Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Getting my weld on

Today was remarkable for two reasons. The first is that I finished the school year during which I have been driving school busses daily. I'm now quite comfortable behind the wheel of a school bus. That's quite useful because I own a school bus! The second is that I found the auto darkening welding helmet I bought at the weekend works well.

After returning home somewhat early today, the last day of school being a half day, I pulled out my work and commenced welding. I have to say that being able to see what I'm doing makes a massive difference. Today's welding didn't go brilliantly though. I was having a terrible time trying to strike and maintain an arc. A few times it went well but it didn't seem to matter whether I used thin or thick rods. It was just one of those days.

Pulling my work out, I could t find the side I'd cut for it so I had to cut another. This actually went better. The previous side had been way undersized. This worked out better. I'll have to finish welding some gaps but uts now looking good. I'll also have to grind off excess welds and try to tidy up the edges. It's looking good. It's heavier than I thought it would be so I'm thinking of adding a support to aid the skirt in carrying the weight.

No photograph today. Not because I didn't think about it but because my work looks very similar to the last photo albeit with a new side installed. The next stage will be to fill the holes, grind it to a prettier shape then add a flange in order to mount it to the skirt. Back bracing will then be needed nit to mention the hose connection.

Now I can see to weld, progress might accelerate.

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