Anything welding

8hrs later my beater is all welded up and under it’s own weight

 

Those "A" pillar bars are on point! Nice work.
Zim

 

I bought the grinder off Lowes.com. For some reason the Wen grinders are harder to find- possibly a result of being phased out. It’s actually a HD brand as far as I know. This particular model had a few bells and whistles that made it attractive for the price point. I was upgrading from two previous hand-me-down grinders that finally gave up the ghost after a few decades.




I think there are enough skilled people here that have had close calls or even some scars from lapses in judgment. I know I have a few. Always a good reminder to be safe and use proper PPE in the shop.

 

I learned the hard way the right way to use a miter saw. I was cutting some baseboard trim with my right hand on the trigger and my left hand holding the trim to the right side of the blade. That's a no-no, never cross your hands on a chop saw, left hand stays to the left of the blade and the right hand stays to the right. I ended up dropping the blade into the top of my left hand pinky which resulted in a trip to the ER. Fortunately I didn't cut any tendons and it just required stitches, but I still think about that mishap every time I use the chop saw.

 

As long as we are sharing lessons learned......

About 12 yrs ago, I was building a base cabinet for my contractor saw.

I had been in the garage for about 12 hrs, no food, just coffee. Was cutting some 4x4s so the blade was fully raised.
Dry fit everything together, finding I need a thin piece of stock, perhaps an inch wide.
Last piece for the day.
I grab a cut off of 1/4 plywood, set my fence up 1 inch away from the blade.
My left hand was pushing the stock into the blade.
Piece between the fence and blade binds and kicks back.
My left hand went into the blade.
Lucky for me I only lost about half of my left index finger 1st joint. It didn't actually cut it, more of cut small pieces off.

The bad news, in order to flap the skin, the bone had to be cut down.


I counted five mistakes all made in a hurry to cut one last piece.
Blade too high
Push stick too far away to grab and use
Cutting small pieces on the wrong side of the blade.
Working when tired.
And of course, rushing to get done...


Signed
9 finger nails

 

Any one have any experience with this brand? There having a boho on welding hoods https://tekwarepro.com/products/auto-darkening-welding-helmet?variant=38203243298967

 

How do you even begin to design that? Impressive!

 

Thanks.
Yeah I know there's some skilled people here. But it seems like it's almost always those that get lax and seem to end up with some NUBedge.. Which is why I like to occasionally share a story as a reminder, in hopes it will float around in everyones minds, so they don't make the same mistake.

Just like that.
That sucks.
My neighbor/friend, has been doing cabinet stuff his whole life... Last year he sawed the tip of his thumb off... I know another older gentleman in his 70's (life long woodworker) took a finger off with a table saw.

I like to keep that back crawling feeling with a piece of machinery that can permanently disfigure me, that way hopefully it never does.

 

Looks good man.

 

Getting lax will hurt even the most experienced tradesman. Reminds me of the video from Perkins Brothers Builders where one of them lost most of his fingers while getting careless around a planer:

https://youtu.be/AZMe0QIET6g

They actually followed up with some real commentary of the surgery/recovery all the way to the mental hurdle of getting back in the shop and using the planer again. I appreciate that because nobody really talks about the mental/emotional recovery of an accident of that nature. There’s about 4-5 videos total it worth a watch even as a warning.

I had a close call when using an angle grinder without a guard. I took the guard off to get into a tight corner with a cut off wheel. I was concentrating on the cut and didn’t realize my hand was sliding up the grinder. Cut through my leather work glove and into my second knuckle deep enough to see my tendons in the joint. Luckily I avoided any serious damage but now I keep the guard on my grinders all the time and if it doesn’t fit where I’m trying to work, I look for a tool better suited to the job.

 

Never heard of them but as a newbie that's meaningless...
Reviews on Amazon are an interesting read. https://www.amazon.com/TEKWARE-Viewing-Darkening-Replacement-Grinding/dp/B086YNB2HD

Couple of the models look a lot like YesWelder models - and some folks mentioned liking YesWelder.

Check out the photos associated with each:

$48 YESWELDER Large View Auto Darkening Welding Helmet, Blue Light Blocking, 1/1/1/1 True Color Solar Powered Welder Hood Mask with 4 Arc Sensors, Wide Shade 3/5-9/9-13 for TIG MIG ARC Cut and Grind

https://www.amazon.com/YESWELDER-Viewing-Darkening-Grinding-LYG-M800H/dp/B07M5WKCYX?ref_=ast_sto_dp
https://tekwarepro.com/collections/welding-helmets/products/extra-large-view-welding-helmet

Also:
https://yeswelder.com/products/welding-helmet-s400sa
https://tekwarepro.com/collections/welding-helmets/products/anti-fogging-welding-helmet

I'd ask... do you need more than one helmet?

Tempting tho... Wonder how you choose what magnification magnifier lens when you order one?

 

I did not see any magnification option. Mostly based on the Walmart reading glasses method tho. (1-2.75) I have found regular glasses are best and I have a special pair just for welding based on about 15-18" vision distance. If you need glasses for any reason you need them to weld.
Zim
Zim

 

Those are death machines lol!

 

Bought my first welder and welded my first thing ever. Just practicing straight lines and welding a few things together after a 1,000 hours of YouTube videos. I definitely have a new appreciation for quality welds it’s a Lincoln 140 120v. Hoping some day I can make an over landing trailer from scratch.

 

Not bad, don’t forget to clean your material before you weld. You’ll get a better ground and a better weld.

 

What diameter wire are you using? I found that .030 works great in the 120 machines. I started with .035 since that’s what came with it and the switch to 030 was awesome. Either way, those are some decent welds for your first go around. A lot of us are self taught, so just stick with it and practice practice practice.

 

It’s all practice and patience. Keep at it, we were all new to everything at one point.

 

I'm not sure what people are "liking"

Good on you taking up welding. It's a skill that can serve you your whole life.

Is this flux core wire?

From what I see there is massive amount of porosity. Can you snap a closer pic of the welds? I want to give constructive criticism, but not sure of what I'm seeing.

 

Welcome! Good start, and some good advice above. Clean metal and good grounding path are important.

There's lots of very skilled and very helpful folks here, don't hesitate to post a question or a challenge you're facing.

 

Speaking for myself - I "liked" that someone's stepping out of their comfort zone and striving to learn a new skill.