r/Welders

Pulled this metal out from under the bench and started at it. Hobart handler 140 with flux core wire of an unknown diameter. My welder buddy said they’re good, but he’s a rotten fuckin liar. Lay it on me.

ETA: not a welder and probably not gonna be

How them beads look?

Animatronic

Hello everyone! I'm trying to weld a LED strip to the position I need the LEDs to be on. The issue is that, when I try to weld the copper connection to the wire, the tin comes apart from the copper. I try to put tin on the strip and the wire separately and then weld them together, but the tin is still coming apart. Any ideas? Thank you in advance!

I was on my phone when I looked up and found these.

A gentleman brought me a cracked chain stay off of a 2002 Specialized Mountain Bike. It was broken on the sprocket side of the stay right where the hinge casting was welded onto the tubes. He brought me a broken one to use to scavenge material off of if I needed to and it had broken right at the same spot.

These repairs are pretty straight forward. They are also tedious. The repair calls for welding the crack shut. Then plating it on the cracked side with a piece of aluminum plate curved to fit the inside contour and then welding it in.

MAKING THE CURVED REINFORCEMENT PLATE

The hardest part was making up the curved plate that would fit inside the chain stay and get welded over the cracked area. To accomplish this I used a bending jig I made up years ago that has a variety of bending points to bend a variety of materials of differing heights and widths.

1. I bent a piece of wire to follow the contour of the curve of the chain stay to use as a template.

2. I bent a piece of aluminum plate in my jig to match the contour of the wire template.

3. I made a paper template of the size of the plate to be welded in.

4. Using this template I cut a piece that would fit inside the area to be reinforced.

5. I tacked it in place and welded it out.

Repair came out well.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

I always tell people who bring hardened frames to me about the need to have the part or frame hardened after welding on it. However if they are street riders or mild trail riders hardening is not as essential as if they were serious off roaders that continuously beat up their bikes. 6000 series aluminum will air harden and regain some of its hardness. Not factory hardness but enough to be able to use the bike without issue as long as you keep to the street or mild trail use AND if the welded area is reinforced.

Some choose to have it done, others don't but they have the option. Need to say this to let those who are quick to criticize such repairs because they are not hardened. It is up to the user to do so. I can't make someone harden their frames or part.

Hi,

I absolutely love this table by JM Szymanski (titled Table No 15), but if you check out its price, it is RIDICULOUSLY expensive, lol.

The dimensions are: 52'' D  36'' W  13'' H

Material: blackened steel, wax finish

I would love to buy or fabricate a table that is similar in shape to this one but with a much much more affordably price tag. It does not have to be the same size, but I love its shape as well as its material. Any fabricators in Chicagoland able to recreate this and give me a quote on it?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Steel pipe reducer weld.

I was brought a 70's vintage Ford 351 four bolt main cast iron engine block to repair. It had a rear end corner broken off where it bolts to the transmission bell housing. The repair involved cleaning the area to be welded down to bare metal, beveling the joint, lining it up and clamping, then welding it out.

BRAZING MY PREFERRED METHOD FOR CAST IRON

In general I prefer to braze cast iron. It was how I learned to repair it back in the 70's when I worked in the steel mills back in Chicago. The things we brazed were large assemblies like machine bases or machine parts. We heated them up to around 800 or 800 degrees and then brazed them while hot. After brazing them we covered them with asbestos blankets and let them cool slowly.

BRONZE FLOWS REAL NICE WHEN YOU REACH TEMPERATURE

Once the right temperature is reached which is a dull red, brazing filler metal flows real nice and is a pleasure to weld with. You can tell you have it at the right temperature because it will start to flow out. When cold it tends to ball up and then flows out when hot.

The pictures show the progress of the repair.

It came out OK.

Literally I did that in my first welding class. My goal was to do a few lines. Please you guys can be brutal with me lol