Welder needing projects

[djellum]

Hello,

 

Im a certified welder that is attempting to start a business.  Right now I have just been working off of craigslist but figured I would shamelessly plug here as well.

 

Right now I just charge $25 an hour, and a flat $25 fee to drive to you if needed (within a reasonable distance).  I can also work on a per job basis if it makes more sense that way.  I have also helped teach some people how to weld (I worked at the local community college welding shop for a while after graduation) 

 

Currently just steel, but going to be getting a spool gun soon to do aluminum.

 

Let me know what projects you may have, ill even show up to your house with all my equipment in a Subaru.

 

David

Edited May 11, 2013 by djellum

[tallwelder81]

hey david.   you live pretty close to Sube101.....   and he is very good at what he does....

however, he doesn't make house calls. so, that's a plus in your corner.

 

why don't you post a few good clear pics of some of your recent projects?

a picture is worth a MILLION words.  have you worked with 4130 or stainless?

 

I do a lot of welding also, but I don't have some of the importamt equipment.

 

I HAD a very nice, MINT condition  Miller 375 Xtreme plasma cutter, and a Miller maxstar 150s.

but some gutterscum junkie tweaker stole it, so he could go get another hit of that toilet cleaner they call meth these days.

 

at least with stoners, the worst they will steal is your lighter, or MAYBE, at worst, the change in your couch or on your coffeetable or center console.

 

anyhow....

I have the LONG style brush guard, with the separate tranny support piece, and the heavy steel skid plate. 

and the factory lowstyle rollbar. the one that fits clean to the cab roof.  so it fits under a canopy.

 

so now, im trying to SPEC up and blueprint the brush guard and the rollbar, on paper and on autoCAD.  so we can all have EXACT, accurate dimensions.

then, im going to practice Tig. ive already done Tig in the past. ran some pretty acceptable and attractive and strong beads, on lap, tee, and butt joints.

vertical and flat.   haven't tried Tig overhead yet.  and I only did mild-steel.    never tried 4130 or stainless, or even aluminum.

 long story short, my basic plan was to get the rollbar and the front bulbar spec'd up, and recreate them, just like the original factory units, in chrome-moly 4130.

 

they should be roughly 30-40% lighter.  4130 is too expensive for skid plates, and aluminum diamond sheets are SUPER common at the scrap yard.

I think id steer towards just looking at the skid plates as a disposable unit. bash it up too much? ten dollars later and 20 minutes of labor, and you got a brand new.

 

any thoughts, as a fellow welder?

I live up near renton/auburn.

[djellum]

I have a 90 amp lincoln for portability, a millermatic 200 for the shop (hopefully with a spool gun soon), and a lincoln stick welder.  I am working on the funds for a tig machine, but first I have to get some other stuff together.

 

couple of things to watch out for on stainless.  once you weld it its not stainless anymore unless you follow a documented proceedure to keep it that way.  it moves the molecules all around and can take away the strength or stainless qualities.  something to check into, you dont want the welds on your stainless piece to rust.  generally its best to weld and re heat treat it if you can, but most cant so try to find a process for the stainless you are using and follow it.  a good alternative where applicable is to braze stainless.  since it doesnt melt the parent metal it wont mess up the stainless qualities.

 

Also stainless is very reactive with air, so it will even react in the not weld area if you get it hot.  it will form a black sand paper like coating (often on the opposite side) called sugaring, so be carefull with your heat input.

 

for steel Tig you want a 45 degree grind on your tungsten tip, but for stainless you want it to have a long taper point.  this helps wet out the puddle since stainless wants to rope up as you weld it.  once you get it to wet out right, its pretty much just like steel as far as technique is concerned.

 

for aluminum you need to make sure your machine can do AC.  you need an AC machine to break up the oxides as your welding.  you need a different tungsten (pure I believe but could be forgetting), that gets "balled up".  take a flattened piece of copper, and grind the tungsten to a point.  start an arc on the copper.  the copper wont melt but the tip of the tungsten will form a ball at the end of the point.  now your ready to start.  if your too hot the ball will fall off and ruin the weld, too cold and it wont ball up.  adjust the size of the tungsten or amps accordingly.

 

a 3x3 flat chunk of copper (or any size really) is a hell of a usefull thing.  if your welder is set up for steel or aluminum it wont have the oomph for the copper, so you can clamp it on to things and weld over it without it sticking.  good for filling gaps and holes.  I just took some scrap copper piping from an old house and flattened it in a vise.

 

sounds like a decent plan, just make sure your process allows the stainless to remain so and I think your set.   a design that includes  cross member drop blocks for the engine and trans would be a good idea as well,

Edited May 18, 2013 by djellum

[tallwelder81]

that's a lot of info!! thank you!!    

and yeah, I hear you about the stainless. ive NEVER worked with it at all. but I have a friend who is a major welder, self employed, and he has 2 big Grumman workhorses, and an F250 diesel worktruck, retired king county police truck, actually. 10mpg, lol...   actually he says the HUGE Grumman workhorse, which, empty, weighs I would guess, over 10,000lbs, and LOADED with his tools and materials, over 18,000lbs, gets BETTER mpg than the F250 pickup truck.   anyhow, im off track.  he has told me, on MULTIPLE occasions, that stainless is VERY prone to rust, if you use the wrong wirebrush, <I already knew THAT>. or even if you just work mild steel in the same 18x20ft room, the airborne particles can ruin a major project that he spent thousands of dollars, and dozens of hours on. and he says he has just taken some of these major projects in the past, with a deadline ticking down just a day or two away, and chopped them up, and scrapped the whole thing, because it patina'd.  same thing with aluminum.  he has a bunch of old retired bedsheets and comforters, and he covers EVERYTHING, anytime he works mild steel in that room. so none of the aluminum or stainless gets "polluted".

 

but 4130 isn't stainless.   stainless has like way more chromium. like 9-12 percent. chrome-moly <misleading name> only has like one percent chromium.

and 4130 is what they make great bumpers and rollbars from.  cuz its lighter weight. well, in a sense its lighter, cuz you use less of it.  also, another advantage most of these rollcage websites don't know, or at least don't mention, is that 4130 keeps a lot more strength after an impact.  like, lets say you roll your car off a cliff, and into a big tree. and it rolls 3 full flips, and slams into the trunk of a big fir tree or maple, say like 8 foot diameter tree.  well, mild steel will often be JUST as strong, on the FIRST impact. it will protect you, pound for pound of material, as the expensive 4130 rollbar. but then your car flips again and again, and slams into that tree. well, on the second impact, that same rollbar has like <just rough guesstimating again, here> 60% of its original strength, or integrity.  say, like....  damn, its a hard guess, but lets say that, assuming the mounting points are literally INVINCIBLE for the sake of a simple calculation for me. well, lets say the rollbar can take the first impact, and LOOk to our naked eyes to be perfectly solid, and not even have ANY visible dent or damage at all. well, if it starts out at say....   16,000lbs of capacity. <hard thing to measure in a tube structure, versus a simple rectangle billet>, well, that original 16,000, STILL looking like brand new to our eyes, is NOW worth about 10,000lbs of integrity.  but the 4130, even though it is THINNER, is rated about twice as strong as the mild steel, pound for pound. and so, if we assume it started out as capable of taking a 16,000lb impact, NOW its only good for about 13,000 or 14,000lbs, for the second impact. then the 2nd roll happens, and you bounce off that rollbar again. well, now the mild steel tube is only worth about 6,000lbs. and the 4130 is maybe 10,000. both are probably noticeable deformed at this point. then it flips again, and the mild steel tube is worth...   maybe like 1,500. I know that's a lot bigger drop, relative to the first drop. but keep in mind, its not just the metal itself, now, its SHAPE has been compromised. that convex or straight form, is now riddled with stress risers.  think how fragile and weak an eggshell is, once its already been compromised....   egg=ultra strong. eggshell, extremely weak.  in fact, to elaborate on that point, I raise chickens. free range, they just wander my entire yard at will, and lay their eggs in the bushes, blackberries or wherever they feel like.  so I am well aware of how an egg works.  typically, they INSTINCTIVELY know to somehow lay their eggs, smaller point UP. never on their side. sure, they might shift later on. but anyhow, even natures miracle shape, the birds egg, has strong sides and weaker sides.  the LONG sides, a.k.a. the waist of the egg, is MUCH weaker than the top and bottom. its a much broader curve, and the unborn chicks instinctively peck at THAT specific part, when they are ready to be born. <also, they are pecking at the INSIDE of the curve, the concave form>.  try punching your windshield from the inside or the outside. I guarantee you, you will shatter half the bones in your fist, if you try it from the OUTSIDE, the convex curve. but even as a 85lb wimpy 6th grader, I could easily punch out a windshield from the INSIDE....

where was I?  

oh, okay, assuming you are still reading this long ramble...    don't be too quick to add uneccessary weight to anything automotive, because theres more to gain from proper and efficient SHAPE than there is from just dumping more and more metal into it. everyone laughs at SMART fortwo cars? well, im not personally planning to BUY one, myself. but if you watch videos of the crash tests, that little smart car does BETTER in frontal impacts, than a ford explorer or a jeep grand Cherokee. with like, half the weight, or less.  a rectangle is a CRAP shape. eggs or triangles are so so much better.  and 20lbs of QUALITY steel is always stronger than 50lbs of recycled soup cans.

[tallwelder81]

and to answer your query about tungsten for aluminum, my teacher Dave Parker says that all the books say PURE tungsten is the right tungsten for aluminum, but thoriated is actually much better.

the thoriated tungstens can handle a lot more juice before they turn to butter.  im no tig expert, but that's what I was told.

[djellum]

thoriated is tougher than pure tungsten, which is why it has a problem balling up properly.  I could see using it if you plan on running too hot for the size of tungsten you use, but generally pure in the proper size is better.

 

the "moly" is molybdenum (sp).  its often added to steels to make them tougher without making it as brittle.  My guess would be the light chrome precipitates to the surface to help a bit with corrosion, and the molybdenum makes it tough without needing to be treated.  can probably get away with just welding it, but I would think there is still a better process out there somewhere to keep the Chromium on the surface or properly mix the Molybdenum.

 

would the pushbar care, not a bit, but its decent google material to find out more.

 

also dont forget that most ratings are tensile strength (resistance to pulling apart), and impacts aren't always tensile in nature.  you can also check charpy rating which will tell you how the metal reacts to cold.  wont matter in my area, but if your wheeling in 0 degrees it may depending on the alloy (Moly steel is likely proven there, but still).  I agree, shape is the most important thing for the roll bars.

[tallwelder81]

4130 also never ages.  in 200 years, assuming that RUST hasn't attacked it, it will still have its original strength. and its fatigue strength is also very good. that's why its popular for motorcycles. cuz if its stressed, once, twice, a thousand times, its not as ...   whats the word...     compromised??  

Tuesday night in class, they were testing another students DualShield 3/8" test plate.  I was about 15-20 feet away when it reached its breaking point. man...  even with earplugs on, that sucker POPPED loud. not really a "boom" or a rifle "crack". kinda, I guess comparable to like a 9mm pistol.  that was pretty cool.

[djellum]

If you take a metalurgy class and you get to tensile test different metals you are guaranteed to jump.  some alloys and treatments just dont flex, and watching one pop at 120k pounds with no warning or stretch is intense.

[sube101]

interesting read guys. entertaining!!! lol

[Mykeys Toy]

Going back on topic for a thought.

I really dislike my barb being louder than my exhaust so...  how difficult would it be to make a bolt on remote air cleaner for a weber that will clear an unlifted car.  Idasho has a point in his build thread about not liking the gurgling of the weber and without a lift going his route is not viable.   The thought was basically modify the top and bottom plate that the weber air filter sits in to make it a two piece bolt  together set up and  2.5" tube/ port on the passenger side   maybe two smaller tubes into a collector?..It would need to be roughly that size to use off the shelf cold air intake parts. The air box or whatever I can work out.  doesn't have to be fancy just workable.  

 

Mike

[djellum]

yah its doable no problem.  they make a snorkel adaptor already, you can just buy it and route a cold air instead of a snorkel.  making the adaptor for the top of the carb is easy, but price out your hoses and air cleaners and such, it might be a better route to just buy the kit.

 

if you still want to talk about the project, you can call me at (360) 334-2531, or email me through my website at

http://www.davidjwelding.com/home.html

 

ill need to know what size filter and what dimensions your current air cleaner has on it. 

[xbeerd]

Buy Bills blueprints and produce lift kits?

[djellum]

I can make you one if we can get the blueprints.  I don't want to try and edge in one someone else's business, but if you get the prints and don't want to make it yourself I can help out.

[sube101]

i got it people keep asking me about bumpers.... make bumpers because to tig welding it takes too much time. and no one want to pay the time it takes. mig would be great.