Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes?

   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes?
  • Thread Starter
#21  
what is the bluish “finish” that comes on steel. It seem to keep it from rusting until you grind or brush it of. Its like a plating.
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   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes? #22  
It's oxidation from laser cutting. Almost like mill slag. You get that when oxygen is used as an assist gas. If nitrogen is used it comes off clean and shiny. Oxygen is better for thick steel and cheaper. Job shops typically use oxygen unless they cut a lot of stainless steel, then they would use nitrogen.
 
   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes? #23  
Metal will always move when welded. You can minimize that by doing short welds on opposite sides. You can also “normalize” the metal by heating with a torch after welding. While the 7018 makes a pretty weld it would be better to do the root pass with 6010 and used 7018 for cover pass. It does look pretty though.
 
   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes? #24  
Weld prep is important and by not notching your plates you really reduced your weld root. At this point, you can add more passes (I would go with "1" as well) but it wont be as strong. I would build up to a 3/4" weld as any more wont help. Lastly, once you have it mounted to whatever attachment it's going on, you could add some gussets/strapping to mount it to the attachment as well.

I'm not an expert but have rewelded a CAT loader mount (1 1/2" plate) that held solid when the bucket twisted the rest of the unit to unusable.
 
   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes? #25  
I’m done. I did a pass and it immediately warped. I freaked because I had it braced good when I welded it originally and it stayed perfectly at 9” id. I pooped…so i got a bottle jack and got some braces inside. Well, the braces were what I could grab quickly that was beefy and they were in my way the whole time welding the inside. So I was po’d the whole time but welded it up. Looks like poop but I’m confident its overkill. Thinking I should have just got bigger rods and did the one pass In the first place. Anyways got done, took braces out, with use of bottle jack again, and boom, right back to 8 3/4” id. Grrrrr. So I got the bottle jack and took it to 9 1/2” and it was a success. 9” id. Was it going to warp even if i braced it before I began? heres some pics.
View attachment 753221View attachment 753222View attachment 753224View attachment 753225
This is of coarse cherry picked. Inside is a mess cause of the braces, starting/stopping, bad rod angle.

anyways, thanks guys. Still trying to find a bucket. Nobody has one. The pin on kubota loader buckets from small tractors used to be plentiful cause kubota would ship them with the pin ons and dealer had to change them to quick attach. Kubota finally got smart and stopped sending the pin ons from factory. We’ll find one.
build a bucket.
 
   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes?
  • Thread Starter
#27  
So I found a bucket, kschwennsen said I should build my own, the reason I’m not is because dealers have pin on buckets sitting. This bucket is “new” but has sat for 12-15 years. $250.
heres the bucket, it weighs 400lb, the adapter is about 75lb.
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Here’s what I plan on doing. What thickness and strength should I use. i can get a 4x4 sheet of 3/8 a36 for $250. This bucket will never be used for anything but gravel and even though gravel is heavy enough its far less stress than digging dirt.
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So cutting triangles to box in, bellow the triangle i will run a piece that spans from the 2 inside loader tabs and completes the boxing in of adapter. I’m going to cut the 2 outside tabs off and part of the cutting edge for weight and its not needed. 2 more little triangles up top and and another rectangle to box it in.
 
   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes? #28  
Post 23 addresses doing a root weld with 6010 and a cap with 7018. Any time using thicker stock, say 1/4”+, it’s important to bevel. 6010 will “punch in” for deep penetration and 7018 cap fills and gives a nice appearance. What amperage are you using? For 1/8” rod, 125 amps is a good starting place. Then, adjust as needed. Without adequate penetration, welds are weak. When I was learning to weld, I fabbed up some brackets to mount a head on an old Farmhand loader. My boss said it looked pretty, then proceeded to take a sledgehammer to it and break everything. He then taught me how to properly prepare and weld them. Hard lesson, but one that stuck with me. He also taught me how to cut and etch to see the weld nugget. That’s a pretty important thing to learn from.
 
   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes?
  • Thread Starter
#29  
I’m closer to 140 amps I think. I did take a 20 ton bottle jack and try to spread. Opened it more than a 1/2”. It’s pretty stout I think. Time will tell.
 
   / Will this hold or crack over time? Do more passes? #30  
 
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