Low Slung T

[Island Girl]

Not sure how old she is, but she looks about the same age I was the first time I got to use a welding machine . . . of course it was just AC stick back then, but for a 10th grader it was an awesome experience and paved the way down a long slippery slope of debauchery . . .

 

[Spanky]

. . . paved the way down a long slippery slope of debauchery . . .

I like to think of our hobby in more elevated terms; more like an incurable sickness involving obsession with loud fast things !

 

[dwsatt21]

Island girl - she is 16 and about to start 11th grade. So yep, just about the same.

 

[T-Test]

Please be sure to cover her up(a arms, head, and stuff) so she won't look like me as welding is brighter than the sun. Scars are not pretty on a beautiful girl.

 

[Island Girl]

Please be sure to cover her up(a arms, head, and stuff) so she won't look like me as welding is brighter than the sun. Scars are not pretty on a beautiful girl.

You mean you've never heard of "shop cred" . . . .

Seriously though, some better skin cover is the right way to go . . . don't ask me how I know . . .

 

[Neshkoro]

Over the years I had many bouts of sunburn on my inner arms from TIG welding. Then I got smart and began to wear long sleeves or those welder sleeves. Not comfortable. But either is the sunburn from the TIG!

 

[dwsatt21]

We cover up when we are doing anything more than a few tacks. Otherwise it’s too stinking hot down here in Houston.

 

[DonnyRay]

I concur .Safety & protection should always be stressed when using any power tool ( hand held grinder , electric drill , drill press , bench grinder , saber saw , table saw , plasma cutter & any type of welder ).

 

[dwsatt21]

Got some work done on the front shocks. Got the bottom shock mounts on and a template made for the top mount and headlight mount.
Mocked up the headlight too. I am aware it’s a bit crooked. I just drilled a whole in the top of that 2x4 really quickly so it’s not exactly a straight hole.
Also found a new steel supply place and made a trip there today to get what I need and got my template traced onto the steel.
So now the part where my wife may kill me. I was look at that steel, trying to decide how I wanted to cut it and made a decision...to buy a plasma cutter. It will be here Friday so I’m on hold until then for this part.

 

[DonnyRay]

I use templates all the time. I usually use empty cereal boxes to form my templates . Your headlight/shock bracket template is looking good.

 

[dwsatt21]

Thanks Donny Ray. That template was formerly a Cheerios box.

 

[fletcherson]

My daughter had a summer art project to do any she wanted to use the welder. I figured it would be Getting her ready to help me with welding on the bucket. She got a lot to learn and not a very good teacher. Lol
View attachment 17003

My daughter is interested in garage stuff too, my son... not so much. Go figure! Good job dad! Being there and letting her mess up and get the feel with some practical advice is all the teaching experience necessary... she will get it!

 

[dwsatt21]

Had a little side project come up with the addition on my new toy. I want my new plasma cutter on my current welding cart so I didn’t have two carts taking up room. Problem was, the middle shelf wasn’t tall enough to fit my plasma. So I took this old craftsman tool box and made a little extension to the uprights of my cart. Also, another purpose of this was to get practice with the plasma before cutting into my more expensive sheet metal.

 

[dwsatt21]

Now on to those shock/headlight mounts. Which I also believe I’m going to use to stabilize my radiator too. More on that later.

 

[Indycars]

Nice job of re-purposing the old Craftsman tool box!

 

[dwsatt21]

Alright. Some progress that is actually on the T. Got the main parts of my brackets cut out, and grinded smooth. I’m loving this plasma cutter! Cuts were fairly decent but I definitely red some more cutting time with it.

Just after cutting them out with the plasma


After some grinder time. And yes, I mounted my old vise with the broken mount to my rigged up little table. I’m not a fan of grinding in my garage. Too much stuff to catch on fire!!

 

[DonnyRay]

You can always weld up your flaws then grind them to make things look better. Your finished brackets look pretty good.

 

[dwsatt21]

What do you all think. Should I box the outside of this bracket in? Doubt it would need extra strength. Just thinks about the look.

 

[old round fart]

There is no real load trying to bend it. If it would make you feel better you could close the top 2” and it would be fine. Looks spiffy!

 

[dwsatt21]

Thanks ORF. I think I’ll leave it as is and look at it for awhile. If I decide I don’t like it open, I’ll close it up later. Definitely won’t need any more strength.