Other What did you fab up today? A thread for the home fabricators!

[BruceSki]

The Father-In-Laws home made pool heater has seen better days so I had offered to build him a new frame out of aluminum so it would never rot out again.

After over a year of neglect, I broke out the MIG gun and whipped this up so I can deliver it this weekend when I’m in Charleston for work. Now it’s up to him to swap over the copper tubing and plexiglass lens.

Didn’t you buy a tig? Still MiG gunning stuff up?

 

[OCD Solutions]

I did but I've been way too busy to sit down and practice the TIG. The MIG is so fast and I'm quite comfortable with it so it's still my go-to, especially when a project jumps up and I have to knock it out right away. I was going to have this ready for the Thanksgiving weekend but work has me travelling to Charleston this weekend so I had to bust it out in a day.

I have a couple projects in my head that would benefit from some cleaner looking welds so I've got a neighbor that's gonna tune me up on both methods. He's travelled the US doing specialized welding on nuclear and steam generation plants so I'd be crazy to pass up a lesson or two with him. He's been out of it a few years now so he's keen to play around and show me a few things.

 

[Austin_landers]

Flipped the outlet on a wet jet pipe for a buddy’s budget sn sj project .

 

[BruceSki]

View attachment 441127
View attachment 441128
Flipped the outlet on a wet jet pipe for a buddy’s budget sn sj project .

You might have a problem with that model chamber hitting the bottom of the hull. It has a longer drop than the other style wetjet pipe.

I did one of those for a local guy and it ended up not fitting. He cut it and brought it to me to weld so I assumed he tested fitment first. I think he just cut it and dropped to me

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I did but I've been way too busy to sit down and practice the TIG. The MIG is so fast and I'm quite comfortable with it so it's still my go-to, especially when a project jumps up and I have to knock it out right away. I was going to have this ready for the Thanksgiving weekend but work has me travelling to Charleston this weekend so I had to bust it out in a day.

I have a couple projects in my head that would benefit from some cleaner looking welds so I've got a neighbor that's gonna tune me up on both methods. He's travelled the US doing specialized welding on nuclear and steam generation plants so I'd be crazy to pass up a lesson or two with him. He's been out of it a few years now so he's keen to play around and show me a few things.

Anytime you get an opportunity like that take it , most of those old guys know their stuff, anyone who has a nuclear license really knows their stuff.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Exhaust bracket for the Square nose , overkill yeah git you sum !

I do have to find that length bolt in stainless or find a Yamaha bolt that will fit though.

 

[Sparkplug]

Truing and relief grinding. Always gotta figure out some sort of brackettry

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Finally got the impeller in for the 3D it was a little dinged up but I ain't scared , I sharpened up the blade and went with a machined finish instead of the dull sandblasted finish before and after , this impeller is a 9 / 21 pitch small hub impeller and I have a brand new brass -aluminum pump to go with it, these were only made for one year and came on 1985 1/2 GSX LTD With a 951 engine

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I am redoing the bunks on a double trailer and two of the bunk brackets were completely cashed , all attempts at locating new brackets came up empty so I decided to make a set using my friends plasma cutter , turns out his plasma cutter is not working right now and the trailer has to hit the door Saturday afternoon , so on to plan B , I am doing them Mexican style El Manual.

The one in the middle is the new one and I still have to drill the holes on the right one , they I am spraying them with cold galvanizing compound and calling it good.

You don't need fancy tools to make stuff like this , all this was done with a 4 1/2 angle grinder with cutting discs, a flap disc and a drill.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

All the bunk brackets are done, sprayed and back on the trailer , since I don't have a crucible full of molten zinc handy I sprayed them with cold galvanizing compound followed by a dusting of silver paint and alternated between the two to get something that mostly resembles a zinc coating , this trailer will never see salt water again so it's all good.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Warning this one is quite pic heavy , while I did fab some stuff but this is more of a reorganization effort on the work truck , it's not so much that I do onsite repairs as it's I travel from one of my workplaces to the other at the lake frequently. and I also do some work at the house, depends on what I am doing that particular day.

Tractor supply had a clearance on Cresent wrenches last year, like $7.00 a set, I bought 4 sets and used two of the tool rolls for allen wrenches and a punch-centerpunch-chisel set .

Tool rolls have to go somewhere and they fit nicely in this Dishwasher tray as does the multimeter, temp gauge , cleaning brushes and other stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else . there is also one mounted inside the shell to hold other small plastic containers that hold small stuff like q-tips and hardware.

Moving on I bought a plastic tote that holds all the winterization supplies, a funnel a 1/" socket set and two screwdrivers, grab it and go.

I have three fairly strong magnets in there to hold loose stuff, again grab it and go. in the back I have a wrench holder , the holder turned out to not be that great so I added a screen door spring , yep you guessed it grab it and go.

Two Kobalt socket holders hold a variety of sockets, they both have handles so you can , --- -- --- -- , yep you guessed it.

Two tote bags hold small stuff that really can't be corralled easily.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Next frame more of the same , a closet rod made from galvanized conduit holds wet towels, etc it is easily removable but I rarely remove it.

The electric ratchet is held in place with a removable strap , it also holds the portable sawzall , the bumper was custom made and serves as a vice in a pinch I will probably weld a nut on the end and then I will have a pinch bolt to hold stuff with also.

I used a screen door spring and two eye bolts to make the spray can holder, a variety of socket sets are there also .

Inside the tuck behind the seat I drilled holes and made a screwdriver rack , on the back of the seat I cut up a bucket toolbox and mounted to the seat rods to hold pliers , scissors an inspection mirror a utility knife and various other stuff.

There are drills , an electric 3/8" impact and a side grinder in individual cases in there somewhere.

And finally the Craftsman wrench set goes behind the seat, it's a work in progress and constantly in a state of flux but I am quite proud of it..

 

[WFO Speedracer]

When I got this bike it already had this seat on it while I liked the design apparently it was made for a midgets to ride ,
So I lopped off seven inches of it and welded it back together I probably should have gone eight inches but even at seven there was lots of cutting and grinding to get the pieces back together,.

The paint work on the frame looks great , all done with urethane automotive paint , but the tank has massive runs in it and needs to be repainted , I will paint them both at the same time.

It has been welded and ground down, Bondo and paint are next then it's time to round up some foam and vinyl and build the actual seat,

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Did some more welding on the seat base adding a piece to make a channel for the side covers , I also sewed up a seat for it today , I also mounted the taillight , it's slowly getting there.

Next is bodyworking , priming and painting the seat base and fabbing up the sidecovers from Aluminum sheet .

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Sidecovers are cut , the seat base is drilled and tapped and the sidecovers were bent and mounted , the next step is polishing them to a mirror finish , wax on wax till your arms fall off .

 

[WFO Speedracer]

It are shiny AF

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I end up with a lot of loose nuts and bolts , some of them quite rusty and crusty , boxes and boxes of them .
So years ago I ran across a Sunbeam ice cream maker in a thrift shop for like $5 , I converted it into a rotary tumbler and use silicon carbide out of the bead blast cabinet for media. The bracket was added to get it on an angle because it does not work when sitting upright as it would normally sit on a counter.

This isn't about making the bits shiny although the stainless comes out that way, with the right media it could do that on regular steel as well , I just want them cleaned . rust free , sorted and ready for use. I have used this thing so much that the latches broke off and the main case cracked, I wrapped the casing with duct tape added a couple of bolts . washers and a strap and it is still kicking.

Stuff goes in looking like the third pic, it comes out looking like the fourth , I do wash the parts with Dawn and water and put them in the oven to dry at 200 degrees, then sort them and put them in containers or the double sided sorters for later use , it makes finding that one particular size or length of bolt and easy process plus these sorters are easily transported to the job site.

It's just something I do to try and feel productive while I am sitting around drinking beer, that last batch was really crusty so I ran it for about twice as long as I normally do, this is how it came out, the results are pretty much similar to bead blasting, just a lot less work, Some part don't fit weel in the sorters for those I use these individual containers and mark them with the labelmaker.

I have been using these double sided sorters I buy off of Amazon but I am going to have to take a hard look at these , a three pack for what one of the double sided one cost.

Amazon.com

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I finally finished it up yesterday and it's all loaded up and headed to the new owner in about 30 minutes .

I got it as a nonrunner , camshaft and rocker arms were smoked , I had it bored 1st o/s , new piston and rings, lapped the valves and installed new valve guide seals , new cam chain , rebuilt the starter , replaced the carb and rebuilt it because it had a Chinese knockoff on it , new battery, new seat cover.

Engine had massive amounts of sludge in it that I had to clean out and change the oil half a dozen times to clear out , (this is what smoked the cam and rockers ) .

I removed the front bumper which was a mass of twisted and torn steel with no sex appeal whatsoever , I straightened , rewelded and repainted it, 9there are none available either new or used ) , I stripped the front and rear racks . rear grab bar and the handlebars and repainted them, replaced the battery and I rthe centrifugal clutch , on to the next one, let's get this train rolling !

 

[Daytona Nick]

The newest build 64 Chevy Impala with 6.2 l lsa air ride full build

 

[wsuwrhr]

The shop has been pretty slow so I am fabbing up an aluminum rolling gate. Figured errrryone builds steel gates, that I would do something different. Hopefully it isnt a bad idea. The wheel mount bracket I am machining up today,