Show us your welding projects

[iamironman]

I'm ready to be done now.
Still have shelves, skins and latches to go.


Front and rear cabinet doors closed.


Rear doors open, this will be for product storage.


Front doors open, this will have product display racks on the inside wall and inside the doors.


A bay full of buggies.


I made a train. I've always wanted to make a train.


They towed well, I was able to turn all 70' of buggies around in my 30' wide parking lot.


Need a F.R.E.D. here.

 

[Kenuto]

I assume you had a jig? sweet job thanks for the update!

 

[Stroked383]

Started off yesterday extracting broken bolts



Then got fed up with the slop in the gooseneck ball in the bed of my truck so I welded that in the up position. Reallll nice now.

 

[biggerdumberdog]

This is my new pellet cooker may have gone to far

 

[W_A_Watson_II]

biggerdumberdog,

Wow, that's a nice cooker, and details/spec's?

 

[biggerdumberdog]

Took a couple of days to build it is fired with a smoke daddy pellet assembly should be able to smoke 29 12# turkeys at one time i did a test cook with 4 pork butts and a 12# turkey and used about half of one rack did a nice job considering it was 21* and the wind blowing thanks for the compliment

 

[biggerdumberdog]

Here is the frame for my new patio cover hope it is done next week to many projects. THE ROOF IS TOUNGE AND GROOVE 2X6 THAT WILL BE EXPOSED THESE ARE UP BUT NO PICTURES 16'X20'

 

[iamironman]

I assume you had a jig? sweet job thanks for the update!

Yup, I use the econo-jig system™. I tack up the 1st piece of each part's run then tack down some scrap pieces to jig up the 4' x 10' x 3/8" layout table. At the end of each run just break them off and grind the table smooth again. They're welded only on one side to make this easy with a big adjustable spud wrench.

It took 3 days to cut everything, the 8" band saw has a 30' table and stops for repeat cuts. With the 1" tube you could cut up to 16 pieces at a time.

I think there was a total of 9 or 10 parts runs jigged up. One cutter, me tacking and one welder kept things moving along pretty good.

Now we're finishing up all the tube bits to get ready for 16 gauge skins. We've got our work cut out for us to finish by Friday.

 

[aggierailroad]

A FRED. Lol. Not too many folks know what that is!

 

[greenlizard]

Deck Stair Railing:

The in-laws have a large screened porch with stairs leading down to their sloping back yard. Since the deck style stair railing is not really suitable as an assist (too big, splinters, too high) I decided to build them a more easily used railing.
I used 1.5 in 14 gauge square tubing for the rail as the shape seems to fit in with the existing wood structure. The supports are 1 in square tubing with scrap-bin mounting plates. I tig'ed everything with a scratch start setup on my old IdealArc 250.
Transportation was kind of interesting as the railing is fairly heavy and awkward to handle. Gave the neighbors a laugh, anyway.

The new rail is about an inch lower than the existing wooden rail. About 35 inches above the treads. It has five mounts because I dont want my wife to leave me because the rail breaks while her 75 year old Dad is pulling on it.

I now know I can't expect oil-based paint to properly dry when the temps are cold. Ever. The trip over scraped a few places where the semi-soft paint contacted the truck. That worked out OK since one of my bracket angles was off a bit anyway. I measured it in place, cut it off and re-welded it with my 110 volt stick machine - a very handy gadget since I dont have an engine drive. I'll touch up the paint when the southern freeze is over.

 

[LG63]

Deck Stair Railing:

Transportation was kind of interesting as the railing is fairly heavy and awkward to handle.

Nice work, you're a good son-in-law. How far did you have to haul it?

 

[greenlizard]

Nice work, you're a good son-in-law. How far did you have to haul it?

Thank you. The in-laws have been very good to us over the years. I hauled it about 12 miles, luckily over rural roads.

 

[cdk]

here are a couple of my projects.

headache rack for chevy colorado

rack finished w/ shot of the bumper i built


cart for millermatic211, also holds chop saw, grinder, speed square, clamps


rack to store 2 atvs in 8' garage. rolls, has winch for loading top one.
still need to add a roller for winch to keep from rubbing between ramps, and some supports for the ramp ends


headache rack for 05+ tacoma.
originally built w/o lights, but decided to add. pics show adding 3'' strap and 2.5'' sq tube cut in half, and light holes cut.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

How did you do the Texas gussets? Was that a Water Jet or a Laser Jet?

Adam

 

[cdk]

i had them cut at a shop, i think they did plasma, but not 100% sure.
had those and some longhorn ones cut for a couple other racks.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

(((Already posted this in my garage thread but weld projects belong here!)))
So had my first welding job today...
A friend asked me to weld one spot on his smoker that he is building... And I tried to talk him out of it, since I do not consider myself a welder.
I asked if it was aluminum? He said no. I said damn cause I can't weld aluminum. I asked if it was stainless steel? He said no. I said damn cause I can't weld stainless steel. I asked if it was thick metal? He said no. I said damn cause I don't have 220volts set up in my garage to weld the thick metal. I asked if it was really thin metal? He said no. I said damn cause I can't weld thin sheet metal I tend to burn through it.

So long story long I couldn't talk him out it and I ran out of excuses...

So he brought over several different thicknesses of metal that was from a bed frame and a weight bench; all different gauge steel and all powder coated and very thin stuff...

And I don't know the fist thing about smoking meat. No clue what temps this metal would heat up too or what is safe to eat off of and the big part how to build one. So I thought he would have a plan on how to build it maybe done some research online on some type of forum with a step by step process. Nope. He handed me some random scrap metal and said what did you think we should do? I said go buy one.. amazon has them pretty cheap. But after scratching my head starring at it for a while I realized I only had a few hours before the wife got home so better start tacking it together... It ended up extremely hard to weld cause the powder coating and different thickness of tube...
So after it was done it was extremely wobbly and I had some metal set aside for another project but I decided to cut it up to make extra support. I wanted to immediately scrape the first part and start over; we'll clean steel tubing and do it the right way but he said it was fine the way it was... I made him promise not to tell anyone that those weld beads were mine cause they were the worst I have done yet. It seemed impossible to get a good ground I should have stripped more paint off the tube for the placement of the clamp...

Here's what he brought over...

Had to beef it up...

Well here's how it turned out...

Nooooo up close pics of the welds!

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

I like the welding table

Adam

 

[Bobhdus]

You gotta start somewhere! I don't know how much you want to learn about with welding but check out this site http://welding-tv.com. The guys main site is www.weldingtipsandtricks.com. Best to practice now with your welder than to have to figure it out on someone's special project or on something that's unsafe. A bunch of meaningless plates of just running beads next to each other will also help build your confidence as you explore the capability of your welder and yourself. That's how most welding schools do it. Good luck!

 

[Hot Chop shop]

You gotta start somewhere! I don't know how much you want to learn about with welding but check out this site http://welding-tv.com. The guys main site is www.weldingtipsandtricks.com. Best to practice now with your welder than to have to figure it out on someone's special project or on something that's unsafe. A bunch of meaningless plates of just running beads next to each other will also help build your confidence as you explore the capability of your welder and yourself. That's how most welding schools do it. Good luck!

That's actually a great point. I guess it's good to know you won't always have clean new cut steel and be able to get the ideal positioning. And if something in the future breaks that is powder coated and needs to be welded I should have looked at it like a practice run.

I am very familiar with Jody's weekly videos and reading all of Ztfabs tips he gives. I constantly practicing to try to get that mig like tig look. And so much of it is just in the prep work having clean steel and making sure the fitment is good and even beveling edges where you want a flatter weld to try to get good penetration and a nice weld that doesn't need to be grinded.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Engine]

(((Already posted this in my garage thread but weld projects belong here!)))
So had my first welding job today...
A friend asked me to weld one spot on his smoker that he is building... And I tried to talk him out of it, since I do not consider myself a welder.
I asked if it was aluminum? He said no. I said damn cause I can't weld aluminum. I asked if it was stainless steel? He said no. I said damn cause I can't weld stainless steel. I asked if it was thick metal? He said no. I said damn cause I don't have 220volts set up in my garage to weld the thick metal. I asked if it was really thin metal? He said no. I said damn cause I can't weld thin sheet metal I tend to burn through it.

So long story long I couldn't talk him out it and I ran out of excuses...

So he brought over several different thicknesses of metal that was from a bed frame and a weight bench; all different gauge steel and all powder coated and very thin stuff...

And I don't know the fist thing about smoking meat. No clue what temps this metal would heat up too or what is safe to eat off of and the big part how to build one. So I thought he would have a plan on how to build it maybe done some research online on some type of forum with a step by step process. Nope. He handed me some random scrap metal and said what did you think we should do? I said go buy one.. amazon has them pretty cheap. But after scratching my head starring at it for a while I realized I only had a few hours before the wife got home so better start tacking it together... It ended up extremely hard to weld cause the powder coating and different thickness of tube...
So after it was done it was extremely wobbly and I had some metal set aside for another project but I decided to cut it up to make extra support. I wanted to immediately scrape the first part and start over; we'll clean steel tubing and do it the right way but he said it was fine the way it was... I made him promise not to tell anyone that those weld beads were mine cause they were the worst I have done yet. It seemed impossible to get a good ground I should have stripped more paint off the tube for the placement of the clamp...

Here's what he brought over...

Had to beef it up...

Well here's how it turned out...

Nooooo up close pics of the welds!

It looks good, considering what you had to work with.

That's a nice welding table too. Did you make it?

 

[DarkMonohue]

Here are my latest builds.

Table: the boss wanted a combination welding table and mobile engine/trans workstation that we could use to aid in dropping and installing engines and transmissions from below the vehicle. The table is adjustable for height in 3" increments between 36" and 54" with 5/8" hitch pins used to set the height. Tubing is 2.0" square on the tabletop and its legs, and 2.5" square for the lower section. Tabletop is 3/16" steel. Not a whaling station but we don't do much of that anyway.

Ramp extensions: our new-to-us hoist had very steep ramps due to the height of the runways (main sections on which you park the vehicle). Most of the cars we work on are very low, so I built some ramp extensions. These cut the approach angle in half and fold up over the existing ramps when the hoist is not on the ground. The last photo shows the extensions deployed just to show length but they are (obviously) only driven on when the hoist is resting on the floor. The extensions take the weight of the vehicle and support the ends of the existing ramps. Again 3/16" plate, plus 1.5" angle and scrap 2.5" square tube.

Both of these projects were designed in Sketchup before fabricating.

 

[RivennHewn]

The daughter drew this for me.

I thought that was pretty cool.

 

[WakonTonka]

Here are my latest builds.

Table: the boss wanted a combination welding table and mobile engine/trans workstation that we could use to aid in dropping and installing engines and transmissions from below the vehicle. The table is adjustable for height in 3" increments between 36" and 54" with 5/8" hitch pins used to set the height. Tubing is 2.0" square on the tabletop and its legs, and 2.5" square for the lower section. Tabletop is 3/16" steel. Not a whaling station but we don't do much of that anyway.

Nice work all around! Question on the welding table's height adjustment: Is it correct to assume it takes two people to change the height? (or 3?.... with the third being the hitch pin "inserter")

 

[catsteve]

The daughter drew this for me.

I thought that was pretty cool.

That is cool. you could frame it and put it up as 'garage art'.

 

[liquidh8]

My rotisserie.

The welder fits this job. My flux core Lincoln MIG.

 

[DarkMonohue]

The daughter drew this for me.

I thought that was pretty cool.

I think you're right. Very well done. Proportions and geometry are excellent. Illustration is tougher than it looks.

Nice work all around! Question on the welding table's height adjustment: Is it correct to assume it takes two people to change the height? (or 3?.... with the third being the hitch pin "inserter")

Thanks! I know for sure one person can't do it alone. Two people can lift and lower it, but the pins fit the holes a little too well (so much for precision) and it's tough to get them in. Once the pins are turned down .030" or so it should be a two-man job.

The other option is to let the engine hoist do the lifting...

 

[e-tek]

Thanks! I know for sure one person can't do it alone. Two people can lift and lower it, but the pins fit the holes a little too well (so much for precision) and it's tough to get them in. Once the pins are turned down .030" or so it should be a two-man job.

The other option is to let the engine hoist do the lifting...

Maybe you could put in one or two air/hydraulic rams next to the legs to lift/lower the table.

 

[e-tek]

You had some real nice fit-up there. As you are finding, welding anything more than a tack at a time pulls a lot of metal. If you're going to continue to run beads, you may want to planish as you go - it'll be a lot easier to move the metal and weld when hot. I used to run beads when I was welding with the O-A setup, but the mig is way hotter and gives a bigger HAZ, so now I just tack all around until its filled. You can do it your way, but - as my Dad used to say - you don't want to make a career of that one panel - LOL!!!

Cheers!

 

[e-tek]

Either you have 4 cars that get a snow tire swap, or you collect tires - why so many?

 

[stinkity stoink]

You had some real nice fit-up there. As you are finding, welding anything more than a tack at a time pulls a lot of metal. If you're going to continue to run beads, you may want to planish as you go - it'll be a lot easier to move the metal and weld when hot. I used to run beads when I was welding with the O-A setup, but the mig is way hotter and gives a bigger HAZ, so now I just tack all around until its filled. You can do it your way, but - as my Dad used to say - you don't want to make a career of that one panel - LOL!!!

Cheers!

The fit up was tight. I did tack it in (tig) about every 1 1/2. After about 3 or 4 tacks I would planish the welds. Than go back to tacking. After that I let her rip and did the length of the panel . I had to stop a few times to reset my arms ,but no more than a few seconds.
There are so many schools of thought on this that I read about. I found that after I tacked and planished the panel it was back in alignment and fit nice. When I welded it solid I tried to move very fast. The theory is the haz is very even so the panel will not shrink as much.
As the panel sits now it still needs a little more planishing and than I could get away with just a high build primer and no filler. I am not sure I have the skills to get those last bits worked out ,but I am going to give it a shot. It will need no more than a 1/16" of filler if it that right now.
I probably was planishing for about an hour total I would guess.

 

[MP&C]

You had some real nice fit-up there. As you are finding, welding anything more than a tack at a time pulls a lot of metal. If you're going to continue to run beads, you may want to planish as you go - it'll be a lot easier to move the metal and weld when hot. I used to run beads when I was welding with the O-A setup, but the mig is way hotter and gives a bigger HAZ, so now I just tack all around until its filled. You can do it your way, but - as my Dad used to say - you don't want to make a career of that one panel - LOL!!!

Cheers!

That school of thought may hold to Mig welding, but he used a TIG on that panel...

Comparitively, welding Mig "dots" adds a shrink around each dot, pulling from all sides. This is why it makes sense to planish after each weld dot when using the Mig. Compare that to a Tig bead, the weld bead heats up and cools down progressively from one end to the other, for less shrinking effects, easier planishing, easier cleanup. This is why using fusion welding and faster speed to control the heat works so well with minimal shrinking effects at all..

Dave, keep doing what you're doing. That weld looks good, no need to change a thing..

 

[Hot Chop shop]

It looks good, considering what you had to work with.

That's a nice welding table too. Did you make it?

Thanks.

Yes I made the welding table.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[pepi]

The daughter drew this for me.

I thought that was pretty cool.

Good detail, like the rivets.......nice

 

[welder4956]

The daughter drew this for me.

I thought that was pretty cool.

Very nice sketch. Your daughter has a lot of talent!

 

[iamironman]

4 done 4 to go. I wish I had made an extra to keep, be a nice job box.

 

[e-tek]

That school of thought may hold to Mig welding, but he used a TIG on that panel...

Comparitively, welding Mig "dots" adds a shrink around each dot, pulling from all sides. This is why it makes sense to planish after each weld dot when using the Mig. Compare that to a Tig bead, the weld bead heats up and cools down progressively from one end to the other, for less shrinking effects, easier planishing, easier cleanup. This is why using fusion welding and faster speed to control the heat works so well with minimal shrinking effects at all..

Dave, keep doing what you're doing. That weld looks good, no need to change a thing..

Sorry Robert, I didn't mean to step on your toes!

 

[MP&C]

Sorry Robert, I didn't mean to step on your toes!

Ed, your response suggests that perhaps Dave's methods were incorrect. I only sought to clarify mis-information. Where your response targets Mig welding and effects specific to that process, the process he was using was TIG. The processes to address Mig welded dots, and Tig welded passes, will indeed be different, so your response was incorrect given the application. Where Dave may be somewhat new to these processes, given as nice as the panel fitment was, as consistent as the HAZ shows, and as little deformation that shows in the panel pre-planishing, he has shown to have done his homework and has a firm grasp of the subject matter. The inference that he would be making a career out of this panel is also out of sorts in that the TIG welding used gives weld beads softer for easier planishing, gives less weld proud for faster, easier cleanup, caused less distortion to the panel for less work in straightening out the panel, so in the end, his process is faster and preferred over using a MIG and it's near necessity for planishing after each weld..

So I apologize for stepping on your toes. I'm not sure why it was necessary to belittle his work based on irrelevant information. It only serves to jeopardize someone's efforts to learn correctly. Not just to the original poster, but also the lasting documentation that stands for years to come.

Given this comparison,

I'd say it takes quite a bit of gall to have even said something to begin with.


Dave, you've done excellent work on your quarter. From fit up to welding, to planishing, it would serve as a good tutorial. Kudo's for a job well done

 

[grinnergetter]

For fun...

 

[DRRummel]

Either you have 4 cars that get a snow tire swap, or you collect tires - why so many?

I have both four lug and five lug Mustangs. The four lug car is a 1987 T-Top and had stock 10 hole wheels and the Chrome Cobra R wheels for the summer. I also have a set of GT five lug wheels for that car because I am swapping the suspension to a five lug, four wheel disc, big brakes road course suspension. There is also a set of drag radials for when I take the 1995 Cobra out to play. It is not a real radical race car, but setup for a lot of fun driving around the mountains.

 

[DRRummel]

This was one of my first DIY projects. I am usually repairing something, not building something from scratch. This is not much, but I smile EVERY time I use it.

I bought a used floor standing drill press. The table moves up and down on a geared track. The handle/crank to move the table was missing.

I drilled out a large nut to fit over the D shaft. I then drilled a hole on of the flats on the large nut and welded a smaller nut to it. I run a set screw and jam nut though the small nut which presses onto the flat face of the D shaft. I hope I explained that well...


I made it with some scrap I had in the shop. I particularly like the sleeved bolt for a handle. I spins soooo smoothly.