sparks and flame
Yes, it's been an age since I posted, blah blah blah...
Last week, I took a oxy/acetylene welding/cutting class. It was awesome. The lead-in is I bought an oxy/acetylene torch and bottles some three weeks ago. They're sitting in my garage. I've lit them, but didn't know what I was doing as far as getting the flame right. Now I have a better idea...
A couple days after, I bought a MIG welder - a Millermatic 211. My class for that is April 24, with an advanced class the following weekend.
The O/A class was excellent. Cutting steel with fire (technically, I'm burning the steel away - igniting and burning it) was incredible, and pretty easy. The teacher demonstrated brazing and welding, but I didn't get a chance to try it myself.
Last week, I bought 30 firebricks, and 20 feet of 1" (1/8" thick) angle iron. My first project is going to be this stool. I wanted to do it this weekend, but other priorities took over.
I keep wanting to buy this cutoff saw to make it easier, but figure I should focus on using my cutting torch.
I mean, I also want to buy an air compressor and a plasma torch, but... one thing at a time.
So, since my class isn't until late next month, I'm going to do as much of the stool as I can with the torch. Besides, it's a great learning opportunity. Cutting, fusion welding, plus filler welding should get me a long ways. And if it looks like hell, so be it.
It turns out, there's a great scrap/metal yard about three miles from the house, so I should be set. Easy to get to, easy to get what I need...
After the stool, I'm going to build a small welding table. In the class, we used these small tables, and I want to mostly model my idea after them. It was about 2 feet by 3 feet, and topped with a grate for cutting - you need to have room underneath for the spray/slag to go. This is basically a steel box with legs, topped with a grate.
I'm thinking I could recess the grate by an inch or so, and then top it with firebrick. For welding, you want something which doesn't absorb the heat, and firebrick is perfect for it. I bought some 30 bricks this week, and am thinking 27 inches by 36 inches (the bricks are 4.5 inches by 9 inches) would work great.
My ultimate goal is making window well covers. Each time the kids go outside, I holler "stay away from the window wells". Better yet, cover them, and stop yelling. I keep wondering if my yells come out in my Dad's voice...
Buying window well covers costs around $400-500 apiece. I need three. The welder was around $1500 including the argon/CO2 bottle, so it pays for itself.
The local gas store sells welders, and when you buy one, you get a free four-hour class. I figure that's a great deal. They offer a total of six different classes: oxy/acetylene torch, MIG basic, MIG advanced, TIG basic, TIG advanced, and plasma torch. I've taken one, signed up for three more, and will probably end up taking the TIG classes later.
TIG is cool, but is really only necessary for aluminum or stainless steel. I can actually weld aluminum with the MIG welder I got, but I have no immediate use for it. But to cut it... I'd need a plasma torch. Love to, but no immediate need.
So this week, I hope to cut the angle iron and maybe start welding it. Maybe buy the square steel tubing for the table.
All this stems from my father being a welder (really, a machinist) as his livelihood. He bought Worland Machine Shop, renamed it, and ran it for twenty years before retiring to the local Pepsi plant to put me through college. But that's another story...
He never taught myself or my brothers to weld - we figure it was either he didn't trust us to not hurt ourselves, or (more likely) didn't want us to end up being machinists ourselves. He wanted us to go to college and make a better life. So we've all taught ourselves to do the same things in our idle time. I'm just running late...
Last week, I took a oxy/acetylene welding/cutting class. It was awesome. The lead-in is I bought an oxy/acetylene torch and bottles some three weeks ago. They're sitting in my garage. I've lit them, but didn't know what I was doing as far as getting the flame right. Now I have a better idea...
A couple days after, I bought a MIG welder - a Millermatic 211. My class for that is April 24, with an advanced class the following weekend.
The O/A class was excellent. Cutting steel with fire (technically, I'm burning the steel away - igniting and burning it) was incredible, and pretty easy. The teacher demonstrated brazing and welding, but I didn't get a chance to try it myself.
Last week, I bought 30 firebricks, and 20 feet of 1" (1/8" thick) angle iron. My first project is going to be this stool. I wanted to do it this weekend, but other priorities took over.
I keep wanting to buy this cutoff saw to make it easier, but figure I should focus on using my cutting torch.
I mean, I also want to buy an air compressor and a plasma torch, but... one thing at a time.
So, since my class isn't until late next month, I'm going to do as much of the stool as I can with the torch. Besides, it's a great learning opportunity. Cutting, fusion welding, plus filler welding should get me a long ways. And if it looks like hell, so be it.
It turns out, there's a great scrap/metal yard about three miles from the house, so I should be set. Easy to get to, easy to get what I need...
After the stool, I'm going to build a small welding table. In the class, we used these small tables, and I want to mostly model my idea after them. It was about 2 feet by 3 feet, and topped with a grate for cutting - you need to have room underneath for the spray/slag to go. This is basically a steel box with legs, topped with a grate.
I'm thinking I could recess the grate by an inch or so, and then top it with firebrick. For welding, you want something which doesn't absorb the heat, and firebrick is perfect for it. I bought some 30 bricks this week, and am thinking 27 inches by 36 inches (the bricks are 4.5 inches by 9 inches) would work great.
My ultimate goal is making window well covers. Each time the kids go outside, I holler "stay away from the window wells". Better yet, cover them, and stop yelling. I keep wondering if my yells come out in my Dad's voice...
Buying window well covers costs around $400-500 apiece. I need three. The welder was around $1500 including the argon/CO2 bottle, so it pays for itself.
The local gas store sells welders, and when you buy one, you get a free four-hour class. I figure that's a great deal. They offer a total of six different classes: oxy/acetylene torch, MIG basic, MIG advanced, TIG basic, TIG advanced, and plasma torch. I've taken one, signed up for three more, and will probably end up taking the TIG classes later.
TIG is cool, but is really only necessary for aluminum or stainless steel. I can actually weld aluminum with the MIG welder I got, but I have no immediate use for it. But to cut it... I'd need a plasma torch. Love to, but no immediate need.
So this week, I hope to cut the angle iron and maybe start welding it. Maybe buy the square steel tubing for the table.
All this stems from my father being a welder (really, a machinist) as his livelihood. He bought Worland Machine Shop, renamed it, and ran it for twenty years before retiring to the local Pepsi plant to put me through college. But that's another story...
He never taught myself or my brothers to weld - we figure it was either he didn't trust us to not hurt ourselves, or (more likely) didn't want us to end up being machinists ourselves. He wanted us to go to college and make a better life. So we've all taught ourselves to do the same things in our idle time. I'm just running late...