My trailblazer skid build with lead reels

admin

I got a new trailblazer at work and decided to put it on a skid that I can move around via crane, loader bucket, forklift... Etc. It's not designed to roll as things with wheels tend to walk away. The base is 3 feet wide and a hair over 4 feet long. The skids are built from 2x2x.250 square tube... I know it's really thick but it's what I had. I used 3" channel for crossmembers at the front and back and again for under the welder itself I cut the channel at a 30* angle to give the sides of the welder a little clearance from whatever it may be set up against. The other side of the skid holds the oxy fuel tanks. The post the tanks tie to will later be used for the lift point. When the tanks are removed, the other side door can open and lift off for service. After some research I decided to make my own live reels. They will fill out the empty space in front of the acetylene tank.I found an old wood splitter axle and cut the spindles off of it and turned the stubs down on the lathe. Sorry for the bad pics. I drilled through the center on the back of the spindles and tapped for a grease zerk. Then I drilled a cross hole to get the grease from the zerk into the void between the bearings in the hub. The spindles will weld in to a piece of 2" square tube that I drilled to accept the shoulder of the spindles. Later I will cut this to accept the isolator. On the back side of the spindles I drilled an access hole to grease the hubs with a grease gunTeach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:Today I started the reels. I got 2 pieces of 6" sch10 pipe 9" long. Spent some time on the computer and drew up about 3 revisions of my side plates and isolator brackets. Burned out the pieces on the cnc plasma and tacked the spools together. On the inside of the reel there's 6 locking notches that I spaced out with a simple ring of plate. When the spindles are welded to the post, the lock(to be modified) is an off the shelf part. The black plastic cap used to be on the other end... More on the isolators tomorrow.Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:really nice reels ,but dude I hate you guys with these cnc cutters ,you can make such great stuff!!! gxbxc
Reply:If you're near California's Central Valley, let me know and I'll be glad to cut some stuff out.Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:Welcome. This is a great build. Powered lead reels and all. This is more than a simple skid. It's clear you've been thinking on this design for a while. The reels look great. The grease fitting on the back side is a nice touch. I liked the latch mechanism/locking cam you designed. Very simple. How did you figure or estimate your center of gravity?
Reply:I haven't yet... The forward aft is the only thing that I'm worried about. The post that holds up the tanks will get a top bar cut to the appropriate length. I'm afraid it will be trial and errorTeach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:What type size is your CNC plasma?Miller 252 Mig w/Spool GunMiller Dynasty 350 TigMiller 225 AC-DC StickMiller Spectrum 875 PlasmaOxy/Acet.
Reply:Originally Posted by missfireWhat type size is your CNC plasma?
Reply:Great work!  The one thing I will point out is that the manual on mine gives specific directions to fully support the machine under all corners and across the middle when building a skid.  It probably is fine just wanted to point that out. Impressive fabrication though.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmer2Great work!  The one thing I will point out is that the manual on mine gives specific directions to fully support the machine under all corners and across the middle when building a skid.  It probably is fine just wanted to point that out. Impressive fabrication though.
Reply:teacha; impressive build. the cnc cutter does a professional looking job. good idea about skipping the wheels otherwise your skid may wander off and get lost.i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:Originally Posted by teachagmech4x8 dynatorch
Reply:Originally Posted by forhireI have a dynatorch also. I've been happy with it. I've had some issues with the slats moving when cutting heavy plate, especially 1", but aside from that it's been solid. One of these days I'll fix the slats.  You running a hypertherm or thermal dynamics?
Reply:Nice design overall!I am hooking up a A-120 to my hobby type table now. Been quite awhile since used a Thermal on a table.. I do like the way the SL100 SV torch works over the standard model SL-100 machine torch. I still have all my parameters from my 151 machine, so hopefully I can get up to speed on it. Just a back-up machine, so should prove to be decent for me. Pretty powerful single phase unit, even running full output on a 100 amp 240 volt single phase input,Lights, fans,large compressor too. Thermal's are excellent in that area. (no matter what others or even Thermal might say about it....)Esab/Lorch ET-220iEsab 160i caddyThermal LM-200 Lincoln feedersThermal Pee-Wee 85sThermal 60i- 3phase /RPC powered (Beast)Thermal Drag-gun 35CINE 1500 Klutch 140i
Reply:Beautiful build and impressive craftsmanship.PlasmaCam CNC cutterLathe and Band SawClamps
Reply:Thanks for the post.  Some really great work here.  That plasma set up is well worth the money from the looks of all the cuts you made.   I like the log splitter spindles that you used in your reels .
Reply:Reel update:I got them done! The lug on the inside so it doesn't build up a lump in the spooled up reel. The leads run from the post down to the welder. I ran out of time and had to go to a meeting. The grease zerks are barely accessible from the front of the machine. On a tip from farmer2 I added more support Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:Oh I got lucky on the lift point too. With a 50lb box of electrode on the back it sits just about levelTeach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:How are the bolts insulated from different polarities on the post? I see the spacer, just would like to see the rest of detail there. Looks like a real well thought out rig.. Is there some kind of drag on the spools to keep them from uncoiling too much,or is it even needed?Last edited by Brand X; 09-05-2014 at 09:38 PM.Esab/Lorch ET-220iEsab 160i caddyThermal LM-200 Lincoln feedersThermal Pee-Wee 85sThermal 60i- 3phase /RPC powered (Beast)Thermal Drag-gun 35CINE 1500 Klutch 140i
Reply:Wow ! very very nice, i like it a lot !if i may suggest on the reels locking mechanism...just my .02I'm sure if some other guys here add their grain of salt they can improve my suggestion big timeedit it was to take care of the rattles but domino effect it causes a pain when rolling un-rolling  my bad lolLast edited by snowbird; 09-05-2014 at 10:29 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by Brand XHow are the bolts insulated from different polarities on the post? I see the spacer, just would like to see the rest of detail there. Looks like a real well thought out rig.. Is there some kind of drag on the spools to keep them from uncoiling too much,or is it even needed?
Reply:suggestion version 1.2  wasn't very proud of the first one, this might do the thing,
Reply:yep I vote for version 1.2, .I s the current passed through the bearing surface no copper wipers ? I think a 1" copper strip in side the reel on the butt end with something like carbon brush and holder from an sa200 could work, gxbxc
Reply:It's just through the bearings. I'm a welding teacher by trade not a pipeliner, so I'm not super concerned about current loss or spark erosion on the bearings. I've heard of guys running these like this for 20+ years.Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:Originally Posted by snowbird   suggestion version 1.2  wasn't very proud of the first one, this might do the thing,I was thinking version 1.2 as well.  It allows the spring loaded lock to be disengaged from the reel, continue past the slot opening and then rotated 90 degrees to provide free wheeling of the reel for spooling off and on.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:It's possible that in conjunction with guide version 1.2, if you were cut the lock slot on the reel to include a "ramp" on the appropriate side, it would allow spinning the reel in the proper direction to spool the cable back on but prevent it from unspooling when you stop.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Duane !  good idea, i think the op opened a pandoras box lol...is that what theckies call an open source thing ?
Reply:I was just looking at you insulator blocks they are threaded ? what type of plastic ? and wouldn't t nuts counter bored in be stronger?  I like they you did them though.
Reply:They are uhmw. Not the strongest plastic in the world but it was readily available and fairly inexpensive for a beta testing version. I would like to find a big chunk of phenolic to replace them but it's proving hard to find. I suppose delrin would work too. I certainly appreciate the input on this.Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:insulating material glastic sheets available in most thicknesses...http://www.iec-international.com/glastic/fsl.htm
Reply:Don't use Delrin it has a tendency to split after a few years , my vote is still for using T nuts counter sunk into the plastic or  phenolic  blockLast edited by gxbxc; 09-06-2014 at 01:06 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by gxbxcDon't use Delrin it has a tendency to split after a few years
Reply:I just had a brilliant idea Corian counter top you can get the sink cut outs for free from a counter shop.gxbxc
Reply:some insulators can be found from your auto electric rebuilder, like 50 mt starters solenoids they hold 1/2-13 copper studs.
Reply:Originally Posted by gxbxcI just had a brilliant idea Corian counter top you can get the sink cut outs for free from a counter shop.gxbxc
Reply:grab a piece from a counter shop hook ground lead to it then the stinger  ,
Reply:I've been meaning to get some corian to laser engrave, so I'll dual purpose that purchase!Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:Originally Posted by snowbirdsome insulators can be found from your auto electric rebuilder, like 50 mt starters solenoids they hold 1/2-13 copper studs.
Reply:i like this skid build. ? dont steel reels cause some sort of inductence issue ???
Reply:They can, but I've only got 50 feet on them. I purchased the welder with the intention of repairing fences and possibly building a new school farm. The reels could probably hold 150' of 0 cable, but my spool was stolen over summer when a new building was being constructed. I'm afraid one of the workers saw it in my storage unit(not sure why they would have been in there) and got sticky fingers.Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:dam things growing legs eh. I like the lock idea on these and might have to steal it off you for some alu spools im  planning for my truck
Reply:I did some shopping around and both Ebay and Amazon have plenty of phenolic  sheet and blocks
Reply:Originally Posted by gxbxcI did some shopping around and both Ebay and Amazon have plenty of phenolic  sheet and blocks
Reply:I found a chunk for less than $70. Not cheap, but not a couple hundred eitherTeach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:Got the reels put together for real now. Thanks for the latch design. Works great so far. It welds great still so no problems with inductance or arc blow yet. I've still gotta make knobs and order my mobile style caps and regulators. Going to put 50' of oxy hose on. Anybody see a problem with that length?Teach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:If you only have 50' on a reel why do you have the cable connecters?  gxbxc
Reply:Originally Posted by gxbxcIf you only have 50' on a reel why do you have the cable connecters?  gxbxc
Reply:I got the knobs doneTeach Ag Mech - Mike At Home:Lincoln Electric AC225Miller Challenger 172Gas AxeWork:eclectic bunch of 90's vintage blue boxes
Reply:@ teachagmech - nice Trailblazer skid and setup.  Your reels look awesome!  You've shed some light on my current TB301G skid in the works.  Mahalo "Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi