Show us your welding projects

[WoodsTruck]

whenever I get some free time and motivation I like to learn something New or better my skills in something.
I dove back into metal shaping again over the last few weeks of spare time. I have an old fender in my shop I use to try and recreate. Last time I did it the patch in this area was 4 pieces that I welded up. This time I made it in 2. progress

I'm by far no expert, but a simple question.
When using a flat faced clamping device on a multicurved surface, are you introducing some pucker in your seam when you stitch them together?
Pic 5261 shows the flat face of a long reach clamp over the seam, then pic 5266 shows what appears to be a depression at the seam possibly at the same point.

 

[stinkity stoink]

I'm by far no expert, but a simple question.
When using a flat faced clamping device on a multicurved surface, are you introducing some pucker in your seam when you stitch them together?
Pic 5261 shows the flat face of a long reach clamp over the seam, then pic 5266 shows what appears to be a depression at the seam possibly at the same point.

I tried to clamp it at a low crown spot with light force. I’m not sure if it’s a depression or a spot i got carried away with the grinder.
You could be right though because the panels are pretty good ,but far from perfect. I will have to check that area when I get back in the garage.

 

[Jagmandave]

Yes you can totally weld SS with a MIG, but the weld/HAZ is no longer SS, and will rust/corrode. I welded up our presilencer at Laguna Seca after it oil-canned, and split open with a little Lincoln 120V flux core welder. I got us through the rest of the race, but we got rid of it after that. We also never ran there again due to the draconian noise restrictions.

Hold on, are you talking about the HAZ not being SS anymore because you didn't use SS wire or rod? Cause I use SS wire in my Mig when I weld stainless. I haven't tried to weld pipe, but I have welded a lot of square and rectangular tubing with it with good success, and as these parts were in a food plant, they got washed daily - with no rust showing up anywhere. However, I wasn't trying to send anything down a pipe......

 

[Beerhippie]

Hold on, are you talking about the HAZ not being SS anymore because you didn't use SS wire or rod? Cause I use SS wire in my Mig when I weld stainless. I haven't tried to weld pipe, but I have welded a lot of square and rectangular tubing with it with good success, and as these parts were in a food plant, they got washed daily - with no rust showing up anywhere. However, I wasn't trying to send anything down a pipe......

I worded that poorly. The steel is the same, it's the quality that changes.

Any time you break the surface of stainless, it's not stainless anymore. The stainless quality comes from a molecules-thick layer of chrome and/or nickel that forms on the surface of the alloy under the right conditions. After welding, cutting, or grinding--and on all new equipment--we passivate the stainless with nitric acid or a nitric/phosphoric mix. This restores the passivated, stainless layer by removing iron from the surface and leaving the resistant chrome and/or nickel behind..

If you have "sugaring", you've actually chemically changed the metal by reacting it with oxygen in the air. The sugaring is not stainless steel and never again will be.

 

[Jagmandave]

Got it.

My welder guy who does my SS exhaust and such back purges the tubes.....

 

[Beerhippie]

Got it.

My welder guy who does my SS exhaust and such back purges the tubes.....

For brewery hard-piping, the gas does more than just protect the backside. Since the pipe is very thin-wall and the welds need to be as smooth as possible, you play with the pressure inside the pipe to where the weld neither sinks nor rises. Lot of fun, that--usually start a little high and use the tungsten tip to poke holes in the masking tape covering the ends of the pipe until it's just right.

 

[jblnut]

20yrs ago I rolled over a Geo Metro and the only things that survived were me and the front drivers seat. We both had to be cut out of the car, me first of course lol. So I built an office chair out of the front seat and it's needed a few things here and there but this morning it sent me flying back into the table when I leaned back and I had had enough !! I spent way too long repairing the slopped out wheel sleeves a few months back and decided to fix it once and for all.


I headed to my local backyard scrap yard and found a few pieces of tubing that will work great for a new base. That guy needs to clean up his yard, there is stuff everywhere !!


Some dummy either drilled the wheel stud holes on the wrong side or welded the pipe in on the wrong side. Oh well, it was an easy fix.


It is now something I can hand down to the grandkids one day. I sat on it and almost flew backwards. The wheels roll soooooo much smoother than they did before

 

[kyrbz]

Been working on some casework for the living room of property I'm renovating and eventually moving to. I guess you could call it the entertainment center. It will hold the stereo system with storage for records, cd's, etc... It also serves as a platform for a vintage Malm fireplace I'll be installing. The final look will be black powder coated steel frames with walnut panels and drawer fronts. The top will be caeserstone that looks like polished concrete. It consist of 5 "modules". From left to right, the large square module is a base for the Malm fireplace. It has 2 large 40" deep drawers underneath for storage. The next module to the right has 4 drawers for cd's. The next module will hold a subwoofer. I'll be using a vintage style speaker cloth for the front of that module. The next module has two large drawers for albums with the stereo equipment module sitting on top. The TV will mount on wall between fireplace and stereo module. Lots of tabs on the frames to attach various wood panels. Some panels are for attaching drawer slides to. Others are cosmetic. Gonna haul the frames to the powder coater next week and get started on the wood parts of the project. This is kinda my evening project when I'm not actually at the job site working on the renovation of the property it's eventually going to.

 

[kyrbz]

Off to the powder coater

 

[Beerhippie]

Love the Kei truck!

 

[WoodsTruck]

Love the Kei truck!

I wish I fit in one of those. Tried it once and the guy that showed it to me almost died laughing at me.

 

[Beerhippie]

Our new boiler will, gawd willin' and the Creek don't rise, be here tomorrow.

In commissioning it, I'll be opening and closing this gate valve a lot:



Gate valves stick. I've been using a big screwdriver for a lever, but a real tool would be nice--like a big pin spanner. I could order one, but... I haven't broken out ol' Sparky in a while, so it's off to the boneyard again.

An off-cut of some 1/4" cold-rolled plate, 1" wide and a foot long--perfect! A shaft from ... something... 3/8" x 4" long. Clean the edges up on the off-cut, cut the shaft into two 1 1/2" long pieces. Drill some slightly undersized holes at the right spacing, countersink them about 3/4 the thickness of the plate. "Turn" the pieces of rod down using a drill and angle grinder until I have a press-fit. Drive 'em in with a hammer to where they sit flush on the countersunk side.

Break out ol' Sparky and:



A couple of belly-button welds. With the countersunk holes, I can grind them flush:



Perfect fit.

It's getting a coat of gloss black paint oven-cured right now, then it'll get the handle end dipped in Plasti-Dip--blue this time.

Gotta love a welding project that takes less time than unwinding the cables.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Speed knob on the end of that wrench?

 

[Beerhippie]

Speed knob on the end of that wrench?

It's just to crack the valve loose. Gate valves have a tapered gate, so once it's loose, I can spin the handle easily.

 

[PugetDude]

Looks like he has this project handled.

 

[LXCam]

Looks like have this project handled.

Well he certainly put a spin on it

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

He's definitely got a grip on things.

 

[PugetDude]

Well he certainly put a spin on it

He's definitely got a grip on things.

You two have certainly leveraged the puns on this one.

 

[Beerhippie]

To turn back to where we started:



I've yet to master the application of Plasti-dip.

 

[PugetDude]

To turn back to where we started:



I've yet to master the application of Plasti-dip.

I'll trade you for my spray painting skills.

 

[Beerhippie]

I'll trade you for my spray painting skills.

I got runs. I hate runs. Some weather ain't right for rattle-canning.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I got runs. I hate runs. Some weather ain't right for rattle-canning.

It actually looks like all factory plastidip. You did fine.

 

[Old Man Roger]

To turn back to where we started:



I've yet to master the application of Plasti-dip.

Looks like you got it covered.

 

[VR6ix]

Lovely to see nice forethought in the details and some metal finishing

Have you tried the "Fireball Tool Challenge"? Something tells me it might be easy for you

 

[kyrbz]

Lovely to see nice forethought in the details and some metal finishing

Have you tried the "Fireball Tool Challenge"? Something tells me it might be easy for you

Up to recently, I did my personal projects at my day gig which has a better metal shop than mine. Now that I retired from that job, I miss the welding tables, the scrap pile, and being able to make a mess in someone else’s shop. I plan on getting a “real” welding table when I get moved into my new shop, but until then, I’ve been using corner clamps for this kind of stuff. I have decent ones that are heavy duty and machined on the inside and outside surfaces. It is a lot slower and pain in a_ _ using corner clamps and various other clamps to get things lined up and square, but despite not having a “real” welding table, I feel like I’m still fairly accurate with my set up. That being said, I’m looking forward to the day I’m in my new shop with a real welding table.

 

[Beerhippie]

After curing overnight, the Plasti-Dip shrank in volume by about 50% and looks much better:

 

[harley jim]

I made a carrier for my trike. Eventually it will go on my
97 GMC Z71 so I can take it to car shows with me!

 

[pancholasvegas]

I’ve always really liked those old metal patio chairs. I’ve never had the opportunity to get my hands on one, but recently, my wife was out shopping, and called me up saying “Hi - You know those old shell chairs you like? There’s an old ****** one in this dumpster - do you want me to grab it”? I knew I married the right woman.

Got it home and it was in rough shape - clearly. Also, someone had drilled a couple holes in it and bolted a bar to it. Ended up tearing it down for clean up.





up.





Today I finished up the last of the cleanup & closed up the last of the pinholes on this chair. This chair had quite a bit of rust on the lower section, I had debated patching it and even made a patch panel.

I ended up deciding to see if I could just clean up and save what was there. I used my TIG welder and silicon bronze. A few things to note - the rust was all in the area where the seat base and seat mate. It is not a visible section when assembled, so I was more concerned with getting the bad sections cleaned up and patched, and less with the appearance of the finished product. That means that the primary visible sections are above the witness line on the front, and the entirety of the back. You will see that is where a majority of the finishing work took place, in visible areas.

The first two photos are the finished product before final prep/blast/powder. I’ve got a couple small areas to breathe over again with the belt sander. The 3rd photo is the only photo I have of the rust before working on it.

 

[dscheidt]

I’ve always really liked those old metal patio chairs. I’ve never had the opportunity to get my hands on one, but recently, my wife was out shopping, and called me up saying “Hi - You know those old shell chairs you like? There’s an old ****** one in this dumpster - do you want me to grab it”? I knew I married the right woman.

Got it home and it was in rough shape - clearly. Also, someone had drilled a couple holes in it and bolted a bar to it. Ended up tearing it down for clean up.

my grandparents had chairs like that, which all died of rust where they joined together. Except one: it was aluminum. They had a two seat patio swing in the same style, too. None of this was matched sets, but stuff my grandmother bought at farm sales.

 

[FourthQuarter]

Congrats on finding a good woman. Nice chair.

 

[pancholasvegas]

my grandparents had chairs like that, which all died of rust where they joined together. Except one: it was aluminum. They had a two seat patio swing in the same style, too. None of this was matched sets, but stuff my grandmother bought at farm sales.

Interesting to hear that those chairs all died in the same way - I'm hopeful that after welding this up that there is enough meat in the chair now to provide enough support. I sat in the chair before disassembly, but after removing the bolted on bar, and experienced no issues, so I believe that I may have been able to save it in time.

Worse case scenario, I can add a filler panel between the mating areas to provide further rigidity. I don't believe that will be necessary. I don't believe that this chair will live outside again, it'll likely live in the shop for the rest of its life, so I believe that I'll be in good shape.

Most people already think I've spent too much time fixing up a busted chair - I don't care, I like the chair and I like working in the garage. It's a win for me.

 

[mattthemuppet]

Nothing fancy, just some heavy duty shelf brackets from an old bed frame. Must have been in an old ladies house as it gave off weird musty old lady smell when I welded it.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Nothing fancy, just some heavy duty shelf brackets from an old bed frame. Must have been in an old ladies house as it gave off weird musty old lady smell when I welded it.

That's the paint they use on them. It stinks when you just burn through it.

 

[Beerhippie]

That's the paint they use on them. It stinks when you just burn through it.

So it's the same paint used on little old ladies?

 

[kaymccampbell]

So it's the same paint used on little old ladies?

Not unless you've got a Goldfinger thing going on.
AFAIK it's an alkyd enamel. They smell funky when you weld.

 

[pancholasvegas]

Found another photo of the rusty areas on the shell chair before and after working on it.



Dropped off the chair at powder coat today - should have it back mid next week!

 

[pancholasvegas]

Got the chair back from powder today - turned out pretty good. It’s got a couple little dings showing up now (they let me know that they told the guy not to blast it… didn’t get the memo), but for a shop chair, it’s fine. It’ll likely never end up outside again, but I did upgrade to stainless steel hardware I also went up a size on the fasteners to beef if it up some as well. It’s plenty stout. Pretty pleased overall for what it is.



Other shop chair

 

[no704]

Got the chair back from powder today - turned out pretty good. It’s got a couple little dings showing up now (they let me know that they told the guy not to blast it… didn’t get the memo), but for a shop chair, it’s fine. It’ll likely never end up outside again, but I did upgrade to stainless steel hardware I also went up a size on the fasteners to beef if it up some as well. It’s plenty stout. Pretty pleased overall for what it is.



Other shop chair

Nice work. I have a couple of those.

 

[pancholasvegas]

Nice work. I have a couple of those.

Thank you - I'd love to have more. I keep my eyes peeled hoping that I can spot another one.

 

[mattthemuppet]

Got a long long delayed project off the list. I bought a Wilton 4.5” vise from auction a while ago and got some reason it was missing the guide plate inside the base. I have a feeling the base isn’t original so maybe that was why.

Anyway, find a bit of scrap about the right size, turned it more or less flat and drilled a hole in it. Turned a plug and welded that in, then tried to turn the plate down to size. This is when I discovered I had used a piece of stainless plate, doh!

Fought with that for a while, drilled a couple of holes for the bolts, then decided to make a couple of new bolts as the current ones were bent

Used a grinder (mill is not working yet, summer project) to thin the plate so the clamps would work, then did a test fit to measure how long the new nuts needed to be.

Made a couple of washers out of brass and two nuts out of hex bar and it’s all finished. Doesn’t look as bad as it did before and the vise is finally solid as a rock