Remember Thursday the twelveth?

              Ah the joy of the finished project.

Nothing compares with seeing your creation come to fruition. It brings you to a point where you tend to forget all those hours of detail work with the raw metal under the ol' Eco-friendly helical green light bulbs.

You tend to notice the power bill up about 30% when you put a couple of weeks of cutting, grinding, sawing, drilling and welding on your utility tab. Even more if you are of the perfectionist persuasion.
I say that in a friendly sort of way. It's OK to be a perfectionist, you got your pride involved and that's a good thing.

This quickie tool cart project came as a challenge for my self imposed two week in process policy. Yup just two weeks ago I started the working phase of this job. I finished it up last night. It seems funny you miss some little imperfections until the paint dries, like that stubborn little BB that casts a shadow in the evening sunset. You chip it loose and where does it fall? In a corner or crevice! I'm a tellin' ya, it's "Murphy's Law".

It seemed the little details bit my butt all day long on the Thursday the 12th, only to realise there is still a delivery on Friday the 13th, and due date on 9 / 11. Go figure.

Phoenix day 3, Mission accomplished!

Note the tabs were some nice laser cut left overs from some other job in my past.

They were drilled, and then counter sunk with a 9/16 " drill bit and then I bolted the nuts in place prior to welding them.

By doing this you are assured nothing is going to warp or move off of center in the hole.

Note the top plates extensions are now only 1/8 " from the frame . No way can a 5/8" board get in under the arm of the springloaded top plate now!r>< span>r>


Meanwhile on the other end of the phoenix the virtacle support needed to be offset.

A horizontal cut at 3/16 " all the way around the top to remove the inserted tube cap leaves me at the same hight as the origional height.

The same procedure was used for the 1/2" 16 tpi nuts on the 2 X 3.5 canteleeverd cap.




Unfortunately the grey touch up paint did not exactly match but that was considered to be insignificant as the customer was extrememly happy with the final product.

The feed back so far is all accolades for a job well done.

March will bring a new challenge when they install a new all in one Sheeter from K-Mec located in Spain.

I have already placed a bid on another project for the trim cutter platform.

While this may have been one of my more complicated projects at first glace, you can see how I broke it down to basic processes and steps to keep it simple.

My best advice is to double check every thing twice and tack once! here's wishin ya good reviews on your projects and ya'll come back now, y'hear?

I've recently added a facebook link widget to my blog if you should like to offer me a poser of a question or just suggest a subject you are interested in concerning my passion for Welding.

4 Hours on the Phoenix, Day 1

I don't want this to read like a Chilton Manual because on this job I don't want to open any wiring if I don't have to, so I look for ways to achieve that goal.

Look at the before and after pictures in my last post as I describe why I disassembled it the way I did. Maybe you know what I mean, that state of shock begins to wear off as I realise none of the "fancy components" have been removed.

hmm... good thing I was a Boy Scout as a kid!

If I'm gonna keep my time line of three nights, better to just roll up your sleeves and get to work!

After circleing the machine several times it all fell into place. the plan is pretty basic.

Loose Plexiglas remove plexiglass shield from top assembly, to allow enough slack in cables from the motor to allow for the removal of the push-bar assembly.

Unbolt and remove the conveyor assembly, note the powerlines are free from all clips and restraints.

The final obsticle to choping this thing apart is to remove the hydrolic pump and lines to the mast. By turning the elbow fitting located at the bottom of the mast I gained enought slack to place the pump assembly at the left rear corner of the machine to allow for a fork truck to get under the frame and lift it for the clearence needed to cut 360% on the frame.

I used jack stands to stabilise the frame.

The fork frame is chained to the top of the mast capacity so it can not fall while cutting on the frame like a gueiloteen.

Little tricks like putting the bolts back in to the holes they came from helps to keep things organised.

The 2" X 2" tube were easily cut off the 1/2" pads on the center frame. The 3" X 3" bottom tube is cut near the center of its span for reason of the plates it was welded to. A simple Tri-square and marker were used to guide the hand cuts.
Man I love my Dewalt grinder with the flush cut Type 27, 7" X .065" cut off wheels. They allow for easy correction, where as an 1/8 " wheel just takes too much steel away for a job like this! Remember safety and wear those eye shields!

So far, on this job I have used

• a 1/2" ratchet w/ 3/4" 6 point deep socket
• Torx head wrenches 9" T - handle assorted<<>
• a 12" metric adjustable cressent wrench
• Oh, my Grinder, he he ( not an endorsement, just braggin)

Next time, I talk a little on the welding and reassembly of the frame.

$20.00 bucks and a 12-Pack!

Here's the problem with welding rusty exhaust tube.

When it gets too thin to weld, it will vaporize before you can establish a puddle. Before You blink, you have another hole. The heat of the arc should be on the thickest of the two metals being welded. In a case like this the thinnest metal cracked at the edge of the weld. Typically that's where a weld should break under stress, even if in new condition. the problem of rust is even worse inside the muffler as it is separated from the opposite end on the inside.



SAFETY FIRST!

To fix it, I cut a piece of 3" galvanized pipe to length at 15".

2 strips of 18 Gauge 1 1/2"wide X 4"long. Mark center of the width at 3/4" on both ends.
Insert in 4" vise to the center line and securely clamp. Fold it over to 90 degrees by pounding it over with the end of a short 2 x 4, and a medium hammer. Two good cracks with that hammer and you have a mini angle.

Then cut slices in one face about 3/8" apart with a 4-1/2"cut off wheel. I used the 7" Dewalt .045 in the picture.

hmm.. pie x the radius squared!
Let's be practical here, just form both halves of the flange to fit the pipe by wrapping it around the pipe, then reverse it so the flange is flush with the end of the replacement tube, tack it to the new tube. Trim second flange to fit with cut off wheel and tack in place.
If satisfied, weld solid to pipe 360 degrees while it is separate from the muffler.



Test fit the flanged tube, and trim tabs to fit the back of the muffler with the old hole centered in the tube. Make alignment marks if you wish, or just fire a tack on the top tab to hang it like I did.

If you are lucky you'll still have those two perfect bungee cords to hold it in one place while tacking the new tube. In this case I used my photographer's helping hand.

Remember safety, before welding on any vehicle, it is recommended to disconnect the battery ground cable. I connect the ground cable to the new clean replacement tube to eliminate that intermittent spark at the very beginning of the welding process due to ground problems.

The new tube is the root metal, it will carry the heat of the arc and allow you to just melt the edge and bond to the much thinner muffler case. use a small weave if you like.

Tack to the back of the muffler enough to secure and enjoy the project!

For me, the project was just good practice to see if I can save the kid, oops! I mean, man child a few bucks. Something inside still vibrates but it sounds like a 4 cylinder school bus crossover now. That don't matter though, you can still hear the stereo thumping a quarter mile away!

I did this with an old Lincoln Arc Weld Pack 100 112volt welder I purchased new around 1989 or so.

• I used Hobart .030" wire, gas less - flux core
• heat high on the new tube , wire speed just under 3 on scale.
• heat low when welding the flange tabs to the muffler, wire speed about 2-1/4 on scale.

Josh did his midnight run to the gopher state later that night without a hitch. The good news is, I finally got my spark pictures, and got them posted to boot!

We need your services Lenny!

Last week while I was working on the plans for the stainless steel carts I recieved a phone call. The voice on the other end said we need your services lenny, bring your tape measure! I said I could be there in 45 minutes or so , Dave said great!
I showed up just like I said I would and signed in according to the protocalls. How can I be of service I asked. Dave explained that the company wants every cabinet off the floor for a qualifing audit this week and wanted to know if I could build frames for all of the cabinets in the building. JackPot! I thought. This will be a piece of cake! Then Dave said we will want them by Tuesday next week, Do you think you can do it by then? I said I'm pretty sure I could.
This was on aThursday evening after the metel store was closed so after an hour of taking measurements for the cabinets , I ran a quick total of inches and divided by 12 to get the approximate footage of raw materials required for the job. Turns out the job required about 370 + ft of 1.5" x 1.5" x 3/16" angle Iron. I didn't know the exact cost of the raw materials but gave an approximation value of 4-500 dollars. I said if they could put in a purchase order for the raw steel which comes in 20' lengths that I could pick it up and get started the next morning. Dave listened as I explained what I would do to add value for the product I had in mind. I scribbled a basic sketch of the notched corners fitting in place and explained that all welds would be consealed except for the four corner welds that are on the topside of the leggs, which would be finnished up with a grinder for a uniform appearence. I also expected to keep the job some where in the budget range of 8 - 900 dollars if they could purchase the raw steel. This made my life easier as I didn't have to arrange the funds to get started.
The next morning I got up and made my refigured calculations and rounded up the last full 20' length of angle in case I made a mistake. It is a good thing that I did that too.
There are many things that can go wrong and do. in this case I underestimated the wire needed for the welder and missed one cycle on the band saw a goofed up one piece by cutting off a tab instead of cutting a notch. That one was covered. The only other goof was breaking the band saw blade before I had spares on hand. That happened about 11:30 Friday night and I had planned on picking up a couple at Ace Hardware Saturday morning anyways. I used the time welding the first five before I quit for the night around 3:00AM.
The next morning I started cutting the longer peices with a 7" zip wheel untill my wife came home with the blades. Although the cuts are not perfectly square they can easily be consealed by wrapping the corners with the 6.5" leg after the outside is welded and cleaned up with a radius to allow the angle to fit snug.
By the time I quit for the evening Saturday night I had all the steel cut and notched and five pedistals welded up. I still had 26 more to weld and clean up prior to delivery. Sunday I took the morning off for a little bit of quiet contemplation with my maker. While I'm making my settup I ask the good Lords blessings on the project. I know kind of late for that one , but remember I have a dead line! By the time I had put my 12 hours in on Sunday I had 23 completely welded and cleaned up. It was going to be close on the welder wire Monday. I bought the last spool in the local area Saturday morning, and would have to drive twenty miles to get more. Well just like self fullfilling thoughts do, they come true, and I ran out with just three to go on Monday afternoon!
So, seeing that I had to drive into town to get the wire, I might just as well deliver the 28 units I have so they can start loading them up ASAP.
When I came home and got back to work, the project was finished by 9:00PM. I still had a day to work on the billing aspects of the business. Fortunatly I have some blank order forms that I could use as an invoice to list items by size and quantity. After figuring my goals and costs, I set my prices for the custom pedistals at $27.50 a piece, compared the totals with my estimates, and calculated the company cost to be under $45.00 each unit total. I think every body comes out ahead in the end.
If you think of the 53+ hours I put in on this project Fri through Monday was extreme or,I did not make big money, the rewards of a successful project like this is more than enought to make up for simple wages. For example the phone call from Dave this evening, thanking me for
my efforts, that is something that you won't get from a day job! Not to memtion that if there is more welding to be done I have already made the first impression! Who knows where this networking might lead to nextime?