Hello and Questions

[Varanus]

Hi all,

Spent the last few months humming and haring about a welder and have just moments ago ordered a Clarke 151Turbo gas\gasless mig, which from what I can gather as i know very little or less than that..... isnt a bad starting point for me budget ive paid £187 for it new on ebay (cue people asking me how much did they have big glass windows to see me coming etc etc)

Anyway ive a few things in mind and a little scrap here to try and practice on but basicall I want to weld some points onto the rear of the frame of me bike so i can mount a top box which i went to all the exspense of getting the one from germany with all the brackets etc to make my life easy and then i find in germany they fit pillion handles and they dont on my Model so i need to make the mounts onto the frame myself Doh!

Also i plan on modifying my trailer thats a single bike one into a double bike one that i can also clip and unlip a frame from to use it as a box trailer when i want to do so


me father in law is also allready going on about cast iron gates so looks like ive lots to learn fast any tips for a total novice I had a very brief play with a arc the other day first time with any welder and welded a rusted snapped lug onto the trailer but as soon as i strapped anything to it the it snapped so no real success there........

Anyway ill be drudgeing through the boards to see what info i can pick up and sure ill have many many more questions

Cheers Paul

 

[pointer2null]

Can't offer much advice yet as just learning myself - other than get a auto-darkening helmet, like this one + a paid of decent gauntlets.

Strangely enough making a mount for the back box on the bike (Fazer 600) is also one of the things I want to do.

 

[Varanus]

yeah been looking on ebay for a auto dark helmet but not sure to gamble on one or not looking at the likes of this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUTO-DARKENING-SOLAR-WELDERS-MASK-WELDING-HELMET-66J_W0QQitemZ290336778819QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_ProtectiveGear_RL?hash=item43996baa43&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262

Allways liked the look of the fazer when it came out but ended up with a trx 850 and a r1 these days spend most of my time on the trx and me crf 450 also plan to weld some damage on me kx 250 engine case at some point but best to leave that till i can weld ok i think

 

[pointer2null]

I'm no expert on helmets, but the one on ebay is a fixed shade and the one I linked to is adjustable from shade 9 to 13. Also Guantlets aren't dear - paid about 3.99 for mine.

I got a crack in the engine mount on the fazer as well, but its aluminium and welding that it a different kettle of fish.

One other tip I just though of - don't bother with the disposable bottles, they cost a fortune and don't last long at all. For general welding you can use CO2 (pub gas),

 

[Varanus]

yeah i gotta figure out what i need to get to convert it to gas welding as its coming in gasless mode allready gpt some nice gaunlets have had for ages i use the to handle monitor lizards with ........

 

[Angusdog]

Auto darkening helmets are tops, but get one with adjustable shade. I had a non-adjustable one but my new adjustable one makes an enormous difference, like being able to actually see what the weld pool is doing.

TRX, eh? I love those bikes. I saw one on the motorway the other day and immediately thought about swapping my Suzuki M50 (M800 in the UK I think) for one. They don't often come up for sale in NZ though.

 

[Varanus]

seem to be a fair few in oz and even a few in NZ on the motomaniac trx forum... So adjustable helmet it is then

 

[Varanus]

Well went to the scrapyard near here and they let me have some odd bits of shet metal lying around FOC total uselless bits but thin and usefull to practice on i think they charged me £15 for a 7ft long rsj which i intend to use as a ramp into me workshop for my bikes so whats the best method you guys can think of to modify the rsj so i have some grip on it ? was thinking just angle grinding some groves onto it but welcome all ideas?

 

[pointer2null]

Glue some grit on it

You'll need to roughen up the surface somehow. Large grooves won't make too much difference - they'd be great for allowing water to get away to prevent hydroplaning, but wouldn't offer too much more grip at low speed in the dry, I would have thought.

 

[Varanus]

was thinking glueing grit on it but not sure it would last more than about 5 mins

 

[pointer2null]

You can buy some tape which has grit on it - you tend to see it used on metal/stone stairs and skateboards. I've seen it for sale in B&Q.

 

[Varanus]

ah that sounds good yeah i recall seeing that stuff on metal fire escapes before

 

[Varanus]

like this stuff http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Adhesives+Sealants/Tapes/Antislip+Tape+25mm+x+5m+Black/d180/sd2420/p11731

 

[pointer2null]

Thats the stuff I was thinking of. As long as the RSJ is clean it should stick ok and provide more than enough grip.

 

[Varanus]

will give a good clean and grind smooth then get soem and stick it on see how it works

 

[Varanus]

Still no welder man i hate being charged lots for del then it taking many days to arrive in my book you pay anything over a tenner for del it should be next day not two days after youve ordered it you get an email telling you that its going to be with you in a few days direct from the manufacturer hell if id have known that would have gone elsewhere

Also ordered a regulator kit and a helmet from weldequip helmet is on the same page that you sent me null but its the red 59.99 one

 

[pointer2null]

lol - impatient. I knwo the feeling - I'm the same. I ordered it at least 10 mins ago, it should be here now.

 

[Varanus]

yeah i am very when ive bought somthing but to be honest if id paid like £8 postage i wouldnt mind but £20 to me means courier of some sort next day

Sent email to elite welding about bottle prices but no reply as yet must be somewhere closer to me

 

[pointer2null]

but £20 to me means courier of some sort next day

Or just an awful lot of 2nd class stamps

 

[Varanus]

yeah and as far as i can see its one of the biggest scams on ebay loads on postage and then it cost them virtually nowt to send it slow mail

Spent just over £300 and not got a anything here yet least weldquip told me right off how long it would be etc