Anything welding

I remember seeing videos where a guy from the YouTube channel Weld.com said to just lay the tip down on the material anyways and make the cut. You’ll get better cuts but go through consumables faster.

 

The Hypertherm 30xp came with a set of fine cut consumables, for thinner ga metal, that puts the tip right on the material. I have yet to try it though, because the standard cut tip and drag shield works very good. I will give them a try next time I cut CMC plates. The standard cut shield holds the tip about 1/8" away from the material.

 

This is where things With Plasma Machines can get interesting

Knowing what consumables are in the torch is so very important.

First being old school and used to having a striker on my right side I tend to start with any plasma machine like a oxy-Fuel Torch about 1/2" above the cut . I have older customers do the same thing.

If you started with a oxy- Fuel Torch it just feels strange to drag the torch on the material being cut and it is a hard habit for me to get past.

Drag cut consumables cut very poor if your holding them in the air same with the normal ones if your dragging so many problems come back to the wrong consumables for your style .

Which tends to make people upset when the machine in question is just fine.

Then when you have someone in the office buying things without a clue it does not help.

 

I need to setup my bend tech dragon with the fine cut consumables (using a hypertherm 45) but that requires me to go thru and reset torch height and most likely recalibrate the whole machine and i'm just too lazy...lol. Love having a good plasma though, used it to cut out some double sheers on my tacoma and ended up cutting it a bit off the weld and then just going back in with the torch and using it to scarf off the rest of the weld.

 

So from what I see here the Weldpro 200 is a decent low cost machine? I like the idea of learning to Tig even though it's only DC/Lift(no aluminum).

 

Getting rusty. Time to fabricate something. Since aluminum is quiet long ways behind. Why not steel 11Ga?

 

95% done.

 

Here's a few of the projects I've recently done with my Hobart welder. By no means am I professional, but I have fun with it. The first 3 pictures are the interior of my Vagabond drifter. Then I made my own skottle, the last pick is a lightweight rack that will hold 2 solar panels above the camper roof.

 

Another view of the interior

 

Here's the solar panel rack with the panels set in for a dry run. I wanted a top to bottom lay-out for the panels so I have room along the side for a paddle board, kayak, or if I just need to carry some light lumber.

 

Little Offroad / overland trailer build. Started with the original bottom frame, axle, wheels/tires, and springs after picking it up for cheap and decided I’d add to it to build something cool.. maybe? Ha.

Had a half day yesterday to work on it and I’d say I made a fair amount of progress. Still have to build the rear swing out, add some type of rtt mount, install the different wheels/tires I found on Craigslist, build fenders, do wiring/lights, new jack, and whatever else pops up. Just a little budget build and will probably get sold after I get bored of it.

Initial progress

 

Gonna be starting a build from scratch here soon-ish.

 

Nice! Probably would have been easier for me to start from scratch. Then I could have used the leaf springs I wanted and mount them differently

 

This is going to be fun. Scrib'd.
Zim

 

I just finished mine so I'm really interested to see some other apps. Where's your controller going?
Zim

 

A few weeks ago... finally worked up the courage to weld on my motor mount reinforcements!



No, the good welds aren't mine, they came from DMZ. But for my third ever project, and the first on my back under the truck, I'm pretty damn pleased with the results. My mounts weren't cracked yet, and I'm pretty sure they're a lot stronger now.



All this crap and I still got some good pretty good slag burns too... I don't know how the pros do it!




Oh and here's the best practice environment I could devise. Welding scrap metal to my old cracked frame member on my back under the wheel well:

 

You learn to be in the correct position so you can see and are comfortable and the dropping metal does not fall on your body and you soon learn to make that happen

Stick welding was far worse

 

I finally broke down and bought a TIG welder. Something I have been wanting to learn.

Right now, one of main goals is to learn torch control and avoid dipping the tungsten. I have a long ways to go. But in the interest of tracking my progress and keeping myself accountable. Here is my first short practice bead



Gonna take alot practice.

 

lookng frward to to tracking you progres. Please continue to share pics!

 

When I get a welder back.
I was thinking of doing some aluminum dice similar to this maybe for gifts or something.