Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey all,

I haven't been that active of late but I have been around keeping an eye on things.
I have been wanting to build a fire pit/brazier for quite some time so I bit the bullet and made a start.

I used 3mm thick mild steel sheet for the body of the pit and 30mm x 2.0mm square tube for the base as well as re-purposing my daughter's old bed frame rails for the top of the base. I used my Everlast MTS251si to do both Mig and Tig welds, using Mig to do the lions share of the welding. I tig welded the base of the frame. I used .030" (0.8mm) solid wire and what is known as Argoshield light shielding gas here in Oz.

The welds are not that great (praise the Lord for grinders!) and the thing is probably not that square because I cut everything by hand and I only have a small stronghand nomad welding table, but it is a fire pit and I made it myself

This project has made me realise that I need to do a whole lot more practice!!!

I still need to cut in some breather holes for better airflow.

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looks like a working fire pit to me!
I'm sure the burning wood doesn't care
if its square and level..
nice build
craig

motox wrote:looks like a working fire pit to me!
I'm sure the burning wood doesn't care
if its square and level..
nice build
craig

Thanks Craig

I decided that the fire pit needed a cover to keep the rain out so I went ahead and made one.. I used the same 3mm sheet stock as the fire pit itself as well as 32x3mm flat stock for the edges. I fashioned the handles out of the the flat stock and welded them on.. All that remains is to paint it.

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Flo

OzFlo wrote:
.... but it is a fire pit and I made it myself

This is the key thing right here. Very nice! The welds are obviously perfectly functional, and you are the only person who will be sitting around that thing silently critiquing the welds. Everyone else will be just enjoying the fire. Nice job.

clavius wrote:

OzFlo wrote:
.... but it is a fire pit and I made it myself

This is the key thing right here. Very nice! The welds are obviously perfectly functional, and you are the only person who will be sitting around that thing silently critiquing the welds. Everyone else will be just enjoying the fire. Nice job.

Thanks clavius

Looks awesome.

nice build man, i think i want to have a go!

deni822 wrote:Looks awesome.

Thanks mate

richard parker wrote:nice build man, i think i want to have a go!

Thanks Richard. You should! There's a million reasons to put it off and not have a go but the satisfaction of having built something yourself (even if it's not 100% perfect) definitely makes it worthwhile! A good project is great for clearing the head too!

I like your fire pit the welds look good to me, its not gonna fall apart and you did it yourself, so you accomplished your goal, and that's good. A little tip...any welder who is worth his salt will find something wrong with his own weld...a weee bit of undercut here, a small piece of slag stuck fast there, a ripple that's not quite the same size as the rest of them....if its for yourself it don't matter as long as its functional and stays together.

I rebuild mining machinery out in the boonies...that rock and dirt don't give a hoot what my weld looks like, as long as it stays together that rock and dirt will wear it off smooth and make it look real pretty in 2 days. as long as that guy running that shovel has a shovel to dig with he wont say squat about what my weld looks like...if it breaks 2 days after I weld it I will never hear the end of it. It took me a few months to realize that and then Old Owen told me not to worry about the little stuff, I would spend an hour makin stuff look pretty to suit myself when it wasn't necessary and stressed out over it. These days after 30 years of it I will make a decent looking weld kick myself in the butt over a ripple or 2 and move on to the next one...and guess what? Its stays on the bucket until it wears off paper thin and its time to replace it.

Good job and enjoy the fire...cook up some steaks and enjoy em

Popeye the old miner wrote:I like your fire pit the welds look good to me, its not gonna fall apart and you did it yourself, so you accomplished your goal, and that's good. A little tip...any welder who is worth his salt will find something wrong with his own weld...a weee bit of undercut here, a small piece of slag stuck fast there, a ripple that's not quite the same size as the rest of them....if its for yourself it don't matter as long as its functional and stays together.

I rebuild mining machinery out in the boonies...that rock and dirt don't give a hoot what my weld looks like, as long as it stays together that rock and dirt will wear it off smooth and make it look real pretty in 2 days. as long as that guy running that shovel has a shovel to dig with he wont say squat about what my weld looks like...if it breaks 2 days after I weld it I will never hear the end of it. It took me a few months to realize that and then Old Owen told me not to worry about the little stuff, I would spend an hour makin stuff look pretty to suit myself when it wasn't necessary and stressed out over it. These days after 30 years of it I will make a decent looking weld kick myself in the butt over a ripple or 2 and move on to the next one...and guess what? Its stays on the bucket until it wears off paper thin and its time to replace it.

Good job and enjoy the fire...cook up some steaks and enjoy em

Thanks for the encouragement Popeye! And that is basically how I am looking at this project too. It works and I made it!

Nice job. Im sure it was fun to build!