Category: Welding

Welding: A New Hobby?

Yesterday a new welder arrived in the shop, and I got it together and gave it a go. I tried it with a stick welder last summer and have been advised since that wire welding is a lot easier to do. So, I got a multi-process welder that works amazingly on 110Volt electric from Lincoln Electric. I bought an extra roll of flux-core wire and some set-up magnets. I already have many of the other small tools from the stick welder.

I looked around in the shop and found some angle iron from a tractor implement shipment, and a piece of an old metal table, and welded them together. The first couple of welds were pretty bad as I got used to the speed and amperage of the arc. But once I got it dialed in a bit, I tried some techniques I have watched on YouTube, and got some pretty clean welds as far as the join goes. I need to work out splatter, but I did not clean the metal, so that could be the heart of it. That is the first place to start. I also used the angle grinder to put a cut in the angle iron and bend it down to a 90-degree turn, and weld that into position.

So, it was a decent first go at the welding. It gave results that are better than hot glue. It might be technically poor, but I can work on that. Meanwhile, it certainly adds an exciting new capability to the farm! I have some work to do on the wood hauling trailer, and there are a couple of old pieces of farm equipment that could use a bit of getting together to at least keep them from falling into pieces and getting lost.

The Great Goat Escape

On my way back into the driveway from taking the girls to school yesterday I came around past the West gate and saw something out the corner of my eye. It was the billygoat taking a run at the Ford. Luckily he was tring to take out the wheel and not body panels. I went after him to get him to stop. Going after him is not a run and a chase. It is a gentle walk, and follow. He went through the electric fence and into the llama pen. That was good enough for the time, and I got a look at the fence on his pen to see just what had gone wrong.

The goat rubs himself against the fence as though he were trying to scratch himself, which maybe he is, and the fence slowy curls upwards over time between the posts, and from them where they are not pinned at the very bottom. To prevent this, I decided to attach some old hog fence from the pig days on the farm to the horse/goat fence on his pen. I attached it with wire to the fence and used it to curl the goat fence down again. The hog panel is very rigid and ought to stay from curling itself. As long as it keeps the goat fence from curling, then I should not have trouble with the goat escaping that way anymore. This project required I also repair the fence between the goat and the dog. They have been travelling freely from pen to pen for a few weeks now, and it has never been high enough a priority to worry about it.

Oh, and also, something that could be of benefit in the future for metal fence: I have a wire feed welder on order. It should be here on Thursday or so. It will be coming along with a Honda motor. My plan is to build a Cyclekart as a means of learning to weld, or at least as a purpose to learn it and try to do it fairly well. Watch this space. The welder is a multi-process welder, so can do stick, Tig, and Mig. I’ll be happy to do some flux-core wire feed. But the other options are there when needed, and to learn. I will probably send the current stick welder off with one of the kids. I have some repairs and upgrades to do on the trailers in the meantime, as well.

I was so tired after all the messing about with the goat pen, which took my full working day yesterday, that I must have laid down last night, and started to bring up YouTube on the bedside tablet when I fell asleep. I woke up again at almost 5AM and found the tablet in that situation still. It was a great night’s sleep!