4' x 4' x 8" Router Build

[m.i.k.e]

Great start, the thing about welding is that it doesn't matter what it looks like as long as it's strong which that looks as tho it is. It can be tarted up later with a grinder or flap disc and it's not easy to get neat welds with mig on thick material unless you have a really powerful machine and then it just pulls out of alignment more.
Mike.

[JonnyFive]

Thanks Mike!

I have a 150Amp welder but I'm not convinced that's what it actually puts out, think it's a rebadged Chinese POS but I was given it free so can't complain. There are so many welds on this thing that I don't intend grinding everything back - life's too short! As long as it holds together I'll be happy, I'm just chuffed to see some progress.

Cheers

[JAZZCNC]

it's not easy to get neat welds with mig on thick material unless you have a really powerful machine and then it just pulls out of alignment more.
Mike.

Not strictly true, with the correct setup and a skill full welder then even a cheap welder can give excellent welds on thick material without too much pulling or distorting as you can see on these pictures of machine we made, one is 5mm plate onto 10mm done with a Cheap £150 180A Ebay Mig, the other is this base frame with some long welds on10mm plate.

You can see the Mig in the pic of the base frame and if you zoom in you can see 10mm pads welded to a 10mm plate, nothing pulled on this frame. Full disclosure here this was My Son Jareds (Jazz) welding, not mine, my eyes are knackered so my welding days are done.!

This said practice makes perfect and a grinder mask's 1000 sins until something falls off...

[Doddy]

You can see the Mig in the pic of the base frame and if you zoom in you can see 10mm pads welded to a 10mm plate, nothing pulled on this frame. Full disclosure here this was My Son Jareds (Jazz) welding, not mine, my eyes are knackered so my welding days are done.!

...and to the left of the welder, the ubiquitous DeWalt grinder :)

All seriousness - that's a nice job - surprised that's the result of MIG, approaching TIG quality. Impressive.

[m.i.k.e]

Originally Posted by JAZZCNC >> Not strictly true, with the correct setup and a skill full welder then even a cheap welder can give excellent welds on thick material without too much pulling or distorting as you can see on these pictures of machine we made, one is 5mm plate onto 10mm done with a Cheap £150 180A Ebay Mig, the other is this base frame with some long welds on10mm plate.

I was just trying to keep his chin up, now you have posted them pics up JonnyFive will have an inferiority complex

atb Mike.

[Neale]

Is it a complex if you know you are inferior?

My welding is crap but it's good enough that my machine has stayed pretty accurate and hasn't fallen apart in the few years I've been using it. I just don't show it to people...

But don't forget the angle grinder!

[JAZZCNC]

I was just trying to keep his chin up, now you have posted them pics up JonnyFive will have an inferiority complex

atb Mike.

Somehow I don't think JohnyFive is a snowflake so I'm sure he'll be fine....

But in all seriousness, the point of my post was more to let people know that even a cheap Mig can produce very nice welds even on thick-ish material. Yes, 10mm is pushing the limit of a cheap welder but it can be done.

[JAZZCNC]

...and to the left of the welder, the ubiquitous DeWalt grinder :)

Yes, the good old Dewalt grinder and it's got the Evil wire brush on it.

All seriousness - that's a nice job - surprised that's the result of MIG, approaching TIG quality. Impressive.

If you think that's good you should see the welds that he does with the big German-made EWM Mig welder.!....That thing is amazing and the speed it welds at is unbelievable, the control panel is like a spaceship, you tap in a code for the material and type of weld joint you are doing and it sets all the settings amps. volts, wire feed, etc and monitors them as you weld, you basically pull the torch along and the metal just flows like water, he says it almost feels like cheating because it's so easy.

My reply is " So it bloody well should @ £6k"....

[JonnyFive]

It takes more than that to upset me I know my limitations but I’m happy that this thing is strong enough to do its job. The vast majority of the welding I’ve done so far won’t be visible, hopefully I’ll improve a little by the time I get to the bits you’ll see.

I know you shouldn’t blame your tools but tonight I borrowed a friends inverter MIG welder and it seems to produce nicer welds. With only 4 power settings on my welder it always seems that the right level is in between settings. The other welder has infinitely adjustable Voltage and feed speed so it’s easier to get right.

That’s some seriously nice looking welding there Jazz, maybe by the end of this project I’ll be 1/10th as good as that!

[JonnyFive]

Making good progress on the fabrication work