[birdus]

I'm brand new to welding and have an oxy-acetylene setup. I have a question about a little project I want to do.

A friend of mine has a small steel trailer he bought from Harbor Freight. He's building a teardrop trailer (he's just building the part you sleep in, out of wood and fiberglass) which will go on top of the steel trailer frame. The trailer he bought from Harbor Freight is a little longer than he wants. He wants the teardrop to fit the the trailer frame a littler closer (so the frame doesn't stick out so much at the rear), so our idea is to cut the frame and re-weld it up a little shorter—closer to the footprint of the teardrop "container" he's building.

I mentioned this to the guy at the local welding shop and he said NEVER to weld a trailer using oxy-acetylene because it has low tensile strength. I should use stick, says he. I'm skeptical of his advice. He also said you can't use oxy-acetylene to weld stainless and didn't know that you would use stainless TIG rod to weld stainless with oxy-acetylene. You can understand why I may not trust him (I already knew I can weld stainless with my oxy-acetylene setup and a little research showed me that I would use stainless TIG rod—I already ordered 410 rod for another small project).

I purchased 1/8" RG60 which I thought would work well for this project. So, will oxy-acetylene and my 1/8" RG60 be okay to weld up my friend's trailer?

Thanks,
Jay

[ryanjames170]

i would say do some test welds and bent and shock test them, do a little reserch too.. i cant say for certian if this is true or not but testing out some test welds would be a good way to find out how well you can weld and how strong the welds can be made..

[exnailpounder]

Who the Hell Oxy welds anymore?

[Poland308]

Those trailers are thin metal! How confident are you with welding on thin stuff? I've seen old high pressure steam lines running 120 psi steam that were oxy welded 100 years ago that are still in service.

[MosquitoMoto]

Would love more info/pics on just how thick or thin the material to be welded is.

I imagine the weld's ability to endure vibration will be a primary consideration for this job.



Kym

[robtg]

Thin metal like a HF trailer can be easily welded sucessfuly by one competent at O/A. Airframes were all done that way at one time. I have built motorcycle sidecar frames for off road racing with no failures with O/A.

[Farmwelding]

Who the Hell Oxy welds anymore?

Fun fact: in the state if Wisconsin oxy-fuel welding is still required to be taught in full welding or advanced metal fabrication classes while in high school. Also, with oxy on stainless it probably isn't the best thing for it for welds that are seen since without argon exposure it's not our pretty stainless tig welds. Never tried oxy on stainless. I know with aluminum it is a no go for me though.

[MosquitoMoto]

I did a welding course (all disciplines) about 18 months ago and it became obvious pretty quickly that the instructor had a deep love of OA and only really a passing interest in anything else.

I did the OA, did the stick and the Mig, waited and waited meanwhile for 'Tig night'. In the end he did a basic demo of a scratch start rig and asked anyone if they wanted a go. I was the only one who was interested!

The instructor was very, very good with OA but his attitude towards anything beyond that was funny - in fact it was almost as if he only half believed that aluminium could even be welded!



Kym

[Coldman]

He wasn't an old English gentleman was he?


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[motox]

in the seventies i welded all my expansion chambers joints for
my moto bikes with OA and brazed all the tabs and brackets
with OA. welds never cracked but pipes did.
craig

[rick9345]

Info for O/A welding of air frames can be had @ EAA(Expirmental Aircraft Association). most engine mounts in WWII air craft and frames and motorcycle frames were all O/A.

[ryanjames170]

I did a welding course (all disciplines) about 18 months ago and it became obvious pretty quickly that the instructor had a deep love of OA and only really a passing interest in anything else.

I did the OA, did the stick and the Mig, waited and waited meanwhile for 'Tig night'. In the end he did a basic demo of a scratch start rig and asked anyone if they wanted a go. I was the only one who was interested!

The instructor was very, very good with OA but his attitude towards anything beyond that was funny - in fact it was almost as if he only half believed that aluminium could even be welded!



Kym

aluminum can be welded with a gas torch i have seen that done alot.. i think O/A can be used for this but im not 100% sure

[MosquitoMoto]

He wasn't an old English gentleman was he?


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Sure was. Ticked all the boxes - specs, silver hair done with Brylcreem, dustcoat, the works. Lovely guy but very focused on his OA.


Kym

[Coldman]

There you go. Grinding dust, acet soot and brylcreem. No wonder his head is set in oa



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[Otto Nobedder]

I'm brand new to welding and have an oxy-acetylene setup. I have a question about a little project I want to do.

A friend of mine has a small steel trailer he bought from Harbor Freight. He's building a teardrop trailer (he's just building the part you sleep in, out of wood and fiberglass) which will go on top of the steel trailer frame. The trailer he bought from Harbor Freight is a little longer than he wants. He wants the teardrop to fit the the trailer frame a littler closer (so the frame doesn't stick out so much at the rear), so our idea is to cut the frame and re-weld it up a little shorter—closer to the footprint of the teardrop "container" he's building.

I mentioned this to the guy at the local welding shop and he said NEVER to weld a trailer using oxy-acetylene because it has low tensile strength. I should use stick, says he. I'm skeptical of his advice. He also said you can't use oxy-acetylene to weld stainless and didn't know that you would use stainless TIG rod to weld stainless with oxy-acetylene. You can understand why I may not trust him (I already knew I can weld stainless with my oxy-acetylene setup and a little research showed me that I would use stainless TIG rod—I already ordered 410 rod for another small project).

I purchased 1/8" RG60 which I thought would work well for this project. So, will oxy-acetylene and my 1/8" RG60 be okay to weld up my friend's trailer?

Thanks,
Jay

Jay, If O/A is what you have and are comfortable with, there's no logical reason not to use it. I'd be perfectly comfortable welding it that way. Odds are, your filler will be better quality than the recycled Buick brake drums that Chinese steel was made from, anyway.

The broad heat-affected zone O/A gives will distribute vibrational stresses better than a narrow HAZ from the other processes in the unpredictable Chinese steel.

Steve S

[MosquitoMoto]

There you go. Grinding dust, acet soot and brylcreem. No wonder his head is set in oa



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(Threadjack continues...)

Yes, he was that kind of guy. Did some brilliant tube frame work on Pedal Prix human powered race cars. But after weeks of OA, by the time we got to Tig I had watched dozens of Jody's videos and practised heaps at home with my own machine and was already well down the track. Spending one lesson using the instructor's unloved scratch start, gas valve Tig was a bit of a comedown!

Now...to the OP, good luck with your trailer welding. I (Tig) welded some Chinese angle steel recently that was exactly the same dimensions as some local stuff I'd been using and the way it welded was very strange. It must have been a completely different metalurgical kettle of fish from the local stuff - lots of misbehaviour at the arc, needed to wind my amps right down.

All the best with your project!



Kym

[DennisCA]

Who the Hell Oxy welds anymore?

I have received my fathers old kit, I might take it up some day. Unfortunately it'd cost a lot to get all the missing stuff and gas tubes. Was cheaper to buy a TIG welder.

[motox]

every shop needs a OA setup.
great for cutting, heating, brazing and you
can't light your cigars with a plasma.....
craig

[Artie F. Emm]

He's building a teardrop trailer (he's just building the part you sleep in, out of wood and fiberglass) which will go on top of the steel trailer frame. The trailer he bought from Harbor Freight is a little longer than he wants. He wants the teardrop to fit the the trailer frame a littler closer (so the frame doesn't stick out so much at the rear), so our idea is to cut the frame and re-weld it up a little shorter—closer to the footprint of the teardrop "container" he's building.

From looking at pictures of HF trailers online, it looks like trimming a few inches off the back would take a little cutting, a little welding, then re-wiring and attaching the lights. It looks do-able, and also looks like it would not affect the structure of the trailer.

That said, another solution would be to stretch the tear drop a little, so that it matches the frame. I've never done any trailer camping but I've done a long ton of tent camping, and I have never caught myself thinking, "this tent is just too big".

[LtBadd]

you can't light your cigars with a plasma.....
craig

This is the kind of insight that makes being a member here so rewarding...

In the early days of World War II, Winston Churchill received a message from the manager of Dunhill, whose shop had just been bombed: "Your cigars are safe, Sir."