Then it was square! This was when I always found out that no matter how careful I was, all those passes ended up putting put a twist in it. lol


This where they get you, It looked like it was a specialty piece from a unique source bent with a radius specifically for that particular application. I would be curious, Thank you!

 

We only replaced the outer skin, so didn't really have to worry about the assembly warping. Besides, that thing is wrecked, LOL...we can only use that grinder for another year, due to CARB regs anyways. I also welded one side first, from right to left, then pushed the plate in with the excavator to get it as flush as possible, stitch welded the sides to keep it in place, put a couple of stitches on the top edge, then welded the top edge from left to right...then finish welded the sides, alternating direction there as well... that way when the weld cools, and pulls it one direction, when you do the other side in the opposite direction, it pulls things back square...

The plates we ordered from our local steel sources, just gave them the dimensions of what we wanted, and the radius needed. They always oblige, LOL...

 

OK I posted this in a couple of other places, but I feel it's important enough to post here as well...

Just a small reminder as to why it's important to adhere to safety guys...

So the first picture, this happened during my most recent work re-skinning our grinder's hammermill cover...had to torch the old skin out, but the way it sat, all the molten metal and slag basically "ski-jumped" off the plate...now I was wearing long pants of course, and nothing really could be done other than stand off to the side...the pool of hot liquid metal rolled down off the plate, jumped off and onto my pant leg, burned through, and landed INSIDE my boot. Ouch.



Second pic, just showing a size comparison of the wound, yes that's a quarter...



Okay, third pic is entirely my fault. It has been triple digit temps and muggy here lately with the high humidity, not common here in the desert. I was working yesterday (Saturday) and being there on the weekend, I told myself "well I'm gonna be as comfortable as possible", so I wore short sleeves. That's an arc flash sunburn there folks. Only had about an hour and a half of welding to get that. So, my wanting to be "comfortable" for a few hours, now has me being uncomfortable for several days as it heals. So I nominate myself. LOL



Bottom line here is to be safe guys. This is what happens when you get lax in it. It sucks.

 

Damn Ronin, she got you good on the ankle there bud. Made my butt pucker seeing that pic, been there too many times.

The flash burn, lol, I'm guilty of that all the time. I know it's bad, but when it's 105 with 85% humidity... I really can't function in full covering.

 

That's a bad burn man, 3rd degree from what it looks like. That's a bad place for one too, especially in your business. Have you put any thought yet into how you are going to properly take care of that for the next 3-4 weeks? A dry scab could be a mistake with a wound that large my friend, been there.

 

I know what you mean, but I'm paying for it now, LOL...the flash burn is doing fine, using a sunburn cream on it and it doesn't even hurt anymore...
Yeah it's a pretty bad burn, but in all actuality, it hasn't been THAT bad...I'm using this:


Let me tell you, this stuff is a welder's best friend, LOL...it goes on like a cream (sort of) and keeps the wound "moist" but at the same time, forms a sticky skin over the top. I've been using it religiously. I only own two pair of shoes: work boots, and flip flops. So, in the AM, I apply liberally, and have been using brand new socks, gauze pads would be too bulky in my boots, lace up, and fortunately, it's in a spot that doesn't get aggravated too much...I don't even realize it's there during the day. Get home, pull my socks off, and they come right off, no sticking to the wound at all. Shower up, clean well, and reapply the ointment, and let it breathe until the next round. It's working great so far. My sis told me to go to the doctor, I said why...they're gonna pretty much tell me to do what I'm doing, and my niece, who's in nursing school ATM, said it looks good, so unless it becomes infected, I'm gonna roll with it. I hardly realize it's there, so why not?

 

shoot ill get an arc flash sunburn from one bead!!

 

No pun intended, lol. You have it handled, I was going to suggest keeping a semi wet scab but I am not licensed to give medical advice. All three of my Daughters and one Son in law are advanced in the Medical Field and would completely agree with your assessment, care and treatment of this


On another note, I put too much load on a 100ft extension cord with my 6" grinder and started a fire yesterday, guess I was "Digging" into my grind too hard. lol

 

i have a question for some of you guys.

I am going to be welding in my new floor pan to my frame. I have drilled holes in my new floor pan to plug weld to the frame...with that said...the metal of the frame is a thicker metal than the floor pan. Do I set my welder to the floor pan settings, or to the frame settings? I feel that if i set to floor pan setting, it wont get a good weld to the frame...if i do it to the frame settings, it will probably just burn holes through the floor pan.. ?????

 

Set for the thicker steel, and start your weld on that heavier steel. Rosette outwards till you've burned into the floorpan. Done and done.

 

Posted in a different area of the forum...but it fits here so here goes:

One other thing to mention...when I got the machine, that diesel tank was only being held on by a single bolt...one was missing, one tab sheared off, one mount block broken, and one bolt holding it all in...the reason I even noticed it was my compadre was doing a maintenance on it, and it had a bad hydraulic leak...so I told him to park it and I would investigate...during the troubleshooting I found all the broken mounts, but the other thing to remember is there was a leak...on the front of that fuel tank is a hydraulic oil cooler, which is cooled by the coolant...so there was hydraulic lines, coolant lines, fuel lines, and wiring for gauges. Made new hydraulic hoses for the bad ones that were leaking, put 'em in. All in an 8 hour shift. Yes I'm drinking a beer right now, LOL

 

One thing about that Business...Every piece of equipment has to be up and rolling ASAP. There is no such thing as "Spare" equipment. Know why it tore along the weld? For some reason everyone insists that they use high tensile hard rod on everything and it will not flex with the metal next to it. All this stuff flexes and the weld needs to flex with it.

 

Here's what I am up against. I am just about done building a high clearance utility trailer to pull behind our Jeep. I am down to bending fenders and adding the lights I have some 12" wide x 1/16th inch sheet that was left over from a previous project and want to make some simple flat fenders with tight 45 degree bends.


I haven't ran into this situation much and I have to be honest and admit that my past attempts haven't been very clean. Does anyone have any suggestions or tricks on how to make good clean true bends in this slightly heavier sheet without me needing to first fabricate a Brake to do this?

 

Ouch dude. See this is why, rather than leave stuff like that to chance, I wear this...



Nomex coveralls. This is a retired wildland firefighting jumpsuit. Last time I was under the jeep welding on my exhaust, I got several burns on my neck from slag. Nothing severe, just little pebble-sized burns, but they sucked. So I went to the department I used to volunteer for and asked if they had anything de-certified that I could pick up for a song. I know the inventory guy and he showed me some things they were going to toss out. Wound up with the coveralls, a Nomex hood, and a pair of structural gloves for a five-finger discount. I might look overdressed and/or ridiculous wearing full nomex coveralls and hood when I'm under the Jeep welding, but at least I'm not getting burnt. I can still feel some heat when slag drops on it, but it doesn't burn through, melt, or destroy the fabric. The suit is lightweight and breathable, for the most part. If you guys can get your hands on some, I'd highly recommend it.

Nomex hood on the Galls website is about 40 bucks, coveralls are normally about 300. Since the FD couldn't use these anymore, they were fair game.

ON TO THE WELDING!!!!

I think I'm showing improvement. Had to re-do my exhaust. My original welds, as awesome as they were just weren't holding up... plus, I traded a sword to a guy for a Thrush Turbo muffler so it was an opportune time to re-do things.

Welds went from this...



To this...





mmmmm.. penetration



The other end...







Bracket that I modified for the hanger that mounts to the transmission mount...









And the final product...



Not at all professional grade, but they'll hold this time. Which is the whole point anyway. I've got a lot of practicing to do to get my technique down, and of course a better welder would help, but I feel a lot more confident about my welds now and how to work the puddle.

Criticism welcome... remember, I'm using a Harbor Freight 90 amp flux welder with their crappy wire. The exhaust piping was done on the low-heat setting and the bracket was done on high-heat. Wire-feed speed on pipe between 4-5, and 5-6 on the bracket.

 

Question regarding material.

I looking to use a set of old shackles to make an extended set for a couple of inch's lift on no budget. Its my daily driver for atleast the next 6 months and them will become our family weekend toy which will be redone with a proper 4-6" lift.

Plan is to either cut the existing legs of the shackles to weld new legs to the bush housing or extend the existing legs by welding a couple of pieces of either 1 x 1/4" or 1 1/4" x 1/4" flat bar to them.

Can I use plan old 250 grade mild steel or does it need to a higher grade? 250 is cheap and readily available in Australia