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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    nz
    Posts
    1

    Default Greeting fellow metal workers, from Timaru NZ Menz Shed

    We have acquired a small 'Super Cheap' arc welder and a gasless mig , a kind member has given me a tuition of 1/2 an hour ,may have to take myself off to the local Poytech to get a bit more knowledge !
    Is there a starting project ? i can attempt with the Arc welder ,we have some water pipe an old air compressor tank to cut up. and some rebar reinforcing rod laying about the shed, we have angle grinders and a mauual hacksaw .thats about it !

    Any pictures or step by step on what we can make to start with ?,oh we also have heaps of thin gauge 1.2 and 1.6 mm galvanized sheet metal,2400x 1200 (70 sheets )i was hoping to make letter boxes with this stuff.

    a starter project with step by step pictures ,crafts or art or practical as long as its suitable for a complete novice ! thanks Kev

    https://www.facebook.com/search/top/...0shed%20timaru

    https://www.facebook.com/search/top/...0shed%20timaru

  2. #2
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    7,182

    Default

    Firstly welcome. I too am a member of a newish mens shed so I have some idea what you are going through. We have a small metal workshop 6 x 3.5m and a bigger 14 x 7 m woodworking area and a 40ft storage container.

    We have been very lucky with donations (a power hacksaw, metal Band saw, 2 guillotines, press, 5 arc welders, 2 MIGs, 6 grinders including 2 x 10" pedestal, 7 drill presses, 4 MW lathes, 4 compressors, more than a dozen vices, dozens of power tools etc and we had so much scrap metal we ran out of space in inside the shed and container so we stored it outside the shed and the local Council sent us a clean up notice. Many of the members that joined took the opportunity to off load all manner of gear and crap from the downsizing of their living arrangements.

    We ended up giving away the excess gear to other mens sheds or selling it. We gave away about 1/3 of the metal and chucked out another third, and some of the rest sits on trolleys that we push out of the shed to create working space. This is still not ideal because this means the metal gets wet and then rusty. Despite this gear and material keeps coming in and like all of us we need a bigger shed!

    RE: Welding
    I wouldn't start learning with rebar - that stuff is so variable and can contain all manner of stuff than makes it very hard to weld.
    By all means try it out and see how tricky it can be.

    Water pipe and Galv Sheet can also be problematic as it needs to have the Galv removed or you will choke on the fumes and the Galv makes it difficult to weld cleanly.
    This means a bath in hydrochloric acid (brick cleaner) at least for 100 mm around the weld area.
    It will bubble vigorously at first and when it slows down the galv will be gone and it will now be dissolving the steel. Don't leave it (especially sheet) too long after that or it will dissolve the whole pipe.
    Then the acid has to be washed off and I'm not talking about a quick rinse it needs a good minute or so of full flow hose to wash the acid off.
    It can also be ground off pipe but not so easily off thin sheet.

    The thin sheet metal is going to prove very difficult to. You should start with at least 3mm steel plate and over a couple of years you may get skilled enough to weld 1.6 mm but 1.2 mm is best left to pros or TIG.

    From what I have seen welders are often used as sledgehammers to crack nuts in the metal work business. I would let the guys cut, drill, fold and pop rivet the thinner Galv sheets into boxes. Its quicker, far less messy and safer than using a welder and more than one bloke can do this at the same time and it's amazing what shapes can be made with this method. It can also look very attractive if the pop rivets are space even and symmetrically.

    Eventually a very useful welding project for a menz shed will be a welding booth that is vented to the outside of the shed.
    You can use some of the Galve sheet for this project in building the canopy.
    This is a small one - bench is only 900 c 600 mm, I made for my own shed and as you can see it doubles as a small spray paint booth.
    The difference in the two photos is the one on the left has the upgraded extractor fan


    As far a welding materials go I'm a big fan of using scrap materials but I learned the hard way from many years of trying that it doesn't always work.
    The angle iron from bed frames is a good example - it varies from good to awful for welding.

    Instead I now visit the scrap bins of metal merchants as they have tonnes of scraps and offcuts and some very interesting shapes for around the $1/kg. This stuff is usually better than stuff picked up off the side of the road. Then work bench above was all made from merchant scraps

    Ultimately very few things beat actually purchasing the specific sizes and material types for welding projects, especially when structural strength and safety are involved.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Rockhampton, QLD
    Age
    68
    Posts
    454

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    Welcome to the forum Kev.

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