A few random stainless jobs

[Paul.]

Been making some trollies for a chemical works, these are just over a metre square and 2 metres high, made from 50 x 50 x 3 stainless box section, with a bit of 100 x 50 in the bottom for good measure, so not light.

Pre made the side frames and the base then fabbed up on my bits of adjustable beam and use the corner jigs to keep things square and flat. its a no frills job so just minimal cleaning up to do.

No comfortable bench welding on this job, all clambering about

And this is what they end up like,

They will have 1" x 1" galv mesh fitted by the customer, with an open mesh flooring panel to the base,

Two down six to go.

 

[Screwdriver]

So I am just about to embark on a very similar venture with 50x50x2mm box section in mild steel. It will be a very similar ambition no doubt with a rather different outcome! I note you are Tigging it and wonder what the advantages/disadvantages are compared to say Mig?

The "welds" will be ground to within an inch of their lives and the final product cold blacked and lacquered. Got any tips?

 

[Hood]

So I am just about to embark on a very similar venture with 50x50x2mm box section in mild steel. It will be a very similar ambition no doubt with a rather different outcome! I note you are Tigging it and wonder what the advantages/disadvantages are compared to say Mig?

The "welds" will be ground to within an inch of their lives and the final product cold blacked and lacquered. Got any tips?

Aye, stick it

 

[Screwdriver]

Aye, stick it

Why?

 

[Hood]

Few reasons, easier to learn than Tig, nicer than Mig, no need to shield/purge, cheapest option and I love stick welding stainless Must admit though I tend to Tig most stuff like that nowadays although heavier stuff like below I go with stick.

 

[Carl Wilson]

Wow. An inspiration to me. I'd love to be a pupil of yours.

 

[DAPPH]

I'm sure Hood is open to taking on paying students who have £300 per hr for his skills .

 

[Hood]

I'm sure Hood is open to taking on paying students who have £300 per hr for his skills .

I don't think it was me that was being asked

 

[Country Joe]

Wow. An inspiration to me. I'd love to be a pupil of yours.

I don't think it was me that was being asked

Both yourself & @Paul. equally, I would imagine.
A very common thought, I suspect.

And he is up in Scotland....

All the Best,
CJ

 

[Screwdriver]

Few reasons, easier to learn than Tig, nicer than Mig, no need to shield/purge, cheapest option and I love stick welding stainless Must admit though I tend to Tig most stuff like that nowadays although heavier stuff like below I go with stick.
View attachment 211782 View attachment 211783

I can assure you when I stick weld, it looks nothing like that! Looks are relatively important but I will be grinding back anyway. I have Mig/Tig already so gas/no gas is moot. I just want the easiest quickest process for ten zillion welds in 1" box section. The result will be given a chemical black finish so it can look industrial so long as it's not horrific.

I am leaning towards Mig so long as I can dial in the settings. Tig is compelling though the Tig unit is relatively inaccessible during the long drawn out reorganisation of the disaster area I call a workshop..

 

[Hood]

Both yourself & @Paul. equally, I would imagine.
A very common thought, I suspect.

And he is up in Scotland....

All the Best,
CJ

I think Carl wold go into cardiac arrest even looking into my workshop as I seem to remember he likes to work in a tidy environment and, as @Tangledfeet can attest to , mine is not easily described as such

 

[Hood]

I can assure you when I stick weld, it looks nothing like that! Looks are relatively important but I will be grinding back anyway. I have Mig/Tig already so gas/no gas is moot. I just want the easiest quickest process for ten zillion welds in 1" box section. The result will be given a chemical black finish so it can look industrial so long as it's not horrific.

I am leaning towards Mig so long as I can dial in the settings. Tig is compelling though the Tig unit is relatively inaccessible during the long drawn out reorganisation of the disaster area I call a workshop..

The big problem with hollow sections and Mig or Tig is ideally you want to purge the inside to shield it, stick does not require that.
It may not matter that the insides are contaminated and the welds weaker due to that, if that is the case then Mig will certainly be the quickest.

 

[Tangledfeet]

I think Carl wold go into cardiac arrest even looking into my workshop as I seem to remember he likes to work in a tidy environment and, as @Tangledfeet can attest to , mine is not easily described as such

Oh, it is so very much more than a workshop... it's a beacon, a shining light, attesting to people making stuff with metal. I wanted to bottle the smell!

I know @Hood will berate me for saying this but he is the perfect gentleman and made me feel most welcome when I paid a visit - his facade here is only skin deep!

 

[Hood]

Oh, it is so very much more than a workshop... it's a beacon, a shining light, attesting to people making stuff with metal. I wanted to bottle the smell!

I know @Hood will berate me for saying this but he is the perfect gentleman and made me feel most welcome when I paid a visit - his facade here is only skin deep!

Aye but it needs a lot of skin to cover me

 

[Paul.]

Had a day off from making trollies to do a rush job for the local fire brigade, these are part of the ladder gantry on a fire appliance,
5mm stainless plate made into angles, if I had bent it in the press the corner radius would have been too big, so run a thin cutting disk along the cut line to about 3/4 of the way through and just bend it over in the vice, then run a weld down it to fill it up, I actually tig rooted it then ran a 3.2 electrode over to cap it.

Then a bit of a clean and polish to hide what I've done, take off the sharp corners too.

Fit some gussets inside to stop it flexing, these are autogenously welded with the tig.

Drill and de burr some holes, some pickling paste to the inside cleans them up nicely, and job done.

 

[Paul.]

Little job done today needed a shallow cone making from stainless, no need for any fancy kit, a bit of tube some packers and a couple of G clamps will do the job.

Then after cutting out the developed cone just pull it round by hand, careful not to over bend it , a few spaced out pen marks help to keep it even.

A bit of a frame to go with it and its now a heat deflector for a gas fire pit, not much cleaning up required for this one, its functional rather than decorative.

 

[Hitch]

Im pleased to see even an experienced hand like yourself adding a few pen marks to help keep a cone on the right track.
Thats something I always get the apprentices to do when they get a fancy laser cut cone to form up.

 

[Paul.]

Another job finished today, its a mobile shadow-board for the storage of change parts on a can filling machine, this is a design and build it around what my customer has on his rack, the material is a bit "distressed" as they say, but a flap wheel improves things a little.

Here I've built the base and fitted the wheels, and using my corner jigs to attach the verticals,

And a couple of the welds

Mounting brackets were waterjet cut, I just had to de burr and tap them, they will never be seen when its finished.

Frame built and cleaned, mug for scale, it stands over 2m high

And fitted with one board, these are 20mm polyethylene engraved with the shape of the parts, there will be four fitted back to back when its finished and will have stainless pins to hang the parts on, the customer is doing that bit

 

[Paul.]

More bits for fire engines, these are part of the ladder gantry, they are quite fiddly things to make, all 5mm plate, never seen when fitted so not much finishing required, they will be used with the brackets shown a few posts up, https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/a-few-random-stainless-jobs.54058/page-16#post-1492774

 

[Paul.]

Held up today so made this to amuse my grandson, Inspired by @jimbo84 version, this one is all stainless with nuts for a head and feet.
10mm bar, and an electrode for antlers.