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Duramax7man7

Newbie Welder here... First project [small one]

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benji756

looks like your doing a fine job to me, as you weld more you will get more comfortable with your welder and settings but so far what you have done is just fine.

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Duramax7man7

Thanks for the encouragement! Yeah its definitely something I can see myself doing for a long time. I really enjoy it. Ive built many things with wood so this is right down my alley. I have an exhaust pipe I need to fix on my 1970 Onan 6.0 cckb generator that is hig on my list too. 

 

 So this opens up a whole new set of options for me.

 

 I think if I had an actual torch I could have heated the stocknup enough to bend it properly. So I may try that in the future. 

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WVHillbilly520H

The overlap and welding on both sides/ends is just as good and if not stronger than the bend itself you did good with your limited tool supply I work in/around a industrial machine shop and sometimes overlap welding is the best option,Jeff.

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Tankman

Looks great. Post pics of your completed project. :handgestures-thumbupright:

 

We use a little liquid dish soap and a paint brush to eliminate weld splatter.

Edited by Tankman
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SylvanLakeWH

Nice job!

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953 nut

:text-yeahthat:            :text-coolphotos:       

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Jerry77

Nice job -- if you can pre-determine where you need to drill holes for pins etc. it will be easier to drill before you heat the metal up with the welding ( gets a little harder to drill after heating )  :twocents-02cents:

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Duramax7man7
4 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

The overlap and welding on both sides/ends is just as good and if not stronger than the bend itself you did good with your limited tool supply I work in/around a industrial machine shop and sometimes overlap welding is the best option,Jeff.

 

That's great to hear Jeff! I will definitely put it to the test I'm sure. I was thinking that if I needed to I could weld some overlap pieces right across the inside joints before the rear most bar. Making sure that clearance was there for the axle bracket. But if it's going to be that strong. Good to know. But at 3/8" thick this stuff shouldn't be able to bend at all. I tried heating the 3/8" with some map gas and it wouldn't even turn red... haha.

 

3 hours ago, Tankman said:

Looks great. Post pics of your completed project. :handgestures-thumbupright:

 

We use a little liquid dish soap and a paint brush to eliminate weld splatter.

 

Thanks for the tip. I saw the spatter spray Ideal from Craig Ardnt on youtube who documented his whole 520 rebuild. But then saw the cooking spray in a video and on Jody's site "welding tip and tricks".

 

52 minutes ago, Jerry77 said:

Nice job -- if you can pre-determine where you need to drill holes for pins etc. it will be easier to drill before you heat the metal up with the welding ( gets a little harder to drill after heating )  :twocents-02cents:


Thank you. Yeah that makes sense. But then again, the biggest drill bit I have before 3/4" was 1/2"... And they are cobalts and much sharper. So I was biting off 1/8" all the way around the holes which was way to much. The 3/4" bit wasn't a cobalt either. Learned my lesson there. Standard drill bits for steel= bad idea. lol

 

 I should be able to get more work done later. I have a Maxilofacial post-op apt at 11:30am and then have to make a run to DTW Airport. But after that it's pretty much open for the day.
 

 Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Woke up with my neck sore @ 6:50am (went to bed a 2am like a dummy. Darn Hulu binge watching!?). So I'm running on less than 5 hours of sleep. Might take a nap before using the welder at all.

 

 I'll keep everyone posted though. P.S. Does everyone prime parts like this first? or just give a few good coats of Rustoleum?

Edited by Mastiffman

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Texas Todd
46 minutes ago, Mastiffman said:

Does everyone prime parts like this first? or just give a few good coats of Rustoleum?

I typically prime with Rusto self etching primer and then paint with Rusto Regal Red.

 

Nice work!

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rexman72

looks good to me.

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Tankman
3 hours ago, Texas Todd said:

I typically prime with Rusto self etching primer and then paint with Rusto Regal Red.

 

Nice work!

:text-yeahthat:Rustoleum Regal Red :handgestures-thumbupright:, I use the rattle cans although I have a spray gun for my compressor.

The Rustoleum Regal Red  usually on the shelf at Home "Cheapo", 'bout $3 a can.

 

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can whlvr

you really are doing a fine job,i do a lot of welding and I really like making attachments for the tractors,it feels good to make something useful from a pile of steel

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Duramax7man7

More progress. Pictures coming up!

 

First things first. Thank you all for you encouragement on the work. Very kind of you. I am trying. :) 

Also, thanks to everyone that has provided measurements on this parts on the forum! You made this process a bit easier. (Any good ideas for the angle arm? I'd like to make easier than the stock improvement. Probably just angle it back further.)

So the first that I did was go get some more stock. Local Steel Company is about 10mins from me. (probably start trying scrap yards soon though. Picked up some more Flat stock. Then I marked and drilled hole for lock bar cotter pins on the extension bracket. For the lift extension brace I used 1.5" x 1.5" x 1/8 angle stock and doubled that up to create a U channel (similar to what is used for the frames lift brace. I had to grind down one side so that it fit square against the other piece while keeping the right 1-3/4" width. It worked perfectly though. I cleaned both pieces up and then welded a lap bead on the back bottom edge and then ran three 2" long beads on the inside top corner as well as a bead on each end. I used 1.5." x 1/4" flat stock for the connector bar. Of course I had to test fit the parts on the plow and plow on the 312-8.. Pre front swept axle fit though. But it looks to have pushed the plow forward quite a bit, as it should... Just have to remake the plow angle handle to be comfortable while sitting on the tractor. Technically I could angle the plow to the left but it stops almost at the PTO Pulley when straight.

 

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So the other piece of stock I got was a 44" piece of 3/8" x 4"... I'm planning on using this for a wear bar... I merely leaned it up against the blade at this point. The current bar is down to the metal on the plow and has no room for flipping. It's going Bye Bye! I plan on getting new, longer carriage bolts and drilling the holes and then squaring out the holes with a file. I felt that this would add a bit more weight to the plow as we only have cement "round these parts"! ha ha Plus it should help out when dozing as well limiting the amount of force needed when I make a down pressure bar.



 This 312-8 is going to look really good with a forward swept front end! (yes I know I have some clutter. I'm working on that too. It's all mobile now. ha ha - the cart)

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Lastly, when I was at the steel company I found the name of company that might be able to roll some 1/4" to 3/16" slat stock to make me a new 48" plow blade in the future. Mine is rusted out and toasted. The one above is only a 42".
 

 Will update again soon.

Edited by Mastiffman
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WNYPCRepair
13 hours ago, Mastiffman said:

Thank you. Yeah that makes sense. But then again, the biggest drill bit I have before 3/4" was 1/2"... And they are cobalts and much sharper. So I was biting off 1/8" all the way around the holes which was way to much. The 3/4" bit wasn't a cobalt either. Learned my lesson there. Standard drill bits for steel= bad idea. lol



A drill press will help. Hand held drills are too fast for steel. And it is hard to hold the trigger part way. 

I got a $100 HF drill press, and while it is never going to be extremely accurate, it isn't horrible. Slow the bit down to 300 to 500 RPMs, and you will be amazed how fast the bit will cut. I think mine is set at about 375, and it will cut a nice smooth hole. I have had to clear the shavings away to finish, as they will spin off in one long piece and wrap around the spindle and bit like cotton candy! I went all the way up to 7/8" holes building the front end loader.

 

And I built that with about a month's experience welding, so stick with it. I find it fun and relaxing, and it's great to be able to fix broken stuff around the house (like my computer chair, for instance). :) 

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Duramax7man7

Yeah I think that I will definitely get a drill press. My Ryobi hammer drill has hammer and regular drilling modes as well as has high and low. I used the loewe's setting and only half trigger. But it was still to much. Especially when that 3/4" bit would catch!? It was like a mule kick! Haha. 

 

 If you dont mind me asking, what was the total cost in material for that loader? Its nice by the way. Did you get the ballast weight setup? I will be beefing up my frame and making a 4pt weight box. 

 

EDIT: Regal Red? How do you guys feel about Sunset Red? Is regal red a bit darker?

Edited by Mastiffman
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hermitman

Welds look 110% better than when I tried using my sons!! Looked like Chicken poo!! Practice is the best teacher. On color topic, my buddy brought a can of Rusto, Colonial Red over and we hit the back corner of my 1075. It dried almost identical! I was shocked.

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Duramax7man7

Thanks for the compliments. I will have to buy a can of regal red and give that a try. I like the Sunset Red though.

 

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Hacksawhero123

A thought on the drill press. Get a foot pedal switch!!  There is no better way to get hurt than to have the bit bite hard into the stock and ripped from your hands. Or have one hand holding the stock the other holding the down wheel and trying to head butt the off switch. Don't ask how I know. The foot switch is one of those "best twenty dollars I ever spent " deals. 

Mark 

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Duramax7man7

Nice tip... Thanks for the wisdom as painful as it was to gain it for you...
 
"how do you know?" lol 

 

Sorry, had to.

Edited by Mastiffman

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Sarge

Just a tip - I have two fingers that are pretty much junk ...I never drill anything in any of my drill presses by holding it with my hands , everything gets clamped down tight . I'd rather fry a belt than get wound up around the spindle again by a 1-1/2hp motor . When I get this ancient Clausing running soon that one is even more dangerous since it has to run on a VFD and I probably won't go to the expense of running an emergency stop switch - it's going to have plenty of wiring as it is .

 

Have you ran some test welds and cut/etch them out to check the penetration yet ? It's not a hard job and household chemicals can be used (naval jelly) . Post up a pic...

Details of how-to are found on YouTube or www.weldingtipsandtricks.com . Jody Collier has some of the best welding videos out there and some great old-school techniques for testing and learning . The guy has an Aerospsace and teaching backround - his knowledge is amazing in the industry .

 

It looks like your heat is a bit low or a little too much wire speed - should get a very crisp bacon frying sound when it's right . Watch some of Jody's videos on mig welding and how the leading edge of the puddle should look - that is the key .

 

Sarge

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Duramax7man7

Funny you say that as I was looking into how to bolt down the clamps and vices used to hold items during drilling. I always try to picture the worse thing that could happen with any situation and try to prevent that from happening. Obviously there are things that can't be foreseen but preventing the expected user errors can.

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WNYPCRepair
On 1/28/2017 at 11:24 AM, Hacksawhero123 said:

A thought on the drill press. Get a foot pedal switch!!  There is no better way to get hurt than to have the bit bite hard into the stock and ripped from your hands. Or have one hand holding the stock the other holding the down wheel and trying to head butt the off switch. Don't ask how I know. The foot switch is one of those "best twenty dollars I ever spent " deals. 

Mark 

 

 

 

I generally clamp anything down that isn't long enough to give me enough leverage to hold it. And if the drill press is at 300 to 500 RPM, it shouldn't be so violent if it does catch. But I do like the pedal idea

 

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WNYPCRepair
On 1/26/2017 at 11:31 PM, Mastiffman said:

If you dont mind me asking, what was the total cost in material for that loader? Its nice by the way. Did you get the ballast weight setup? I will be beefing up my frame and making a 4pt weight box.

 

 

I don't have an exact figure, but I believe it is somewhere around $2800. I had the box made at a local fabricator, I just didn't have the ability to bend it, and I didn't want to weld it together out of pieces, I felt it wouldn't be as strong. 

The pump, cylinders, valve, and hoses were between $1,000 and $1,500. Then the steel, and miscellaneous fittings, etc.


I did just attempt to round up receipts to figure it out if I have time. 

For ballast so far, I bought a rear hitch rack from HF on sale for around $40, and I fill it with 8x8x16 solid blocks. Works great, along with wheel weights and my fat butt. :)

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Duramax7man7

WOW, yeah but over time that would be as bad piece by piece...  But it would be fun to build it.

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