screens/wind breakers

[skeen]

I am in the unfortunate situation not to have a local garage/workshop yet and am going to have to do most of my welding outside for the time being. I know it's not ideal because of wind and stuff so I was wondering if anybody has had any luck with making/getting some fire resistant screens to help with wind etc.
I thought something like a gazebo might help but presumed it would be quite prone to catching light.
Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[jugs]

Well if the wife wont let you weld in the living room. either get a new wife or a cheep gazebo.

Just get some 8 x 4 sheets of ply or tin sheets to enclose the area your welding, to keep sparks from flying about, (most of your sparks should come from grinding not welding) the roof will keep the rain off & gives you somewhere to hang lights.

As you’re in Lincs use plenty of guy-ropes.

 

[fingers99]

There were some nice portable aluminium framed gazeebos on one of the shopping channels -- one of the suggested uses was welding. Most people make do with a tarp and bricks!

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

yes, tarps and bricks for me. I have some old market stall sheets around 12' square so I can get one well onto the roof and clamped (with stall clamps) onto the far side of the car. Then it's just a scatter or bricks along the 'ground' edge.

If it's just a small wind-break that I need then I'll use a fire-blanket as they're about 4' square.

I had thought of making a slot together rack of some kind to hold sheets up, make a tent, etc, but I've not gotten around to that yet.

Regards
Peter

 

[clevinski]

I'm interested in this issue also but I'm having trouble from the descriptions clearly understanding what's being done. Do some of you have any photos of this that you can post?

 

[Gas mark 5]

I am sure that this is not a very profesional thing to do, but if it is reletivly calm, I just turn up the gas flow rate and put either the welder or me on the windy side. It doesn't work for anything stronger than a gentle breeze though....
for that I use the side of an old cooker.

 

[jugs]

There were some nice portable aluminium framed gazeebos on one of the shopping channels -- one of the suggested uses was welding. Most people make do with a tarp and bricks!

Woolworths were doing a 3m x 6m for £30 ish a few weeks ago.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

I'm interested in this issue also but I'm having trouble from the descriptions clearly understanding what's being done. Do some of you have any photos of this that you can post?

in case you're being led astray by the language, 'tarp' is a tarpauline, "a large sheet of strong, flexible, water resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with plastics such as latex or PVC."...

feel free to slap me if you knew that :-)

So basically we're using a big sheet of relatively flame-resistant material to form a tent over a car, etc. Generally it'd be held in place by bricks or, as I mentioned, I use spring clamps about six inches long to attach to the door frame of the 'other' side of the car.

The sheet then lays over the roof and the bricks would be placed about four feet away on top of the sheet as it touches to the ground. It forms a tent to keep the wind and rain off...definately needed in a British Summer!

An idea I had was to have some metalwork that could be set up about five feet away from the car and the top rail (or maybe a wire) would be about five feet above ground. This would form a better tent with the sheet on the car roof, or if it was just a wind-break then the sheet would be hooked over it.

Does this give a better idea of what we're talking about?

Regards
Peter

 

[skeen]

Unfortunately, even though it would be a excellent solution the mrs will just not agree to welding in the room.
Thanks for the ideas, will be sorting a solution out within the next week when I get a bit of free time. Will probably go with some kind of bolt together contraption so it can be stored a bit easier. Also looking to build some kind of storage for all my new car repair gear as these old terrace houses have naff all storage inside or out so will probably do it all in one day out of the same materials.

 

[jugs]

Unfortunately, even though it would be a excellent solution the mrs will just not agree to welding in the room.

Cant you put the Mrs in the gazebo ? (tell her it's a sum room ) and you would'nt want to disturb her.

 

[clevinski]

Peterd51,

Yes, we Colonials use "tarp", too... I was having trouble visualizing exactly how you set it up, but your last description was very clear... thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

Will probably go with some kind of bolt together contraption so it can be stored a bit easier

'pockets' and 'pins', like a market stall.

two 'feet' made of 1" box about 3' - 4' long, weld a five inch pin of 20mm box at 90 degrees about half way along. When the feet are laid on the ground the pin sticks straight up.

Then you have two legs of 1" box about 5 - 6' long that slip over these pins.

Then you need a top rail, say 6' - 8' long (maximum up to 12' long) with pins at 90 degrees at each end, these pins drop into the top of the legs and the whole thing stands on it's own. Throw the sheet over it...it can be put up or taken down in a minute.

If you want to make it a bit more stable then weld pockets of 1" box about 3" long lower down on the legs, half way or maybe 6" up from the bottom, and add a bottom rail.

You may also want to add pockets at the top of each leg, then you could have two top rails at 90 degrees with a third leg and foot to form a corner making it much more stable.

It's only a small step to complete the 'box' and make the other two sides.

Putting up something like 8' x 16' would only take about 20 minutes. In that case you'd want six legs and feet, thirteen rails (don't forget the roof rail across the middle) and the rails could all be 8' long. The metal would cost a fortune though!

Regards
Peter

 

[skeen]

That sort of thing would be spot on but not sure how much it would cost to make but I'll be phoning the metal merchants to find out because I could make a complete box for spraying purposes too. I know it would pretty much be a gazebo but probably a bit stronger and quicker to put up and down, and a bit more adjustable to.
Your idea got me thinking about those portable clothes rails that are about £7, put some weight on the bottom and they might work, and they're on wheels to. Just depends how flimsy they are if they would hold up against a decent wind.
What sort of sheeting would be suitable? Is a tarp resistant enough to sparks and splatter to make an adequate screen because they're pretty cheap?
Thanks