WELDERS....what does it take to weld a MT family kit?

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1973Guppie said:
hey girls, stop your pissing and moaning.....

don't get a 110, been there done that, go to a 220 mig and you can weld anything up to 1/4, I have even done 1/2 for non load bearing parts such as diff cover protection.....

no way you are getting full penetration on 1/4 thick unless you are bevelling the s*** out of it and making lots and lots of passes, which is just not ideal.
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Um....... .120 wall dom is NOT 1/4" thick last time i checked!!!:hhmm:

.... 110 will work fine as Tools said earlier and you can do tons more stuff- body/ bumpers/armor/fix s*** around house.etc.
 
zags said:
Although .120 wall tube can be done with 120v welder, it is at the top end of it's capability for an experienced fabricator. Step up and get the 220v, it will be money well spent.

As far as welding up a cage, it is one of the most difficult projects an amateur can do. Welding a cage properly starts with proper fit up, that means notching with NO gaps. You are not welding horizontally on a table, you will be welding out of position, up, down, sometimes upside down. Also, since you are welding round tube, your torch angle is constantly changing as you go around the joint. You also transition from a lap weld to a tee weld as you go around. This obviously should not be your first welding project.

One common mistake I have seen is when using hole saw notchers is not properly finish grinding the cope. Some people leave the "flash" on the end of the tube and try to weld the thin material left at the longest points of the notch instead of grinding it back to the full thickness of the tube. This makes for a scary joint.

A great way to practice and test your welding skill is to buy some 1.5" x .25" strap steel and cut it into 4" pieces. Overlap two pieces and do a lap weld across one side. Put it in a vice, grab a hammer, and try to break them apart. If the weld fails, you need to keep practicing. If the material fails, the weld is good. You will find that even some of the prettiest welds will fail. Beginners tend to use too low of a setting, causing poor penetration, even if the weld is pretty looking. I once broke a front spring hanger off of a SAS'ed Toyota with a pry bar that had been welded by a "fabricator". The welds were pretty, but had no penetration. The customer happened to be standing there. Needless to say his jaw hit the floor.

All of you who are saying how easy it is to weld a cage, especially those using 120v welders, try this little exercise. take two pieces of tube, do a 90* notch on one piece, then weld a tee shape 1/4 of the way around, half lap, half tee. put it in a vice, and break it apart. What failed, the tube or the weld?
Post up your results!

P.S. One thing I do not like about the Metal Tech cage is the small brace from the main hoop to the halo. It is too close to the occupants heads, and could cause a serious head injury in a hard roll or even a violent accident. I would make it much smaller, or just use a triangular gusset in it's place.
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are you kidding.
 
Mopdog said:
My rule on welding is if the welded piece is the difference in me or someone else living or dying, a pro is going to do it. A cage falls in that category. A local shop here quoted me $700 to weld one up or $300 if I notched it and tacked it together. I thought that seemed reasonable considering the amount of work there is there.
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That is very good advice!
 
fieldsken1 said:
are you kidding.
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And this is your idea of proper welding?

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AlexE, to add to this thread, if you value your time or craftsmanship at all, do yourself a favor and get a knotchmaster also. Copping joints with any lesser method or tool sucks, so hard.
 
Hey Bustanutley thanks for your input, and good to see you're still on the forum. I literally have been away from the forum for a long while now just been busy with my other businesses and have been on this project six years as many of you know. Nice to see many of the old familiar faces still here still offering good advice. Ken's project is probably THE one for whatever reason I chose to emulate so lay off of his welding results please. His rig is badass and was spared no expense for it in quality parts. I'll also add that he finished that thing out pretty quick. I want to see some bipartisan, across the aisle, working together to solve my metal tech cage problem. If I can get a damn good welder out of this I'm going to go that route. I have time to practice,right now, and I think it would be a fun project to tackle with my father-in-law. The deer and feral hogs are staying out in the woods eating acorns and persimmons until they are gone....It will be a few weeks or months before they're venturing into the pastures.
 
fieldsken1 said:
is not 120 wall like 8th inch
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Its a hair less than 1/8" which is why a 120 volt welder will work. Now if it was 1/4" thick .250 wall tube I would use the bigger 240v welder.
 
zags said:
And this is your idea of proper welding?

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the rear weld was done by the grandson and it got all done the right way long before it went in. the front weld was done by lcwizard (4+parts dave) so if theres a problem with that you can tell him. Once again someone thats does not know what hes talking about. maybe people need all the Circumstances before they talk s***
 
alex e said:
Thanks Bob I'm def looking into Ken's suggestion of the 211 MVP and lessons. We have some guys down at the farm who can weld their butts off. I also have a guy here who has offered to give me lessons. Personally I like classes. If there's an excuse for another tool, you can bet I'm down. With the boy coming in 2013 I probably will have a harder time getting to go hunt as much.
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Now you're talking! Good tools last a lifetime, and welding is a great craft to learn. 2X also on buying a nice pipe notcher/coping tool. Buy a decent large lens auto darkening hood, long cuff MIG-weight gloves and welding jacket (or leathers). Also, the UV radiation put out by the weld arc is nothing to mess with, so pay attention to the safety issues related to all welding processes.
 
just got another local quote, $15 per weld, tube to tube, plate to tube, etc.

Now all i gotta do is add up all the weld points, lol
 
Turns out we have a connection at Hobart. Looking at those....
 
alex e said:
Turns out we have a connection at Hobart. Looking at those....
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Was not happy with the Hobart we had here at work. Welding wasn't bad but when the feed motor for the wire quit the part was going to be as expensive as a new welder. we went with the Millermatic 175 220v. What a sweet machine! Several years of work and still running like new.:clap:
 
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