Multi-Metal Rust Risk? Should I just weld this sucker?
- Thread starter keith204
- Start date
Wow, great thread. I think OP went from half-ass to totally decent fabricator in the span of one little project.. Hoping this wont be the last self built mod/addition we get to see!!
Im also a big fan of my 20 ton hf press. Everyone should have a shop press and get over any fear of using it. They’re really only limited by the width between the rails and ypur creativity.. they can do a lot!
Im also a big fan of my 20 ton hf press. Everyone should have a shop press and get over any fear of using it. They’re really only limited by the width between the rails and ypur creativity.. they can do a lot!
Can that press punch 1/4 holes in 1/4 steel?
I make a lot of brackets and plates and stuff for projects around the house and yard. They just don’t make brackets as obscure as I feel they should!
But in my shop (2-car garage attached to our kitchen), those drill shavings become a sore subject w/ a wife who feels it’s important for her and the kids to be able to walk around the house barefoot
Runs With Scissors
Well-known member
Equipment
L2501 TLB , Grappel, Brush Hog, Box Blade, Ballast box, Forks, Tiller, PH digger
With an attached garage and "metal shop" in the basement, we decided long ago that "shoes on" in the house was the way to go.But in my shop (2-car garage attached to our kitchen), those drill shavings become a sore subject w/ a wife who feels it’s important for her and the kids to be able to walk around the house barefoot
I've got to admit.. I dont know that i have anything (as far as a bit/punch/broach) that would punch through 1/4" steel more than a time or two before it needed to be 'geometrically restored'.. But ballparking it mentally i do think the press COULD make that punch.
This isn't going to cover every need but you CAN buy 1/8" steel 'mounting tabs' with predrilled 3/8" holes pretty cheap in bulk on Amazon. I would certainly pay $17 to avoid drilling 50 holes and making 50 cuts and rounding 100 corners, if all you were going to end up with was something like this anyway. Stack two and weld the edges and it's a 1/4" thick.
50pck mounting tabs $17
You can also find pre-fabricated larger mounting tabs from off-road fabrication companies or companies that build truck bumpers, etc. For example, i googled D-ring tab and found this:
big tabs
As far as the drilling stuff, what i typically do is stand up some magnets around the hole im drilling.
If you want to pull the 'swarf' (improper term?) off the magnet easier you can wrap it in a paper towel or put it inside a disposable glove. Or, if you have compressed air in the shop ive found that i can 'clean' shavings off a magnet just fine with a blow gun. Obviously, caution and eye protection should go along with that one.
Magnet Tool
I also have a magnetic pickup tool from HF with a quick-release handle that lifts the magnet off the bottom to let things drop off it. Obviously there are magnetic brooms but they're pricier and don't fit all around the feet/pedestals of drill presses, bench grinders, etc. This thing is just a 4" wide magnetic broom that fits everywhere, and then i pull the release while banging it on the lip of the trash can and everything falls in. Very convenient cleaning tool for $12.
Another thing i do with it is if i need to find a nut or bolt out of a bucket of mixed hardware (of which i have many..) i just dump that thing out on the shop floor, spread it around with my hands, pick out the things i need, and then use the magnet to load all the rest back into the bucket in 5-10 passes vs picking up 200 little pieces by hand. Ive also used this method just to clean out buckets of hardware that sat for years accumulating dust because the magnet wont pick up the dust. So you dump it all out, magnet it back in, and sweep up/out all the dirt left behind.
This isn't going to cover every need but you CAN buy 1/8" steel 'mounting tabs' with predrilled 3/8" holes pretty cheap in bulk on Amazon. I would certainly pay $17 to avoid drilling 50 holes and making 50 cuts and rounding 100 corners, if all you were going to end up with was something like this anyway. Stack two and weld the edges and it's a 1/4" thick.
50pck mounting tabs $17
You can also find pre-fabricated larger mounting tabs from off-road fabrication companies or companies that build truck bumpers, etc. For example, i googled D-ring tab and found this:
big tabs
As far as the drilling stuff, what i typically do is stand up some magnets around the hole im drilling.
If you want to pull the 'swarf' (improper term?) off the magnet easier you can wrap it in a paper towel or put it inside a disposable glove. Or, if you have compressed air in the shop ive found that i can 'clean' shavings off a magnet just fine with a blow gun. Obviously, caution and eye protection should go along with that one.
Magnet Tool
I also have a magnetic pickup tool from HF with a quick-release handle that lifts the magnet off the bottom to let things drop off it. Obviously there are magnetic brooms but they're pricier and don't fit all around the feet/pedestals of drill presses, bench grinders, etc. This thing is just a 4" wide magnetic broom that fits everywhere, and then i pull the release while banging it on the lip of the trash can and everything falls in. Very convenient cleaning tool for $12.
Another thing i do with it is if i need to find a nut or bolt out of a bucket of mixed hardware (of which i have many..) i just dump that thing out on the shop floor, spread it around with my hands, pick out the things i need, and then use the magnet to load all the rest back into the bucket in 5-10 passes vs picking up 200 little pieces by hand. Ive also used this method just to clean out buckets of hardware that sat for years accumulating dust because the magnet wont pick up the dust. So you dump it all out, magnet it back in, and sweep up/out all the dirt left behind.
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This is the perfect answer. I have the one w/ the wheels, and it's just too clumsy for the workbench tops. This is perfect. Thanks!
Oh, you'd be surprised. The process is simpler than the internet makes it sound: 1) get over your fear (without qualified reason) 2) bend it (without maths), 3) realize it doesn't work, 4) re-bend it, 5) straighten it a bit to undo your bend, causing metal fatigue that'll surely wreck your project one day, 6) re-bend it, 7) straighten it a bit, 8) re-bend it willy-nilly style, 9) go to #3 until voila!
Me too. This site has cost me a few bucks at HF and gained me some slick tools, even if they won’t last forever.
Trial and error is nearly as good as planning and skill sometimes, especially if the skill is in progress. I think I provide some humor to my millwright buddy sometimes. I say I may be slow, but I sure am slow.
That looks (better than) OEM. Nice job.