Well, It's pretty tight, but the sub frame still fits:o) I was worried that it would have warped too much when I welded it. A buddy came over and I was explaining my trouble with the rear mount and he said "Why don't you just do this?" So I have something to work on in the morning:o) I'll post pictures.
W
Don't you just love it when someone gives you one of those "why didn't I think of that,,,Dah" problem solvers 🙂
It was a little slow today. The weather was so nice, We ended up doing alot of spring cleaning. But I did sneak out and play a little. I have all the pieces ready for the rear part of the subframe. They just need to be welded now. Here they are mocked up.
Later, W
Pretty good with 7018 stick. Your going to love the MIG welder when you get one.
I have a little 110 volt mig that I like to use. I just don't think it burns hot enough for what I'm doing here. I like the stick because you can turn up the heat a little and really burn the weld in. I think it makes a stronger weld. I have a tig torch that I need to learn how to use. It plugs into my arc welder and I'll be able to weld steel and stainless. Once I locate or build a high Frequency box, I'll be able to do aluminum.
Fun, fun, fun:o)
Originally written by Wngnut on 3/21/2009 3:06 PM
I have a little 110 volt mig that I like to use. I just don't think it burns hot enough for what I'm doing here. I like the stick because you can turn up the heat a little and really burn the weld in. I think it makes a stronger weld. I have a tig torch that I need to learn how to use. It plugs into my arc welder and I'll be able to weld steel and stainless. Once I locate or build a high Frequency box, I'll be able to do aluminum.
Fun, fun, fun:o)
The 110 migs have amazed me Wes. We use a little Hobart Handler 140 for much of the tubing we use up to .120 wall. Slow and Hot does well. Some items we pre heat which makes a lot of difference.
We also use a TIG conversion on a Lincoln Arc welder like you are speaking of for many things. Yes, we have a high freq box for aluminum but noit is not used for large stuff or long runs. The old standby 'scratch start' TIG rigs will never die.
Another reason I am loving the stick welder is because the flux wire on my mig is a royal pain in the arse to clean up after. The mig I have is a Harbor freight model. I love it. Ive modified it to run ten pound spools. (I've probably ran fifty or sixty pounds of wire through it) It does a super job. I just felt that the stick welder was better for me:o) I have preheated items to be welded. It helps alot with the bigger stuff when using the small mig.
Wes
Originally written by Wngnut on 3/21/2009 8:22 PM
Another reason I am loving the stick welder is because the flux wire on my mig is a royal pain in the arse to clean up after. The mig I have is a Harbor freight model. I love it. Ive modified it to run ten pound spools. (I've probably ran fifty or sixty pounds of wire through it) It does a super job. I just felt that the stick welder was better for me:o) I have preheated items to be welded. It helps alot with the bigger stuff when using the small mig.
Wes
I like stick welding a lot myself. It's sort of a pure art. Lots of newer welders seem to only like MIG and TIG and turn their noses up at stick but I think a person needs to know it as well. I have both MIG and TIG but my heart is really with stick welding.
In any case, I have a Lincoln SP 175 Plus MIG. It's a 220 VAC machine. I seem to have 240 VAC at my shop so it gets plenty of elecricity. I use it with .023 Lincoln wire and CO2 shielding gas and it does a marvelously clean job. I tried one roll of Lincoln flux core when I first bought it and realized it wasn't clean enough for me.
I also have a Miller Syncrowave 200. It's got a TIG and a Stick combination so that's what I use when I need the heavy artillery.
I like to build various items. I built a reverse for my sidecar wheel that I'm modifying to take a faster motor. It's alot of fun to fabricate things.
You are doing a nice job on your sidecar. Keep up the good work!
Wes you can get anti splatter at the weld shop makes knocking the dingleberries off very easy if they stick at all, works with stick or MIG.
I agree about stick welding being an art. I requires real skill to make it penetrate deep enough and look good at the same time. Your joint fit up is another skill that deserves mention(art?).
I don't know if your Harbor Freight can be adapted, but my little Miller wire feed can be converted from flux core to solid wire with a cover gas.
I use this for welding light gauge stainless steel. It works well and is easy to clean up without much spatter.
The 220v Miller mig is a great little machine, something that I haven't seen mentioned in regards to welding the heaver materials is to put a small gap in the pieces being welded, this allows the heat and weld to penetrate much deeper than if it's butted up, I used the wire I was welding with to create the gap with very good success, I used this with the inert gas set up and when this is set up right there is very little splatter. I don't own one now because I have 2 neighbors that do 🙂
Well, It's snowing. Looks like I'll have to work in my shop today:o) I got everything ready to tack up. have to protect what chrome I have.
I then made a little cap/gusset for the end of the tube. This was a tricky piece.
Ran into a small snag... One of the bolts won't come out now:o( I'll probably cut off the head and make the hole bigger.
I'm going to start on the suspension now:o)
Beveling the edges of butt welds is common welding practice. Especially if multiple passes are needed to complete the weldment.
For stick welding certification I'd have my students bevel 2 pieces of 1" A36 steel stock at 22 1/2 degrees each with a cutting torch, butt the edges together and weld them up. If the variance of the surface of the cover pass was less than 1/8", 2 "coupons" 3/8" wide would be cut across the weld. The two coupons would then be bent 180 degrees to a "U".
If there were no holes cracks or voids at the welds larger than 1/8"x1/8" and the variance of the cover weld was less than 1/8" the student would pass.
For MIG welding the certification test was done with 2 pieces of 3/8" strap 7" long. This weld was usually accomplished on 3/8" stock with 3 passes.
For the strength test: Two coupons 1 1/2" wide were cut across the weld and these were bent 180 degrees One with the root weld down and the other with the cover weld down. Same parameters applied, no voids or cracks over 1/8" when bent to a "U". For unlimited certification these welds would have to be done in horizontal, then vertical, then overhead positions and pass the tests.
Lonnie
Got a kick out of the 'trapped bolt' 🙂 Good to see i am not the only one who has a 'duh' from time to time.
Wes, if you can get away from the flux core MIG wire and go with gas shielding you will like it much more 🙂
Someone mentioned welding into a gap. Great point. Especially,it seems , with MIG some seem to get pretty welds without the strength needed at the joint. Coping tubing for a good fit is fine but the welder has to realize where the weld must be. A coped tube (we call it birdmounted) when done with a hole saw or with a mill has material that tapers down to nothing due to the way they are cut. We usually grind the taper flat prior to welding to insure the root of the weld is where it should be.
Years back when MIG welding began to get into the sprint car builders hands and TIG (Heli Arc) slipped from popularity with some guys there was a short period of time when numerous roll cages, frames and so forth had failures. Some experienced very ugly results. MIG got a bad rep from this even though it was moreso the fault of the welding techniques than the MIG machines themselves. Most went back to TIG from these bad experiences.
Ugh..sorry for rambling
On to the suspension. I have to get this part done, so I can double check my numbers on the width of my frame. And make sure everything will clear the body. I flipped the body over and positioned the body mount in place. I clamped it and drilled it. after each hole I inserted a bolt. This would make sure nothing would move. Here is a quick picture.
All this was done on a ladder. This thing is tall up on my saw horses.
