i want to learn to weld...

[GHarman]

Coalsmoke, What are your plans, if I may ask? GregH

 

[Coalsmoke]

By all means. I finished my Ba in Criminal Justice last spring and have been going through the police application process, looks like I'll be off to training for 6 months sometime in May.

 

[rbattelle]

I haven't seen Ryan post anything in this thread for a bit now, maybe the poor fellow had a heart attack after he read in a different thread that I'm closing up shop and getting out of the welding business.

I was just listening to two wise men dispense wisdom! No need for me to be stinkin' the place up with amateur commentary!
(Plus I'm too busy looking up Lincoln SA-200s)

By all means. I finished my Ba in Criminal Justice last spring and have been going through the police application process, looks like I'll be off to training for 6 months sometime in May.

I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet, but they usually don't let you do much welding as a cop. Are you sure you can live like that?

THenningsen, I got my first taste of stick welding with an old (piece of crap) 80 amp AC box. Ran my first beads that way. I think the biggest thing I noticed when I switched to DC is the welds seem to run "hotter".

I don't think there's any problems doing your learning on AC.

Ryan

 

[GHarman]

By all means. I finished my Ba in Criminal Justice last spring and have been going through the police application process, looks like I'll be off to training for 6 months sometime in May.

Coalsmoke, Congratulations!!! Are ya lookin' to be a Mountie? I wish you the best in this field, 'course there are a wide variety of jobs in Law Enforcement. Do you have a special area that you are looking into? SWAT, Investigations, Forensics, etc. ? Whatever you do I am sure you will do quite well.





Ryan, Look for an older Lincoln SA-200 with the copper windings. For a while they made them with Aluminum windings. Now, Lincoln makes what they call the "Classic", which is copper wound. Last time I ran a Lincoln engine welder was in 2003. We had Classics and Commanders on the job. All Diesel enginesOo. They were rentals and there were problems. The customer had a Miller "Big 40D". It was my backup cause I always got the problem machines, so I got to run the Miller alot. It had a very soft start so you had to be really careful about your starts cause you would stick every time if you were in a hurry:-laf. GregH

 

[Coalsmoke]

I was just listening to two wise men dispense wisdom! No need for me to be stinkin' the place up with amateur commentary!

(Plus I'm too busy looking up Lincoln SA-200s)





I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet, but they usually don't let you do much welding as a cop. Are you sure you can live like that?



THenningsen, I got my first taste of stick welding with an old (piece of crap) 80 amp AC box. Ran my first beads that way. I think the biggest thing I noticed when I switched to DC is the welds seem to run "hotter".



I don't think there's any problems doing your learning on AC.



Ryan

Oh, I'll still weld, and I'll still enjoy it, and will probably enjoy it more when there's no paycheck noose tied to it. 4 days on, 4 days off, lots of time for metal projects and just doing stuff I'd like to do instead of putting my life second to customer deadlines. Might even produce a TDR member product or something, we'll see, I have a couple of ideas that I have not had the time to develop while doing the welding business. I didn't reply to your bit on the other thread because I thought it was more relevant here, if that's ok with you.

Ah, well, I understand. It's just that I have this "romantic" view of the welder's life and I can't imagine anyone moving on to something else. What could possibly be better than being a welder!? Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, you know?

I understand the glamorous view of being a rig welder, its like being the wild west cowboy of the trades. Go where you want, make decent money, yada yada, but I promise if you come here and put 6 - 12 hour days in a row in it will soon become apparent that its one tough job and a lot of rig welders never make it to retirement age, that's just the unfortunate truth of it. My fiancee doesn't even know what I look like some weeks, we have more of a phone relationship than anything else on those weeks, and when it comes time to start a family with her, that just isn't going to do.



If you want to buy a very clean Reface SA-200, one of the nicer units in the area, you can buy mine, but I don't know if you'd have to come and get it or what, shipping would not be cheap I imagine.

Coalsmoke, Congratulations!!! Are ya lookin' to be a Mountie? I wish you the best in this field, 'course there are a wide variety of jobs in Law Enforcement. Do you have a special area that you are looking into? SWAT, Investigations, Forensics, etc. ? Whatever you do I am sure you will do quite well.





Ryan, Look for an older Lincoln SA-200 with the copper windings. For a while they made them with Aluminum windings. Now, Lincoln makes what they call the "Classic", which is copper wound. Last time I ran a Lincoln engine welder was in 2003. We had Classics and Commanders on the job. All Diesel enginesOo. They were rentals and there were problems. The customer had a Miller "Big 40D". It was my backup cause I always got the problem machines, so I got to run the Miller alot. It had a very soft start so you had to be really careful about your starts cause you would stick every time if you were in a hurry:-laf. GregH

Thanks very much Greg for the vote of confidence, it's nice to hear and I do appreciate it. I'd rather not name the specific force, we're supposed to keep the professional life separate and I'm not entirely clear at this early stage just what can and can't be divulged on public internet in regards to this so I'm playing it safe, but you're always welcome to send an email my way I'm not sure what specific area I'd like to eventually move into, but I think something in industrial environment forensics (if a separate such section exists) would be right up my ally, we'll see. I just want to be able to give a little back, I've been on the receiving end of emergency services help and there's no way in the world to describe the feeling of seeing them show up to help you out when you're life is hanging by a thread.



Ryan, when looking for SA-200s, see if you can find like Greg says one of the earlier all copper machines. Look for the smooth generator housings. I'll post a picture of mine with the smooth housing. I have two friends right now who are rebuilding redfaces (early SA-200s) in place of using the newer diesel drive units.

 

[rbattelle]

I understand the glamorous view of being a rig welder, its like being the wild west cowboy of the trades. Go where you want, make decent money, yada yada, but I promise if you come here and put 6 - 12 hour days in a row in it will soon become apparent that its one tough job and a lot of rig welders never make it to retirement age, that's just the unfortunate truth of it. My fiancee doesn't even know what I look like some weeks, we have more of a phone relationship than anything else on those weeks, and when it comes time to start a family with her, that just isn't going to do.

Well, when you put it that way, I suppose it makes sense.



I'd love to get an SA-200, I'm sure, but I couldn't possibly afford something like that right now. Unless it were in such awful condition as to be almost worthless. It's just something I'll keep an eye out for. Along with all the other things I'm always "keeping an eye out for" some day.



Ryan

 

[GHarman]

Oh, I'll still weld, and I'll still enjoy it, and will probably enjoy it more when there's no paycheck noose tied to it.







Thanks very much Greg for the vote of confidence, it's nice to hear and I do appreciate it. I'd rather not name the specific force, we're supposed to keep the professional life separate and I'm not entirely clear at this early stage just what can and can't be divulged on public internet in regards to this so I'm playing it safe, but you're always welcome to send an email my way I'm not sure what specific area I'd like to eventually move into, but I think something in industrial environment forensics (if a separate such section exists) would be right up my ally, we'll see. I just want to be able to give a little back, I've been on the receiving end of emergency services help and there's no way in the world to describe the feeling of seeing them show up to help you out when you're life is hanging by a thread.

Thats good skill management, Coalsmoke. A Man of many Hats!

And, you are welcome, I understand the security issues. GregH

 

[THenningsen]

Coalsmoke... I'm a police officer myself. If you got any questions, let me know. -- email address removed --

 

[THenningsen]

I need a few ideas here. Right now, when I weld I'm bent over with the metal on the concrete in my driveway. I would like to start thinking about a couple of projects. One is a welding table and the other is a welding cart. My idea on the table is that it would be mobile, maybe on wheels or something that I could roll in and out of the garage. What all needs to be included in a table? How thick should the plate be on top? What size angle should be used everywhere else? I've seen some cheap folding tables here and there but I don't know if they are substantial enough. Also, a cart to get my welder up off the floor in the garage. It would be nice to be able to roll it near where I'm working as well. I've got a Miller thunderbolt which weighs about 90 lbs and is about 24" tall. Anyone have any plan suggestions or pictures of stuff I could use as a reference? Thanks again for the continued support and information!

 

[GHarman]

Welding Table and Cart

THenningsen, You are about to embark on a subject that has as many opinions as there are people giving them:-laf. Your room for storage and the size of the table top are some questions that need to be answered. You could build a folding table or a trilegged table with wheels and a handle to roll it around or a combination of all or additional features. It would not be a large table. Maybe a 30" square top? Just thinking out loud. You could use pipe, angle iron or structural tube for the frame and a piece if 1/4" plate for the top? How about 2 steel wheels? If you have access to a scrap yard a chunk of aluminum plate would be a lighter top. Depends on your needs, budget, materials available. The field is open for your original designsOo. . Attaching a handle and wheels to a thunderbolt is the easy way to mobilize that power supply. However, if you want to raise it off the floor, here again the field is wide open for your original design. Carts are fairly reasonable and will support the 90# of your Thunderbolt. I would build the welding table first. GregH

 

[GHarman]

Some rambling thoughts ( the priveledge of age): Steel weighs 10. 2# / sq. ft. @ 1/4" thickness (A 1/4" steel top, 30"X30", will weigh 63. 75#). Steel wheels or hard rubber tires would be my choice for a mobile welding table. Structural tube and pipe are more rigid than angle. Aluminum weighs 1/3 the weight of steel but you may want to use a thicker piece for a top, like 1/2", if available? You will have to attach an aluminum top to the table base with bolts. If you plan on hammering on the table alot, I would use a steel top.



I built a welding table for my shop many years ago. The frame is 4"X4"X1/4" Angle flange out for the top support and the top is 30"X5'X1/2". That table is very heavy! I have to use a highlift jack to move it! If I was to do it again, I would use tube instead of the angle for the legs and a 1" slab of aluminum for the top.



A cubic foot of steel weighs 489-492#, alloy dependent.



GregH

 

[THenningsen]

i'm sure a piece of aluminum like that is very expensive huh?

 

[GHarman]

If it is scrap it would sell at the commodity price per pound. If it is new, you would need a second mortgage. We have alot of scrap yards around here, but I have all the bench I need for the time being. Just alot of material available for projects, like; a aluminum fixture to hold fiberglass rifle stocks in the milling machine for cutting clearences for pillars and bedding; A steel mount for cabinets on a concrete wall. Among many others waiting in the wings. GregH

 

[rbattelle]

i'm sure a piece of aluminum like that is very expensive huh?

Look around your area for a good metal scrap yard. The steel scrap yard we have here is just plain awesome.



Unfortunately, even scrap prices are very high right now. Last I checked (2 weeks ago) A36 scrap was $0. 45/lb for I beams and channels, and $0. 55/lb for everything else.



A year ago it was all $0. 30/lb!



Ryan

 

[THenningsen]

what do you mean by A36? I'm in birmingham, al which is the Pittsburg of the south... we should have some good scrap yards.

 

[GiesJ]

A36 or SA-36 is a commonly available grade of structural carbon steel. Most beams, channels and plates you will come in contact with as a hobbyist will be this specification.

 

[GHarman]

A36 or SA-36 is a commonly available grade of structural carbon steel. Most beams, channels and plates you will come in contact with as a hobbyist will be this specification.

Very true my friend, However, when looking at scrap material, it is rarely marked and may have the original markings worn off. Not that it is important in this instance. Even a hunk of rusty steel can be used for home projects, It just requires a little TLC. You can do a spark test with a hard wheeled grinder to check basic identification characteristics. Generally, the scrap yard will have their materials presorted so you dont have to choose by the SWAG method. When you are building a project that requires a load bearing capability for use in a public place, then, those characteristics need to be known and documented. As an example, last Spring I helped build a Speaker mounting system for our Church. I failed to post the pictures of the finished project, so if I may, here it is. This tube is 2"X2"X1/4" A-36 as well as the angle mounts. The load bearing bolts are Grade 8's the rest are Grade 5's. Total weight of the system is in excess of 325#, Center speaker is 120#, Tweeters are 45# each, The rest is the iron work, extending into the attic. GregH

 

[THenningsen]

you guys are lightyears ahead of me. look at these welds and tell me how I can improve. They look better than the last pics I took, so I'm getting a little better. On last two pics, notice the penetration though. That is 1/4" plate I believe and my welder is set on 80-85 amps. I'm using 7018 3/32 rod. Am I still running too fast or should I turn the amps up? Also, I found that my auto darkening helmet was on 12... so I moved it to the 11 setting and i sure can see the puddle easier.

 

[THenningsen]

oops, forgot to include the link to the pics..... Cummins Page

 

[rbattelle]

That's the kind of penetration I get, and I'm trying to figure out how to get it deeper without increasing current.

The old Lincoln welding book I'm reading now says you must bevel the edges of anything thicker than 3/16" before welding in order to achieve full penetration.

Ryan