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HybridZ

Beg. welder, and this is my first Z project done. Check it out!


N3RB

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Well, this is my first project it took me a lazy two weeks, its adjustable with the nuts on one end, tell me what you think. The reason I made it a bolt on besides welding it is because my car is a DD. I just hope it doesn't break... lol

 

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I'll post more pics after I paint it.

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I hope you are willing to accept a little advice after a few questions... :-)

 

What model of MIG welder are you using? What size wire? What voltage?

 

It looks good for a beginning welder like yourself.

You probably want to slow down by lowering the voltage and wire size for a little while. Practice getting a weld that has smooth sides and doesn't look like a row of tack welds.

On the round bar you should be able to put down 5-6 short welds instead of tacks to go completely around the tube (or have someone that you trust rotate the tube while you weld).

A row of tack welds won't have the amount of penetration to hold very hard.

 

I think it will hold. The welds look as if they have wetted out decently enough. Just practice face, leg, and toe consistancy with your welds.

 

Side view of your weld:

l_

 

l_ those are the legs.

that is the face.

the two points where the legs and face meet are the toes.

Where the two legs meet is the root.

 

It is common to have the toes cut into the base metal. That just means your ground is in a bad spot or you are angling the MIG gun too far to one side. It takes some time to not do but your welds look good as far as that goes.

 

It does look as if you are running the machine a little hot from the amount of spatter that you have. Try turning your voltage down a little bit.

 

 

A good practice is to weld a T joint out of some scrap steel (on one side) and then see if you can bash the "T" flat with a "Big Fat Hammer" without the weld or base metal breaking.

 

 

Looks good and may you have many years of good welding ahead of you!

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Well if you are in a welding class then they have it preset to make life easier on you.

We were told to read the book and then go setup/play with the machines until we figured it out after we had practiced the technique as a group. LOL

www.Millerwelds.com has a cool calculator where you can plug in what wire you are using, what metal, etc... and it will tell you what setting range to use.

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I like the design. What parts did you use for the connections? How did you neck down the larger tubing? Did you make it on a lathe?

 

The parts I used were 1/8" mild steel for the mounting brackets, 1/4" for the pin bracket, 1" gas pipe, and two tractor pins. Nothing was made on a lathe, I sandblasted the mild steel after i welded everything. The cool thing about the whole process is that the only thing I had to fit up was the mounting bracket on the three bolts.

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your welds are fine. Our shop teacher has been welding for 40+ years, and his welds look similar to yours. like a row of tacks. his is more consistant but i wouldnt change a thing your welds look good! your tubing welds need some practice though

 

thanks, lol, that was the first time to do a tubing weld. i just grinded off the welds today and im gonna paint it soon.

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thanks, lol, that was the first time to do a tubing weld. i just grinded off the welds today and im gonna paint it soon.

yup, i just wish our shop at school didnt have a no cars policy. it is a very large shop with 9 welders. instead im building an inclosed trailer

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yup, i just wish our shop at school didnt have a no cars policy. it is a very large shop with 9 welders. instead im building an inclosed trailer

 

ya my teacher is really chill, our shop is massive. it has at least 30 stick welders and.... 9 MIG

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If I were you I would grind it down flush with the tubing. Those welds should be stronger than the tubing if you were using the right wire and gas.

 

I like TIG welding for small stuff like that. If you have one at your school try it out.

 

I was working on this for my STI.

stiexhaust011vw2.jpg

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If I were you I would grind it down flush with the tubing. Those welds should be stronger than the tubing if you were using the right wire and gas.

 

I like TIG welding for small stuff like that. If you have one at your school try it out.

 

I was working on this for my STI.

stiexhaust011vw2.jpg

 

 

thats cool man, but how did you cut the pipe and at exactly the right angle to get those bends correct?

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ya my teacher is really chill, our shop is massive. it has at least 30 stick welders and.... 9 MIG

geeze, well our shop has 3 stick and 6 mig, not bad for a highschool of around 60 people. I actually like arc better than mig when i have to make really strong welds. I think mig is harder than arc for that stuff

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thats cool man, but how did you cut the pipe and at exactly the right angle to get those bends correct?

 

Here is the formula for segmented bends.

 

CLR = Center Line Radius (radius of the bend measured through the center of the tubing)

D = Diameter of Tube _____

L = Length of long side of pie cut - the top of this pie cut -> ____/

Angle = angle to cut pie section which, this angle is measured perpendicular to the length of the tubing

Bend Angle = The angle of the bend

N = number of pie sections to complete bend

* means multiply

 

 

L = [ ( 2 * CLR ) + D ] * [ sin ( Angle ) ]

 

Angle = Bend Angle / ( 2 * N )

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