I am interested in making some metal yard ornaments as a fun winter project. What is needed to cut 1/8?" mild steel? 1/2" mild steel? What to use to weld 1/8-1/2" steel?I want to make fairly detailed shapes. Also may use on tractor 3pt implement project. Sorry if posted under wrong forum.
metal cutting
- Thread starter nwjohn
- Start date
wroughtn_harv
Super Member
Sounds like fun!
If you're a real rookie and it sounds by your question you are you might consider becoming your local high school ag teacher's best bud.
Most of the high schools with an ag department have some CAD plasma cutting systems. You can work it out where the kids cut out your patterns for you. And the ag teacher can lead you to the right place for welding instruction and the tools you really need versus what everyone tells you have to have.
A lot of the guys I know who like to work with detailed cut outs use services that do it with water jet, plasma, etc. Volume discount is the key word there.
But even guys who have the plasma or gas torch and can weld often find detailed cut outs too much effort and really beyond their skill level. So they accept that and use modern technology. You give the company that specializes in this a photograph or drawing of what you want and how many. One costs as much as ten and ten is just a tad more than twenty, volume discount where you get hit the hardest for set up cost.
If you're wanting to do it yourself then I'd consider shopping your local welding suppliers and picking up a self contained unit that is plasma with it's own air supply. About a grand or so if you're willing to setting for a quarter inch thickness capacity. The hot glue gun (welder) can be had for two fifty up depending on type and capacity. I've personally got the hots for Miller's new 301D, about six and a half thousand these days. But my gawd she's a fine machine. Even Ray Charles could fix the crack of dawn with her after a week's instruction. A broken heart probably after the first day.
If you're a real rookie and it sounds by your question you are you might consider becoming your local high school ag teacher's best bud.
Most of the high schools with an ag department have some CAD plasma cutting systems. You can work it out where the kids cut out your patterns for you. And the ag teacher can lead you to the right place for welding instruction and the tools you really need versus what everyone tells you have to have.
A lot of the guys I know who like to work with detailed cut outs use services that do it with water jet, plasma, etc. Volume discount is the key word there.
But even guys who have the plasma or gas torch and can weld often find detailed cut outs too much effort and really beyond their skill level. So they accept that and use modern technology. You give the company that specializes in this a photograph or drawing of what you want and how many. One costs as much as ten and ten is just a tad more than twenty, volume discount where you get hit the hardest for set up cost.
If you're wanting to do it yourself then I'd consider shopping your local welding suppliers and picking up a self contained unit that is plasma with it's own air supply. About a grand or so if you're willing to setting for a quarter inch thickness capacity. The hot glue gun (welder) can be had for two fifty up depending on type and capacity. I've personally got the hots for Miller's new 301D, about six and a half thousand these days. But my gawd she's a fine machine. Even Ray Charles could fix the crack of dawn with her after a week's instruction. A broken heart probably after the first day.
Anonymous Poster
New member
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- Sep 27, 2005
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A lot to be said for being in the right place geographicly too. We have a shop locally that has a large lazer cutting system, and insufficient work to operate it around the clock. Since the shop was well aware of the number of government jobs going thru the door, they encouraged the employees to seek out and bring in small fill in jobs. They get more out of the lazer cutter, and sell a lot of what was once worthless scrap, and we get parts at unbelievable prices.
Do some checking around in your area.
Do some checking around in your area.
EdKing
Platinum Member
The cheapest way to go if you want to do it yourself would be a oxyegen/acetelene (sp?) torch for cutting, and a SMAW (arc, stick) welder. You can get both for under $1000. You can get cleaner and faster cuts with a plasma cutter, but to cut 1/2" you are talking well over a $1000 for just the cutter. You also can get cleaner welds with a MIG or a TIG weldor, but once again for 1/2" you are talking well over a $1000.
wroughtn_harv
Super Member
<font color=blue>I thought you were sweet on your new Panasonic machine - did it work out? </font color=blue>
Panasonic's in the shop where she's my mig. The Trailblazer 251 I have on the truck now has almost eight hundred hours on her. The 301D is the newest shiniest diesel version of it.
A man needs at least two welders, one portable and one in the shop./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Panasonic's in the shop where she's my mig. The Trailblazer 251 I have on the truck now has almost eight hundred hours on her. The 301D is the newest shiniest diesel version of it.
A man needs at least two welders, one portable and one in the shop./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
rf33
Gold Member
Harv,
Why the diesel version? I love the thought of the diesel version too, but the price being double what the exact same gas version costs just steered me toward the gas one. I have had no problems with mine so far, and the weld quality is great. (Any bad welds are I am sure more a function of the weldor than the welder/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.) I know that a diesel will probably outlast the gas engine, but at double the cost, it really seems a bit outrageous. If after the three year warranty on the gas Kohler engine in mine goes out I have engine troubles, I could just go buy another one and still come out the same money. The two main reasons I would like the diesel are for less fire risk, and the ability to fill it from my diesel tank in the back of my truck, but for twice the price it sure seems high. I hope that everything is going well for you.
Why the diesel version? I love the thought of the diesel version too, but the price being double what the exact same gas version costs just steered me toward the gas one. I have had no problems with mine so far, and the weld quality is great. (Any bad welds are I am sure more a function of the weldor than the welder/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.) I know that a diesel will probably outlast the gas engine, but at double the cost, it really seems a bit outrageous. If after the three year warranty on the gas Kohler engine in mine goes out I have engine troubles, I could just go buy another one and still come out the same money. The two main reasons I would like the diesel are for less fire risk, and the ability to fill it from my diesel tank in the back of my truck, but for twice the price it sure seems high. I hope that everything is going well for you.
chim
Elite Member
We use such a shop instead of fooling around with the pieces in-house. We have a computer-operated plasma cutter that will do sheet metal. We also have some hand-held portables. 10 years ago we were amazed at how nice a job it does. After sending some work to the local laser shops, we're amazed how crude the plasma is. It still has plenty of uses, but for stuff that looks nice without added labor, the laser is the ticket. Early this past week I stopped at another shop to pick up some stainless. They had a skid of pieces of carbon steel cutouts that looked like the metal was about 6" thick. Looking closer, it was actually a stack of pieces about 3/8" thick. They were just cut out and lined up so nicely they looked like one piece.
We had some custom stainless covers made, and the edges of the cuts were acceptable without further finishing. The metal didn't get enough heat to burn the protective film off.
I had some stuff made by simply doing a sketch in ACAD and e-mailing it to the laser shop. One recent job was a stainless plate with 30-some holes of at least 5 different descriptions. I think it cost us around $30, and we provided the blank stainless plate.................chim
We had some custom stainless covers made, and the edges of the cuts were acceptable without further finishing. The metal didn't get enough heat to burn the protective film off.
I had some stuff made by simply doing a sketch in ACAD and e-mailing it to the laser shop. One recent job was a stainless plate with 30-some holes of at least 5 different descriptions. I think it cost us around $30, and we provided the blank stainless plate.................chim