Welded up a stainless steel version of a fire pit lid using this square stainless steel tube i got from the scrap yard. The original cover was made of very thin gauge mild steel and got eaten up by the fire and weather. Hopefully the new one will last longer. The stainless mesh arrives tonight in the post.
Stainless that gets hot can get a bit rusty, it's possible to swab it down a few times with a 20% nitric acid solution (20% of a 68% nitric concentration) to remove the iron from the surface and passivate/oxidize the nickel and chrome. The beer keg skin of my furnace is actually flaking off sheets of rust under the insulation layer from the heat.
Well damn. Haha. The frame is 316 (I think since its not magnetic at all). But the mesh is 304. So the mesh will probably die with time. Will see how it holds up. The fire pit body held up well. No rust on it at all. Not sure if thats because the iron feet are rusting like an anode and sparing the stainless or if t just held up well. Got the mesh. Will attempt to tig it in place but its freaking tiny gauge so it may be hard. What does turning the high frequency start up do on the tig welder? Does it start the arc at lower amps? I.e. better for thin metal welding?
Use a small washer and clamp mesh between it and the frame, and just weld the center of the washer. It will shrink after cooling and hold the surrounding mesh tightly. Best, Kelly
I did some practice runs but the mesh burned up even with washers. I wonder if I need to mig or spot weld? Or something else? I tried a number of ways. Welding a rod, welding directly, welding with different sized washers.
Your best bet is going to be tig. Might be able to do a fusion weld the mesh to the angle, but most likely with need to add a little filler and wash the puddle over the mesh. Or with a mig set cool. Start on the angle wash the puddle into the mesh and get off the mesh. More of trying to trap the mesh in liquid filler than welding the mesh (this is true for both mig and tig with filler). IF it has to be stick the washer trick is the way to go. But you have to let things cool. So do one washer , then go to the opposite Side for the next one leap frog around don't build up heat in the mesh. You're trying to trap the mesh with the washer, not weld the mesh.
Little smaller washer with smaller hole and it's actually better to center the hole over an opening in the mesh to try keep the weave in tact. Always worked well for me and I was just using MIG and usually don't even have to move the torch to fill the hole but TIG should work just as well.....and as BillyBob said... Best, Kelly
What about those cheap spot welders at harbor freight? They have a sale going for black Friday on them. I think it would work. I looked at the mesh on my other lid and it looks like it was spot welded. I see small areas where it appears to have been pinched and welded. I'm just wondering if the mesh is too thin and will melt or if it will fuse. I might buy one and try it out.
I have one and have used it for a couple years now. The 240 VAC version. I debated build versus buy but for the price (I think $120 at the time) it was hard to pass up. I use it for sheet metal work. It works ok, pretty good actually. Couple minor complaints.....It does not have a timer to vary the duration of the weld time, just a toggle switch. Adding a selectable time/duration to it has been on the project list, but for 18-22ga sheet it's not much of an issue. The lever mechanism for clamping the tongs is also in the ok category. It requires some fussing to get correct and repeatable clamp pressure. It will come with short 6" reach tongs. I eventually bought a longer set and they cost half of what the welder did. Both of these issues might make it a little more difficult to get repeatable welds on your mesh, but as far as HF stuff goes, it's probably one of the better values. You do know you can probably rig a car battery to do your job, if this is a one and done. Search YT. Best, Kelly
Interesting. I wouldn't mind having one available for small projects though I can't think of any other projects I need it for right now. I found a timer unit for a spot welder: https://www.walmart.com/ip/NIILEEL-...ohG1Ug38gk_TDAP5fc8aAmCuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Good one Zap. If you search Spot Welder Time Control Board on Amazon you'll get a lot of hits and that one for $15. Who'd of thunk it? Looks like most of them are complete control circuits for making lithium battery powered micro welders for welding battery/electronics connections. For the HF spot welder, think all you need is an adjustable time delay relay that opens the trigger circuit on the toggle which. Best, Kelly
Will have a look. Seems fairly easy to use in terms of timing. But dear God man it is awkward to use. So heavy and at such weird angles while holding mesh and the frame of the lid. Very awkward. Anyway it got the job done. I'm very impressed with it. I will use it for a few sheet metal projects I have in mind. I may upgrade the sand blaster box using it. But I need to find or make longer arms for it. The 6 inch ones are a smidge on the short side.
Random projects I've completed recently around the house (no I haven't been dead or quit metal casting just been playing 'house' lately). I put up shelves and hung all my old fish tank plant lights. Growing seedlings for spring. Started some of the super slow growers / long season plants. Made myself a sliding drawer for between my work benches. More storage space! Hurray... Six 275g totes linked together filled by the rain. Total capacity 1650g. I think the garage roof can fill about 660 gals per 1 inch of rain that falls on roof. Small enclosure for the water pump system to feed water around garden.
I finished doing most of the shitty bits of installing bulk head fittings into each tank. Tomorrow I need a few things from lowes and then I'll see about adding flexible pipes to each tote to get them connected together and allow movement between the totes. Here is a test from one small rain storm. About 12 hrs of water yielded >275 gallons collected. Just draining it off here into the grass before it freezes in the tote.
Have you got a way to bypass the totes completely? I imagine if one of those suckers completely froze, it would be JUNE before it flows again.
Ya I have an overflow before water enters tote. I've just got the totes open bow so eater won't accumulate. I'll collect in April or May apparently we can expect about 9 inches of rain on average in those 2 months. I need about 3 total to fill everything up to max from empty.
Soo I was sitting in the corner of my yard one day and thought to myself "boy do I hate this grass." So I decided to kill it all. My yard has a slope of about 3 or 4 feet from one side to the other. I figure instead of dealing with it I'd accentuate it and build a wall. Then I can do some bronze casting and make some nice wall lights. And make some iron work fencing and hand rails with bronze accents. So I hired a guy to tear up my yard and dig down a lower area to the garden where I'll plant flowers and have a seating area. Then I can do stairs and two walls. Then digging I had him mix in compost and good soil in the bottom layer here. Nice black earth for planting. Will need to save up $1500 for wall materials then I can build it all. I started making a bronze wall lamp. Should be similar to this one Here is my wax version. Still one or two things to add. But close to done. I gotta figure out what kind of bulbs to use now... hmmm
When he's done digging, send him my way! I'll send him back with all the soil he can carry for you! I like your lights. Don't forget the gas torches around the circle, it will keep your neighbors scared of you when they see big flames! Don't know how much heavy ground work you've done, but be sure to treat your wall like it's a retaining wall. It looks short enough you won't need to dick with an engineer or permitting. Plan on some gravel and plastic behind it.
Was thinking of doing the entire thing including drainage pipes etc. That area of the yard gets a lot of water run off from the gazebo/carport roof which would undermine the walls pretty quick. So proper drainage pipes probably need to be put in. Planning it like this.
I know you've already done some gutter work... Is there gutters on this side too? I HATE gutters, but I might have to consider them around my garage area depending on what I find down below. Your turn to buy one of these. SDS Max. I've got impossibly hard soil and with this spade, it's a beast! figure about 400bucks. This was one of the rare times I bought a tool warranty to go with it. 40bucks for 4years considering the hell this tool is about to go through sounded cheap to me.
