Metal Working! Fitting, Machining, Welding, Sheet and General Metal Fab

Joel O

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Very nice!
What kind of stock did you bash those blades out of?
Due to limited space (and skill) until I get my own place I've only made them by stock removal from flat bar so far.

The kitchen knife is 440C stainless and the other is 1084 plain carbon steel. The stainless steels I outsource the heat treat on as I don't have the gear to achieve precise enough temperature control. The simpler carbon steels have a fairly straight forward heat treat and are mostly done in a little charcoal forge assisted by an airbed pump.

I've just ordered a stack of new abrasives to try so hopefully the finish on the next lot will be improved a little

As soon as I have a permanent work space I'll be building a 2x72" belt grinder/linisher which will make life a lot easier
 
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Urban DH

Likes Bikes and Dirt
2''x72'' lindisher? sound like a B#*$h to build but man it's be a nice tool to have! tried knife making my self once with very little success, champion art it is!
how do you go about sharpening yours?

when I do my hunting knifes I go, depending on what I start with, course stone, fine stone, and the strop them to shaving sharp (well as close as I can get, which mind you is not very)
it'd be ace if I could be tought how to do them properly or get someone todo them all regularly!
 

ashes_mtb

Has preferences
I’ve got a box trailer that needs some tlc and I’m contemplating having a crack at welding it up myself. Have a hinge that broke loose and want to put some more supports and tie down points onto it. Be a mix of welding up to sheet metal and to angle iron.

Also interested in welding up some storage racks and stuff.

Haven’t welded since high school days (oxy, arc, mig and tig) but it all came pretty naturally to me so I’m confident with a bit of practice I can do the job.

What’s the best way to go if I want to get set up for some occasional welding? Is gasless mig any good for sheet metal?
 

andrew9

Likes Dirt
I’ve got a box trailer that needs some tlc and I’m contemplating having a crack at welding it up myself. Have a hinge that broke loose and want to put some more supports and tie down points onto it. Be a mix of welding up to sheet metal and to angle iron.

Also interested in welding up some storage racks and stuff.

Haven’t welded since high school days (oxy, arc, mig and tig) but it all came pretty naturally to me so I’m confident with a bit of practice I can do the job.

What’s the best way to go if I want to get set up for some occasional welding? Is gasless mig any good for sheet metal?
Gas MIG would be the safest bet, can get deposit bottles from Bunno's with no monthly rental.
Buy a new MIG, too many things can go wrong with them to buy a used one, MIGs are hard to fault find without experience and things wear out on them like; liners, tips, and rollers. A Home user should only ever need to change tips for maintenance on a new machine.
MIG's like a good earth, always onto clean shiny steel, and check earth cable at the clamp end for heat damage regularly.

Gasless isn't something I've ever liked, I don't like any welding process that uses flux, it's just gonna get mixed in and make slag inclusions at some point. The benefit is that it works in the wind and does have a bit more resistance to porosity when welding dirty or rusty stuff, but I always clean my steel anyway. Gasless can weld sheetmetal better than a ARC welder, but it still sucks at it.

If you want a challenge or new hobby go and get a TIG, try and get HF (high frequency) for easy starts. You will have to clean everything to spotlessly shiny steel, but you will learn a more useful skill. You can also use TIG machines as stick welders.

These are great TIG machines, BOC used to sell the same version but a different label and colour:

Wear a N95 mask with any welding process, even if no visible fume/smoke.
 

ashes_mtb

Has preferences
Gas MIG would be the safest bet, can get deposit bottles from Bunno's with no monthly rental.
Buy a new MIG, too many things can go wrong with them to buy a used one, MIGs are hard to fault find without experience and things wear out on them like; liners, tips, and rollers. A Home user should only ever need to change tips for maintenance on a new machine.
MIG's like a good earth, always onto clean shiny steel, and check earth cable at the clamp end for heat damage regularly.

Gasless isn't something I've ever liked, I don't like any welding process that uses flux, it's just gonna get mixed in and make slag inclusions at some point. The benefit is that it works in the wind and does have a bit more resistance to porosity when welding dirty or rusty stuff, but I always clean my steel anyway. Gasless can weld sheetmetal better than a ARC welder, but it still sucks at it.

If you want a challenge or new hobby go and get a TIG, try and get HF (high frequency) for easy starts. You will have to clean everything to spotlessly shiny steel, but you will learn a more useful skill. You can also use TIG machines as stick welders.

These are great TIG machines, BOC used to sell the same version but a different label and colour:

Wear a N95 mask with any welding process, even if no visible fume/smoke.
Great, thanks for all that info!
 

andrew9

Likes Dirt
If I was starting out I would go and find a Men's Shed or similar. Some old dude would love to show off his skills, and you can possibly even take your trailer there and use their welders and get some good advice.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
I’ve got a box trailer that needs some tlc and I’m contemplating having a crack at welding it up myself. Have a hinge that broke loose and want to put some more supports and tie down points onto it. Be a mix of welding up to sheet metal and to angle iron.

Also interested in welding up some storage racks and stuff.

Haven’t welded since high school days (oxy, arc, mig and tig) but it all came pretty naturally to me so I’m confident with a bit of practice I can do the job.

What’s the best way to go if I want to get set up for some occasional welding? Is gasless mig any good for sheet metal?
Yes I would also recommend a gas MIG if you have a shed or somewhere enclosed to do the welding. I have noticed that there are places that hire welders, so if it's a one off job and you are not likely to use the welder again it may be an option.
I have both a gas MIG (Lincoln 180) and a DC TIG/Stick (CIG 175HF) and used them all the time. I do a bit of general fab and I make scrap metal art.
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
Cool project,
I wish I'd done something like that when my kids were little, what solder/alloy did you use? Are you going to try and fillet braze over it?
I used 45% Silver solder, the tube is 316.

My fillet brazing skills are not really very existent, will probably give it a go, but chances are that I might end up painting it (especially if the fillets are terrible) as it is for my niece, then will probably do double duty for the younger nephew so will re-spray it.
 

ausdb

Being who he is
I used 45% Silver solder, the tube is 316.

My fillet brazing skills are not really very existent, will probably give it a go, but chances are that I might end up painting it (especially if the fillets are terrible) as it is for my niece, then will probably do double duty for the younger nephew so will re-spray it.
Aah didn't realise it was stainless and explains why you used silver. 45% is way too runny to build a fillet with and too low a melting point to build up with something else.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
#2 needed a washer bottle cap for his newly acquired XR4 and some spacers for the new brake calipers. So a bit of lathe (and mill works). The factory washer bottle cap clips on rather than screws and is made of something softer and less durable than cheese and of the 10 or so that I have seen all have had munted caps and usually get a milk bottle cap in lieu of the factory bit. I made an ali one for the track car so it was an easy copy. Oh and edit... Mechanic mate has also bought an XR4 so I made double of everything plus a spare cap. Got another engine mount to make as well but that isn't machinerying.

The two knurled caps were just variations on a theme by Paganini and I probably couldn't make a matching pair anyway and the Mozart's flute was inspired by the cock ring I made for @Minlak last year (very lucky I have collets that go down to 6mm diameter).

Under the skirt of the caps...

Finish from the boring bar and lathe tool pretty decent on 6000 series aluminium.
 
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