I’ve been sick this week so I haven’t seen much shop time, but I took that as an opportunity to do some research. The project I’m going to start building is a pair of covers for two massive window wells in my parent’s backyard. They’ve always been a safety hazard and we figured it’s high time we do something about it. We’ve discussed a number of ideas, and here are a few examples of what we are considering:
This will be a joint effort between my dad and I. Because it’s his house, what I assume will happen is he will come up with the design of the window well cover, and I’ll do a lot of the actual welding. If I were to try to come up with best way to put all of the different joints together, I’m sure I would miss something important that would lead to the cover having weak points or even falling apart altogether.
He’s not the one that needs the experience, so this way works out best for both. There will be a lot of opportunity for practice on this project because of the many joints it will require.
Now we won’t have all of the steel ready to start welding right from the supplier, we’ll have to cut it to length. This means there will also be a lot of material preparation that needs to take place. Now I’ve learned to use the torch, and cutting with a metal chop saw is pretty straight forward, but I assume there are a few little tricks that I can use to get better results and make things easier on myself. So this is what I started researching.
He’s not the one that needs the experience, so this way works out best for both. There will be a lot of opportunity for practice on this project because of the many joints it will require.
Now we won’t have all of the steel ready to start welding right from the supplier, we’ll have to cut it to length. This means there will also be a lot of material preparation that needs to take place. Now I’ve learned to use the torch, and cutting with a metal chop saw is pretty straight forward, but I assume there are a few little tricks that I can use to get better results and make things easier on myself. So this is what I started researching.
First I watched a video called “How to Cut Steel 5 Different Ways”. Marking metal can be difficult because most pens or pencils don’t show up, and most markers are difficult to see. Something that the video pointed out is the use of soapstone to mark a nice, visible white line on the piece of steel wherever you want to cut.
Next I read an article called “Using a Steel Chop Saw: 5 Tips”. I learned that the fastest way to cut through metal is to tip the piece so the thinnest side hits the blade first, instead of laying it flat. Also, the harder you push down on the saw, the worse off you actually are. It just hurts the motor and the blade, all while still cutting at about the same speed. |
Now, the tasks of measuring, marking, and cutting steel, are very similar, minus the flying sparks, to doing the same with wood. I’ve been woodworking for the past 12 years, so the principles are something I’m very familiar and comfortable with. This has led me to believe there is some transfer of previous knowledge to my current learning occurring at this point. |