Anything welding

Thanks. I'm afraid to look at your build thread because your truck is gonna make me go into more debt. Everytime it shows up, I catch myself looking through it and drooling. Your pick 'em up is my favorite truck on here. Hell, I don't even like the SWB color, but it looks real swell on your truck.
Keep posting pics of your welds. We all gotta start somewhere. Fortunately, I had an AG teacher in high school who was a DAMN good welder. He let me be his helper on side work from time to time, starting when I was 14. That's where I learned torun TIG & SMAW(stick). Didn't start mig & flux 'til I was 19, and let me tell you, it looked like SHIT! Started spray arc at 20, that's some fun stuff. I do it at home every chance I get. Quite a bit of spray arc on my bumper.

 

Thanks. I find TIG to be the easiest flavor of welding. I'm in TOTAL control of heat, travel speed, and wire feed. I LOVE it. DC aluminum kinda sucks balls though

 

Agreed, I can't stand mig anymore because i feel like I have no control over anything.

 

I kinda like it now and then. But not all the time. TIG is my comfort zone.

 

Yeah if I don't feel like cleaning everything like crazy it gets the mig.

 

That's one thing I LOVE about spray arc. It welds through scale very well

 

throw it all in the trash

 

Yup, built the bumper from scratch. Probably $150ish in paint and materials. And $5k ish in welding equipment.
Wrap the corners to ensure a good seal weeld on the first pic.
Slow down on bottom, then speed up when pushing the puddle up and carrying it back to go low again in the second pic.
The last pic, you almost got it! Just watch the puddle, and try to keep it nice and rounded on the backside.
The weld in the first pic actually looks really good. I'm just real OCD about some things, including wrapping corners. Your welds look MUCH better than my first MIG welds.
Keep up the good work. This shit is addictive. I can't bring myself to buy armor, since I can just build it

Bumper I built for my last truck. Really shitty pic/angle. 5" sch 80. Most pipe bumpers use 4" sch 40. I've destroyed 3 peoples Ranch Hand bumpers with my vehicles. 4" Sch 40 is pu$$y $h! t for the primary striking point of a bumper.

 

Yes, throw your truck in the trash. I'll be there shortly to haul to the dump... or my house

 

I used to work a shop that got a contract to do a shit ton of copper nickel pipe. We ALL got super itchy and started having respiratory issues. Have you had any health or comfort issues with it?

 

I am the self-proclaimed grand poobah of the Oklahoma Bumper Car Association.
I hate having to slam on the brakes because some screwhead decides to cut out in front of me. I've totaled everything I've ever hit

 

I used an actual rectangular tube. Cut the angle and then rewelded the bottom portion to keep the nice roundness of the corners of the tube. I cut a notch in the tube before welding the bottom back on so that my frame bracket and shackle mount could be welded directly to each other through the bumer and welded to the bumper itself. (If that made sense)

I can take some specific pics if you want something in particular.

 

Dude, yer pickin' it up pretty fast! That second pic looks pretty good. We've had guys that claim that they are "welders" come and test, and theirs don't look that good. We'd put you to work doin' stands for our pipe assemblies. Doin' great! Keep up the great work

 

Stands a good chance of being tube. If I were you, I would find some square or rectangle tube to build the bumper. Unless you have access to a shear and brake. I used 4x4x.25 on my front bumper

 

Starting a class called "high performance welding" monday at school. Looking forward to really honing my TIG skills.

Also... some weldporn for you guys.

 

Very nice. I really miss working with sheet and plate. Used to do a lot of aerospace and military work at my last job.

 

Possibly. I've cut out rectangle holes in pipe bumpers and inserted a piece of rectangle tube into the hole. I do it for increased air flow, but a light could be inserted if desired.

 

Nevermind. Look at the reciever. You will either have a hitch that is very long in order to allow the pin to clear, or it is plate, and a regular hitch would work. Your dad and I are wrong, I believe. Mine will probably be made with 4x4x.25, but I usually make my own hitches to fit exactly how I want

 

I doubt it's channel or angle. It has a radius on the top as if it has been broke. The radius actually makes it look like 4x4x.25 square tube, but it could have been whittled on to make it like angle or channel. I cut the back side out of some of the square tube on my front bumper to reduce a little weight. If you decide to use plate, I recommend a shear and brake. If you have access to those, then you're golden. If not, and you still use plate, there is a high potential for bowing because of all the welding that'll have to be done.

 

Just make sure to get good seal welds on the tube to keep it from rusting from the inside out.
On a side note, how are your chompers doin'? I had a very minor surgery on my mouth back in my prime, and it SUCKED! I can't imagine the shit you've gone through