Show us your welding projects
- Thread starter neonnblack
- Start date
Honch
Well-known member
Thanks for all the feedback everyone, there is something satisfying about making something useful from a bunch of random pieces.
its funny because the two people I texted pictures of this to, both thought the foam was a piece of steel as well.
its funny because the two people I texted pictures of this to, both thought the foam was a piece of steel as well.
Bigblue&Goldie
Well-known member
Add me to the list of people who thought you were cutting steel with a hot wire......
Also, I wish I had your 12pt hardware laying around!
Also, I wish I had your 12pt hardware laying around!
larry4406
Well-known member
Honch - feel free to post a separate thread on your hot wire.
Honch
Well-known member
I guess here is as appropriate as anywhere since I welded the frame together for it.
I bought a folding card table from "The Walmart" and made the framework out of some spare Unistrut. The wire is Kanthal commonly used in everything from heating elements to vape pipes, because of the latter it can be purchased for around $7.00 for 25 feet. I have been using the same piece of Kanthal for five years its very durable. I used some small eye hooks with nylon grommets to attach the wire and I just attach a battery charger to power it. I zip tied a small 110v fan to the upright to blow the smoke away.
The "C" section of the Unistrut fits perfectly over the the edges of the table. The framework is held together by a slip joint on the bottom. I sectioned a piece of the Unistrut to make an interference fit. I can pull the two halves apart and fold the table to store it.
I made the throat fairly tall so I could section the pieces I cut out. For example a typical gun case may be four inches deep in one half. After I cut a section out Ill take two inches off of it and glue it back in the opening. I use construction paper for patterns, the wire does not get hot enough to cut through it so you can run the wire against it for a nice cut. I normally run it at 2 amps and when the wire gets gummed up Ill take the foam away, hit it with 50 amps and it turns the gummy foam to ash. Open cell foam doesn't react well to any higher amperage, the heat from the wire melts the foam before it touches it and makes for ugly cuts.
This was the first case I used it for.
This is a more recent one.
I have done some camera cases as well as specialty tools, I just didn't bother taking pictures of them.
ez-duzit
Well-known member
H--nice job.
shortykorte
Well-known member
Sweet foam cutter. Great idea on the folding table. Very nice finished projects.
Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal
Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal
ClappedOutBport
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2016
- Messages
- 998
Glad I’m not the only one!@Honch, that is a fabulous stool!
Me too! I was like dafuq until I saw the hot wire.
Honch, it's not often a post gets my attention like yours...
Yeah, now I have to make this 'tool', thank you for posting!
.
Jayman17
Well-known member
Honch nice work on all of that stuff! Love the stool and the cases are well done.
Jay
Jay
Honch
Well-known member
Thanks for all the feedback, over the years I have been able to get so much good information from so many smart and talented people on this forum, its nice to be able to give something back.
brawls43
Well-known member
Honch, how do you get the 1 piece look for that top piece? Is there a seam somewhere that's just hard to see? Great looking cases!
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Totally guessing here, but I would guess he could disconnect the wire and just feed it through to start a new hole?
Honch
Well-known member
I use a long knife to slit the foam along the cut line and slide the Kanthal through the foam. The Kanthal is twisted on the ends and just slips through the gap in the hook and its quickly tensioned by the wheel on the top.
harley jim
Well-known member
Attachments
Honch
Well-known member
26 gauge
WoodsTruck
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 1,019
The wire I use has a shorter life span or I run it too hot.
I power mine with a small transformer and have an inline power switch built in. I do like the fan idea.
I power mine with a small transformer and have an inline power switch built in. I do like the fan idea.
Monza Harry
Well-known member
Honch I used to work at a place that had a "Hot Wire Cutter" for High Density Styrofoam and that used 0.023" Dia. Stainless MIG wire, any experience, observations, or pointers you'd care to share on this? Harry
Last edited:
Honch
Well-known member
When I built the cutter four years ago, I strung the Kanthal on it and it and I am still using the same piece. I don't even know where I put the rest of the roll, so sorry but I don't have experience with anything else.
I was going to use 0.020" stainless safety wire, but my son had bought the Kanthal for some college project and never used it. I believe the commercial cutters use NiChrome wire. The Kanthal is corroded and gums up easier than it did when I first put it on.
I'm sure there is all kinds of math with wire resistance, length, optimal temperatures and power sources that could be done, I just used stuff I had.
I was going to use 0.020" stainless safety wire, but my son had bought the Kanthal for some college project and never used it. I believe the commercial cutters use NiChrome wire. The Kanthal is corroded and gums up easier than it did when I first put it on.
I'm sure there is all kinds of math with wire resistance, length, optimal temperatures and power sources that could be done, I just used stuff I had.
Monza Harry
Well-known member
Thank You! Harry
Harry, I think you meant .023 mig wire - besides Kanthal, you could likely use stainless mig wire - it typically has over 10% nickle and a couple other elements besides iron. Nichrome heating wire issimilar, as is the positive electrode in type K thermocouple wire - that wire can withstand 1100 degrees C, so should hold up fine. If you find some type K wire, the yellow insulated wire (positive) is Chromel, about 10% chrome. That's the one you would strip and use for a hot wire cutter... Steve
bczygan
Well-known member
Bent up a couple of trays from 16 Ga cold rolled. 5x19x2 finished size.
Little handles go on ends.
Cold rolled is getting expensive. $25 for a 24"x60" piece.
4 big SS handles are for SS BBQ grill I am fabricating.
One big SS handle is for 21x8x8 1/2 SS toolbox I will be fabricating.
Bill
Little handles go on ends.
Cold rolled is getting expensive. $25 for a 24"x60" piece.
4 big SS handles are for SS BBQ grill I am fabricating.
One big SS handle is for 21x8x8 1/2 SS toolbox I will be fabricating.
Bill
Attachments
Last edited:
ez-duzit
Well-known member
G--very nice work.
https://www.aceraceparts.com/
I wouldn't say that the sch 40 makes it easier. It's too thick to weld in a single pass so you have to use a lot of argon to do every weld twice, including back purging. And it holds a lot of heat and takes forever to cool.
They also have sch 10 which is still pretty thick but you could weld it in a single pass.
I went with the sch 40 to better handle the heat cycling from the turbo, since 304L isn't the best for high heat. If I could have got all the parts in 321 stainless then I'd have gone with the sch 10.
I wouldn't say that the sch 40 makes it easier. It's too thick to weld in a single pass so you have to use a lot of argon to do every weld twice, including back purging. And it holds a lot of heat and takes forever to cool.
They also have sch 10 which is still pretty thick but you could weld it in a single pass.
I went with the sch 40 to better handle the heat cycling from the turbo, since 304L isn't the best for high heat. If I could have got all the parts in 321 stainless then I'd have gone with the sch 10.
Last edited:
larry4406
Well-known member
Gerald 0 - very nice job on the manifold!
Do you have a build thread on the MGB?
Do you have a build thread on the MGB?
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Gerald, that thing is so stout you could use it for a motor mount LOL Nice work.
txvwnut
Well-known member
The next question is where'd you get that cylinder head? They didn't have cross flow heads 40 years ago when I was working on them.
bradpac
Well-known member
That's what I was checking out too. I want to see this MGB.
sqznby
Well-known member
Thanks all! I'm just an occasional weldor and this was my first stainless steel project, so I know y'all are being kind.
MGB crossflow EFI project
321 stainless is better at withstanding the heat cycling and I could have used sch10 with that, but I had a hard time finding all the right sized parts in that material.
There's a build thread on the engine on another site:
MGB crossflow EFI project
There have been aftermarket crossflow heads for a long time but they are rare. Originally they were made by HRG Derrington in England but those were out of production decades ago. Now there is one made by Pierce Manifolds: https://www.piercemanifolds.com which is a near clone of the original Derrington heads.
The temperatures can get very high in a turbo application which the 304 stainless is not ideal for. So I chose the sch40 as a bit of overkill to ward against cracking. It's pretty heavy though. Came out at 10lbs -- almost as heavy as the original cast iron manifold.
321 stainless is better at withstanding the heat cycling and I could have used sch10 with that, but I had a hard time finding all the right sized parts in that material.
txvwnut
Well-known member
I buy all my Weber parts from Pierce, never even looked at what all they offer.
Furby1184
Member
Here's a few of my fab projects. A sign I built, the bumper I made "fab on the fly" no drawings. I'm currently rebuilding my Silverado. So far I have new stainless floors, new rockers with stainless inner rockers, new cab corners. Starting tomorrow I'm replacing the leaf springs, custom hangers, new shackles, extending the frame, plating and reinforcing the frame and building a custom flatbed
