I am a hobbyist guitar player who likes to build amplifiers and pedal boards and such out of metal. I have recently gotten my feet wet welding by buying a 115V Lincoln Handy MIG (I didn't want to add 220 to my garage but should have...). I found Jody's site to be the best around. He basically taught me how to weld and I am still learning from him and dudes like you all. I hope I can contribute something to your forum even if it is just beginner questions that are stupid easy for you guys to answer. Like most beginners, my first project was a cart for my MIG setup. I loosely followed Jody's design. The welds are a bit rough but it is square and strong and rolls around my little shop just fine. Thank goodness for angle grinders and paint! I will try to attach a photo. My forum skills aren't much better than my welding skills, please bear with me.
Hey James...welcome aboard! I'm another hobby guitar player....havent picked it up in about 2 years but I think I can still play. Jody is the best and there are lots of great weldors around here so ask any question you can think of and someone will be glad to help you.....Jeff
Thanks Jeff. Guitar is a great stress reliever. I hope you pick it back up. I get a similar feeling when I'm welding. I think it must satisfy a creative niche. It's so great to build something, especially out of metal, that was just an idea or sketch. If the spouse likes it or someone wants to buy it, BONUS!
sonic ox wrote:Thanks Jeff. Guitar is a great stress reliever. I hope you pick it back up. I get a similar feeling when I'm welding. I think it must satisfy a creative niche. It's so great to build something, especially out of metal, that was just an idea or sketch. If the spouse likes it or someone wants to buy it, BONUS!
James...if you want to build something for the wife there is a thread about how to make metal roses in the Welding Projects section. They are easy to build and the women love em.
I miss playing the guitar. Me and a good friend used to meet up once a week at the VFW down the street and play acoustic songs for people but we kinda drifted apart. He just bought a Gibson J45 that I been dying to play but we just seem to be on different schedules these days. Maybe you can motivate me
Hey Jeff,
Yeah, those roses are really nice. My father in law makes them once in awhile. He is a fantastic welder. Recently retired after about forty years as a mechanic in a coal mine. He gives me pointers whenever we get together but we live in different parts of the country. My wife is actually asking that I build a bar, table and stools for a little space she wants to turn into a lounge. Gotta love that. I am thinking about that steel and wood style that is getting so popular. There are some great ideas on here. I've been experimenting with 1" angle and old weathered wood that would be about 1/2" above. I would like the stools to height adjust on threaded stock so I'm researching design ideas. You guys are so innovative and clever on here.
As for guitar, I hope I can be a motivation. I got started late in life, in my early forties and have only been playing for four or five years. I am in a three piece garage band with two of my buddies from work. We do classic rock covers and a few originals. I have written and recorded three original songs that my band performs along with the covers. We aren't great but we have a blast. We actually have our first live gig next month at a bar in Folsom CA. We will be doing an eight song set while the real band has a break. Wish us luck. I hope you get back to playing with your buddy. It's good for the soul. Not to get too far afield but I will try to attach a photo of an amplifier I built into a Pink Floyd lunch box. No welding but a good bit of solder. Old school vacuum tubes and circuitry takes music from my iPod and boosts it into old JBL speakers. Sounds heavenly. I love to mix my music and metal work hobbies. I hope I don't annoy the welding purists with this tangent interest. - James.
Hey James, if you are looking for furniture ideas, theres an app (and website) called Pinterest. It has pictures and links to almost everything. Including furniture. I put the website in brackets because the app is far superior.