Help needed it welwyn garden city

[spaffmonkey]

the birdcage bit by the way wasnt a comment on your ability to weld it was just an example

well before billj help me the other day my welding was ether the birdcage or a

food colinder

now its more like a jucy worm

 

[BillJ]

I have done a bit of welding today and it was going very well

That's brilliant, mate. Juicy worms too - much better than the wormholes before
Looking forward to the photos.

My crossmember could be welded as it's a clean break but I only have DC TIG so couldn't do it myself. And it's structural so needs to be a decent job. I've sourced a replacement so it should be here next week some time.

 

[spaffmonkey]

That's brilliant, mate. Juicy worms too - much better than the wormholes before
Looking forward to the photos.

My crossmember could be welded as it's a clean break but I only have DC TIG so couldn't do it myself. And it's structural so needs to be a decent job. I've sourced a replacement so it should be here next week some time.

I thort you could mig ali ?

A replacement one is much less faff aswell anyway.

But keep the old one so you can practise

I will try and do some more little bits today but it keeps raining at the moment

And sort some pics

 

[madkayaker]

ali can be mig'd with argon

 

[spaffmonkey]

Is that strait argon?

 

[madkayaker]

yep the wire speed is alot faster than mild and you need an oversized tip as the wire expands as you weld

 

[madkayaker]

and a stainless steel brush to clean the metal as you go

 

[spaffmonkey]

I think if i do any ali welding it will be a fair while

ill try and master steel first

 

[spaffmonkey]

My mask and bits turned up today so will be trying them out shortly.

 

[spaffmonkey]

The mask was great today so much easyer and in result my welding has been so much better.

Thanks Mr Weldequip

 

[BChild]

The mask was great today so much easyer and in result my welding has been so much better.

Thanks Mr Weldequip

No pics - it didn't happen

 

[spaffmonkey]

Sorry my camara battery was flat so i put it on charge and i will take pics tommorow and
post the pics.

 

[BChild]

Sorry my camara battery was flat so i put it on charge and i will take pics tommorow and
post the pics.

Only teasing

Seriously tho be nice to see pics (when you have time) to see the difference that an auto darkening makes

 

[spaffmonkey]

Its amazing how much easyer it makes it as with my old mask i always had to try and clamp the metal plates in place which always seemed to fall off as most of the work is underneath the van
Ware as with the auto darkening mask i can just hold the plate in place and spot weld it in place and then go along a finish it off

When i first saw the auto darkening masks i was scared of them thinking i dont trust i to autamaticly darken as i dont want arc eye but when i try'ed billj's one
i couldn't belive how good they are so i got one and now theres no going back to the manual ones.

 

[BillJ]

Great news, mate! I hope you find it a worthwhile investment.
Photos of the results would be handy

Going way back in the thread (and very off-topic), yes, I could try MIGing that ali cross-member but I haven't had much luck with ali MIG (not tried it on the Parweld yet) so wouldn't be confident doing something structural but as you say, the old one will be great for practising on.

 

[spaffmonkey]

Right progress pics

I started by chopping all the rusty metel out of back wing
I filled a bucket full of rusty metal

Once i had grinded the wing down there was not much left so i decided to
fabricate a new arch. yes i could of brought a repair pannel but havnt got the money at the moment and wheres the fun in that

I started by making a cardboard template using the otherside wing so i got the right shape then cut it out in metal.

Then i spot welded the edge for the wing in place

Then went round the hole inside edge spotwelding

Then grinded outer edge smooth and to strenghten the outer edge i went along and spot welded along the edge and grinded flat again.

i then spoted the panel to the van

Then went along spoting along all edge's

Then to the back pannel i fabricated a few parts and spotted them in

This pannel i spotted in place every inch then went along spotting all the way round hole pannel

More to come

 

[spaffmonkey]

Great news, mate! I hope you find it a worthwhile investment.
Photos of the results would be handy

Going way back in the thread (and very off-topic), yes, I could try MIGing that ali cross-member but I haven't had much luck with ali MIG (not tried it on the Parweld yet) so wouldn't be confident doing something structural but as you say, the old one will be great for practising on.

I has defenatly been a worth while investment no going bk to the manual one now

and how did your friends like the camping rack?

 

[BChild]

[Mr Burns]Excellent[/Mr Burns]

 

[DannyJigg]

Looking good spaffmonkey. That looks like a lot of work but I am sure it will be worth it and satisfying once you have the finished article. Keep at it

 

[BillJ]

That's looking really good, mate. And well done on making the panels too!
Impressed? You bet!

and how did your friends like the camping rack?

Luckily I asked them to measure the stove before they came up to collect the stand. They'd given me completely the wrong dimensions (far too big!)
So we spent Easter Sunday cutting it down to size and rewelding. They really enjoyed it. I think they just liked being involved. I got one of them to do all the marking out so if it was still wrong it wasn't my fault