Worlds most expensive bucket hooks!!
- Thread starter JasonL
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JasonL
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JasonL
Silver Member
Yes, I did it. I bought a Millermatic DVI (dual voltage) welder Wednesday and welded on bucket hooks last night. Then I modified my carryall to work with my quick hitch, (see attached picture), and today I started my welding table! Not bad seeing I had never touched a welder before last night? Really, the quality of my welds are improving, but I still won't show you any close-ups. You can see my table in the second picture. Well, there goes some more money, but man this is fun!
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JasonL
Silver Member
Here is another picture of my table. I am using C-channel for the top (I think someone suggested that here on TBN) so I can attach a vise and grinder. I decided I might want some areas solid, so I did that part way. I still need a lower shelf/grate? and a place for my mig gun and maybe some clamps? I haven't decided for sure about castors either. Oh well, I need something to do next week, right. Jason
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escavader
Veteran Member
aint she pretty pa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im green with envy
escavader
escavader
Dargo
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I'm curious how thick the metal is that you welded your grab hooks on? I put the exact same hooks on my bucket using a MillerMatic 250. To get enough penetration to hold the yanking I do, I ran the welder flat out on amps and at 80 on the wire speed. Obviously I've never had an issue tearing one off. If you welded your hooks on too cold you may snap them off easier than you think. If so, be sure to crank up your amps for good penetration if you have one come off.
That's the good thing with having your own welder. If you break something, grab the grinder and do it again. I'm not trying to be picky, but I'd bet that if you did weld them on with only 110 voltage, you will break them off. From the pics it looks like your welds are pretty cold. I only mention this so you take a little care that you're not pulling something heavy up a hill with the hooks, lift something heavy over the side of your pickup, or put it in any position where a hook breaking off will hurt you.
Good luck and have fun!
That's the good thing with having your own welder. If you break something, grab the grinder and do it again. I'm not trying to be picky, but I'd bet that if you did weld them on with only 110 voltage, you will break them off. From the pics it looks like your welds are pretty cold. I only mention this so you take a little care that you're not pulling something heavy up a hill with the hooks, lift something heavy over the side of your pickup, or put it in any position where a hook breaking off will hurt you.
Good luck and have fun!
OP
JasonL
Silver Member
Dargo, Good advice- I had-er cranked up all the way, but I did only have it on 110v. I'll be carefull and see how it goes. I have 220v in my shop but just haven't decided for sure how I want to get it to my welder. I think I'll work on that so I'll be prepared if they do come off. Thanks- I'm just learning! Jason
AntrimMan
Gold Member
Nice welder. You are a lucky man.
The weld is supposed to fuse the materials together. Keep the puddle molten, don't just lay the wire on. Practice, practice, practice. Use your head and provide a safety margin if something can come asunder and drop on top of you if a weld fails. Do not wear sneakers when welding, keep all your skin covered. Have an extinguisher handy. A fume hood is a nice comfort too. Nice welding table, keep the attachments temporary so big projects can have an unhindered flat area.
I remain welderless but I have big ideas.
All the best,
Martin
The weld is supposed to fuse the materials together. Keep the puddle molten, don't just lay the wire on. Practice, practice, practice. Use your head and provide a safety margin if something can come asunder and drop on top of you if a weld fails. Do not wear sneakers when welding, keep all your skin covered. Have an extinguisher handy. A fume hood is a nice comfort too. Nice welding table, keep the attachments temporary so big projects can have an unhindered flat area.
I remain welderless but I have big ideas.
All the best,
Martin
JohninCT
Platinum Member
With all the money you're saving by building and modifying your own attachments... not to mention all the unique brackets, holders, tools, etc that your gonna make the price of those bucket hooks is dropping drastically! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
John
John
EastTexFrank
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> Worlds most expensive bucket hooks!! </font> )</font>
I hate to tell you this, but you're thinking about this the wrong way. Rationalize your welder purchase as just the "cost of doing business". Without it, you couldn't do what you want/have to do so write that cost off as a necessary expense. That way your bucket hooks a become a lot cheaper.
By the way, your welder makes me really jealous. Neat table too. I've got to make me one of those one of these days.
I hate to tell you this, but you're thinking about this the wrong way. Rationalize your welder purchase as just the "cost of doing business". Without it, you couldn't do what you want/have to do so write that cost off as a necessary expense. That way your bucket hooks a become a lot cheaper.
By the way, your welder makes me really jealous. Neat table too. I've got to make me one of those one of these days.
40Kchicks
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Jason
I firmly believe you will be much happier buying the right machine right off the bat then doing what I did and buy a cheap machine and then always wish I had bought a better one. So good job. I finally ended up buying an ESAB multimaster 260 which has been great. Now I need to sell my almost new Lincoln AC/DC buzz box because it just collects dust now.
I am curious about one thing. Do the 210 size machines have enough power to spray transfer?
Eric
I firmly believe you will be much happier buying the right machine right off the bat then doing what I did and buy a cheap machine and then always wish I had bought a better one. So good job. I finally ended up buying an ESAB multimaster 260 which has been great. Now I need to sell my almost new Lincoln AC/DC buzz box because it just collects dust now.
I am curious about one thing. Do the 210 size machines have enough power to spray transfer?
Eric
SkyPup
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I welded two huge 3/8" clevis grabs on either end of our L39 bucket with Hobart Brothers HB-28 ER70S-6 solid wire with the setting on the Miller 210 @ Tap #3 and 35"/min wire feed. No need at all to turn it up any higher than that. The welds are immaculate.
No problem, the penetration and weld puddle was primo, except to be careful to watch out that you don't melt through the bucket! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
No problem, the penetration and weld puddle was primo, except to be careful to watch out that you don't melt through the bucket! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
GeneD14
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( That's the good thing with having your own welder. If you break something, grab the grinder and do it again. I'm not trying to be picky, but I'd bet that if you did weld them on with only 110 voltage, you will break them off. From the pics it looks like your welds are pretty cold.)</font>
If your Miller is like mine open up the cover that houses the wire and feed mechanism and the is a chart that shows the correct wire speed and amp setting to ge good welds based on your wire size and steel thickness.
If your Miller is like mine open up the cover that houses the wire and feed mechanism and the is a chart that shows the correct wire speed and amp setting to ge good welds based on your wire size and steel thickness.
LAXPatrick
Bronze Member
Got a DVI for the ranch a couple of months ago - pretty sweet!!! I've experimented with 110 and 220 both. Have gotten decent penetration and good welds following the guidelines as mentioned above. At 220V, with a strong duty cycle, it should be adequate for these types of welds. Granted the 250 class machine would be better for the heavy stuff, but the "cool factor" of having a 110/220 welder was too much. Have to admit that I have not done any destructive testing on the heavy stuff yet... Keep the project pics coming! I justified mine by building my own horse stall grill panels.
LAXPatrick
LAXPatrick
mike69440
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I am a lucky boy! I work in a manufacturing facility http://www.lawrencepumps.com that includes a world class ASME Code weld shop. The welding these guys have done for me is incredible. I am really spoiled! Stainless Steels, Aluminum, Cast Iron, Alloy Steel Tank Armor, (Makes Great Bucket edges.) They glued together my GSX-1100G Frame after an 80 Mph lay down, fixed my woodstove, Engine block repair & Welded camshafts to gear sprockets on Big Block Mopar racing engines, lots "Cant be done" welding, not to count the dozens (Hundreds) of more mundane "fix this" stuff.
All it cost me is a few bottles of good liquor, a few restaurant gift certificates over the years.
If I get laid off or when I retire, I will need a welder. I have not welded anything since college and my co-ordination has definitely not gotten better!
All it cost me is a few bottles of good liquor, a few restaurant gift certificates over the years.
If I get laid off or when I retire, I will need a welder. I have not welded anything since college and my co-ordination has definitely not gotten better!
OP
JasonL
Silver Member
Just an update for those concerned about the quality of the welds on my bucket hooks. While I agree they may not look too good I did take a 5lb hammer to them last night and couldn't knock them off. So- I guess I'll leave them alone for now anyway. I did get my welder connected to 220v now, and I can tell a major difference. Now I just need practice. Jason
davesisk
Platinum Member
Nice work, dude! I have an MM210 and love it. (Plus an ESAB Heliarc 161 AC/DC for TIG and stick, and a Thermal Dynamics CutMaster38 plasma cutter. Yes, I like tools!)
Don't worry about how your welds look...that'll get better with practice. Unless you're welding on a piano, worry about getting good penetration and fusion. That's what makes a "quality weld", not the appearance.
Something like this is a big investment, but there's definitely some advantages to starting with a great machine like yours: with just a little practice, you produce good welds right off the bat. As opposed to buying a cheap, underpowered machine, in which case you struggle until you figure out the machine itself is holding you back (that was my early experiences!).
Enjoy that new toy...er...uh...tool!
Dave
Don't worry about how your welds look...that'll get better with practice. Unless you're welding on a piano, worry about getting good penetration and fusion. That's what makes a "quality weld", not the appearance.
Something like this is a big investment, but there's definitely some advantages to starting with a great machine like yours: with just a little practice, you produce good welds right off the bat. As opposed to buying a cheap, underpowered machine, in which case you struggle until you figure out the machine itself is holding you back (that was my early experiences!).
Enjoy that new toy...er...uh...tool!
Dave
Dargo
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( While I agree they may not look too good I did take a 5lb hammer to them last night and couldn't knock them off.)</font>
Good. Now, don't hold me to it, since I've slept since then, but I believe in a college physics class we found that an average hit with a 3 pound sledge hammer could exert a force of nearly 600 pounds, and a 5 pound hammer could exert a force of over 800 pounds. Sorry, but for the life of me I just can't recall that formula and I certainly don't have that machine that we were whacking in college. I do recall that with a 12 pound sledge, and a complete overhead swing (also, at the time I was bench pressing almost 400 pounds) I think I could well exceed 2000 pounds of force (tops on that machine); and damaged their machine. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
So, from what you've tried, I doubt that you will pull a hook off on a steady pull (depending on the angle), but please still do be careful about making sure that nobody will get hurt if one does let loose. I had one come off years ago and fortunately nobody was hurt. But, if it came off a few minutes earlier, it would have been a disaster. The grab hook looked fine, and there was a perfect "seat" for the hook still welded on the bucket. My weld was too cold and did not penetrate the hardened hook. I could actually put the hook back inside the welded seat, tap it in with a hammer, and it looked like it was fixed. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Obviously not. At that point, I swallowed my pride (sometimes it's a big lump for me /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif) and had my dad come over and weld them all back on after I ground them off. So, now you know the embarrassing basis for my warning to be careful. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Good. Now, don't hold me to it, since I've slept since then, but I believe in a college physics class we found that an average hit with a 3 pound sledge hammer could exert a force of nearly 600 pounds, and a 5 pound hammer could exert a force of over 800 pounds. Sorry, but for the life of me I just can't recall that formula and I certainly don't have that machine that we were whacking in college. I do recall that with a 12 pound sledge, and a complete overhead swing (also, at the time I was bench pressing almost 400 pounds) I think I could well exceed 2000 pounds of force (tops on that machine); and damaged their machine. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
So, from what you've tried, I doubt that you will pull a hook off on a steady pull (depending on the angle), but please still do be careful about making sure that nobody will get hurt if one does let loose. I had one come off years ago and fortunately nobody was hurt. But, if it came off a few minutes earlier, it would have been a disaster. The grab hook looked fine, and there was a perfect "seat" for the hook still welded on the bucket. My weld was too cold and did not penetrate the hardened hook. I could actually put the hook back inside the welded seat, tap it in with a hammer, and it looked like it was fixed. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Obviously not. At that point, I swallowed my pride (sometimes it's a big lump for me /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif) and had my dad come over and weld them all back on after I ground them off. So, now you know the embarrassing basis for my warning to be careful. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Mavrik02
Silver Member
F=MA
Force = mass * acceleration
Given the hammer is attached to an arm (and not dropped) the actual values of mass and acceleration would be a little harder to calculate. And...if you swing a hammer like me there is no guarantee that all of that force gets transferred to the object of desire (vs. a foot or thumb).
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Force = mass * acceleration
Given the hammer is attached to an arm (and not dropped) the actual values of mass and acceleration would be a little harder to calculate. And...if you swing a hammer like me there is no guarantee that all of that force gets transferred to the object of desire (vs. a foot or thumb).
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
creeper
Gold Member
Nice rig ! you also saved money on welding lessons ! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
