17 replies to this topic

[stuart bowes]

Been a bit busy lately, converting the garage from mostly woodwork to having a little metalworking area:

 

table:

 

 

it's flat and level that's the main thing.  

only 3mm sheet on top though so I won't be welding directly onto it for thick stuff!  wanted to keep it fairly cheap

if you were wondering, the front edge is angled slightly for a bit of extra space (I'm right handed)

 

there will be a small drawer added for marking up tools etc, and obviously some shelving underneath for storage as well (extra weight not a bad thing to keep it steady)

 

that front right corner was a bit pokey-outy so I cut that off and will cap it later on

 

and new trolley

 

(that grinder needs to come down lower really,  need to relocate socket outlet first)

 

 

 

 

(nicked the wheels off the old trolley)

then painted :

 

 

obviously it fits in between the table and the blue wall.. I thought it might be a bit unstable being so long and thinner than the old trolley, but it's really stable actually even with the MIG on top and nothing on the bottom

 

it has space for two bottles and two machines, the idea being the other bottle will eventually be pure argon and the other machine will be a AC/DC 200a TIG (which I've taken measurements of already :) )

 

I would have 45'd the box section but in all honesty I wanted to slap it together quick, I'll get some end caps to put in at some point

 

for now though I'm thinking just the MIG (gotta practice that more yet anyway) and possibly a cheap plasma cutter for now until I've saved up a couple of grand..

 

I showed the missus and she said, are you taking part in the red bull soap box race lol .. no but that would be funny

Edited by stuart bowes, 04 March 2026 - 12:38 PM.

[stuart bowes]

also, this might be useful to any older guys or people like me without 20/20 vision (so you don't need to get your face as close to the heat as well, or in awkward locations)

https://www.r-techwe...magnifying-lens

 

my mask is air fed:

https://www.r-techwe...ing-mask-system

it comes with a little convertor piece to use the magnifier if you need.  although somehow I lost that so I've taped it in instead 

 

the lens did fit straight in both my other masks though (non r-tech) there are little clips on the inside of the screen to mount it 

 

my mask has the welding visor as a flip-up so underneath it's just a normal plastic visor (for grinding, looking around while not welding, etc) as when you've got the magnifier in it does sort of mess with your depth perception and taking it off is a bit of a nuisance with the air feed, etc, easier just to leave it on

 

the yellow visor it came with was a bit too dim so I swapped that to a clear one.  and I use a bright torch where required, obviously

Edited by stuart bowes, 04 March 2026 - 01:12 PM.

[stuart bowes]

quick update on the finished welding table and my little section of the garage where I spent a lot of my time.. added the drawer for marking and measuring tools, bought a cheap little plasma welder that had decent reviews, and loaded up the welding trolley.  also had a new seperate 16a circuit added to the garage, one socket here and one outside where I do work on the car

 

 

been busy lately doing a whole bunch of gates and fencing / brackets for automated gates, etc, none of which is relevant and anyway I can't really share the pics because it's all schools, if someone noticed me posting them online (even though I don't include kids in the pics, obvs) it still might cause trouble

 

anyway.. I did make this one for my missus, and that's not a problem to share:

 

 

and so back to the attempts to get thin sheet welding working properly..  the main Issue I was having previously was getting a stable arc at the lowest possible settings.  tried again last night by cleaning the metal really thoroughly and getting the return clamp much closer, instead of just having it connected to the table, and I had a bit more luck

 

with these settings:

 

 

which results in about 35a, much better than the previous 45ish

 

I did manage to get the sizzle right and decent penetration.  I cut up a bunch of strips ready to test:

 

 

On the first one, I intentionally went too far until it blew a hole, just to gauge how far I could go in one 'stitch' which turned out to be about 20mm at a time before blowing:

 

 

So, marked up my tacks at those intervals, and went again with this result:

 

 

 

 

so, decent penetration, and no blows! happy days!  still need to work on straighter lines though lol

 

not much warping either (although, worth nothing that was restrained quite tightly by the jig, of course

 

 

and then I did 2 more to make a larger plate up out of 4 pieces (I did blow one hole in the middle weld, see if you can spot where..  that one was the last one I did sort of freehand quickly, out of the jig)

Bent it all back and forth, hammered it, really battered the cr*p out of it and nothing split (it was too late in the evening to linish it all smooth first, that will be my next test. 

 

Is it strong?  yes definitely 

 

 

those last two pics don't really do justice as it seems like only bent in a few places.. but that was back and forth a few times, near to each weld, then straightened again, then hammered, then straight(ish) again, then bent in different directions..

After that I flattened it out again as well, had a good look, no cracks anywhere (although again, that was without linishing smooth which would reduce the strength a bit of course)

Edited by stuart bowes, 28 August 2026 - 08:51 AM.