Practice Cube

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Wanted a break from "real" tasks so I figured I'd practice my welds by making a little cube. Made from 6 pieces of 2x1/8" flat bar, cut with a reciprocating saw, welded with an OA torch, then roughly smoothed out with a 36 grit flap disc. I would have rounded it off a little more with a higher grit flap disc, but it was getting late and I didn't want to piss of the neighbors with the grinder noise. Maybe I will tomorrow...Also, my flap disc looked really worn after rounding this off, and this was the first time it was used. Would you expect a new flap disc to wear out a lot doing something like this, or is it likely because it's a cheap HF flap disc? Or should I have used a grinding disc first to at least take off the rough edges first before going to the flap disc? I have no experience doing this kind of stuff, just I'm kinda winging it... Attached Images
Reply:What happened to the progressive pix?  Nobody can see your work!AEAD 200LE, Lincoln precision tig 185, Millermatic 251, Spectrum 625 extreme, Victor torch , Smithy 1220LTD. and  Do all C-4 band saw ,  Always adding.
Reply:I personally have never been one to buff out the welds like that. Leave them for everyone to see!
Reply:Now you just need to make a second one, paint them, and hang them from your rearview mirror.
Reply:How do you seal it at the end? I thought that was difficult because the gasses inside expand with the heat and blow out as you try to finish the cube!
Reply:The trick I use is to weld 98% (app.), leaving a vent hole. Let the part completely cool down.  Then finish off by quickly sealing off the vent hole.Weldtek
Reply:This thread just gave me a new project idea....... Large metal dice....... That will look good on my desk at work...... Thanks for the inspiration.....
Reply:Originally Posted by houseoffireWhat happened to the progressive pix?  Nobody can see your work!
Reply:It's common to wear out flap disk on corners, the higher the grade the longer it will last
Reply:I have heard that gas escaping makes the last bit difficult to seal
Reply:My Dewalt disks last the longest......
Reply:Today I had a job come in that needed 36 threaded 3/8" holes plugged and welded smooth on both sides.  The plate was about 5/8" thick drilled and tapped all the way through.  The customer gave me a box of bolts to cut off, put in the hole then weld flush.My son was doing the job.   I cut a couple of bolts, screwed them in and  had him weld them.  He didn't like the idea of cutting a bunch of bolts, so He asked me if he could just weld them.   We had the same problem.   first side was easy second side would "blow out" the last weld.  SO he welded both sides leaving a small hole then went back when it cooled off and filled the hole. I asked the customer if that was OK, he looked at them and said "Sure".  I tried a grinder then flap disc on the welds.  Just a flap disk worked best.  Nice cube.   Close ups of your welds are important...DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Wow I have one just like that, except mines aluminum . (this was an attempt of an artistic pic) Last edited by travisc454; 01-11-2012 at 12:01 AM.www.performancealuminumfabrication.com
Reply:i made these a few years ago when i was a in school. played many of drinking game with these ( i know the number layout is not correct)  SIN CITY METAL WORKSvisit my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/devvon
Reply:Ok, made another one last night. This time I took pictures throughout the process and didn't bother cleaning it up when I was done. I didn't have a dime for reference, but I used a couple scraps of 1.5" wide, 1/8" flat, so the final product is a little over 1.5" cube. Again, cut to size with a reciprocating saw...they weren't really square but it didn't matter for my purposes. Didn't clean up and of the edges, either. My wife flew out for a week this morning and she waned to spend some quality time together so I had to keep things quick. Done with the OA torch, 3/32 RG45, Smith size 205 tip, 10 and 5 psi on the regulators. Attached Images
Reply:Final product, and a reason why not to buy anything from harbor freight. I figured "how hard can it be to make a brush...as long as it has bristles it'll work, right?"  Wrong. Those bristles fell out after about 20 seconds of cleaning up the cube after I was done. Attached Images