[TamJeff]

In a different material. This is to show a little about something other than the obvious and something I find a lot of welders don't really think about outside of novelty applications. That would be annealing and shaping aluminum. I have to use it a lot in my field.

Here is the part. It's for a marine engine cooling system. I suppose he could have just bought a new one for around the same money.


It was an odd sized diameter, so I simply made one by annealing a section of larger pipe with a mapp torch. I like to use mapp on smaller bits because I can tell by the color of the flame where it contacts the metal when it is ready to quench, and it's a lot cheaper than wasting fuel from the OA setup, convenience etc. I've been shaping metal for a long time, even before I got into welding.


Yes, I cheated. Just cut thru to the center cutout with the band saw. I was trying to keep the part economically viable and every little bit helps. This essentially saves a trip to the drill press and then breaking out another cutting process and grinding in exchange for a small weld that would be on the way to welding the rest of it anyway.


The setup.


Welded inside and out. I welded it inside as well not so much for leakage, but friction wear and places for corrosion to hide. At any rate, it was completed in about 45 mins at a leisurely pace.

[Otto Nobedder]

Nice.

Isn't this so much more fun than just building stuff from prints all the time? (That can be fun, too, if creative thinking is required.)

Why aluminum, besides the obvious (I saw the condition of the original part), and what alloy? From the fishing towers you build, I'm guessing this is for salt-water service, so 316 was an option if corrosion and erosion are factors.

Steve S

[TamJeff]

Mainly cost and having to have it right then and it was on an older saltwater boat. We don't keep much stainless on hand. I think the alloy is 5052. Not positive about that but we had a bunch of that designation so I am guessing this is likely a drop from some of that. The part ought to last a few years anyway. I don't think the boat is used that much these days.

[TamJeff]

And yes, it is fun. This is sort of what I was alluding to in the starting business thread. I usually have to pass a lot of this type of work up otherwise, that would be profitable for a small op. Some of the fun with prints is having to prove them after being submitted. I have a stack of them from days gone by where I had to add many factual corrections after the fact.

[Otto Nobedder]

I can't count how many projects, especially building ethanol plants, that began with blueprints, and ended as an "as built". Engineers don't seem to understand a 6" pipe and a cable tray cannot occupy the same space.

From my present job, I have a set of prints for a (4) relief valve, (2) rupture disc, and selector valve in & out manifold assembly that JUST fits the cabinet it's designed for. It had been signed off by engineering, and a proofreader, and 4 had allegedly been built from it before I got a copy.

When I was done building my first, I had marked 5 dimension errors, three sections that were dimensioned but required field-fit, and had to redesign a vent-side inlet for the pump cool-down circuit and locate a low-point drain.

My second one went faster, but wasn't as much fun. I haven't done one since... Once I worked the bugs out, it got passed to someone else. (Fine by me.)

I love doing the one-off stuff, that requires two cups of coffee and a smoke while I get my brain cells out of neutral and formulate a plan.

Steve S

[TamJeff]

I knew there was a reason I could relate to your field of work in your previous threads. It's gotta be the coffee and the cigs. Those were the two most important tools in my shop. The coffee pot still is, but I gave up smoking last Feb after 35 years of it, which is a shame really, because it went with everything I do!

I can also assume that the engineers you get to deal with also seem to get notoriety for jobs well done in spite of many errors in percentages that we could never get away with doing the actual work. Every once in awhile, you may come across one that started life as we have, that will have the right insight that only experienced fabricators can have with 3D thinking and usually, 10 steps ahead at all times.

[ajlskater1]

Another nice piece of craftsmanship from you Jeff. You make me want to get back into welding aluminum at my old job doing prototyping. Recently switch to welding stainless, nickel and titanium pipe production and its boring LOL.

[TamJeff]

Another nice piece of craftsmanship from you Jeff. You make me want to get back into welding aluminum at my old job doing prototyping. Recently switch to welding stainless, nickel and titanium pipe production and its boring LOL.

Thank you. AJ. The world is held together by a lot of aluminum these days. Good aluminum welders are in pretty high demand and it is typically clean work. I go home looking pretty much as I did when I showed up. As we get older, the larger beads and the ability to work with larger gaps, becomes a blessing with failing vision being the norm for many of us as we get on. Not to mention that many quality wood working tools also work with aluminum. It has it's own share of gremlins, but at least they are light weight.

You have a badass lathe and such. I can only imagine what you could accomplish with the material on your end.

[Otto Nobedder]

Can you imagine how great this country would be, if just a third of us liked our work so much that, after work, we post pictures of it on facebook, instead of sitting in a bar bitching about it?

[ajlskater1]

Aluminum welders are not in very high demand up in Minnesota. Most of the stuff I have been seeing is all stainless production work, kinda like I am doing now. My old shop and few others are the only ones in the area that work with aluminum and they don't pay very well. There is a couple aluminum foundries I found out about so I am going to check those out see what they pay. I was dumb for leaving my last Job, but only being 24 I got pissed at how I was treated there and found a new job and now I miss it.

[TamJeff]

That's because a lot of people are getting away with squirting general stuff with a spool gun. But once the high end areas find out you exist, the ante moves up. Marine, Auto/cycle racing and air craft, which end up being the elite side of the process.

Here is an example. And this is a rush job. I was elbow deep into another time sensitive project when I conjured this part up, and can even see it in use on youtube. lol. Like everything, he needed it overnight.

You would get more work from the general public and word of mouth and these are the guys that will want higher quality work at the rate of upwards of $90/hr as the expected norm. Plenty of income for a small op. A grab bar for an 80+ mph offshore racer with the trim switches and the comm button incorporated. These boats have a pilot and a throttle/systems guy.


Not my best welding by any stretch, but under such pressure, good enough.

[Otto Nobedder]

Wow!

Just used my two most trusted job-crawlers, and yes, there's not much al work in MN. What I saw was either entry-level or straight production, meaning low wages. The only one I'd consider was in Green Bay, WI, and it didn't post a wage. The skills it asked for suggested low-mid $20s, but I never trust someone who won't post the money.

Or worse, says, "competitive salary," which means, "We pay the same as the shitty place across the road."

Steve S

[ajlskater1]

Ya i have never even used a spool gun only tig. Ifs its aluminum the only way to weld it in my opinion is tig.I would love to work with you, looks like a blast. My home shop is more for helping buddies and stuff never tried to make a lot of money from it, that's kinda what my day welding job is for. I would love to get into that performance racing or aerospace welding aluminum but I don't think there is companies like that up here.

[ajlskater1]

Its rough up here. To be honest there is a lot of jobs but nothing worth while.and its sucks because a lot of the welders or so called welders have no prie in work ethic or quality, so getting paid the same as them or less is hard to take.

[TamJeff]

Ya i have never even used a spool gun only tig. Ifs its aluminum the only way to weld it in my opinion is tig.I would love to work with you, looks like a blast. My home shop is more for helping buddies and stuff never tried to make a lot of money from it, that's kinda what my day welding job is for. I would love to get into that performance racing or aerospace welding aluminum but I don't think there is companies like that up here.

This is what I get at when I post on this forum about the lot of us making for a good crew. I would definitely dig what you guys do. We'd be a tough lot to beat, just for the amusement factor and combined materials skills alone!

This is what I was after with getting into welding in the first place!

[TamJeff]

Wow!

Just used my two most trusted job-crawlers, and yes, there's not much al work in MN. What I saw was either entry-level or straight production, meaning low wages. The only one I'd consider was in Green Bay, WI, and it didn't post a wage. The skills it asked for suggested low-mid $20s, but I never trust someone who won't post the money.

Or worse, says, "competitive salary," which means, "We pay the same as the shitty place across the road."

Steve S

That's it in a nutshell, Steve. And this is why so many of our parts are disposable these days. Once people find out you can improve them economically, they are allover it if you can convince them that the quality is there. I think the only way we are going to save the industry in this country is thru cottage industry approaches that revolve around high skill coupled with economic sense. The only way to do that these days is via creative cuts of unnecessary overhead.

[Otto Nobedder]

I just wish we could find a way to get more of the members to be active in the forum. I was looking at the "members" page, and there are 2511 registered, and only 30 of us have posted more than 50 times.

[ajlskater1]

Unfortunately green bay is out the question for me almost a 6 hour drive. Those foundries aren't to far about 40 minutes away and I know they welding on giant aircraft engines and stuff like that but I don't think a foundry will pay good. When of the technicians at my work used to be a supervisor there a.d told me about it but he didn't know the pay.

[ajlskater1]

We would make one heck of a team and it would be a awesome learning experience for me to learn from Guy like you and Otto who have been around longer than.

[TamJeff]

It's the same as industry if you think about it. This probably reflects the percentage of people with the real passion for the trade overall. Who else do you know that really talks shop after the day is over? This ends up in part, being my hobby as well as my living. Apparently it's you folks too. When I see other people's projects, I can almost put myself in their boots and imagine doing the work. Sometimes, it has me on the edge of my seat with some of the simplest aspects, like, imagining getting that last little bit of penetration without losing focus. lol

[TamJeff]

We would make one heck of a team and it would be a awesome learning experience for me to learn from Guy like you and Otto who have been around longer than.

LOL, AJ. . .it's going to take me 6 months to quit having lathe envy with that old iron you bought. You're the kind of guy we hope to find to hire. I have no idea who I am going to pass this on to. It's kind of troubling, really. You're probably closer to it than you realize. The adapters you made for your lathe chuck was impressive.

[ajlskater1]

I think you have me mixed up with someone else jeff I didn't buy a lathe or post pictures of a adapter. I have a lathe but not a "old iron".

[Otto Nobedder]

I suppose my job is close to "cottage industry". Yes, I work in a shop, but it's a small shop with a family atmosphere. Never any drama. There's also no pressure for shortcuts. If I need something, a material or a tool, and can justify it with a reasonable argument, I get it. Most small items, I don't even ask, I just turn in the purchase request. If McMaster has it, it's in my hand tomorrow. Our shop also has no real competition. Our primary client uses us almost exclusively, based on the quality of our work.

We do lose profit to inefficiencies, as we're generally allowed to approach our jobs as we see fit, and some tasks could easily be standardized, both in procedure and materials. However, when you ask craftsmen to do the kind of on-the-spot engineering and creative thinking that's required, you must accept that you have a bunch that will not play well when given a standard procedure and measurements of performance based on efficiency.

I must admit, with the way my eyes have degraded, I understand your point about welding aluminum as I get older. Unfortunately, I see less of it (no pun intended), as my knowledge of the hydrogen work grows. All my critical work is in SS, where my eyes often betray me, and I have to live with cosmetically imperfect welds to be sure they're functionally adequate. I imagine one day I'll have to resign myself to finding the trouble, and letting someone younger and steadier do the repair.

[Otto Nobedder]

We would make one heck of a team and it would be a awesome learning experience for me to learn from Guy like you and Otto who have been around longer than.

LOL, AJ. . .it's going to take me 6 months to quit having lathe envy with that old iron you bought. You're the kind of guy we hope to find to hire. I have no idea who I am going to pass this on to. It's kind of troubling, really. You're probably closer to it than you realize. The adapters you made for your lathe chuck was impressive.

You're thinking of Dellraydella, the other Steve. I'm jealous of that lathe as well.

[TamJeff]

We would make one heck of a team and it would be a awesome learning experience for me to learn from Guy like you and Otto who have been around longer than.

LOL, AJ. . .it's going to take me 6 months to quit having lathe envy with that old iron you bought. You're the kind of guy we hope to find to hire. I have no idea who I am going to pass this on to. It's kind of troubling, really. You're probably closer to it than you realize. The adapters you made for your lathe chuck was impressive.

You're thinking of Dellraydella, the other Steve. I'm jealous of that lathe as well.

That's right. Ok. ..he's another one. Nice work by that guy too! LOL I'll be ok!