Making excuses to use a welder.

[Highpower]

This is a little project that I originally had no intention of doing.

I have a couple of small chain saws at home that I use for occasional trimming duties. One of them needed a bit of work and some discontinued parts, so I turned to ebay to search for some used parts for the saw. I found an identical saw that was missing the chain and the bar and was listed as "for parts only". So I though I would take a chance. To my surprise, no one else bid on the saw - and I got it for $15.

When I got it, it had all the parts I needed so I was happy. As I was looking it over I discovered why it was listed for parts only. Evidently the bolts that secure the motor to the frame had worked loose and the saw was vibrating badly. Unfortunately the owner kept running the saw that way for quite some time, because it wound up destroying the bosses on the engine that held it in place. Half of one was broken off completely, and another was battered, mushroomed and cracked all around. The bolt holes were stripped of any threads and wallowed out.

And then I started thinking..... HEY! You have a welder dummy!

So I fired up the tig welder and started laying down bead on top of bead, in order to build up a new boss where it had been broken off of the crankcase, and added some more metal to the top of the mushroomed boss on the cylinder head. Later I noticed that one of the cooling fins was broken off of the flywheel as well. So I started stacking more beads there too!

After re-drilling the holes in the bosses I installed some heli-coil inserts to provide some stronger threads, and then shaped a new cooling fin with some files. It's not real pretty, but everything is held together solidly now and it actually runs.

So having a welder around can come in real handy even when you least expect it, and you might just find yourself looking for excuses to weld something.

[DanH]

Great example of the versatility of a tig welder.

Having a welder has saved my bacon many a time.

[DaveH]

Hi Willie,

Nice job

I have a welder don't help me much 'cause I can't weld


DaveH

[EdK]

Nice repair on that fin.

Ed

[ETC57]

Nice Job Willie,

I too have a welder, and like DaveH I'm just not very good with it!!

I have no excuse other than I just never turn it on

Although I do tend to be rather cheep and use wimpy excuses like

( if I screw it up I've wasted all that material and cant afford that! )

So that being said, thanks to all of the competent welders on Metalworking
Fun for your post and pics they are both Informative and inspiring!!

Jerry.

[Highpower]

The best advice I ever got was to find a flat piece of scrap metal, and just start laying down beads. One after another, right up against the last bead you put down. Try to keep them straight and try to keep them all the same size. When you have run out of room, flip it over and start running beads on the other side doing the same thing.

You don't have to worry about making joints or welding two pieces together right off the bat. The key is to learn how to make a continuous weld bead the same width and height the entire length of the bead, just on top of the metal plate. Just play with it and experiment to see what looks good and what doesn't. Then just do all the same things that worked for making it look good.

Seriously.... scrap metal and time spent pulling the trigger is what it takes. Once you get the hang of it - it's like riding a bike. You hardly even think about doing it, you just go.

I KNOW you guys can do it, if you just DO it.

[doubleboost]

Hi Willie
Nice repair job
Like you say you can not beat practice
I learned to weld many years ago with oxy acetylene welding rusty 1300 back together
Gas welding is very similar to Tig
John

[ETC57]

Hi John,

I too learned with gas, and am still quite good at it.

I'm even fair with stick, but for some reason wire tends to mess with me!
I'm ether burning holes or I'm not getting any penetration or I've stuck the nozzle in the puddle!

Hay Willie I know your 100% right practice, practice, practice.

I'll put more effort in to it, after all owning a welder and not welding is like owning a rifle and never going shooting!

Thanks guys for putting so much information about welding with pics I might add on the forum, it really dose help!!!

Jerry.

[Highpower]

(05-11-2012, 03:59 PM)ETC57 Wrote: Hay Willie I know your 100% right practice, practice, practice.

I'll put more effort in to it, after all owning a welder and not welding is like owning a rifle and never going shooting!

I've got a couple of other projects to do that will involve some welding. I just need to get around to actually doing them. Guess I better start charging the camera batteries so it's ready to go.....

[krv3000]

well dun