Welders? Any welders on this site?
- Thread starter flushcut
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So i found myself needing some forks (moving the boss's new mini garden planters aka used pallets with sides) for the tractor again, and decided to whip up some light duty ones out of some random scrap i had laying around. The backhoe i have is so old that it is only rated for about 1400 pounds , and since i decided to do clamp on forks i figured light duty ones would suit me just fine. Only had a couple hours to whip them up, so i decided to "red rod" the cuts to be cheap and quick for all they were gonna be. So i simply switched polarity, cranked it up a bit, and used some old crappy 1/8 6010 to hack everything up. Here's a couple of pictures to show how well this can work, and a pic of the partially done forks. I just used what i had laying around, if i would buy anything i would get some scrap forks and do it right. However, these seemed to work fine, so I'll weld them out more and add the clamp part. Il probably clean up the cuts too, and add a coat of paint. I think they will serve me well, and cost about $2 in gas for the welder.
In the second picture you can see my modified pipeliner hood, and the stub bucket with my pancake peeking out. The pipeliner is an awesome regular hood, and by cutting out the lens box you can bolt on the flip thing, which is about 30 bucks from sellstrom. I had it out because in my rush i welded something up wrong and had to cut it off with a cutting wheel. I use it for a face shield mainly, or heavy fab welding, but since it also fits over a hardhat with a halo i can also use it for refinery or plant work where they require a hardhat hood. I absolutely despise using one, but if i need to i can. I usually keep a number 5 lens in it, so i can use it for cutting torch work too, and then just flip the lens up to grind.
In the second picture you can see my modified pipeliner hood, and the stub bucket with my pancake peeking out. The pipeliner is an awesome regular hood, and by cutting out the lens box you can bolt on the flip thing, which is about 30 bucks from sellstrom. I had it out because in my rush i welded something up wrong and had to cut it off with a cutting wheel. I use it for a face shield mainly, or heavy fab welding, but since it also fits over a hardhat with a halo i can also use it for refinery or plant work where they require a hardhat hood. I absolutely despise using one, but if i need to i can. I usually keep a number 5 lens in it, so i can use it for cutting torch work too, and then just flip the lens up to grind.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Good thing I read the post.
I was gonna give a shit about your torch skills!
Good result though.
I had the rosebud and big hammers and wrenches going today....in the rain.
Repair and maintenance baby!
I was gonna give a shit about your torch skills!
Good result though.
I had the rosebud and big hammers and wrenches going today....in the rain.
Repair and maintenance baby!
Nutball
TreeHouser
So what do you mean by red rod the cuts? I don't know much about welding.
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Cool fabbing Kyle.
Take a 6010 or 6011, crank the heat up, if dc switch out to dc-, and then simply burn away excess metal. You basically set it too hot and use it to melt, in a sawing motion to let the arc force blow the metal away
Edit:
Jim, yeah that's not me with a torch. And a bfh with rosebuds in the rain sounds tough man, been there!!!
Edit:
Jim, yeah that's not me with a torch. And a bfh with rosebuds in the rain sounds tough man, been there!!!
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
They make a cut rod but a 6010 works about as well even on a buzz box .I've got an "air arc" which uses carbon electrodes but only have about 250 - 300 amps available it doesn't do so good ,needs another 100 amps .
When I worked at Baldwin -Lima-Hamilton we had an old Hudson Hornet DC MG welder ,900 amps ,about 8 feet long .It could handle an air arc with 3/8" carbons and blow fire about 40 feet .You needed a full set of leathers to run that machine from hell .
When I worked at Baldwin -Lima-Hamilton we had an old Hudson Hornet DC MG welder ,900 amps ,about 8 feet long .It could handle an air arc with 3/8" carbons and blow fire about 40 feet .You needed a full set of leathers to run that machine from hell .
Eh, it's cool, but as someone who has done a bit of it, it gets old quick. I worked in salvage at cat, where you fix everyone's mistakes. Lots of getting taps out from failed machining operations and gouging out bad welds, in a part that was basically a box. The slag would go around in a circle and burn you so I would just lean in there and let the 1000 amp machine work. Al isn't kidding when he says it throws stuff 40 feet. It is also incredibly loud. You can ruin a machine gouging, so usually big transformer machines and very large engine drives are used. I would love to get ahold of an old sae or sam 400 to have the capability to gouge and mig weld properly.
so I would just lean in there and let the 1000 amp machine work. Al isn't kidding when he says it throws stuff 40 feet. It is also incredibly loud. You can ruin a machine gouging, so usually big transformer machines and very large engine drives are used. I would love to get ahold of an old sae or sam 400 to have the capability to gouge and mig weld properly.
pantheraba
More biners!!!
BlackSmith
Uncivil
The last big job we did I had to break out the 900. A high rise apprenticeship school for barbers. 48” main lather line coming in. The handrail was all 6” XXH, hot welds of course. The bar grating on the catwalks was so big ya had to wear snowshoes to keep from falling through. Took two weeks to unload the blueprints and soapstone. 
pantheraba
More biners!!!
I think I really need pictures.....
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
That super heavy welding gets real old real fast .I had welded heavy stuff about 5 months before I joined the navy in '67 .I'll bet I hacked up black chit for 3 months before I got it out of my system .The stuff I do any more is seldom and more seldom is running heavy iron powder rods,7024 .It does lay down a lot of metal in one pass though .
It was not uncommon back in the day to burn a 50 LB box of 7/32" rod at around 300 amps .I had two stingers I would switch because they got so hot you could not hold them .4/0 welding lead heavy as cast iron ,I don't miss it at all .A set of gloves might last me two-three weeks before they got so stiff you couldn't hardly bend the fingers .Number 12 lens with 2.4 flash goggles under .That equals about a 15 lens if that tells you any thing .Still got burned eyes every so often .
It was not uncommon back in the day to burn a 50 LB box of 7/32" rod at around 300 amps .I had two stingers I would switch because they got so hot you could not hold them .4/0 welding lead heavy as cast iron ,I don't miss it at all .A set of gloves might last me two-three weeks before they got so stiff you couldn't hardly bend the fingers .Number 12 lens with 2.4 flash goggles under .That equals about a 15 lens if that tells you any thing .Still got burned eyes every so often .
BlackSmith
Uncivil
I could weld with my feet if I could find gloves to fit...
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
We have a small air arc. My ideal arc 300 will just run it.
You can hook a couple together too....if you have enough air.
You can hook a couple together too....if you have enough air.
I think an 1/8 carbon only needs like 140 amps, handy for fine detail work. I just don't like the wear and tear on the machine, especially my pipe machines, gouging is basically a hard short and will noticeably affect the arc. I wonder how a handheld blower would do with a 6010 A cutting torch with a gouging tip works pretty good too, and learning to scarf with one is a super handy skill. With a bit of practice you can wash a nut off a bolt without hurting the bolt threads! You can also wash one plate off of another without harming the bottom plate. For removing welds nothing quite compares to air arcing tho. Also stupid handy for beveling stuff, just slam them together and gouge out a groove.
I finally decided on how i plan on building my roll out wheel, and have most of the parts gathered, so I'll be posting that too. Once you use one a bit you will see it's the handiest thing ever. Here's a quick video of one that a guy sells for a bunch of money, but it's pretty sweet. Actually it's pretty much perfect.
https://youtu.be/BB0cGCZMIfY
A cutting torch with a gouging tip works pretty good too, and learning to scarf with one is a super handy skill. With a bit of practice you can wash a nut off a bolt without hurting the bolt threads! You can also wash one plate off of another without harming the bottom plate. For removing welds nothing quite compares to air arcing tho. Also stupid handy for beveling stuff, just slam them together and gouge out a groove. I finally decided on how i plan on building my roll out wheel, and have most of the parts gathered, so I'll be posting that too. Once you use one a bit you will see it's the handiest thing ever. Here's a quick video of one that a guy sells for a bunch of money, but it's pretty sweet. Actually it's pretty much perfect.
https://youtu.be/BB0cGCZMIfY
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
One of the first things I learned how to to do was cut the nut off a bolt or cut a bearing off a shaft.
The bearing deal was obvious.....but cutting a nut off a bolt was mainly out of cheapness.
Dad said.....thats a good bolt underneath!
His wheel looks made out of brand new material!
At least someone finally found a use for a three jaw chuck.....
The bearing deal was obvious.....but cutting a nut off a bolt was mainly out of cheapness.
Dad said.....thats a good bolt underneath!
His wheel looks made out of brand new material!
At least someone finally found a use for a three jaw chuck.....
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
I can wash a broken bolt right out of a threaded hole and not screw up the threads ---usually . I'm right handed and welding is one of the few things I can do left handed .I can't even piss left handed without dribbling on my shoe .
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
One trick on cutting a nut is use two cuts ,not all the way down to the bolt threads and use a cold chisel and a BFH to split the nut .That or heat the nut up until it's about the color of a pumpkin ( 1400 degrees) and spin it right off . < junk yard dawg stuff
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