Anything welding

Looks great

 

Weld the three sides you can with mig and get on with business. Or fire up the stick welder.

 

That's a design problem, not a welding problem...lol. Kidding. Head down and get you a new nozzle, and smash that one. Gas flow will of course be wide. TIG would get you a little closer. You'll just have to throw it in there best you can, or lay a 3/8 solid rod in the gap and weld it top and bottom.
Zim

 

I like the solid rod idea! I’ll totally give that a shot. Gotta go to the steel yard tomorrow anyway. I was thinking along those lines with stacking beads but it seemed like more work than it’s worth - the rod is a much better solution.

It definitely is a design problem though hahaha. I knew it’d be an issue (but turned out even tighter than I expected). I would’ve liked to make the angle less extreme but I had to do it that way because I was running into clearance issues with my side panel latches and otherwise would have had to move the latch too far from the end of the panel.

Thanks for the help! Gotta love this thread.

 

I always have lol just had no idea you could weld through it.

 

By way of update, I was able to lay down some more practice beads today and then went back to gluing pieces together. Now that I have gas flowing out the torch, it is so much easier. Here are a couple pics of the last two welds. The first picture was done on two overlapping 16 gauge coupons, pulling the torch, using cursive e's.

This one is the flip side of the two overlapping plates, pulling the torch, using the "C" method. Second picture is a side view of the same weld. Getting good flow now and very little splatter, I'm pretty happy with these given I've only been at this a week. As always, I'd appreciate any feedback you all have, but it's starting to slow down a little (to use a sports cliche) and I'm getting a little bit of a feel for it.

Edit: the splattery mess on the top view pictures is on the 1/8" plate underneath from when I was still using flux core (a whole 4 days ago!)

 

I had some issues with the seals where you insert the brass lead into the welder before as well. Make sure the two rubber seals aren't twisted up and super tight when inserting. I used some lube on the seals to keep it from getting caught on the lip of the housing. Make sure you don't overdo it and get it in the gas passages, it doesn't take much to lightly coat the seals. For the experienced guys, is this a bad thing to do? I know sealing the regulator seats/threads with teflon tape is a no-no, are there any other things recommended against doing?

How are you liking that Titanium 170? I looked at those and couldn't get them locally in LA, so I ended up getting the Vulcan OmniPro 220 instead. I burned up the first one after 8 hours of mixed practice last week, just got a replacement on Friday. New machine firmware settings must be different, as the welder does feel different with MIG/ flux and stick.

If you're still wanting to try flux core, try the Blue Demon brand. VERY low spatter!! INE (Inefil) brand solid core wire also lays so smooth if you want smoother beads, though I like the Lincoln solid core as I can "see/feel" the bead lay down better.. The INE wire weld pool is just too smooth to be able to see (maybe just my technique?) how I'm laying the wire down. I'm only about 5 weeks into this OmniPro 220 machine, and melting metal is just too much fun!

Blue Demon Flux core .030 practice


INE .030 wire is the smooth bead. Had to drop 1.5 volts from the Lincoln L56 .030 wire to keep from burning holes in some spots.

 

For science, I got that medium grit finishing disc I talked about the other night. Tried it out on some millscale with surface rust and used a 40 grit flap disc for comparisons sake. Both made quick work of it, but the finishing disc is noticeably smoother when running my hand over it. They’re nice, but at $6 a disc I’m not going to buy anymore.

finishing disc left, flap disc right.

 

Agreed, melting metal is pretty addictive. I'm liking the Titanium 170 pretty well. It's my first welder so I dont have anything to compare it against, but the fit and finish seems pretty good and so far it's running smoothly. I'm sure the wire binding issue that prevented my torch from plugging in all the way was due to user error. Gas is flowing well now at the nozzle end and I dont look like a pastry chef anymore laying down icing welds.

After trying gas, I dont see myself going back to flux core. I suppose it can be useful if you're in the field and its not practical to lug a gas tank around, but I'll stick with gas whenever possible.

 

the finishing discs look like a good option for some of the furniture I make. Seems like a good way to remove mill scale and smooth out the surface more gently than a flap disc.

 

Yep exactly. And this is the medium grit, they make one that’s even more fine.

5 Pack - 4-1/2" x 7/8" Benchmark...

$30 Benchmark Abrasives 4-1/2" Type 27 Surface Conditioning Angle Grinder Flap Discs for Blending, Grinding, Sanding, Polishing, 7/8" Arbor (5 Pack) - Medium Grit

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079ZBZVT3?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Did a thing...

 

Just got sent this pic showing the handy cap ramp I had to alter.

They didn't have the RV yet when I did the work. None of us where sure the ramp would function as we hoped.

I was informed that my nephew can be wheeled into the RV with no issues.

 

That's awesome!

 

By way of update, my first planned welding project (Operation Side Skirt) for my son's car is done. The good news is that I didn't need to do any welding to fix it; the bad news is that I didn't need to do any welding to fix it.

Then my wife asked if I can weld the supports that had broken off on the the back of an old stained glass windows. The purpose of the supports is to keep the glass panes from sagging (which is what has ended up happening). After doing some research, the metal between the glass panes is typically lead, and the supports are either lead or zinc, or sometimes steel. Below are the pics, but I think the supports are lead because it looks like they were soldered to the metal between the glass panes, which presumably means they are the same material, and over time some of the solder joints have failed.

Has anyone repaired the supports on stained glass windows before? I don't see how you would be able to solder with an open flame without ruining the glass, so wondering if there are other ways to support the glass.

These first few pics are of the back of the window where I grinded off some of the rust on one of the supports and also the metal between the window panes to see what was underneath:

This one shows one of the solder joints that failed:

 

Alright let’s talk welding tables. I know it’s been discussed before but about to trade my current oversized table/tool box back to my dad for a 40 in box on wheels. Current table top is just under 6 feet Long and just over 3 feet wide. (we will call it 3.5x6 to make it easier)

My dad has a fab block from weld tables.com that I think is 2x3 or 2x4 and I think it is to small (width wise) There are just certain projects That it would have been nicer to have a bigger table.

with that said, I think my current table is to big.

I think I want a table that’s 3 feet Or 30 in wide but only 4-5 feet long but am looking for others opinions and experiences.

plan is to get the weld tables pro top (non fab block) but unsure what size to get. Probably on be 1/4 in thick as well. I think 3/16 is to thin for a top that will get hit with a hammer and metal etc.

One I’m looking at https://weldtables.com/collections/...ng-table-top-kit-certiflat-by-tab-slot-u-weld


Table will go on wheels with feet that lower. Working with a 2 car garage that is already stuffed full so everything is going on wheels to make it easier to work in the garage as I acquire more and more tools

Picture of current table. (Ignore the junk, packing for a trip)

 

Mines 3 x 4. I think it's perfect.

 

I think for that project, unless you have experience with stained glass work, you might be better off finding someone local that can repair it. I think you’re likely causing more damage that is already there by trying to fix it if you don’t have experience with it. My dad used to do stained glass and it’s an art with an acquired skill.

 

Thought of getting two 2x3 tables? Build the bases in such a way you can clamp them together and form either a 2x6 or 4x3 depending on your needs.

 

Thanks, that confirms my intuition. Strike 2, hopefully the third time is a charm finding my first welding project. I may go straight to my trailer project; retrofitting an old motorcycle trailer to be multi-functional. In the meantime I'll keep practicing; I'm still having a blast just doing that.