Furnace Dolly Build

Discussion in 'Foundry tools and flasks' started by OCD, Sep 4, 2017.

  1. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Or, since you have that phone handy, Google (ie.) 'drill size for 1/4 tap'. You probably won't even have to click on one of the hits to see your answer. No scrolling through pix or scanning charts to find the right line. Just another option. If I did a lot of tapping, I'd surely keep a printed chart handy.

    Jeff
     
  2. OCD

    OCD Silver

    Jason flies planes yet I think he has a hard time operating a cell phone. :rolleyes: ;)
     
    DavidF likes this.
  3. J.Vibert

    J.Vibert Silver

    ESAB Heliarc 252 in my stable. Sure it's big, heavy, and loves the juice, but I've been asked 3 times since I bought if I could do some "small jobs" for guys at work. Once I tell them they'll have to come over because my welder isn't portable, they take pause, and never bother me again...lol. Well worth a few extra pounds in my book. ;)
     
  4. OCD

    OCD Silver

    Easiest word in the English dictionary, NO
     
  5. Jason

    Jason Gold

    No way am I taking my machine outta the garage. IF they want something welded, they better show up here with booze or cash or piss off. What's the old saying, Ass, Cash or Grass... No one rides for free!
     
  6. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Yeah the syncrowave is huge. Takes up a lot of valuable floor space, but from what I understand it lasts a long time compared with the newer ones.

    OCD - yeah ball busting is fun. :)

    Booze is all it takes to get you to weld stuff? Where do you live again? I've got a ton of delicate welding to do and a handle of rum that won't drink itself. Ha.
     
  7. OCD

    OCD Silver

    Neighbor next door, yeah 'That" one, tried to get me to do a $1500 welding over haul on their work trailer.

    I was trying to be nice and told him I wouldn't do it for nothing less than $800 plus materials.
    I also informed him how much a shop would charge and for him to go see for himself.
    He wigged out and started the,,,, it'll only take crap and I quickly told him I wasn't interested in doing it for full price and to take his cheap ass and buy a new trailer.
    He knows absolutely NOTHING about fab work or welding. :rolleyes:

    If your wondering, that trailer needed to be damn near completely re-welded.
    POS!!!
     
  8. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    Welding takes forever, didn't realize before I got my tig and tried it out.
     
  9. OCD

    OCD Silver

    People who have never done any type of fabrication or building have no idea.
     
  10. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Yup! Tig is not the fastest way to weld. That title belongs to mig thats for sure. Zap, If ya don't want to play the dab dab game, don't forget to crank the heat and just drive over the filler wire laid in the joint.
    This is twice as fast... Not as fancy as a stack of dimes, but who cares unless you are building motorcycles. Did you try to weld silicon bronze yet? The stuff is the sweetest thing I've welded so far. Best part, if ya dip, keep going. The tungesten will now have a nice gold tip on it. lol
     
  11. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    This may be obvious, but my dad taught me that there must be a gap between all pieces of metal that are going to be welded, and the thicker the metal, the larger the gap needs to be.

    The idea is that the weld much completely penetrate to the back side of the metal.
    If the parts are butted hard against each other with no gap, then you get a great looking surface weld, with no penetration.

    Dad was a certified welder, and he use to show me test welds that had to be done.
    He would weld two thick pieces of bar stock together (perhaps 3/8" thick, 2" wide, 2" long each piece), welding from the front only, and then bend the pieces and weld backwards as far as possible.
    A solid weld will not break if it has full penetration, when bent completely backwards, and you don't necessarily have to weld both sides in order to get a solid weld.

    For critical work, he would V out the mating edges.
    For non-critical work, he would just use an appropriate gap between the pieces.

    The other tricks he taught me are to use plenty of clamps, get everything square (those magnetic squares are great), tack both ends of the work first, or tack several spots along a long section, and don't weld long sections continuously.
    He tended to weld long welds in sections perhaps 2" long each, and varying position and direction.

    I use an AC stick welder only, and I have seen people build up a large blob of weldment on the surface of two pieces, which is a weak joint.
    The surface of the weld should be basically flush with the surface of the metal, and should only require minimal welding.

    There are some good photos online of what good and bad welds look like.
    Dad use to mention the stack of dimes thing, which is like laying dimes side by side with a slight overlap on one side.
     
  12. OCD

    OCD Silver

    Pieces of steel that are to be mated should have a 30* bevel before welding together, hence, your Dad's "V" edges.

    Research what different tungsten tip shapes do and how they affect the penetrations of the weld.
    The tungsten tip shape Does affect the amount of penetration you get.

    Believe it or not but a more blunted tip will give you a deeper penetration.

    I've learned that when welding 1/4" or thicker steel I crank up the amps to get a better penetration.
    So if a piece of steel mics out to say 200mm's, I'll crank the amps to 210-220 and blast away.
    If I need slightly less amps on that particular work piece in any given section I just regulate with the foot pedal.
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2017
  13. J.Vibert

    J.Vibert Silver

    I'm impressed.. I doubt I'd bother breaking out a mic to make sure a piece of anything to be welded was over 7.5" so I would feel comfortable cranking up my machine.
     
  14. OCD

    OCD Silver

    Have I got a treat for you guys.

    The dolly/outriggers/hoisting system won't be done for about another week or two but it's getting there.

    I guarantee you boys better have some toilet paper close by once you see this contraption.

    IT'S SWEEEEET!!!!!!

    Nope, not gonna let the cat out of the bag early. :D
     
    Jason likes this.
  15. Jason

    Jason Gold

    I've seen it. It's fricken INSANE OCD!
     
  16. OCD

    OCD Silver

    OK Gentlemen, I was going to wait until it was Completely finished but I may be dead by then so...............

    Still have some tweaking to do but here it how far I've gotten.

    I ran out of 3/8" bolts for the legs as you'll notice some are missing at this point.

    Next step it to build the planks and then the hoisting system.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2017
    Tobho Mott and Jason like this.
  17. Jason

    Jason Gold

    That's bad ass. Super duper fancy schmancy.
     
  18. OCD

    OCD Silver

    Thanks Jason.

    That diamond plate you see under the furnace and inside the dolly is actually a sand pit box I welded up for crucible failures & melt downs.

    Once this entire set up is TOTALLY completed I'll do another video and go through the entire build with specs, etc.

    Then it'll be time to find a pussy cat or 2. :D Just kidding
     
  19. Zapins

    Zapins Gold

    I think that thing looks damn professional. Seems very stable with the supports. Just don't trip over them during pours in the dark!

    Is the beer keg made of aluminum or steel? Will the aluminum shell melt ?

    I am going to help someone near me make their own furnace and get into the casting hobby soon and I am thinking of what type of shell to use. Old water heater or beer keg, or maybe even a propane tank of the right dimensions. But the beer keg is probably the safest/easiest nicest looking way to do it. Especially if they are made of steel (easier to weld). I'm definitely thinking of copying a few of your ideas (hinge for lid, burner adjuster, etc).

    I want to see how the lid fit is when its up and running. My furnace leaks flames around the lid and I wonder if yours will do the same. Probably not since I'm guessing your fit is much better :)
     
  20. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Stainless Zap. Not a problem for us Tig welding gurus... But well above the ability of the common mortal man. :p
     

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