RS, I remembered something interesting....as I have readily admitted, my knowledge of welding is only from a book, a How To book, actually a good one, I have kept in the usual reading spot, in the bathroom next to the Northern Tools catalog.
And i remember reading in there of a warning that went something like: "be careful that welding does not bend or distort the underlying piece, particularly if not secured properly".
Well, it was worded better than that, but your picture could be an illustration in that book.
Yup ... it's a text book example.
Funny thing is, it just wasn't all that noticeable ...
until I sat it's mate on top of it in the opposite direction ...
Shoot Uncle Buck even missed it ... he was down tonight and I showed him the picture of one beam laying on top of the other and he was very surprised - not that it bent ... but at the amount of warp and that it wasn't more obvious.
I admit to being a little hesitant starting to weld, as that book plus many YouTube instruction videos have basically shown me how very very easy it is to screw up. Oh dear, my pool is not advancing properly...
Need to find some scrap steel to practice on.
LOL ... start looking for a fab shop honey hole that will let you dumpster dive in their roll-off of drops ...
Here's the thing tho': while it may be easy to screw up, it can often be easy to fix. An example:
Last night I was getting all frisky and decided to start welding up the arms for the upper jaw ... one of the pieces had already had a bevel put on it so I grabbed the other piece that was going to be welded to it and ground a couple of bevels in that and then clamped them down to the table and put in the root and cover passes ...
Then later after Buck left I got looking at it ...
aww crap ! ... I had welded it together with the one piece 180 degrees out of correct orientation.
Luckily I had only welded
one side. Slap a zip disc in the grinder, cut em apart, grind the bevels on the correct side this time, clamp it down and weld it up. Took me probably 15 minutes or so to fix my screwup ...
I still have to weld where I ground the bevel in the wrong place and then grind that off to put it back to the original shape ... but once I do it won't be all that noticeable, if at all. Another 5 minutes and a little wire and gas.
To my delight the prior owner had already run a 220 line to the workshop in the barn, but I'm not sure it will carry enough amps for the welder. I think it needs 37 amps at max.
Mines on a 50A breaker ... Lincoln recommends a 60A if I recall correctly ... but I don't think I've ever tripped it (I'm only using .035 wire) I think the max draw on input is maybe 40 some amps ...
The power pole is thirty feet away with a transformer on it, so not like it will be hard to get more juice into that location.
Easy-peasy ...
I'm sitting out at the end of a 400' run of I think
single aught (0) aluminum from the house ...
Power company would love me to spin that meter until it overheats.
No doubt ...
Maybe I'll get one of those old time oiling cups for the meter so as I go by I can give it a shot of oil once in awhile...
I can loan you Grandpa's ...
