Play Day

I was supposed to have a trip today but it got postponed until Friday. So I figured it was a good day to play with the welder instead of getting too serious on the other projects.

This is the welder.  I didn't expect much out of this used 115 volt welder that I bought for 65 bucks.  As it was, it welded like crap so I made a few upgrades.

This is a big ass Lincoln 300 amp ground clamp that cost 7 bucks attached to some 4 gauge wire that is way bigger than needed, but what the heck?

This is a Lincoln 200 amp electrode holder that was a bigger investment, 15 bucks.

This is a selection of welding rods that the little welder will actually burn, another 30 bucks or so.

This is some scrap 3 inch by 1/4" thick angle iron just stuck together for a practice weld.

This is the scrap welded together using tiny little 1/16" electrodes.

I used the little guys because from comments on the internet, supposedly the little welder and the little rods cannot weld 1/4" steel.  Well they can, even with less that meticulous surface preparation and fitting.  Not that this is the way to do things, but I was pretty impressed with the performance.  I am a long way from being a real welder, but I can now stick two pieces of metal together and be pretty sure they aren't coming apart anytime soon.

One of my neighbors, a retired welder with 40 years of experience, stopped by and burnt a few rods with me offering a few tips which can be seen in all the practice welds on the left side of the scrap.  He wasn't all that impressed with the little welder but seemed to have fun with it anyway :)

Now all of this welding stuff is just because I have about $300 worth of welding I need to do under the bus to repair some rusted out parts thanks to Wilma and very slow water leak.  Instead of just hiring someone I think it is a great opportunity to learn some new stuff.  Now that I can make the welds stick I just have to learn to make them look pretty.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success. This

 Tight lines,

 Capt. Dallas