For the rest of the following pictures, I had to create a gap because it was 3 AM and I didn't want to use my bench grinder and disturb the neighbors. Most of the time the fit up is better: I clamp it down on the welding table and do one center tack on the inside, so that it will warp upwards. The u...

The best way that I have found to hold the two pieces together for the first tack is with painting tape:

After I get an okay fit up, I remove the mill scale with a wire wheel and clean with acetone:

Here is the overhang at the grinding wheel:

Now I have two curved pieces and I hand fit each one on a bench grinder. The overhang goes up at an angle.

Then I shape the metal on a 4 1/2" pipe with a sledgehammer. I know it is low tech.

So I am just learning how to weld and work with metal. I haven't even started welding school yet. My best idea was to start with a 4" X 4" sheet of the 14 gauge and round the edges on a bench grinder. Then I measure out 3" and cut off the end (that is for the overhang which gets welde...

I am making between 30 and 300 of these plates. These are used to bolt on the inside of a very fat tire for an electric bicycle in order to repel nails and screws. Each bicycle tire gets about 26 of these. This is about 9 added pounds so it is only for ebikes with a very large motor. I am using 14 g...

To prevent the trailer from being towed away, you can install an anchor into the concrete/asphalt in OH, then chain the trailer to it. There are also "tongue locks" that install a ball with an integrated tongue clasp, essentially preventing the trailer tongue from being installed onto a v...

14 gauge can be welded with a 6K generator, especially with an inverter TIG. You could buy a trailer, dual axle with ample headroom, a large fold down door, and a side door. Rig it up with Generator forward, plumb exhaust out of front end and upwards on the outside of trailer. A few decent 110v cei...

I would be willing to rent shop space, but this is going to come up 10 times over the next 10 years. All of the shop space that I saw was way too many square feet, and who gives a 2 month lease? And even if I found a small shop for rent for two months, I wouldn't have a car to drive to school and go...

Well, first of all, I know to have good ventilation while welding! I will open the doors while I am welding. Also, my helmet has a PAPR (SpeedGlas 9100xxi with ADP). So I will be living in a cold place (Troy, OH) for two months every winter. I have about 40 hours/week with nothing to do, and I need ...

I love my Miller welders. Consider watching Craig's List for a decent used unit. I got my 4 year old MM252 in like new condition, with 60 feet of 8/3 SOOW power cord on it, a full 44 lb spool of 035 Lincoln wire, and a 15 foot, 300 amp Bernard Q gun all for $1500. That was an amazing deal! I will s...

The 252 is a great machine. The Dynasty should handle just about anything you’d do as a Side Job Welder. Can’t imagine what you ran into that read more than 200 amps unless it was TIG aluminum. In that instance, you can add Helium to your Argon mix to get you beyond the limits of the 200 amp heat. ...

First of all, I like Miller. I hope that doesn't offend anybody. I am a welder's helper on Sundays (sort of an apprenticeship) and my awesome boss uses Miller machines. 99% of the work in the shop is MIG with C25. I showed up for work the first day ready to TIG weld. My MIG experience was just about...

I have a Dynasty 210DX with CPS and a Coolmate 1.3. I love those machines.

Thanks for telling me about the UV danger. The gentleman TIG welding in the videos is the instructor. I wear a welding jacket.

Here are pictures of me brazing and welding at the school.

Here is a TIG welded 4130 chromoly thru axle, single speed city bike with a 32 tooth chainring and disc brakes. I am building this up for my son to ride to high school. I am still prepping this for the powder coater. I pictured some tools in the background because I figured you guys and gals love to...

Thanks for your support and interest. Here is a brazed 4130 chromoly hardtail set up for disc brakes that can fit both a 31.5" X 5.05" tire and a 70 tooth chainring. This frame will serve as a bench test rig for the electronic systems (motor, controller, display, battery, throttle, multifu...

I have one more thing to say about the discouragement factor, and then I won't mention it again. I have to think that it is guaranteed that a budding welder or mechanic will experience being shot down a few times while getting started. An analogy is trying to learn to ride a bike and crashing. I sup...

It’s been my experience, that sometimes you run into a “professional” or “certified” instructor who may well know more than you, but also believes they’re the most intelligent cat whoever sh!t between two shoes. Humility is a grace, and there are just as many egomaniacs in welding as there are in a...

If you are intending to purchase the horizontal mill for making frames, I'd also tell you that a quality tubing notcher, a good set of hole saws, and an angle grinder will get you everything you need. That, and some PipeMaster Tool templates. There's a guy in SC who makes saltwater fishing towers, ...

I definitely learned all of the material that they presented. I was sick the second day, but I attended school that day anyway. It was nothing contagious; I consumed too much MCT oil which was tough on my GI. Listening to the welding Tips and Tricks Podcast (daily!) is such a great motivator for me ...

The instructor is seen berating me at 5:02 in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DavzTVaMKGw&t=16s after I inquire if he is mitering a certain student's seat stay because that student's dropouts are in the fixture . The student, Tyler, was the only one in class using that particular styl...

Pretty cool experience. Envious of you... Not so fast, there, cj737. The facilities and curriculum were spot on, but, of the 4 instructors on staff, only one of them did a good job IMO. It was a 6 hour drive to the school. I will always remember how excited I was on the way to school and how discou...