v5cvbb wrote:Nice Alan. What's the deal with magnetic clamp? in the bottom pic? I haven't seen those before.
They're made by Rigid, I bought them on closeout from a place on sale a couple years ago. There's a magnet on each end that rotates and has thumb locks on each side.
cj737 wrote:Your TIG welds look decent but show symptoms of running a bit hot. The welds in the third picture, for the cross brace, they have undercut on them. You’re either skimping on the filler or pouring a bit too much heat to them.
I believe skimping on filler, but not certain, many of the other miters I used 3/32" as the gap was wider. I've pondered if I should either grind those out and re-weld them or just weld more filler on top. Here's my dilemma which I would appreciate some advice. It's so easy for all of us to just say, heck with it, I'll just go buy a welding cart. I know I could have done that and been done with it easy...the problem is that we never get better at fabricating if we do that. I'm always reluctant to post my welds because I'm not a seasoned welder and I think we all open ourselves to criticism. Case in point is my 6010 beads I ran, I suspect my whip-n-pause was too short, so the ripples looked closer together and some of the armchair welders immediately jumped on them. Kind of similar with TIG, I'm far from being competent and if there's one thing I've learned is that when you weld out of position it changes things a LOT, quite a bit different than padding beads in the horizontal position. In that regard working on a project like this is good as it forces me out of position to learn more.
Another point I want to make is that these frames are built hella overkill, IMO, the 1x2 tube is .093" thick and the 1-1/2x2 tubes used on the rear posts is .063". The cross member is really just there to support one side of the argon tank. I don't think it needed to be there structural wise, there's plenty of strength with just the mitered corners welded.
cj737 wrote:try to push a bit more filler in. If you want the weld bead flush, flatten it afterwards.
What would be your recommendation to add more. On many of the other welds were I had more filler, I ground them flat so if they were not perfect it didn't matter, it flushed out...but with the cross member I couldn't grind it as there wasn't enough filler to begin with. What is the proper way to fix that? Would you grind with a cutoff wheel inside the undercut area and then re-weld, or could I just clean with acetone and lay another bead on top? Although I don't believe there to be a structural problem as-is, I would like to fix it and learn as I go.
v5cvbb wrote:From the pics, and my redneck engineering experience, those flange nuts look like a weak point.
Those are stainless. I ordered stainless for more strength as well as ability to weld more safely than zinc. I also pondered them being strong enough, but they are only going to be taking 200 lbs. max. on both of them, so 100 lbs. per nut. I can stand on it, so they have to at least be able to handle the bottle. I suspect the week point will be the front casters, they only support about 125 lbs. each, but the welder only weighs 48 lbs. and that will be distributed over the rear wheels slightly also.
Spartan wrote:Looking good, Alan! I'd consider just using a somewhat thin, wide V block to mount on the top back rail for the argon bottle to rest into. Then a couple small tabs on each side of it to mount a chain. Easiest way I've found for securing bottles. Can probably just cut a wide V into one side of a piece of angle iron and then weld it onto the rail flush. Just my thoughts on it.
Yes, kind of what I have been considering, but don't have a large V, so was thinking to put a small pieces of angle on each side so that I could wedge the bottle in and hold it in place with a strap or chain as you point out. I have some chunks for UHMV I might be able to use, which would insulate the tank from the cart/welder/electricity. Or I could just cut pieces of UHMV and cover the wedges to insulate it. I won't be welding on the cart, but I've seen people raise that concern with the bottle when attached to a table.
Thanks for your comments guys, trying to learn as I go...
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