I'm building something. I traded a hunk of redwood slab I had for enough cash to buy an entry level mig / flux core wire welder, cart, helmet and wire. I'm teaching myself to weld and this is my first project.
My materials consist of a brute heavy Christmas tree stand Tammy's dad built years before he died, a model T driveshaft I found in the woods in da U.P. and a 11" 60 pitch sprocket that's been laying around for years in my junk pile.
So what could a guy build from those 3 things? :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20161020_171857.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1477076110)
Rotating Christmas tree stand!
for an 80' spruce ;D
Well, it depends. Do you already have something in mind that you want us to guess or are you looking for suggestions?
If you already have something in mind, there is no way we could possibly guess what lurks in your head :D
However, if you are looking for an idea, perhaps a mail box stand?
Knowing you, it will be a rocket capable of going to Jupiter :D
Oh no, I know what it's going to be. Actually almost is now. All good guesses, but nothing really close. Cept maybe Jupiter. :D
a bar stool
Now there is a better idea than I had! Other than if I need a bar stool, all I need is to go to www.ritelegco.com
A lightning rod to protect the new shop. ;D ;D
A Weathervane?
If not, are you gonna change your project to a Weathervane? :D
It needs to be something to do with cooking. 8)
Quote from: Magicman on October 21, 2016, 09:34:58 PM
It needs to be something to do with cooking. 8)
Ahhh - a giant BBQ spit - mount it horizontal, slide on a whole pig and let 'er rip!
Quote from: Magicman on October 21, 2016, 09:34:58 PM
It needs to be something to do with cooking. 8)
Or Halloween.
come on jeff show us a pic or at least another clue the suspense is killing me smiley_gossip smiley_gossip headscratch ;) :D :D :D
A turner for the pig!!
If wrong any hints?
Nothing so special. Clue: It is something in support of something else.
Support for a table?
Not food related. Shop related.
support for a bench grinder ???
A outdoor, gear driven, rotating , elevated christmas tree stand ! or a bench grinder stand.
Quote from: sandsawmill14 on October 22, 2016, 08:14:23 AM
support for a bench grinder ???
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER! :D :D (with taters)
I'll post pictures after I'm done grinding my beginner welds down. Don't want you guys zooming in on them. I do know this, they are going to hold. ;)
See, we are now at food.
8) 8) 8)
we have built several of them but we used a truck axle and old flywheels for the base ;D
Jeff - those welds are known by me as gorilla welds...big strong and ugly. Pretty welds don't mean they're strong welds, never be ashamed of your steel gluing habits! :D
I've decided to leave it just as it is. No grinding, no polishing or painting. I'm going to leave it just as it is so I can look back later to compare future projects to my first. Not saying they will get better, but I'll at least know if it's time to quit. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20161021_142047.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1477167881)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20161022_150812.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1477167753)
looks good to me smiley_thumbsup
Innovative. ;D
I've got a little more to do. If you look on the model t driveshaft, you can see where a guy could bolt something on. My plan is to find something among my junk to make a cooling reservoir that comes up to keep parts cool in as you grind.
You really like having a building. :) Lucky you.
I would suspect most of your welding will be done inside.
I took a 2 wheel dolly,and built a box right on it. About 2 feet wide,4 feet tall and maybe a foot deep. The welder is on the bottom,along with welded bolts to the bottom.One is for my grinding wheels and one is for my metal cutting blades. I did build one draw and keep my tips and wrenches for the grinder in there. I have a place for my clamping tools and have a bunch of corded wire wrapped up on the back. I forgot how much is there now,but it said it in the owner's manual how long. The corded wire was not cheap,but it was worth it. And then some. I just unwrap what I need.
That is one of many projects you will build. Every grown up boy needs a welder.
I use to get alot of short pieces of metal at my other job. My wife calls it junk,until she wants something built and I just go out back and look through the junk and build it for her. Than it's not junk anymore. ;D
Another stand built by Jeff-Rite. :)
I "learned" to weld in a night school course back in 1972. I haven't improved since. That's why everything I weld gets painted with flat black zinc-rich paint ;D.
Jeff I have to ask.. what is that blue wheeled machine behind your new grinder table. I think you could also use it as a mini welder table too.. nice first project.
That would be my unitractor that we got out of a field down to Bro Nobles place that I restored many years ago now.
jeff if you need another project i built a pantograph like on a sawmill carriage and put long leads on my welder now i can weld anywhere in the shop and about a 30' sweep outside the front door ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38145/20161022_221256.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1477192757)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38145/20161022_221248.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1477192832)
the cables are off of it right now because i had to take welder out side to weld some out of reach of my cables and havent put them back up yet ::) sorry about the pics i couldnt figure out how to position the arm where i could get it all in the pic :-\ and please ignore the mess i dont keep as clean of a shop as i should :-[ ;D :D :D :D
I missed out on the guessing, but that's a pretty useful project.
Quote from: Jeff on October 21, 2016, 02:55:38 PM
.......in my junk pile.
It's only junk to other people. To those of us that have piles like that, it's "stored building materials". smiley_thumbsup
Women are born with a basic defect that doesn't allow them to understand that a man has to have an as yet net assigned a project raw materials stock pile.
Truer words were never spoken, Lee. :)
sandsawmill14.I had forgot about that. Good idea!! At one job I had,in the Product Design area,they had a small ibeam with the welder attached to wheels and it was over head as yours is. It kept it out of the way and was much easier to get around a project. That only had one arm and the part that was attached to the wall and was on a bearing and could pivot.
In my case, that would be a bit rough to have the leads off a pantograph as it it a wirefeed. I do need to make or acquire a welder extension cord at some point
I should of said it was a wirefeed. It was one just about like mine,runs off 220,nothing was welded much over a ΒΌ inch in that area.
jeff i built that out of 1 square tubing with a 1/4" with 1 1/2 pins in pipe for hinges so it would be strong enough to hang my little 125 lincoln mig from the end and run the cord down the arm to plug in :) the hose and ground are long enough to give you a 6-8' radius around the end of arm. :) i built that when we were working on a mill that i couldnt get but 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the shop (my shop is only 24 x 30 :-\ ) and the leads were always in a mess when i would have to go from one end to the other :) i mounted it to the crane leg nearest the door so it will swing flat against the wall and the center pivot will let 1/2 the boom swing out the door :)
i am sure you will think of several projects now that you have a welder :) and if you dont have a big enough stock of metal to choose from go to the scrap yard and have a look around scrap is down right now and you can buy from them for around .05-.08 per pound right now ;) at least around here :)
the cooling on the grind rock is a great idea :)
That looks great including the welds I can see.
Just remember the wire for a wire feed welder does not like unheated buildings in cold weather. It tends to rust with the change in temperature and those small rust particles flake off the wire in your welding gun. There is a trick I've learned to take a paper towel or piece of rag and fold it over the wire and hold it in place with a clothes pin to clean any rust particles off the wire before it goes into the gun assembly.
What did you do for the Christmas Tree?
Maybe flux core wire don't have that problem? but I also put them packages that say,Do Not Eat, under my spool too. They come in electronic and other stuff.
Jeff, I doubt you will ever quit welding. The more you weld the better you get.
If you have not already built one I would suggest fabbing up a cart that will hold the gas cylinder as well as the welder and assorted clamps, tools, spools, gloves, helmet and maybe even a welding blanket. Great practice and makes future welding chores easier to accomplish.
Quote from: Jeff on October 22, 2016, 11:00:20 PM
That would be my unitractor that we got out of a field down to Bro Nobles place that I restored many years ago now.
That is pretty cool.. you'll have to make a video w/ that bad boy in action.
I run my mig weldor off a generator.. so I had to make a cord because the generator has 120/240 sockets.. and the Hobart 210 MVP has 115/230 plugs. I got 30ft of the AWG 10 3 wire w/ ground 600 volts & the socket/plug hardware at the box store. I ran on the 120 until I made up the ext. cord. Nice to keep generator noise at a distance.
Quote from: kensfarm on October 23, 2016, 09:33:21 PM
Quote from: Jeff on October 22, 2016, 11:00:20 PM
That would be my unitractor that we got out of a field down to Bro Nobles place that I restored many years ago now.
That is pretty cool.. you'll have to make a video w/ that bad boy in action.
Make a forum search for Unitractor: Here is one (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,6561.0.html) The RustReaper thread shows it before restoration. :o
Quote from: Gary_C on October 23, 2016, 11:10:34 AM
That looks great including the welds I can see.
Just remember the wire for a wire feed welder does not like unheated buildings in cold weather. It tends to rust with the change in temperature and those small rust particles flake off the wire in your welding gun. There is a trick I've learned to take a paper towel or piece of rag and fold it over the wire and hold it in place with a clothes pin to clean any rust particles off the wire before it goes into the gun assembly.
What did you do for the Christmas Tree?
You can but a little felt block that clips around the wire and it come with a fluid to
coat and help the wire travel through the liner .
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Weld-aid_Lube-Matic_Lube_and_Wire_Kleener_Pads_-_007061~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1477302552)
The only way to get to be a good welder is to do it .You'll figure it out .Once you get it down pat you'll remember for ever .
My bud and myself made an engine stand for Vo-Ag class when we were sophomores in high school .20 some years later at a sale of unused school property that item was sold .I thought my goodness we've came a long way from those humble beginnings .
I use what Kbeitz showed. It's cut my liner replacement in half. Tips last twice as long. No difference in weld spatter. Well worth it in my opinion.
Here is a greenhorn question. How do you know when your tip is getting bad?
When the wire no longer feeds through it and it is burnt.
Coating the tip with petroleum jelly prior to each use will protect it somewhat.
There are anti-splatter sprays and gels available to help prevent sticking to the nozzle and tip. Sometimes the hole in the tip becomes elongated and sometimes it just gets bent and doesn't feed well. Sometimes a glob will stick to it and then you grind or break it off. The tip will usually tell you when it needs replacing.
You can avoid the rusty wire problem by taking the wire spool in the house when you are not using the welder but I always forget. It's also waay cheaper to buy larger spools of wire but you lose on that advantage if the wire gets rusty.
I run 30th wire,but run 35th inch tip. Had some guy suggest that. I did have some problems and Lincoln had a more aggresive roller,with teeth on it,that I put on. That made it feed better. This was in the first month that I had it.
For me, my tip is bad when I get sporadic no-feed conditions. I'll take the tip off and chase the center hole with torch tip cleaning wires. A very small drill bit would work, too. I'll reuse it a second time after this. Then a new one. They're so cheap through Amazon that I don't mess around much anymore. All my consumables are bought online, the prices locally are outrageous. I love to help local business but when the prices are more than 4 times the amount, I draw the line. I have a bottom line to watch out for, too. It's called my family and taking care of them.
I spray my hood/tip with non-stick cooking/kitchen spray. MIG pliers are good for removing spatter, etc. from the hood/tip. I would not want to do without those pliers.
I also use the anti spatter spray on my tip, nozzle, & parts I am welding. I use gas and usually run between 30 & 40 pounds of wire before the tip is worn. One thing that helps when learning to weld is a nice flat non flamable table at a comfortable height to clamp parts to. Can't wait to see your next creation. :)
Right after I graduated from HS in 1966 I worked at Baldwin -Lima -Hamilton as a welder .BLH at that time made large cranes,etc .At one time it was the home of the famous Shay locomotive from a bygone era later large steam locomotives .
We had some wire feed machines,argon gas not flux core. They were fine for some things not so good for others .They were versatile though .
However things like crane frames and booms which were xray quality welds were always done with stick,generally 7018 rod .
I still like my old welder...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Oldest_welder~1.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1477348942)
Thyratron rectifier by the looks of things ,interesting
No, YOU'RE a thyratron!!! Please don't swear at us, Al. ;D