Show us your welding projects

[PugetDude]

Started another little welding project; memorial bench for a good friend and neighbor who recently passed away.
First component was a torch reminiscent of the Standard Oil logo, where he had a distinguished career. The flames are 12 and 16 gauge, the torch is #3 rebar and some ornamental iron rolled rings I found in my steel drop bucket. The rest of the bench design is still percolating in my head..


More details in my project thread.

 

[Bob Heine]

The rest of the bench design is still percolating in my head.

Scott, my head has spent too much time submerged in a deep fryer. A chunk of it just exploded when it saw the start of your memorial piece.

 

[PhantomEB]

Been a slice since I dug out my little Miller 175. Just need to slow down and lighten up the welding shade a hair. Not a huge fan of the ArcCaptain welding helmet so that’s on the list for next year.

whipped up a floor stand for my 950$ SuperHitch extension, WDD hitch and stabilizer bars.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Sure glad you built that so you can still knee-cap yourself even when it isn't in the business end of the truck.
Should work good though.

 

[PugetDude]

Sure glad you built that so you can still knee-cap yourself even when it isn't in the business end of the truck.
Should work good though.

Looks like more of a nut-buster now.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Looks like more of a nut-buster now.

I didn't want to assume his in-seam, you know how sensitive people are these days?

 

[PhantomEB]

Better than a header into one of the trucks when all that **** was on the floor. Bronco I don’t care about dents but the 3500 I sure do!

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Quick and easy 2 inch receiver for the ferd.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

 

[WoodsTruck]

Enclosed crossing guard vessel?

 

[kaymccampbell]

Enclosed crossing guard vessel?

That's to alert the driver that the vehicle is plugged in, so you don't rip something out. It's a good idea, but it never worked in my fleet. My solution was to tie the electric cord around the sun visor, shift lever and steering wheel and driver's door handle, and have breakaways at the hitching posts. And I still had drive-offs.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Enclosed crossing guard vessel?

Too many close calls while driving curvy single wide bush roads with 6 foot snowbanks.

 

[jblnut]

Working on swapping disc blades on the finishing disc again so I’ll have roughly 80 decent blades to turn into Woks again. Bottom blades swapped today. It’s a bit of work taking it all apart and reassembling with new blades. We did blades, bearings, rubber holder pucks and harrow teeth last spring and the blades we installed are absolute junk so I bit the bullet and bought CashIH EarthMetal blades at a cost of $73 for 96 of them.


Old pile of blades. I can’t believe how poorly these preformed.


One disc blade cooker done with orders at the moment for 9 more.

 

[larry4406]

Working on swapping disc blades on the finishing disc again so I’ll have roughly 80 decent blades to turn into Woks again. Bottom blades swapped today. It’s a bit of work taking it all apart and reassembling with new blades. We did blades, bearings, rubber holder pucks and harrow teeth last spring and the blades we installed are absolute junk so I bit the bullet and bought CashIH EarthMetal blades at a cost of $73 for 96 of them.


Old pile of blades. I can’t believe how poorly these preformed.


One disc blade cooker done with orders at the moment for 9 more.

Nice wok conversion.

How are you welding the hole closed? Doner material from another disc?

I like the loos fit tube for the handle to help reduce conduction and keep the handle cooler.

 

[jblnut]

Nice wok conversion.

Thank you !! I’ve build a few dozen in the last 10yrs but never advertised them or sold them. Mostly just given them away so far. I’ve sent a few out to GJ members. Would you like one ?

How are you welding the hole closed? Doner material from another disc?

I cut out a plug from some flat plate donor material and glue it in there with the electric glue gun.


Glue it in and smooth it down. I put a copper plate under when welding so I can crank the heat and have it melt all the way through so I don’t need to weld the back side or do any grinding.

I like the loose fit tube for the handle to help reduce conduction and keep the handle cooler.

The handles are 3/8” 316SS rod and the tube is a scrap of 1/2” EMT. Seems to be a winning combo. If I’m gonna build a bunch I need to pick up more of each. The first few I built I used rebar bundle ties and it works well but they were a bit on the thin side and would bend on occasion.

 

[larry4406]

Thank you !! I’ve build a few dozen in the last 10yrs but never advertised them or sold them. Mostly just given them away so far. I’ve sent a few out to GJ members. Would you like one ?


I cut out a plug from some flat plate donor material and glue it in there with the electric glue gun.


Glue it in and smooth it down. I put a copper plate under when welding so I can crank the heat and have it melt all the way through so I don’t need to weld the back side or do any grinding.


The handles are 3/8” 316SS rod and the tube is a scrap of 1/2” EMT. Seems to be a winning combo. If I’m gonna build a bunch I need to pick up more of each. The first few I built I used rebar bundle ties and it works well but they were a bit on the thin side and would bend on occasion.

Thanks for the offer on a wok! My wife has one already.

Very clever.

 

[hbabler]

@jblnut Those are awesome. I’d love to buy one for the fire station if you have one that’s not spoken for.

 

[jblnut]

@jblnut Those are awesome. I’d love to buy one for the fire station if you have one that’s not spoken for.

I have 75 that aren’t spoken for lol. Sent you a PM.

 

[jblnut]

Three more done with one of them getting shipped to @hbabler

 

[T444e]

That's to alert the driver that the vehicle is plugged in, so you don't rip something out. It's a good idea, but it never worked in my fleet. My solution was to tie the electric cord around the sun visor, shift lever and steering wheel and driver's door handle, and have breakaways at the hitching posts. And I still had drive-offs.

I always drape the cord over the driver side mirror to ensure I would unplug it. Hard to miss when opening the door to get in.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I always drape the cord over the driver side mirror to ensure I would unplug it. Hard to miss when opening the door to get in.

You'd think. I assume you stock replacement mirrors.

 

[Jgaz]

If you make something idiot proof, evolution will produce a better idiot.

 

[T444e]

You'd think. I assume you stock replacement mirrors.

Well, it's my personal truck. While I may not be the brightest bulb, I have yet to tear one off.

 

[T444e]

If you make something idiot proof, evolution will produce a better idiot.

I've seen someone post about not matter how idiot proof something is made there better idiots out there.

 

[zmotorsports]

If you make something idiot proof, evolution will produce a better idiot.

That's been my mantra for the past 37+ years at work. We are constantly required to "idiot-proof" our environment, but they just keep producing newer and more creative idiots.

 

[txvwnut]

If you make something idiot proof, evolution will produce a better idiot.

That's been my mantra for the past 37+ years at work. We are constantly required to "idiot-proof" our environment, but they just keep producing newer and more creative idiots.

I was at factory somewhere for the day job doing a PDI on a piece of equipment and there were a few other municipalities there as well. The sales rep was showing a piece of equipment to us and he states, "we've made this unit completely idiot proof". I said "hell we'll just hire better idiots", the rest if the crowd busted out in an agreed laughter.

 

[LXCam]

Man it’s been a while since I posted anything here.

A little work project. We had to install a media converter control enclosure in a tunnel that is used to move inmates between jail(s) and court. It got installed over a month ago but just last week someone got a hard on demanding we build a guard to protect it from wayward plastic carts. Mind you, the bottom is 50.5” above FF and those carts are 36”T



That box is 1” in from the right wall and the left hand side is a ramp. I designed this so the rails will be flush with the intersecting tunnel and the left side 45’s back to the wall so anything coming down that ramp won’t meet with a sudden stop. And the front is 1” proud of the enclosure.

Also because there’s a **** load of rebar within the area, I went with 8” wide wall bracket. That way I can scan the wall and drill my mounting holes clear of the bar…..hopefully



Built a couple gauges so I could get this thing squared up nice and true and have the face of the bar dead flush with the bollards. Doing it this way was a two fold win. It minimized how much encroachment the assembly impeded egress and it just will look trick as F .



After getting this four bars melted on I tacked up some 2/2 square tubing under the left of my bench so I could square the right and face sides. Then whipped out the face.

 

[LXCam]

Then it was time to get her on top but by this time she was getting a little heavy with that 3/4” x 2” solid bar. Cut up a couple temp supports n tacked in place. Squared up the other mounting bracket, marked my hash lines and went to town.


That’s how it sits for tonight. Tomorrow I’ll get the baseplates trimmed and on plus the caps.

So the caps have a little story. I normally have precuts of all kinds of stuff laying around. Well not this time, I had one 3” x 3/4” piece. So I chucked it up and cut 1/8” deep recesses so it would set nest in the tube. Then tacked it to some tubing and cut it in half.


Man oh man do I love my saw. I bought that in 07 and it’s seen a hundreds and hundreds of hours of use and still to this day cuts dead accurate.

 

[Old Man Roger]

You think that’ll be strong enough?

 

[LXCam]

You think that’ll be strong enough?

You might be right, I should have gone with 6” solid rod for the bollards. Damn it, now I’m gonna have to rebuild it

 

[rvieceli]

@LXCam what is the saw you are using? certainly does a nice job.

Ron

 

[LXCam]

@LXCam what is the saw you are using? certainly does a nice job.

Ron

Straight out of the Grainger arsenal. A Dayton 9” x 16” with a 3 speed gear box (no belts) swinging Morse blades.

It’s one of my shop tools that no one is allowed to touch unless I’ve trained them and they’re thoroughly checked out. When I bought it, it was a forever purchase so I’m pretty picky about it.

 

[kaymccampbell]

You might be right, I should have gone with 6” solid rod for the bollards. Damn it, now I’m gonna have to rebuild it

Probably. I've put armor around equipment 20' off the ground with 14' vehicles running under it, and they figured out how to rip it down and drag it a block.

 

[Beerhippie]

You might be right, I should have gone with 6” solid rod for the bollards. Damn it, now I’m gonna have to rebuild it

Lally posts. Nothing else will do.

 

[LXCam]

Probably. I've put armor around equipment 20' off the ground with 14' vehicles running under it, and they figured out how to rip it down and drag it a block.

Kay, you of all people will understand exactly what im going to say.

I’m the easiest guy in the world to do business with. I’ll bend over backwards to accommodate and or identify and work towards a happy medium for just about anything.

Inversely you back me into a corner and it’s fn game on. This guard was way more of a giant FU, I’ll build you a guard.

Noooo body else had a problem with what was going on than this mid level Sgt who’s enjoying his little head trip with his recent promotion.

So after this is installed and we have our all in meeting with the entire world, and when the county director and or the commander ask me wtf that was all about I’ll lay it all out and make it out to sound like we were required to build a space shuttle.


SIR!! 🫡

 

[Firebrick43]

Probably. I've put armor around equipment 20' off the ground with 14' vehicles running under it, and they figured out how to rip it down and drag it a block.

So true. I had to build some railings to prevent damage from 20,000 lbs forklifts years ago. They looked more like tank traps than guard rails, made from 6"x8"x3/16" rectangular tubing and while an engineer was telling me how over built they were an idiot hit one in front of us with the counterweight on his truck in fast turn.

The rail actually flexed some but didn't bend like all had before. If he wasn't buckled in he would have been thrown from the truck and was in visible pain from the sudden stop. The engineer said "never mind, it looks barely sufficient" immediately following.

The same forklift driver had flattened multiple 6" pipe bollards in the plant, and since he hadn't hurt anyone yet they wouldn't fire him.

 

[LXCam]

So true. I had to build some railings to prevent damage from 20,000 lbs forklifts years ago. They looked more like tank traps than guard rails, made from 6"x8"x3/16" rectangular tubing and while an engineer was telling me how over built they were an idiot hit one in front of us with the counterweight on his truck in fast turn.

The rail actually flexed some but didn't bend like all had before. If he wasn't buckled in he would have been thrown from the truck and was in visible pain from the sudden stop. The engineer said "never mind, it looks barely sufficient" immediately following.

The same forklift driver had flattened multiple 6" pipe bollards in the plant, and since he hadn't hurt anyone yet they wouldn't fire him.

A couple years ago the county built a couple shade shelters for the transport buses. A lot was involved with the structure as well as security so I was involved. It took almost a year to complete and no provisions for bollards at the corner columns were ever brought up.

Now it’s time for the final inspection and everyone was there for the engineers punch or final sign off.

Literally not 20ft from our group a deputy backed a rig into it a corner and did some decent damage. Sometimes you just can’t make this **** up.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Noooo body else had a problem with what was going on than this mid level Sgt who’s enjoying his little head trip with his recent promotion.

So after this is installed and we have our all in meeting with the entire world, and when the county director and or the commander ask me wtf that was all about I’ll lay it all out and make it out to sound like we were required to build a space shuttle.


SIR!! 🫡

Make sure you charge appropriately for it. . . . change order up grade plus.

 

[LXCam]

Make sure you charge appropriately for it. . . . change order up grade plus.

I'm not big on CO's Eric and a couple grand in material / labor is nothing on one of these projects. I won't go into detail but there's a reason we're direct awarded these projects and why I have contracts lined up until 2032 at this point.

For the most part these projects are a deferred submittal even though I'm provided the design documents from two different EOR's. So it's my job to capture all nuances associated with code, BICSI compliance and constructability mitigation at time of bid. All though something like this isn't applicable there, I just get it done and move on and if I can make a joke or a point about it later on - well you get the idear.

We have this insane schedule for close out of these particular jobs of June 30th, 2028 or we lose (well my customer actually) funding. And recently I was approved by legal to be on the design team for the next series of projects that kickoff this July running to 32 that will be direct awarded as well.

Point is this. One of the many reasons it's gone down this way is I don't play the CO game. Oh I could, matter of fact I could have a field day on every job to the tune of millions of dollars. And if I did, that might last one or two projects and then they would all go out for open bid. My overlords don't conduct business like I do and every once in a while something gets said to me. That's when I remind them since 2022 I'm the only division across this country that's planning/scheduling 4 years out. Our margins are where they need to be, my cash flow is every 30 days like clockwork, and no retention withheld.......so kiss my ***.

 

[NUTTSGT]

@LXCam I get it and you are playing it safe...as long as customer management holds out... you know how that can go.

2032 ? Damn dude I thought you were wanting to wind down for retirement ? But hey, if you can work, get well compensated and are in charge...