For those of you sitting on the sidelines that have never done anything like this, a couple of notes.
If you try to drill of machine a thin piece of metal the force needed to penetrate pushes the metal down and the results are less than optimal. The cutting surface grabbing the piece and making a whirling skin slasher is another problem.
It's amazing how much time you spend making one-off jigs. The aluminum bar clamps the material to the wooden support block. The bend on the other side makes it rigid enough, otherwise you would clamp both sides.
Take a wild guess how much time was spent making this. Include time wandering around looking for likely pieces in the first place. Countersinking the screws . . . After you find some screws. Finding a comfortable welding position has a HUGE impact on the results. Every time you weld something in an odd body position and the result is less than optimal you kick yourself for not taking the effort to do something like this.
To clarify, a "back purge" is indeed something you do after refried bean night at the taco factory.
You haven't lived until you weld thin sheet metal. My first efforts a long time ago looked like . . . well, you know. TIG welding uses argon, an inert gas to keep the oxygen in the air from reacting with the base metal and making an oxide. Oxides of the base metal are never a good thing. The argon provides a shield to push away the air and doesn't react with the weld. Since you are melting all the way through the sheet metal to weld it, protecting the back side is important. It's not often you see someone do it. Tells you a lot about the quality of this build.
Welding the thin sheet metal to the much thicker pan rail is another adventure. Most of the heat has to go into the thicker part. So obvious you say, until you try it. Thick or thin everything warps from the heat. That's why the rail is machined after welding even though it was flat to start with.
Some things have enough stress built up in them that the metal removed from machining causes another round of warping. It's all sooo fun.
You realize that this is just a fancy bed pan. No function other than to catch some oil. It's still a gorgeous work of art.
Topic: TREITS STREAMLINER (Read 2452195 times)