Dog gate extension ...

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Got a puppy, and the gates that I was able to find locally were too short.  Well, I decided to "make it fit", by making one of the sides longer.I needed to do a butt weld, but since the factory square tubing is so thin, I used a smaller piece on the inside, so that I can weld both sides "and" the inner piece to provide additional support:Then use a straight edge to get the extension aligned:I left a gap on purpose so that I could weld all 3 pieces:Not "pretty", but I weld through pretty well, and this is meant to be ground/blended later:Do the other side, and then work on the vertical pieces, which will be tack welded (like the original gate).  The bottom extension is thinner, so there is a "step", but it is not too bad:Blend as much as possible:Paint, with a little overlap over the original gate to "blend" the color (it was not a "perfect" match):Installed:Not only it works great, but the best part of this project came courtesy of my wife: "Wow, that came out really good.  It was definitely worth you taking that welding class last year".  That was "priceless" Will
Reply:strike while the iron is hot..tell her you're gonna order a new welding machine today !
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadstrike while the iron is hot..tell her you're gonna order a new welding machine today !
Reply:I don't want to push my luck right now - I am just happy that she does appreciate the welding "stuff"
Reply:Nice job! I find there is always more dog than gate.Regards,RobGreat Basin WeldingInstagramBlue weldersRed weldersMy luscious Table DIY TIG Torch cooler
Reply:Nicely done! It's always awesome to modify an existing design to work for your application. Good work on the post-weld finishing as well. It has to look good if you're going to put it in your home and look at it every day. After reading your wife's comment, I'd say it looks pretty good in person!Did you measure the thickness of the OEM material? What were your machine settings/wire size/etc? I'm just curious why it was too thin to weld. I'm new to MIG, and I'm hoping to build my intuition with the experiences of others (as well as my own, of course).
Reply:Originally Posted by Bray DNicely done! It's always awesome to modify an existing design to work for your application. Good work on the post-weld finishing as well. It has to look good if you're going to put it in your home and look at it every day. After reading your wife's comment, I'd say it looks pretty good in person!Did you measure the thickness of the OEM material? What were your machine settings/wire size/etc? I'm just curious why it was too thin to weld. I'm new to MIG, and I'm hoping to build my intuition with the experiences of others (as well as my own, of course).
Reply:Looks like a nice clean orderly house, with probably a nice orderly dogWanna swap pooches??Just a bit under 6 MONTHS AGO  LAST WEEKEND  AND OVER 50 MORE POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And HE AIN'T HALF GROWED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Never had one of these before, and I had no REAL idea how big, and fast, they grow  Leaves HUGE crap mountains all over the yard  Great Pyrenees............OOMPH"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Likes to wallow in cow ****, mud, and urine, combined out where we cube the cows"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Great Pyrenees are awesome dogs,  here is the one we rescued.  He was about a year old in this picture. Attached ImagesLast edited by cableguy344; 08-25-2014 at 05:43 PM.Reason: I can't spell, so I fixed it
Reply:Originally Posted by wquiles Not only it works great, but the best part of this project came courtesy of my wife: "Wow, that came out really good.  It was definitely worth you taking that welding class last year".  That was "priceless" Will
Reply:Originally Posted by wquilesThe OEM material was about 1/16" of an inch.  I probably did not have to use the inner piece for reinforcement, but I want it to hold together if/when the dog really starts putting weight on it.Each machine is different, and your speed/technique affects welding results, but I was using 0.035 solid wire, with about 30psi of shielding gas, and the MIG welder is an HTP MIG-200.  These were the settings (yes, I actually modified and then measured the inches per minute for my machine):Will
Reply:Originally Posted by Bray DGood thinking with the dial labeling. I may have to adopt that myself. It would be nice to know your true ipm rather than using a generic number to represent wire speed.
Reply:Good call on the non-linearity of the pot. I didn't catch that at first. I think I'm good to go regarding finding the wire ipm. Simply pull the trigger for 6 seconds, measure the length of wire in inches, and multiply by 10. Back off the drive roll and manually pull the wire back through the liner by rotating the spool. No wasted wire.Do you use a different method that achieves more accurate results? Multiplying by 10 definitely opens up the possibility for exaggerated error.
Reply:Originally Posted by Bray DDo you use a different method that achieves more accurate results?
Reply:I like the rpm sensor use. I'm going to keep that idea in my "tricks" list. Thank you for the post
Reply:Brilliant, William! A far more sophisticated method than what I described. Well done. Thanks for the write-up.