Alphatig 200x TIG Welder #3- Welding Steel Sheet!

Haven't had much time to play lately.

Decided it was time to practice a little. Tried something different this time though- switched it over to DC to weld on some steel. With my old welder, this was NOT an easy process. It involved unplugging the high frequency box and taking leads out of it and then re-routing the leads to the correct lugs on the main welder. Might not sound like a big deal but trust me, it was a royal pain.

The Alphatig- Click two switches. Wow, that was easy...



I changed the AC to DC, and the pulse to direct / flat / whatever it's called.


This thing welds steel BEAUTIFULLY. I'm a sucky welder as you can tell, but I was astounded by how easy it was to kludge pieces together. I didn't burn ONE SINGLE HOLE through the 18g sheet I'm using here. Compare that to using my little 110 wire feed where I couldn't run a bead longer than 1/4" without having to stop and let the metal cool, this TIG welder is AWESOME!

First nasty welds, getting it figured out.



Once I understood I could actually put some heat to it and not blow holes the size of Texas, I made some progress. Top is a lap joint, middle is a butt joint, and the bottom is just a bead ran on top of the metal.



The lap joint turned out really nice. Was giving a little forward-back motion as I went and it seems to have worked great.



Time for a little project! This would have been impossible to make on my wire feed welder. Cut a bunch of 2" squares out and tacked them all together. I should also mention tacking things like this together was a breeze. LOVE having the foot pedal.



Not real pretty, but all welded up.





Wish I could spend some time practicing, 'cause I really need it. Got a couple of bigger projects in mind if I can ever get caught up on everything else!

Custom Hot Wheels- Lickety Split #1.

So finally getting around to posting the build I participated in a month or two ago.  The theme this time was "A Day at the Drags".  Wasn't really planning on joining in on this one, but I got to poking around through some Hot Wheels and had a bit of an epiphany one night while eating at Red Robin with the family.  So follow along with the build that was concieved on a napkin.  Pardon the bbq sauce...



Started out with these two castings, but eventually settled on using the yellow one.





And start cuttin.




So I tried something brand new out with this build. Scratch built wheels.









Don't know why but this stance just does it for me.

Custom Fire Truck.

So "The Workshop" hosted another build-off last month.  This time the theme was Fire Trucks!  Here's my entry for the build.  Turned out nice and I learned some new tricks in the process.  Getting more comfortable in this "medium" and the cool part is I'm learning some neat things I can apply in my metals classes.  I leave bits and pieces of builds on my desk at school during the week and I've had a couple of students ask about them- some are interested in trying their own builds and it gives me an opportunity to not only show hands on working skills but also a LOT of different problem solving ideas.

My starter pic.  Wasn't really sure where I was going at this point so I kept my options open.



Eventually I decided I had to go with the Ford.  First step was to drop the front as low as it could go.



Then try and figure out how to make it loooonnngg.





Ended up combining a base with the overall body of the truck. 







Fenders.  This was tricky but they turned out pretty nice.  Wanted to completely enclose them- old fashioned skirt style- but that didn't work out.







"Water Tank".  Again, something new.  Forming the curve was a challenge.







Ladder time!  Most expensive part of the truck.  Had to buy a whole roll of wire.







Ladder mount and some more cleanup.  We added a friendly competition halfway through the build to see whose ladder was longest / tallest.  Mine missed by 1/4"...

Bolt is attached to the ladder pivot, the nut is attached to the base, allowing the ladder to swivel and raise.








Time to clean up the cab!







Paint and assembly.  Should have used some better paint, but this deeper red made me feel more "vintage" so I went with it.






Custom skirts made with chrome pin stripping tape.



Test fitting.



Details.

Ladder tilt.



Hose reel.







Cab detailing. Windshield wipers were a booger to do.





Single stack.


Ladder assembly.







Stock vs. Lowered.


Decals and more assembly.










Few more pics of it, then we can move on to the next project.









And there you have it, "ENGINE" 7.