Thanks! I'm getting better at my TIGing and have finally made something useful for the house that's not for my workshop. The gate has definitely made life simpler around the house and the guests all appreciate it. My wife likes it so much that it looks like I will now modify the main gate (seen in b...

I put together a bifold driveway gate this week. Our 3 dogs make it difficult for wife's clients to enter the backyard without worrying about escape. This gate provides an airlock/dog-free zone to ease the process. It collapses easily along the fence allowing for easy passing of our vehicles. I didn...

A big thanks to all for the input and reality check. Borrowing a phrase from a former bike racer, it's not about the tool. I'll keep working on my skills and fertilizing my money tree until it's time to harvest. steve PS: Hardhatdiver, apparently a new front panel is all that's needed to access the ...

Dynasty200SD, I have already contacted the seller and know that the serial number is old enough that it requires the $500 board. I suspect if it was the $110 upgrade that blue box would be sitting in my garage already. Thanks for the other opinions. I needed a sanity check. While I'm blessed that I'...

I'm a newbie hobbyist welder learning to TIG. I've been getting my seat time by designing and building my worktable, cart, mobility bases, etc. in steel. I've also been practicing on my aluminum. In the future I hope to build some furniture pieces and take a stab at bicycle building. I have a 2015 A...

welderst,
I was already familiar with SolidWorks from a previous job so I understood the basics of CAD. I used Sketchup's tutorials to get familiar with it.

LtBadd's link looks like an awesome resource. I might have to work through it as well.

steve

Thanks LtBadd. I spent a fair amount of time planning and have multiple versions in sketchup. I'm super happy with how the flip up cutting wing finished out. Extremely useful. gives me extra workspace that is hard to come by in my garage and keeps it super clean. I agree that capped tubes give a mor...

Thanks Pete. I know what you're saying. There's a possibility for a problem (hot plasma vs. cheap plastic bin) but so far I haven't seen any issues even after a fair amount of plasma cutting this weekend. I love the way the funnel/bin catches everything. The garage was sooooo much cleaner after a we...

Thanks!

I used 1.5" and 1.25" square tubing. 14 gauge I believe. The fit is a little sloppy but it's good enough for my purposes.

steve

I was tired of storing my woodworking miter saw on a moving dolly and now really making it convenient to use. As I've said before, my garage is packed full of tools and if it's too big to fit on a shelf easily, it needs to be on wheels. I know there are lots of off-the-shelf saw stands out there, bu...

I finally got back to my welding table project and have added a fold-down cutting "wing" to the end of the table. With the wing down there's still room to store my welding cart underneath the table. The wing has a sheet metal (0.050") funnel which collects the cuttings, filings, etc. ...

Thanks! I will post pics onceI get the cutting wing and vice mount(s) added on the table.

I have an espresso machine with a procon pump sitting in the garage. Thinking I may cannibalize it and integrate a torch cooler setup into my cart.

Thanks for looking.

Thanks! I feel I have a pretty good handle on Sketchup. I can doodle around with ideas, visualize the results and then build it. I still need to add a method for attaching a vice and add the cutting wing. I'm thinking about using some DOM sq tubing to allow the quick removal and stowage of vice when...

After practicing since mid-Oct, I felt it was time to actually MAKE something :lol: I've been using my woodworking bench with a piece of 3/16" plate on top as my makeshift table but had scorched it in a place or two. My welder was sitting up top of my tablesaw.... needless to say, it was time. ...

Hey, thanks for all the warm welcomes. From what I've seen, it's a great group to learn from, knowledgable and welcoming. Seems like there's a few EEs in the group. Wonder how that happened? I have no idea what I'm going to build once I can stick pieces of metal together reliably, I'm sure a welding...

Even though I've already posted a question on the TIG forum, I should probably introduce myself here. Teaching myself to TIG weld. I worked as an electronics engineer for 30 years, most of them in a scientific research company. Worked with and designed a lot of high vacuum equipment with lots of pre...

thanks for the suggestions. I'll probably just rotate multiple coupons as I practice.

I'm a newbie teaching myself how to TIG weld. I'm using 3/32 2% Lanthanated electrode, 3/32" ER70-S2 filler, on 3/16" hot rolled steel and some 14 gauge hot-rolled steel as my practice coupons. I've ground off the mill scale using a grinding disc to bare metal (not just shined up mill scal...