joshuabardwell
Elite Member
A bit more progress to show. When I realized that I was going to have to put a front plate on the loader-side of the adapter, I looked around for pieces of metal that I could use. I had two 11"-and-change drops of the same 3/8" thick 2 1/2" wide flat stock that I made the side plates out of. It would do perfectly, except for one thing. If I put the front plate inside the two side plates, then the front plate would rub up against the loader arms. If I put the front plate outside the two side plates, the side plates would be too narrow to fit the loader arms. Therefore, I fit the joint up as a non-overlapping corner. I set the plate vertically on the table and used magnetic welding "clamps" to hold the alignment. There was about 1/16" or less of gap between the side and front plates. This allowed me to have full confidence that I was getting 100% penetration on the joint, since I could see it from the back side. A single bead would probably have been more than adequate, but for aesthetics' sake, I ran three beads to fill out the joint. For completeness, I went ahead and welded up the fillet on the back side as well.
Don't ask me what happened right around a quarter of the way into the bottom-most photo, where the bead suddenly zigs upwards. I have no idea. I thought that I was carefully following the edge of the plate the whole way. I'm guessing that I was actually slightly nipping off the edge, and then unconsciously fixed it and began actually following it. I dislike welding at night (by a halogen work lamp) because it makes it that much harder to see the work piece. Sometimes I'll be off my intended path for three inches of bead before I realize it.
Don't ask me what happened right around a quarter of the way into the bottom-most photo, where the bead suddenly zigs upwards. I have no idea. I thought that I was carefully following the edge of the plate the whole way. I'm guessing that I was actually slightly nipping off the edge, and then unconsciously fixed it and began actually following it. I dislike welding at night (by a halogen work lamp) because it makes it that much harder to see the work piece. Sometimes I'll be off my intended path for three inches of bead before I realize it.