Well I toyed with the idea of building a trailer but needed to learn to weld, how hard can it be, well a bit harder than I thought and I have 1 month to complete it.
I did lots of planning, tried lots of welding and got okay especially on flat, still shameful on vertical, going to try different electrode tomorrow 7018.
I hired a makita cutoff saw, which was great if not very accurate, but then decided to check the angle with set squares etc, cuts perfectly if I do that. First few cuts I assumed were accurate and ended up causing me more hassle when it came to welding it.
one thing I hate... milscale... tried grinding / flap disc / acid
acid worked great on box section but not so great on some of the angle so used mainly flap disc, going to try a ceramic flap disc tomorrow on some milscale.
Not remembered to take lots of pics, but I did find someone that can weld, so have been texting them with pics and he's been giving me some tips when I get problems so not done too badly.
This is where I've pretty much got up to, though those wheels don't fit so getting them swapped for some 10" wheels 195/50 high load, it's too high with those on it, caused by actual measurements being slightly different from what I calculated, also offset on those wheels is wrong, but no biggie new wheels here on Wed.
Brakes fitted and working, lights almost on.
Only problem is that I have 1 week to finish, this is going to be a box trailer with pop up lid. To make sure every thing fits first time I'm going to test fit the metal uprights when I get the panels tomorrow, then I'll mark them out and weld anything onto them that I need to, then I'll fit them, will probably have to do a few small vertical welds, not looking forward to that.
It's going to take me 3 - 4 days to get the panels all painted which I'll be doing outdoors, weather looks dry for a few days lol... when it's drying, I'll drill all the holes I need for the bolts in the uprights and rails and it should all go together perfectly apart from me having to do small vertical welds on the bottom corners.
The internal measurements will be just less than 5ft wide and 7 ft long.
Axel is positioned at 65% of the way back, or 35% from the back, it's still pretty easy to pick up the nose, but there won't be anything too heavy in the front of the trailer when it's packed.
I think one of the problems I'm having with vertical welds is that most of the material is 3mm thick so I can't stay long enough on each side without it blowing through. I've been told that 7018's may help a little.
Also getting some 29/9 electrodes as I need to weld some stainless steel hinges onto the mild steel upright, any hints ?
I'm finding welding outside much better than in the garage.
I suspect tomorrow that I'll be up late drilling holes whilst watching paint dry.
I did lots of planning, tried lots of welding and got okay especially on flat, still shameful on vertical, going to try different electrode tomorrow 7018.
I hired a makita cutoff saw, which was great if not very accurate, but then decided to check the angle with set squares etc, cuts perfectly if I do that. First few cuts I assumed were accurate and ended up causing me more hassle when it came to welding it.
one thing I hate... milscale... tried grinding / flap disc / acid
acid worked great on box section but not so great on some of the angle so used mainly flap disc, going to try a ceramic flap disc tomorrow on some milscale.
Not remembered to take lots of pics, but I did find someone that can weld, so have been texting them with pics and he's been giving me some tips when I get problems so not done too badly.
This is where I've pretty much got up to, though those wheels don't fit so getting them swapped for some 10" wheels 195/50 high load, it's too high with those on it, caused by actual measurements being slightly different from what I calculated, also offset on those wheels is wrong, but no biggie new wheels here on Wed.
Brakes fitted and working, lights almost on.
Only problem is that I have 1 week to finish, this is going to be a box trailer with pop up lid. To make sure every thing fits first time I'm going to test fit the metal uprights when I get the panels tomorrow, then I'll mark them out and weld anything onto them that I need to, then I'll fit them, will probably have to do a few small vertical welds, not looking forward to that.
It's going to take me 3 - 4 days to get the panels all painted which I'll be doing outdoors, weather looks dry for a few days lol... when it's drying, I'll drill all the holes I need for the bolts in the uprights and rails and it should all go together perfectly apart from me having to do small vertical welds on the bottom corners.
The internal measurements will be just less than 5ft wide and 7 ft long.
Axel is positioned at 65% of the way back, or 35% from the back, it's still pretty easy to pick up the nose, but there won't be anything too heavy in the front of the trailer when it's packed.
I think one of the problems I'm having with vertical welds is that most of the material is 3mm thick so I can't stay long enough on each side without it blowing through. I've been told that 7018's may help a little.
Also getting some 29/9 electrodes as I need to weld some stainless steel hinges onto the mild steel upright, any hints ?
I'm finding welding outside much better than in the garage.
I suspect tomorrow that I'll be up late drilling holes whilst watching paint dry.