Build - 9 second drag truck #racegreen

[jlibert]

^^ cool wheels!

 

[bgreen776]

I took a little side project while I'm waiting for the rest of my tubing to show up.

Its a fuel tank for a long distance race sled. I was hoping to have it done this weekend but I ran out of argon and none of the local welding supply shops was open today. :doh:

 

[dnrcustoms]

Went through most of the build!! Looks real good man!! Keep up the good work!!

 

[bgreen776]

Thanks Derek, see what ya started!?

 

[bgreen776]

Since I ran out of Argon, and don't have all the tubing I need to start working on the chassis, I broke out the MIG welder and did some experimenting with different welding techniques for making vertical fillet welds and for the purpose of testing various chemicals I had laying around the shop in an effort to etch metal for verifying weld techniques. The section on the left is my best attempt at vertical down, a technique employed by many amateur welders wanting their welds to look nice, without realizing how poorly the weld actually penetrates the base metal. I highly suggest using this test method to verify your results for all the Tack Tack Tack MIG guys out there. Make your joint, cut it in half with a band saw, polish it up using whatever means you have available, then etch it.

The section on the right is a very quick and crude attempt at the triangle method for vertical up, a technique I have never used before today, and while not looking as nice externally (due to my lack of practice), it is clear with the acid etch which weld is more structurally sound. Vertical up MIG has been something I have always struggled with so I have always broke out the TIG welder rather than learn the proper MIG technique. Today I decided to squash that crutch and I believe I will never make a vertical down MIG weld ever again.

Concrete Prep and Etch is Phosphoric Acid and works great on steel, available at Home Depot, and very fast acting. Navel Jelly will also work, but not nearly as effective. (Handy to have around just incase you ever want to Manganese Phosphate or Zinc Phosphate any steel parts for corrosion protection)

For Aluminum, oven cleaner will work, but Muratic Acid, available at your local hardware store, works very well. (Handy to have around should you ever want to remove aluminum from Nikasil lined cylinder bores)

 

[SmokeShow]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

[97rada]

Is that a single pass? We messed around with 3 pass and cover vertical up. Was challenging but man it looks beautiful when down right

 

[bgreen776]

single pass, .035 w/ C25, on 1/8" mild steel

 

[bgreen776]

Still waiting on tubing so I've been tinkering around the shop building some tooling and working on the snowmobile gas tank project.

This is just a simple steady rest to help make bench welds look better. The tanks I'm building are .040 so I need every advantage I can get. Its just some scrap plate, a few little pieces of 4130 from the race truck, and a length of stainless steel pump shaft I salvaged from work. The cloth hanging over it is a chunk of old welding blanket I saved from the landfill a few years, it helps your hand slide smoothly along the stainless shaft vs a leather glove. A tig finger works okay as well.

 

[bgreen776]

I've wanted to upgrade my old Lincoln Idealarc 300 for many years, basically since I learned about square wave TIG. Most of the welding I do is off the bench, so I never bothered to buy a foot pedal, always using a hand amptrol. So in the search for a foot pedal for the old transformer machine I found a low cost inverter machine that will be big enough to do all the welding on the chassis project while going all the way down to 6 amps for welding up light weight fuel tanks, firewalls, etc. For 800 bucks I picked up this APH Alpha TIG 200 with a foot pedal, a torch switch for 2T and 4T, and a flow meter I can use for back purging stainless exhaust. Great little machine that will run on 110 and 220v, has variable AC frequency, and pulse timing. It doesnt have the adjustability my Miller Dynasty 300 DX has, or the power, but that machine needs a 1800 dollar circuit board repair if I want to use it to weld aluminum. If this chinese box dies I'll keep it for spare parts and buy another one, still having spent less than repairing the Dynasty.

 

[bgreen776]

Of course now that I got rid of my giant old welder, I lost all my storage space on top of the beast, so I bought a cheap tool box from Home depot and started converting it into a welding cart.

 

[bgreen776]

I've still got a ways to go with this tank, but the majority of it is complete, and it holds 10 psi without leaking. Next step is to machine some bungs for the pickup and vent lines then weld the filler cap on. I machined a piece of brass to fit snuggly inside the filler neck to prevent warpage during the welding process.

 

[92dak_r6]

I sold my alpha tig 200 because it didnt have the Ac Frequency. Now that the new one does I may have to buy another one.

Also AWESOME fab skills!

I've wanted to upgrade my old Lincoln Idealarc 300 for many years, basically since I learned about square wave TIG. Most of the welding I do is off the bench, so I never bothered to buy a foot pedal, always using a hand amptrol. So in the search for a foot pedal for the old transformer machine I found a low cost inverter machine that will be big enough to do all the welding on the chassis project while going all the way down to 6 amps for welding up light weight fuel tanks, firewalls, etc. For 800 bucks I picked up this APH Alpha TIG 200 with a foot pedal, a torch switch for 2T and 4T, and a flow meter I can use for back purging stainless exhaust. Great little machine that will run on 110 and 220v, has variable AC frequency, and pulse timing. It doesnt have the adjustability my Miller Dynasty 300 DX has, or the power, but that machine needs a 1800 dollar circuit board repair if I want to use it to weld aluminum. If this chinese box dies I'll keep it for spare parts and buy another one, still having spent less than repairing the Dynasty.

 

[bgreen776]

I added a few new features to the welding cart. A cheap bench grinder for a dedicated tungsten grinder I found at a local hardware store on sale. I added a couple diamond coated discs for a total investment of less than $60. I bought a 1000 grit disc first, but its far too fine, so I put a 300 grit on the other side. The 300 grit is a nice finishing grit, so I'll try to find a 100 grit to replace the 1000 for the other side.

The receptacle box takes power from my 50 amp 240v receptacle via a long extension cord I made from some SEOW cable and splits to provide a 30 amp and 50 amp 240v receptacle and three 120v receptacles for the grinder and any other light duty tools I might need in the future.

 

[Highwayman]

I hope you have more luck with that welder than I.
I got one because it was cheaper to buy that and pipe than to buy a pre made twin setup, and I just couldn't ever get it to work just right. And It seemed like the polarity was backwards or something. Maybe I just suck, who knows.

 

[bgreen776]

It works great. I miss my old transformer machine for its absolute brute strength and proven durability, but for thin aluminum, the AHP works better with the ability to pulse and widen or focus the arc via frequency adjustment. I'm very satisfied. I'm also pretty excited about the light weight and 120v capability allowing me to take it virtually anywhere. I'm going to buy another one for the guys at work.

 

[bgreen776]

I got sick of finding an end wrench to lock down my steady rest so I set out to build some sort of knobs that would be easy to manipulate with a gloved hand.

I glued a couple pieces of scrap wood together, drilled a hole through the middle, glued a piece of all thread in, and chucked it up in my lathe.

 

[bgreen776]

I stained one and burnt the other for no reason other than I like to experiment with different things. I think I'll burn them both to make them look similar.

 

[TheBac]

I love your creativity, both with materials and tools.

 

[Bodacious]

Terrific ideas on the welding cart.