kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Nice widget. Your splits just drop off? Most of mine blast across the driveway. I'm still thinking about how I'm going to catch them.
Show us your welding projects
- Thread starter neonnblack
- Start date
jblnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
For the most part they stay put. I usually split pretty nasty stuff like elm, cottonwood and basswood. The PTO splitter will be used as the “resplit” machine now that I have the one on the mini. I’ll use that one to break them down to a size I can move them and the PTO splitter to get them to their final size.
I went to use it and broke it on the 4th chunk. A squirrelly piece dropped down and pushed on the grate and my welds were no match for the push of the splitter and they popped. Younger Mike looked at that flat edge and thought “naw, it’ll be fine”. What a dummy
Back to the shop to add iron !!!!
A couple 12x12x1/2” pieces to make ramps would suffice. I used washers to give them a slight up tilt.
Decided to use the Angle Finder 3000 to make some braces right away.
My fat *** bumped the heat knob and it got turnt to the hellfire setting and these welds look less than ideal. It’ll be okay because I wiggled on the brace and said “that ain’t going anywhere”. If I had done that last time maybe it wouldn’t have broken.
This is even better than before. I split for about a half hour and nothing flew apart.
Bodj Built
Well-known member
Not collapsing from holding the weight of the vehicle and cyclical loading are two different things. Give it time, and the weld at the bottom of the frame will most likely eventually crack
M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I literally LOL'd. An ugly weld is not necessarily a weak one.My fat *** bumped the heat knob and it got turnt to the hellfire setting and these welds look less than ideal. It’ll be okay because I wiggled on the brace and said “that ain’t going anywhere”. If I had done that last time maybe it wouldn’t have broken.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Sometimes you you just need to melt the evidence for the sake of appearance.
jblnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Ugly ones ain’t necessarily weak. I represent that comment
jblnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I can’t MIG weld upside down worth a **** no matter the settings. Vertical, hell yeah. Horizontal, even granny can do that but under something ? Thank goodness it’s under whatever it’s under because it ain’t gonna be pretty. The big ol’ arc welder is still by pops place or I’d have used that. I can arc weld upside down with the best of them. Well, the best of them that I know that is lol
M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Been there done that. "Naw I can't leave it looking like that!"
*I really thought I could just burn that mill scale off by cranking the heat up a couple clicks*
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
When I have to MIG weld upside down I do it as a series of big fat overlapping tack welds,. I burn them in hot with very slight horizontal movement, then let each one cool for a second (just until the orange color starts to fade) between welds to prevent ( minimize?) hot molten metal dripping into my armpits. I have enough scars there already.
Strangely enough my best welds are vertical down.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
A TIG welder is a great way to improve the looks of a bad MIG weld.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Wait until the price of laser welders comes down...
M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Still working on that.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I learned this when my boss at the time tried to MIG a stainless steel tank... thing... onto the tank. It leaked like a sieve. I was able to go back over his bubble-gum MIG weld with the TIG--with the tanks full and the weld leaking like mad--and make it water tight. Hey--no need to feed rod--all you need is already there!
Oddly, I've done a fair amount of over-head MIG doing build-in-place and didn't find it all that hard--other than trying to calmly finish the bead while a drop of birdshit melted a hole in my scrotum.
IndyGarage
Well-known member
"Most likely eventually" is the calculation that most people do. Slap some big stuff on and make sure it doesn't break again.
The welds are good, and I put three additional pieces on just in case. It was 90% rusted through before and basically was still running until the steering gear came out of position. If it fails it will more likely fail somewhere else.
Bodj Built
Well-known member
I was taught to turn the wire feed speed up a hair and move a little faster for overhead MIG. Now it’s one of my favorite positions to weld. It’s oddly fun
Bodj Built
Well-known member
I guess the consequences of my frame graft failing is more catastrophic, so I’m a bit more cautious. Quarter inch base overlay plate, overlayed with 1/8”
IndyGarage
Well-known member
I will admit you beat me by miles on the looks department. I'm a function over form guy.I guess the consequences of my frame graft failing is more catastrophic, so I’m a bit more cautious. Quarter inch base overlay plate, overlayed with 1/8”
And it does look like you are beating on it pretty hard.
Strength wise, you might as well forget about most of the strength from that outside doubler because you put that logo into it and you didn't weld it. It also looks like you didn't weld the vertical seam on the **** joint - is that correct? That means all the strength goes to the doubler that doesn't have any weld on one end because of the logo.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Looks to me that the logo is an overlaid plate, probably plug welded in from the backside? and the vertical "seam" is a layout line (likely from a Milwaukee Markzall.....they seem to survive adjacent welding)
If so, he's getting full strength from the outer overlay.
Bodj, correct me if I am wrong.
WoodsTruck
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 1,019
Wouldn't it leave some heat signatures?
Firebrick43
Well-known member
Best visual of severe bump steer!
Beerhippie
Well-known member
They have! The New! Low! Low! Price is... about the value of the contents my shop, taken together.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
We could combine our shop assets and buy a laser welder together. I could use it in months ending with "y" or "r"... You could have the entire rest of the alphabet. Whaddya say?
Firebrick43
Well-known member
I maintained and adjusted two laser welder and I highly doubt they will ever be DIY.
Not only is the tubes and mirrors expensive but the slightest flaw on them and its replacement time.
Don’t let the new guy do a PM on them to clean the mirrors without showing and properly emphasizing the importance’s of proper cleaner and wipes as one wipe of a paper towel destroys them.
Then there is the hungry usage of high purity argon.
The tubes have come down a lot in the last 15 years. The first 2kw tube was 40k.
The last one was right under 10k
Not only is the tubes and mirrors expensive but the slightest flaw on them and its replacement time.
Don’t let the new guy do a PM on them to clean the mirrors without showing and properly emphasizing the importance’s of proper cleaner and wipes as one wipe of a paper towel destroys them.
Then there is the hungry usage of high purity argon.
The tubes have come down a lot in the last 15 years. The first 2kw tube was 40k.
The last one was right under 10k
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Don't crush our dreams.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
But then we won't have any tools!
Besides, it's a bit of a commute from AZ to NE OR....
Beerhippie
Well-known member
From what I've seen on YouTube, anyway, there do appear to be models now aimed at small shop/hobbiest markets.
They still cost as much as twelve of any welder in my shop.
Of course, I'm holding out for the laser welder/cleaner/cutter combo to be afordable....
Last edited:
More work on the blade project.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Is there a channel or some kind of reinforcement on the backside of that plow base?
IndyGarage
Well-known member
Yes, now that I look again it appears you are correct. The logo plate doesn't look like it's intended to be structural.
Bodj Built
Well-known member
The seam between the frames was welded and ground flush to let the 1/4” lay flat. Both frames have weird lumps and bumps to be worked around, so the 1/4” plate isn’t a complete piece. Looked kinda like Swiss cheese going around the bumps, with all holes welded. That alone is strong enough. The 1/8” is more so to clean it all up rather than adding additional strength, however you’re right about losing some strength from the BB logo, but the seam is actually at the bend, not under the logo.
YUP! Couple passes later down this and I buckled a tie rod. Stock extended steering works good enough until it doesn’t. I have the front of the truck 3D scanned and I’m designing dual swing steering to get rid of the bumpsteer and make it stronger. In the meantime, I threw another stock extended tie rod on to get me back in the dirt.
Not yet, but there will be. I needed to figure out where the mount would be first.
budo55
Well-known member
Will you have springs to flex? I have that blade on my lawn tractor to scrape my driveway and kept suddenly stopping if it hits a raised section of concrete. I installed a hard rubber edge and haven’t had a problem since. The ATV blade I used to have had springs.More work on the blade project.
I need to get a new spring as one of mine is broken. I will probably replace both.
I did consider welding the blade to the mount permanently. We'll just have to test drive and see what happens.
Jagmandave
Well-known member
Got my subframe mounted in the hot rod Mini, now to repair all the rust!
Pic of all the metal I cut out to make room for the subframe, and pics of it installed.
Pic of all the metal I cut out to make room for the subframe, and pics of it installed.
csp
Well-known member
Will it cover the width of the tires with the blade turned?
Beerhippie
Well-known member
rcsracing
Well-known member
Hi folks, this thread might be the place to ask, since examples can be posted of a shop-made version.
www.harborfreight.com
I'm in need of 1-2 roller stands as infeed/outfeed for a 5x6 horizontal bandsaw, but a few inches shorter than the above. Plus, since I don't need a ton of range (saw input doesn't move), the HF version above takes up a ton of room in the lower position.
I think this would be a three legged jack stand with a hand-operated set screw, with either an off the shelf roller or something straightforward fabbed up. Rolling is only during adjustment for cuts, so super smooth rolling isn't critical.
I'll post up what I make (as a beginner welder, attending an adult evening program at the local vo-tech). Thanks!
250 lb. Capacity Adjustable Roller Stand with Edge Guide
Amazing deals on this 250 Lb Capacity Roller Stand at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
I'm in need of 1-2 roller stands as infeed/outfeed for a 5x6 horizontal bandsaw, but a few inches shorter than the above. Plus, since I don't need a ton of range (saw input doesn't move), the HF version above takes up a ton of room in the lower position.
I think this would be a three legged jack stand with a hand-operated set screw, with either an off the shelf roller or something straightforward fabbed up. Rolling is only during adjustment for cuts, so super smooth rolling isn't critical.
I'll post up what I make (as a beginner welder, attending an adult evening program at the local vo-tech). Thanks!
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Honestly, I'd mod a pair those. Oh wait, I did.Hi folks, this thread might be the place to ask, since examples can be posted of a shop-made version.
250 lb. Capacity Adjustable Roller Stand with Edge Guide
Amazing deals on this 250 Lb Capacity Roller Stand at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
I'm in need of 1-2 roller stands as infeed/outfeed for a 5x6 horizontal bandsaw, but a few inches shorter than the above. Plus, since I don't need a ton of range (saw input doesn't move), the HF version above takes up a ton of room in the lower position.
I think this would be a three legged jack stand with a hand-operated set screw, with either an off the shelf roller or something straightforward fabbed up. Rolling is only during adjustment for cuts, so super smooth rolling isn't critical.
I'll post up what I make (as a beginner welder, attending an adult evening program at the local vo-tech). Thanks!