Anything welding

Replaced the cat on my old civic to try and get it to pass smog. Fit up was a bit off so I had to fill in some gaps lol.

 

Just the thread I need right now!

So I am building a gate for entrance into the backyard for my house, Haven't decided on exact dimensions yet but it will be around 5' tall and 7' wide. It will be of a similar simple design to this one (although I am planning to keep it single swing)





This is probably the case for most engineering quandries, but I would like to keep it as light and sturdy (I hate sagging gates) as possible. Anyone in here have an idea what the best dimension / orientation of steel stock would be to build the frame? I will be using standard fencing slats which are pretty lightweight.

My simple mind says rectangle stock using the wider dimension to add rigidity over the longer dimension of gate, at the same time square stock seems like a a good option, but I would love some input from some fellow TW welders if anyone cares to share!

 

Check out Jimbo's Garage on YouTube. He has a lot of gate builds on there and he talks about material sizes and what not. Good tips.

 

It comes down to just what your attaching the gate to 6"x6" post in concrete ?

1" or 1 1/2" x 1/8" square tube should be plenty .

1 1/2" x1/8" is what I use to build pasture gates then the tubing is the complete gate .

Wide enough to drive through without hitting for most people

 

Thanks i will check that out.

Was definitely planning on some heavy square tube in concrete to hinge off,

Thanks for the suggestion! Will definitely be considering 1 1/2" x 1/8" square for frame.

 

Borrowed a friends Millermatic 211. Running practice beads to get the feel back for mig before I weld on the truck again.



Bottom 2 are first and second welds, third is top.

And then two more on the other side:



The gun got stuck at the end on the top one.

I’ll be practicing this tonight:



Going to try vertical down first (z-weave) and then vertical up. Both pieces are 1/8” thick.

 

I've been practicing vertical up and it is very challenging for me to get a nice bead like I do going down. I will keep going until I get it.

 

Very seldom do I ever need to weld up while MIG welding. Welding up is more often used while stick welding.

3/8" or less, it's not gonna gain you much penitration welding up while MIG welding.

As for the looks of the welds, I think you have too much wire speed and not enough heat. Otherwise, they look great and it won't be long before you will be making beautiful welds.

 

When I first tried it, it looked like crap. It looks alright now, but not nice.

 

Looks<penetration=weld strength

 

I'm a little dislexic, can you clear up your post?

 

Penetration is equivalent to weld strength - which is more important than weld "looks".

 

Agreed.

 

Anyone ever use one of these and if so how did it do ?

 

Penetration=weld strength>looks

 

So evil. I will find you and force you to listen to Xmas music non stop.

 

Grandma got run over by a reindeer!

 

I’ve found that when welding with a new process or material I learn the most about what’s going on with my welds by doing a cut and polish on my scrap pieces. That will show you how much penetration you are getting on a vertical up vs vertical down weld and if going vertical up is necessary for your application.

Like @koditten said, for most truck stuff vertical down will be plenty fine. Where I see most beginners screw up is by positioning their bench work so that every weld they do is a vertical down weld, since it gets them the most consistent looking bead, downside is most of the time they move too fast so the bead profile is concave. Plenty strong for what they are doing, but weaker than if they welded it in a flat position.

 

I'm using the autoset on the 211 for wire speed. Also had the heat set to 1/8" since that's the width of the pieces. I actually turned the heat down from the first two welds because I also felt the wire speed was too fast. I am just afraid to go full manual just yet, but I guess that's how you really learn.

And yeah I was thinking vertical down would be the best for what I will be welding, especially if it comes out better. Our frames are what, 1/8"? And the project is welding UCA gussets (3/16") to the towers. Everything is prepped, just going to do final burn in tomorrow.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I have them all set, took quite a bit of grinding to set them up so that the angles are all perfect. Even put small fender washers in between the UCA bushing and the gusset to make it easier to get the UCA in and out.

Test video upload by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Don't mind the commentary, it was a video I sent to my buddies after a couple beers. Just wanted to show how nice the angles are on the gusset to bushing and the slight gap the fender washer gives.