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Welding Student - Project Pics

AverageJoe

AverageJoe

Hello all,

I'm in my second semester of welding classes at the local college and love it. I bought a small MIG welder (Hobart Handler) and promptly embarked on a project I'd been wanting to try for years-----a baby wood-burning stove. The 'dream' was/is to use it in my basement workshop, but the reality is that other family members probably wouldn't OK a chimney flue running up the side of the house :S. This is a very small stove built from a small contractors air compressor tank, but I've incorporated a few ideas I've learned from others and it burns very well, is very controllable with the 2 air intake doors, and burns very clean. After my initial test burn (also to burn off factory paint), I painted it with black stove paint. I named it 'Scrappy' since it was made from 99% scrap and donated parts. The screw and wing nut in the front left foot are the patented 'uneven floor compensator'-----a very complex device installed on the shortest leg to allow a completely 'rock-free' stove on any smooth surface!

PLEASE NOTE: I did NOT weld on my wood workbench!! I have NOT used stove indoors and would not actually use it that close to a wall!! I am well aware of the dangers involved in welding, fires, stoves, hot things in general. Do not attempt to duplicate this or anything similar if you are not!

Thanks for looking! $001 (2).JPG$001 (5).JPG$003 (2).JPG$005.JPG$006 (2).JPG
 
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incucrash

incucrash

Nice job

If you ever need welding advice, I will do my best to help.

Save up for a gas drive, or at least a TIG setup, expands what you can do dramatically.
 
AverageJoe

AverageJoe

Thanks guys! I'm hoping to get my MIG certificate after this semester, then hopefully find a job somewhere locally (or on a Caribbean Island :S) doing something somewhat interesting for a decent company with decent pay (yea, I know that's expecting a lot these days :S) Overhead, open-root butt joints are proving to be a challenge. I've been hanging out on a couple welding forums also, BTW.

Incucrash---yea, eventually, I'll get a gas bottle for my home set-up. We cover all forms of welding in class, I just got my own MIG to start with since for what I'd probably do at home, it's the most versatile and I was looking at the most 'bang for the buck' for my first welder purchase. I do like burning some 7018 too though! I love how a nice TIG weld looks, but we didn't spend enough time on it to really get proficient with it-----basic joints in aluminum. Definitely would have been nice on this thinish metal for this stove project.
 
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Lather

Lather

I like. Cool damper. I wish I was better at welding. I have used the "idiot stick", MIG, but never TIG.

It is nice when you can custom fab stuff in metal.
 
tsv

tsv

Looks like the wood stove that my father welded up when I was a kid. He is a certified pipe welder. He taught my brother and I to weld.
 
incucrash

incucrash

AverageJoe said:
Thanks guys! I'm hoping to get my MIG certificate after this semester, then hopefully find a job somewhere locally (or on a Caribbean Island :S) doing something somewhat interesting for a decent company with decent pay (yea, I know that's expecting a lot these days :S) Overhead, open-root butt joints are proving to be a challenge. I've been hanging out on a couple welding forums also, BTW.

Incucrash---yea, eventually, I'll get a gas bottle for my home set-up. We cover all forms of welding in class, I just got my own MIG to start with since for what I'd probably do at home, it's the most versatile and I was looking at the most 'bang for the buck' for my first welder purchase. I do like burning some 7018 too though! I love how a nice TIG weld looks, but we didn't spend enough time on it to really get proficient with it-----basic joints in aluminum. Definitely would have been nice on this thinish metal for this stove project.
Click to expand...

Get you a good pair of leathers for your arms and chest, and a nice fire rated hood if you have not already! Overhead will get easier but usually it is hard due to fear or fatigue... So be comfortable and be safe, if your metal falls, it is usually because you are not close enough to the work piece, too much heat, or your angle....

SMAW and MIG are wonderful, but in my opinion, TIG is a money certification! Depending on the job of course!

Don't be afraid to butter things up if you need to, especially for open rooted joints, a pass on each side can definitely allow you to tie in your middle bead to seal it off, once you got that, it's all downhill from there!

A good rule of thumb for welding is to keep your weave to less then about 3 times the width of your electrode. 1/8" 7018 should not be "weaved" more then 3/8" per a single bead, but I have done and seen way more.

7018 is a great wire, very easy to learn.

If you plan on welding for your career, try to join up with a US Government position, naval base, shipyard, etc... Sometimes they travel to beautiful places, sometimes not so much


Keep at it, be safe!
 
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