now can't find.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Fairly short DOF, but no forced perspective. Those handles are fat--which is why they live in the "screwdrivers I don't use" rack. I let other employees from the pub and brewery pick through those to replace the ones they never put away and now can't find.

Depth of field, forced perspective, I don’t really know the difference.lol I guess I should have just said optical illusion.

 

[Beerhippie]

Depth of field, forced perspective, I don’t really know the difference.lol I guess I should have just said optical illusion.

Depth of field is how much of the picture is in focus. In this case, it's a moderate--nothing OOF beyond recognition. Forced perspective would be using a wide-angle lens to make everything look closer together, or the opposite, a telephoto lens to make object at different distances seem much farther apart.

The lens used in that picture pretty closely represents the angle-of-view you'd see with the MKI eyeball.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Too many acronyms for me.lol

 

[PugetDude]

Too many acronyms for me.lol

Pitchers are hard ..

 

[Old Man Roger]

Pitchers are hard ..

So's math.

 

[Beerhippie]

Tig brazing would've worked for this job as well.

I just plumb dumb forgot about that--besides, I'm out of Sil Phos rod.

I haven't TIG brazed in years--not since the last time someone let one of our pumps freeze and broke the CI volute.

 

[Beerhippie]

Good new is, I got paid for this! I went to get a beer that evening and found that I have 20 on my tab!

Figuring out how--or if--to charge one of the owners of the business for off-the-clock work is difficult, since much of the equipment I use (and they let me use for my own projects) is theirs. I usually just chalk it up to practice time.

 

[Lumpy102]

Welded up a frame to accommodate my dust collector and the Oneida cyclone I bought 15 yrs ago and never used, 2 inch 1/8th wall tubing may seem overkill, but the fan motor is HEAVY and 5 ft up in the air, I didn't want it wobbly. Sandblast, paint, caster wheels and some hose still to come..

 

[KFBR392]

Vintage Herman Miller Eames office chair base. First time welding, first time even using an angle grinder. It’s a solid 3/4” or so steel bar sitting in a solid 2-3” thick chunk of steel. I used flux core due to ease of use, cost of acquisition, and low barrier to entry for the setup. After lots of trial, error, broken welds, grinding, etc, I finally found the right workflow which was torching the piss out of the area to be welded with map gas until it was ripping hot, maximum wire feed speed, and maximum voltage. Even then, I still have lousy welds with some porosity, but I seem to have gotten enough penetration for this particular project. I would never ever do this for something safety critical, but it is absolutely good enough for my beloved office chair. And now I own a welder, know how to weld shittily, and have an angle grinder. Worth the $250 I blew on materials considering the chair is actually very valuable and collectible, but even more so for having picked up a new skill.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Vintage Herman Miller Eames office chair base. First time welding, first time even using an angle grinder. It’s a solid 3/4” or so steel bar sitting in a solid 2-3” thick chunk of steel. I used flux core due to ease of use, cost of acquisition, and low barrier to entry for the setup. After lots of trial, error, broken welds, grinding, etc, I finally found the right workflow which was torching the piss out of the area to be welded with map gas until it was ripping hot, maximum wire feed speed, and maximum voltage. Even then, I still have lousy welds with some porosity, but I seem to have gotten enough penetration for this particular project. I would never ever do this for something safety critical, but it is absolutely good enough for my beloved office chair. And now I own a welder, know how to weld shittily, and have an angle grinder. Worth the $250 I blew on materials considering the chair is actually very valuable and collectible, but even more so for having picked up a new skill.

Dandy job. You'll find that splatter and porosity are two of the best descriptive words when talking about flux core, but it does get the job done. If you move up to solid wire and gas shielding, you'll see an amazing difference in your weld quality, with no actual skill improvement on your part. But, in the meantime, keep splortching away with flux core, and improving your skillset.

 

[jblnut]

Decided to try and destroy the thumb grapple deal on my lawnmower by picking up the perfect sized log right up by the forks. It folded over like it was meant to. I always thought it was a bit flimsy looking.


Time to play the “find the next weakest link” game. I think the pivot point where the cylinder attaches to the thumb will need to be reinforced before reassembly. That seems like a weak point as it’s already a bit bent up.

 

[harley jim]

Vintage Herman Miller Eames office chair base. First time welding, first time even using an angle grinder. It’s a solid 3/4” or so steel bar sitting in a solid 2-3” thick chunk of steel. I used flux core due to ease of use, cost of acquisition, and low barrier to entry for the setup. After lots of trial, error, broken welds, grinding, etc, I finally found the right workflow which was torching the piss out of the area to be welded with map gas until it was ripping hot, maximum wire feed speed, and maximum voltage. Even then, I still have lousy welds with some porosity, but I seem to have gotten enough penetration for this particular project. I would never ever do this for something safety critical, but it is absolutely good enough for my beloved office chair. And now I own a welder, know how to weld shittily, and have an angle grinder. Worth the $250 I blew on materials considering the chair is actually very valuable and collectible, but even more so for having picked up a new skill.

Nice job, I agree with Kay 100%, flux core will get you by, dose your welder have the ability to add gas. It is a game changer when your ready.

 

[M.Brane]

If you foresee the need to weld outside keep the flux core, and get another setup for MIG. We take a flux core with us to the races, and have only used it ourselves once. Somebody borrows it at nearly every race.

 

[Old Man Roger]

If you foresee the need to weld outside keep the flux core, and get another setup for MIG. We take a flux core with us to the races, and have only used it ourselves once. Somebody borrows it at nearly every race.

I little adjustment of the regulator and a something to block the wind works too.

 

[M.Brane]

I little adjustment of the regulator and a something to block the wind works too.

True that, but in a mobile setting not having to deal with the bottle is a plus. Also not worried about appearances just melting stuff back together so you can continue on.

 

[Brianf60]

I finished up a couple of folding go kart stands. Patiently waiting for spring to return…

 

[KFBR392]

Dandy job. You'll find that splatter and porosity are two of the best descriptive words when talking about flux core, but it does get the job done. If you move up to solid wire and gas shielding, you'll see an amazing difference in your weld quality, with no actual skill improvement on your part. But, in the meantime, keep splortching away with flux core, and improving your skillset.

Thank you for the kind words!

 

[kaymccampbell]

I little adjustment of the regulator and a something to block the wind works too.

As the wind tears the cardboard out of your hand and the gas goes dry 10 seconds later. My lunchbox welder has saved the day more than once.

 

[Old Man Roger]

As the wind tears the cardboard out of your hand and the gas goes dry 10 seconds later. My lunchbox welder has saved the day more than once.

Welding in a hurricane? Lol

 

[kaymccampbell]

Welding in a hurricane? Lol

More than once. Piecing together shattered garbage trucks on a mountain of garbage using cardboard and old mattresses as shelter, when the wind came up and sent the whole ********* flying over the trees a quarter mile away.

 

[senlow]

More than once. Piecing together shattered garbage trucks on a mountain of garbage using cardboard and old mattresses as shelter, when the wind came up and sent the whole ********* flying over the trees a quarter mile away.

That sounds slightly unpleasant.

Here is a quick sidebar that's related to garbage. Twenty some years ago I hired a welder that previously worked for a trash company repairing well used dumpsters. Rob was the fastest welder I ever met. His speed must have been driven by the need to get in and out of those stinking dumpsters as quick as possible.

 

[kaymccampbell]

That sounds slightly unpleasant.

Here is a quick sidebar that's related to garbage. Twenty some years ago I hired a welder that previously worked for a trash company repairing well used dumpsters. Rob was the fastest welder I ever met. His speed must have been driven by the need to get in and out of those stinking dumpsters as quick as possible.

It's not the smell. You become immune in a couple weeks. It's the fact that he was used to welding garbage impregnated steel at normal speed, so working on decent materials made him so much faster. I noticed the same thing with myself.

I'll add another bit of garbage related joy. I think my worst experience was trying to cut out a mile of spring wire, and piece together the air and electrical system on a truck that had backed over a mattress, sucked it in and totally ripped out everything back of the firewall. While lying on frozen garbage in a blizzard on that same mountain. The joys of my youth.

 

[Beerhippie]

It's not the smell. You become immune in a couple weeks. It's the fact that he was used to welding garbage impregnated steel at normal speed, so working on decent materials made him so much faster. I noticed the same thing with myself.

I'll add another bit of garbage related joy. I think my worst experience was trying to cut out a mile of spring wire, and piece together the air and electrical system on a truck that had backed over a mattress, sucked it in and totally ripped out everything back of the firewall. While lying on frozen garbage in a blizzard on that same mountain. The joys of my youth.

And I thought I had some ****** jobs... well, I did, but not that ******!

 

[kaymccampbell]

And I thought I had some ****** jobs... well, I did, but not that ******!

****** jobs? Like pressure washing, vac-ing, and tarring the inside of a recently active septic tank?

 

[senlow]

****** jobs? Like pressure washing, vac-ing, and tarring the inside of a recently active septic tank?

You win!

 

[kaymccampbell]

You win!

Nah. A friend of mine works in a sewage treatment plant. She has to skitter down **** smeared ladders to unbolt giant **** coated bolts, so they can pull and service humongous pumps. The things she hates the most are disposable diapers, wipes and oil rags. They cause her more make work than anything else there, and keep her away from necessary maintenance tasks.

 

[larry4406]

Nah. A friend of mine works in a sewage treatment plant. She has to skitter down **** smeared ladders to unbolt giant **** coated bolts, so they can pull and service humongous pumps. The things she hates the most are disposable diapers, wipes and oil rags. They cause her more make work than anything else there, and keep her away from necessary maintenance tasks.

I had a summer intern job working at a sewage treatment plant during college. I needed a paycheck and that was the only job the employment agency could find me. It was "interesting" to say the least. It taught me to do well at school so I would never see the likes of a place like that again!