Weld Me

[Tandum]

I have to join 3 pieces of box steel, 50x50x2mm.

It's hard enough just to cut the filthy stuff.

I haven't arc welded since college in the 70's.

I have a small welder under the bench. Never been opened, 4 year old.

Am I looking for trouble or do I just need a bit of practise and I'm a bridge builder :)

[xelasnave]

Cover up and have a go.
Blow the slag away as you go and belt the crap out of your welds after you finish.
Then take it to your local garage and get them to do it.
Alex

[Tandum]

Funny ******* aren't ya :)

If I can't do it .... it don't get done :)

[Tandum]

While I got ya alex. Check this out. Rebuilt a Gibson Studio.

$550 on ebay. It was a mess. Not now :)

[silv]

huh, no strings attached?

[Tandum]

Hi Annette, Do you ever see the northern lights from there ?

[mental4astro]

2mm thick steel for a box is one heck of a box!

You can use your stick welder. Thin stick with the right power setting. Start with two or three spot welds to join the components together, and you can then do strip length. If buckling is a concern, you can do a series of spot welds, or beads first. This way the parent metal isn't subjected to a huge heat surge when it can buckle.

For sure practice first. Old steel bed frames are not only good to practice with (cut up sections), but are also great for making frames for stuff in the backyard. I've made several stands for bbqs (3 of them, one being to replace the crappy one the bbq came with), for a fire pit made out of the stainless steel drum from a clothes drier, and a stand for a wood oven. Treat the steel appropriately afterwards and it lasts for years.

[xelasnave]

You can do it and it will get done.

Alex

[xelasnave]

I think you have done very well there.

I just purchased a $70 strat type copy at Kmart.

I am building a three string slide out of another toy guitar and will use three of the machine heads on the new three string and turn the stray toy into a three string also...

I am most impressed by the quality of the strat copy...nice neck with grain patten...but I will take out the frets...outerwise it can't be a fretless slide guitar.
It came with a tiny amp which I may even build into the toy acoustic.
So that's three three string guitars now.
Alex

[clive milne]

As Alexander intimated, tack it up first.

Also, if you want to minimise distortion, keep the gap between the two pieces to a minimum.

When working with really thin gauge steel, I find it useful to run a bead down each edge at a low amps to build the steel up a bit (before attempting to join them together) then do the final weld at a higher setting to fuse them. This is a very good trick to have in your skill set for joining thin steel to thicker material without blowing holes in it.

An angle grinder with a 1mm cutting disk is an essential piece of kit if you are working with steel.

Also... if you are welding galv'... grind off the zinc before you do anything.
If it is the standard blue coated SHS, you can weld that straight up, no problem.

I'm assuming you have a stick welder?
On the off chance that you are using flux core (MIG) be sure to reverse the polarity - a common trap for young players.

~c

[el_draco]

Avoid the fumes AT ALL COSTS. They can do your lungs massive damage before you know it. :eyepop:

[clive milne]

As for painting... best method is to use Wattyl etch primer..

[Tandum]

Thanks guys. I wasn't even sure you could weld metal this thin or just blow it away.

It's not Galv, just painted steel and it's going cheap at Masters just now :)

[FlashDrive]

Contact ' Bob the Builder ' ... he'll know :lol:

[tlgerdes]

$10 says you burn through it. 😂

[mental4astro]

If you can, try to get 1.6mm welding electrodes. These will require the least amount of power and less likely to blow holes, with practice...

[xelasnave]

May I ask what are you building?
Is your motivation the fact that the steel is a good price?
Alex

[silv]

No, unfortunately. I live in a weird spot now where an evil cloud demon resides close to the surface.

See here on Alex'es photo from the ISS? It's the coast line of Northern Germany but rotated by 90*. The long nose of land mass is Denmark.
See how everywhere it's clear?
Except for that odd, isolated big splash of clouds?

That's where I now live. That's Rostock. No aurora for me.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/astro_alex/30752261245/

[Tandum]

A bracket and probably yes.

Was in Masters looking for cheap tools and saw the steel for 70% off.
I lifted a sunsail corner for that's been on the to-do list for years.
No more westerly sun at beer o'clock :)

[Tandum]

Probably too far south anyway Annette. Your sort of around Manchester latitude.
I was recently up near Inverness in Scotland which is like northern Denmark, and they rarely see it.

[jenchris]

2mm steel with a stick welder without practice is to plan for colander welds.
Mig is a lot easier. Sadly my mig welder is pretty old and produces pigeon poo unless I do some servicing of the reel which sticks and slips.
Grinder tidies it up though. ...

[N1]

Apologies to OP for following this tangent...

It appears it's weather and light pollution, rather than latitude related. Geomag latitude is what matters here. It's similar to southern NZ (or TAS), and aurorae are seen/ photographed fairly regularly around here.

https://twitter.com/dunauroraalerts

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/images/u2/globeNE.gif



http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/images/u2/globeSE.gif