First project, fixing the baby's crib...

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Yeah I know, first projects should be on something for practice and nothing practcal. But my wife is due in 2 weeks with our baby girl and when we got the crib out of the basement and were putting it together when I found this: My wife pointed out that we just got that welder (Miller 211) for my birthday a few months ago and I have been begging to get out and use it. I had plans on building a welding cart for my first project, but with the baby coming other things around the house came first, but I jumped at a chance to use my welder. Granted this is more of a tacking things together project than a welding project, but it was still nice to bvreak the welder out instead of buyng new parts...After sanding off the paint I found the paint was really the only thing holding this together:I fit everything back up and hit it with my first real tack... Please feel free to tell me if this was a bad tack or not, it held everything together and there was good heat transfer to the other side which I was told shows if you are penetrating the base metal:Since I wanted to do better than the factory tack that broke, plus since I thought it had to be relativly smooth fit together I just ran a series of tacks, maybe 4 or 5, then ground them down flat:And ran a small bead on the outside corner, to fix the crack, then ground that down too:I know it should be Black, but I only had blue pain in teh garage and didn't want this to rust until I bought the Black paint today. You can see after a quick fit up I found that I really ddin't need to grind down the tacks on the inside edge so I but 2 more tacks in there beofre painting it:I have the new paint, but if you guys think I need to retouch this please let me know, I can always get the blue paint off and re-weld a few things before the final painting.
Reply:I reckon it'll hold. The "series of tacks" method has potential to create problems; it is more common to run a contiguous bead. If you need a smooth finish, just grind it after the fact.Everlast PA160-STH... and that's about it!
Reply:Yeah I was thinking since the factory only put one tack on it that broke, plus the metal fatigued on teh corner I was going to put a couple tacks, I put 3 tacks spread out about a 1/4 inch from each other, then was having so much fun through some tacks in between those afterwards. I then ground everything down just because I thought I needed it smooth. It was only after fitting it back into the crib before paintig it hat I realized I didn't really need to grind that area flat, so for fun and more practice I put a couple more tacks in again.Is it really that big of a deal to do a series of tacks like that, I thought that was the best way to avoid warpage, and since I was trying not to replace the piece I thought resisting warpage was the better route to go for the first project, was that wrong?
Reply:I wuld have preferred to run a continuous bead from the inside corner to the outside corner on the side that has no weld. If nothing else but to fill the crack that is left.
Reply:I would have welded it completely. but hey, it's not my kid in that crib. it's yours. so you decide what is good enough. a series of tacks, is just that tacks. Not meant to hold weight or secure something longer than it takes to weld it propery. Sure you can get away with it on sheet metal, but not recomended on anything "structural". You don't get enough heat in a tack to get a proper bond between the two sections you're tacking together on anything other than thin sheet metal.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:I would have checked the thickness with the gauge you got with the 211, use .030 wire, set to auto set and weld one side solid where it doesn't matter. You could always need the practice.
Reply:Ok so it sounds like I am going to practice more... heading out to the garage shortly and will post back.  Thanks for the feedback...
Reply:Originally Posted by johnpszok so it sounds like i am going to practice more...
Reply:Think I would agree and do a solid weld.  While that does not have much weight I personally would have run a solid bead. The reason it had a tac "factory" is because they are cheap, enough to hold less money spent to make it more profit.
Reply:Yeah I ran a few beads on it, sorry I ddin't have my phone out there to grab pics of it, but ran a bead on the both sides of the butt joint, even though I had to grind one side smoot for mounting, and in the corner that was cracked got a full bead inside and out, again the outside had to be ground smooth for mounting. I will grab some pics tonight befroe we put the crib back together.
Reply:if you were building a road trailer the tacks wold be a problem. they are fine for a crib. by all means go play with the welder..
Reply:Hey John.Ain't it great to have a welder! Why did your wife have to remind you of that? LOL.I agree with weldbead, the tacks would be sufficient for this application, but a solid bead would be better.Either way, you got the satisfaction of fixing the crib for your new baby. And more practice is always a good thing.Congratulations on the baby and using your new welder.Burt _____________________Miller Syncrowave 250Millermatic 211Miller 375 Plasma Cutter Hobart Handler 12010FtDrillBit.com
Reply:Originally Posted by wb4rtHey John.Ain't it great to have a welder! Why did your wife have to remind you of that? LOL.I agree with weldbead, the tacks would be sufficient for this application, but a solid bead would be better.Either way, you got the satisfaction of fixing the crib for your new baby. And more practice is always a good thing.Congratulations on the baby and using your new welder.
Reply:Nice pics. Reminds me of our daughters room many many years ago. White must be a girls thing.  Good luck with everything.