Metal fabrication tricks, money saving ideas.

Just a little idea that helps in a pinch.

If you need to weld something up in a corner, underneath a rig, and you can see it fine, but can't get you head back into the same space with your helmet on. Take the fully tinted glass out of a non autodark helmet ( usually 2" x 4"), and hold in front of your eyes with your left hand, and weld away with your right hand.

Had to do this several times in tight places where I could barely just fit my head into.

Its something that seams obvious, but if you are underneath something and are getting frustrated trying to fit in some tight spot, its easy not to think of doing this.


For any welding ground, or plasma ground, and you need to hook to a large of wierd shaped object, stick one of those fabrication magnets to it, and then you are able to then clamp to the magnet. ( Or just buy a magnetic ground thing from any welding supply shop. I'm cheap, and already have the 90*, and 45* triangle magnets laying around)
 
jdubb said:
thats what I found on the Miller and Hobart sites but the v-shaped die is only needed for thinner stuff. I just have two 1" blocks for the low die. the upper die is like 3 x 5/8. I learned if you're gonna bend a long piece of 1/4 plate then its best to have a wider base so it doesnt keep tipping over on you while you're bending
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Thats cool, I need to build one. I have a 4 way punch & die, just need to build a frame.

Mac5005 said:
Just a little idea that helps in a pinch.
If you need to weld something up in a corner, underneath a rig, and you can see it fine, but can't get you head back into the same space with your helmet on. Take the fully tinted glass out of a non autodark helmet ( usually 2" x 4"), and hold in front of your eyes with your left hand, and weld away with your right hand.
Had to do this several times in tight places where I could barely just fit my head into.
Its something that seams obvious, but if you are underneath something and are getting frustrated trying to fit in some tight spot, its easy not to think of doing this.
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I have also needed to do this, I have a few scars to show from it. So if indeed you need to do this make sure you think of the safty aspect before doing so. make suer you have safty glasses on gloves a hat will keep you from smelling hair.

Remember the arc & UV rays from the light of weld is brighter than the sun, it will give you flash burn in seconds. Mig is worse than stick. (I have scares in my eyes to prov it) Anrt that bullshit about a potato slice on your eye don't work. The only thing that will give you relief is the pian drops from the eye doctor.
 
Like frying eggs, real loud.
 
Jeff B said:
Like frying eggs, real loud.
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I personally know a fella that lost his hearing in one ear because of molten metal going down his ear canal. Even small ones make your throat sore, not to mention the Knots on your head after violently trying to get it to stop hurting on impulse........earplugs will save your hearing in more than one way
 
any tips for welding on a vehicle besides removing the negative battery cable? i've heard its possible to fry wire connections and melt electronic modules. any experiences?
 
Jeff B said:
I have also needed to do this, I have a few scars to show from it. So if indeed you need to do this make sure you think of the safty aspect before doing so. make suer you have safty glasses on gloves a hat will keep you from smelling hair.
Remember the arc & UV rays from the light of weld is brighter than the sun, it will give you flash burn in seconds. Mig is worse than stick. (I have scares in my eyes to prov it) Anrt that bullshit about a potato slice on your eye don't work. The only thing that will give you relief is the pian drops from the eye doctor.
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Thats a definite Jeff, and a really important part I left out. I only use this method, when there is no other way possible, and I also wear safety glasses with my dirtbike goggles over them as well as my welding hat and ear plugs to protect me.

After having splatter shoot into my ear canal the first time, from now on I always wear ear plugs unless I am welding on the work table.
 
GrnRanger said:
any tips for welding on a vehicle besides removing the negative battery cable? i've heard its possible to fry wire connections and melt electronic modules. any experiences?
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I have & seen it done at work-toasted computer control module on the tier 3 cat & cummins 3.3 engines. On the carnival I was welding on a ride & the current arc went through some bearings & seized them up. I have cooked brake lines.
On cars always unhook the battery.
On moving parts keep your ground clamped close to your work piece, you want no hinges or joints for the arc to travel through. I usually try to keep the ground on the same piece of metal I am welding on, especially on vehicles
 
GrnRanger said:
any tips for welding on a vehicle besides removing the negative battery cable? i've heard its possible to fry wire connections and melt electronic modules. any experiences?
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I usually just put the ground as close to the welding area as possible and usually don't disconnect the battery.
 
Jeff B said:
I have also needed to do this, I have a few scars to show from it. So if indeed you need to do this make sure you think of the safty aspect before doing so. make suer you have safty glasses on gloves a hat will keep you from smelling hair.
Remember the arc & UV rays from the light of weld is brighter than the sun, it will give you flash burn in seconds. Mig is worse than stick. (I have scares in my eyes to prov it) Anrt that bullshit about a potato slice on your eye don't work. The only thing that will give you relief is the pian drops from the eye doctor.
Click to expand...


I know first hand what you mean about flash arch burns me being one of those amatures who shouldn't be welding types. Every time I weld I have to strike the arch before I flip the helmet down. The problem is when you do this repeated through the day and the accumualted exposore gives you flash burn. Hurts like hell.

A little tip i figured out is since I wear contacts now they have UV protection in them I no longer get flash burn for my bone head welding technique. Now I don't recomend watching some one weld and being protected by contacts but for the spilt second flashes that use to burn my eyes my contacts protect me. Have not had flash burn since I started wearing contacts.
 
Jeff B said:
Since there are so many welder/fabricators on this board I thought it would be a good idea for all of us to share some of the tricks of the trade with the next generation/wannabe/backyard & all those trying to learn the hard way as I did.
Here is a couple things I use & do.
Instead of acetylene & Oxy. I use propane & Oxy to cut with all you need is a propane tip for your torches. This is for cutting only you cannot braze with propane. For me 1 gas grill bottle of propane will go several bottles of Oxy. I think I have the 90cu. bottle.
Scrap yard dog I am. I went to webbs metal recycling & scored almost 20' of 1.75 x .125w DOM for $15 bucks granted it's in 6' sections but I have to cut it up anyway.
Bed frames from your local goodwill or second hand store. I have made battery boxes, seat mounts fuel tank brackets.
When cutting out your wheel wells always use masking tape where your gonna cut zip wheel or sawzall it will help keep your paint from chipping & you line wont chip away with the paint.
Also use a string from the center of your wheel tied to a pencil to mark the radius sure makes the wheel look like it was made to fit up in that wheel well.
Thats all I can think of right now. I'll post more as it comes to me.
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i looked into doing this but my connectors are different between the act. and prop. did you get another connector? my bottoles are small. about 1ft tall.
 
Yes, I forgot about that. Go to lowes or home depot & get one off a gas grill regulator. Just make sure that the thread pitch is the same screwing into your regulator. IIRC it's 1/4 NPT.
 
Similar to what your talking about is MAP gas available at your welding supply. Here's a word of CAUTION. The valves on these types of containers are different. Ever smell propane from a valve on a grill or forklift only to find it was never turned fully on or off. To work properly they must seat fully on or off. Accytelene valve however need only to be turned a 1/4 round or so and is a recommended shop practice.

The long version of how I found out the HARD way.

I worked for a place that used MAP gas. I went over to the cylinder rack to exchange an emty and burned my palm fairly well when I grabbed hold of the handle on one of these type valves. The valve had been leaking and because of poor company practices had been ignited by the nearby work station. Essentially the tank had a small pilot light burning away under the round handle. In a panic I drug the tank out a nearby door and ran. Being younger and dumber I had to see what was going on and went to inspect. I found the little pilot light still burning away. With a now gloved hand I closed the valve down and proceded to call the vendor who delivered the bottle in said condition for a heart to heart.

With Propane or Map the valve is either off or on not in between.
 
OK this isn't fab related but it is handy if you have wheel spacers. Getting the lug nuts for the wheel spacers started is really a pain since they are recessed in a hole just barely larger than the lug nut itself. So what I do is put 1 lug nut down in my socket and then throw the other lug nut on top of it and then thread it. This way the lug nut isn't all the way down in a deep well socket. Probably common sense for some but maybe not for others.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
Similar to what your talking about is MAP gas available at your welding supply. Here's a word of CAUTION. The valves on these types of containers are different. Ever smell propane from a valve on a grill or forklift only to find it was never turned fully on or off. To work properly they must seat fully on or off. Accytelene valve however need only to be turned a 1/4 round or so and is a recommended shop practice.
The long version of how I found out the HARD way.
I worked for a place that used MAP gas. I went over to the cylinder rack to exchange an emty and burned my palm fairly well when I grabbed hold of the handle on one of these type valves. The valve had been leaking and because of poor company practices had been ignited by the nearby work station. Essentially the tank had a small pilot light burning away under the round handle. In a panic I drug the tank out a nearby door and ran. Being younger and dumber I had to see what was going on and went to inspect. I found the little pilot light still burning away. With a now gloved hand I closed the valve down and proceded to call the vendor who delivered the bottle in said condition for a heart to heart.
With Propane or Map the valve is either off or on not in between.
Click to expand...


Oxy is the same way, it has a backsealing valve. all the way on or all the way off.
 
Spatter spray, great stuff keeps your work clean from spatter balls. kind of expensive though, try some 50/50 mix of dish washing liquid & water. Do not soak the weld area or the heat from the weld will turn the water to steam & blow the atmosphere away from your weld you will end up with a weld that looks like worms ate through it. spray around the weld area, just not directly in the seam you plan to weld. (This solution does not cause Cancer like the aerosol type spatter spray)
 
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