Tungsten stick-out and a catwalk

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I've seen the question "what is the proper Tungsten stickout?".. Well, I have the answer. As far as you need to go. Also, we started on a nice project at a local winery. It consists of 100+ feet of aluminum catwalk, stairs, platforms and rail. I started on the s.s. catwalk mounts today. Tomorrow I'll finish welding them out and dig in on the catwalk. Tonight I'm going to cad out some details as soon as i'm done screwing around on the internet. The two closest tanks on the left are somewhere around 34,000 gallons each and there are two more coming. Attached ImagesCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Here are some pictures of the site in progress.  They dug into the vineyard to make room for the tanks. The retaining wall has more blocks behind it. You can only see about 1/3 of what's actually there. Attached ImagesCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:That first pic is crazzy, I am assuming you'r using a gas lens?? How much stick out is that anyway??Lincoln pro mig 180Lincoln Square Wave Tig 300/wp 20/home built water cooler Victor, Purox, Harris, O/A welding/cutting setupsVintage Craftsman drill pressVintage Craftsman/Atlas 12"x 36'' lathe7''x 12'' w/c band saw Everlast 140 st
Reply:I was right at about 1". yeah, it was a lens. I did get the tungsten stuck once. it was a 27 degree angle. I made more progress and ill post tomorrow.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Looks good!
Reply:Originally Posted by BrainfarthI was right at about 1". yeah, it was a lens. I did get the tungsten stuck once. it was a 27 degree angle. I made more progress and ill post tomorrow.
Reply:Looks awesome, nice work.Just curious, how come you didn't terminate the 90* capped ends to line up with the mitered tube?
Reply:Well that answers the age old question. Maybe this thread should be a sticky.  Glad to see your back working. Awesome as always.
Reply:You can't do that!Why do I need a gas lens in my tig kit?
Reply:We didnt bother matching up the tubes because it was easier holding them back, rather than having to sand the cap smooth. Those supports are quick and dirty. It's the catwalk and rail that we need to be careful with.But I did manage to get some work done today. The frames were cut, drilled and tacked. The rail is starting to take shape. I bolted two of the units together so I could place the slice tubes. You can see when I had to make a weld splice. I gaped them so I could get some penetration. I went ahead and welded the splice and blended out the weld before welding the upright. It's cleaner looking when you take those little steps. And I always put the splice over an upright. I've seen too many done in mid-air and they look horrible. I also made up a tool so I could stand the uprights, 90 degrees to the 4" x 6" x 3/8" angle. Attached ImagesCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:damb pretty work.Are you happy with the JD notcher?Lincoln SA 200Esab Caddy 160Thermal Arc 201TSMiller Dialarc HFI don't like making plans for the day because then the word "premeditated" gets thrown around the courtroom....
Reply:it works okay. I've used the steel JD notcher before a noticed a quality difference in them. The aluminum one likes to move after a few cuts.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:With quite a few delays from the owners and weather, we managed to make it to the end of the project. Almost. We are waiting on the correct grating.  After designing this project in Autocad, fabrication and installation, we ended up with no rework! Man.. I would love to say that with every project. So I have plenty of pictures to post. One is a jig that I use on stairs. I cad out the consecutive inches, mark the flange and fabricate a jig based on these marks. The error rate goes down when you make it bullet proof.  We installed the hanger braces, then set the upper catwalk/landing and main stairs. Then I took some more field measurements and fabricated the two lower landings and stairs. I have about 50 hours in drawing, fabrication and install of the lower sections (about 30'). I'm not sure what the running total of the job is just yet. The whole thing is constructed of 4x6x3/8 angle, 10" channel, 1 1/4" horizontal rail and 1 1/2" vertical rails(all sch40) and lots of Misc. plates and angles. I could splice a few of the easy sections together with plugs to be bolted in the field, but a few had to be welded on the site. Attached ImagesCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Here are some more photos.. One is of Campbell crane rotating one of the tanks to the correct position. We also made some cages to protect the valuables inside the tanks.Also, I left an end open for future expansions with temporary pipes, bolted into place. Attached ImagesCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Nice looking work BF. A lot easier to change a few things on a computer screen that to cut the actual rig apart if it's made wrong. I like the temporary ends for the catwalk also, looks real professional.Question on the long stairway, is it legal to have that long a run in one section with no landings?......Mike
Reply:In Yamhill county (Oregon) a flight of stairs shall not have a vertical rise greater than 12 feet between floors or landings. On this job, they are considering this agricultural so it's exempt from construction requirements. And thanks for the compliments.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Any idea what the tanks are for? Seems like they usually make wine in a temperature controlled environment, not in a big tank outside. Looks great, thanks for the stick out pic.miller syncrowave 250hobart handler 140home made 400 amp engine driven in progress...
Reply:They are wine tanks. You can make out the dimpled glycol cooling jackets, every other sheet on the tank. They pull a long sheet of s.s. off of a roll and sandwich another sheet of much thinner gauge metal on top of it, then a long row of spot-welding fingers work their way down the section. The section is then rolled to the diameter of the tank. After seam welding the sections together, they weld fittings onto each section and pump them up with nitrogen to spread the two metals apart from themselves so down the road, glycol can be circulated through the jackets to regulate the temperatures.Because they are trying to cool 4 of the 34,000 gallon and 4 of (roughly) 19,000 gallon tanks at once, their system will be taxed pretty hard. And with future storage expansions in mind, they will have to insulate the tanks down the road.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Nice work!Looks like you got a lot of fresh air, and a nice view on this job