My first paid welding gig

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Fixing a forklift for the local scrapyard.Well, I was there the other day and I started talking to the guys that worked there, and they started picking on eachother. The one guy said "And if you ever need anything______, just let this guy right here know". I was like "Okay, if yall ever need anything welded, just let me know". They looked at each other, and then looked at me, and said "Hey, come take a look at this". And so, I dragged this thing home with me. Its a forklift attachment for a skid steer. They spear cars with it, and toss them around all day long. Literally.Here she was when I got back to my shop:Its the last of Ray Charles' welding projects (not my joke, haha)So, I took it in to school on friday and spent some time with the arc air there. I hired on two of my friends from class, and we managed to get it all taken apart before the end of the two hour class. Awesome.So, I got it home and started welding away. I was really pushing my little stickmate, I wish I could afford a bigger welder, but I cant right now. Anything out of position I ran at 160 amps on DCEP (machines max), and anything in position, I ran at 210 amps on AC. AC welding usually sucks in every imaginable way, but with that many amps it wasn't that bad. Getting the 5/32" 7018s going was sometimes a challenge tho, but once they were burning, it ran way better than i expected. I ran the machine hard, and the leads, electrode holder, and outer shell of the machine were all nice and toasty when I was done. The original weld wasn't the greatest, and the lip that goes on the back of the plate was bent really badly. So, I had to make two relief cuts in part of it in the middle, and hammer it back in place. I got the top more or less flush with the plate, but the bottom was kind of a loss. the gap there was just too big, and so all I could do was to torch out holes for a pair of grade 8 bolts, 1 5/16", the biggest ones I could find. [Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:And heres the poor little stickmate. I finished it up last night, and brought it back to them this morning first thing. They were happy, and I got to make some money. YeeHaw!!One of the beads in this pic looks really bad, and thats thanks to one of the guys I hired to help me with this. He ran a weave over the 6010 root pass I put in, and undercut the crap out the plate, so I ran another bead over it. Aside from that weld and the one just like it on the other foot, theyre all my hard work. We ran out of time in class [Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:Good start. I have fixed alot of skid steer attachments. I usually box in the top hook plate so that it will just fit on the loader. Helps keep it from tearing loose.Millermatic 252millermatic 175miller 300 Thunderboltlincoln ranger 250smith torcheslots of bfh'sIf it dont fit get a bigger hammer
Reply:BTW your stick mate will take a lot of abuse. I killed 2 licoln 225s before my I got my miller. My miller is still my workhorse on projects like this. Burn alot of 5/32 7014  at about 200 amps. When the cales get so hot you cant hold em them you know its working.Millermatic 252millermatic 175miller 300 Thunderboltlincoln ranger 250smith torcheslots of bfh'sIf it dont fit get a bigger hammer
Reply:I wondered what kind of preheat you used, but if that was air-arced right before welding, then it was plenty warm! (Good help is hard to find.) City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Haha, I never pre-heated it, just welded er' solid. The forks on this thing actually look to be welded much better than the rest of it, and so we just left them all alone. Ive never ran 110-18 before.[Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:Off to a great start Lance - the first of many to follow I'm sure.   The guys at the yard should prove to be good advertisement for you.No doubt you will be hearing this from others but just know that when you accept payment for your work you're also accepting the liability that goes along with it so plan accordingly. Did you use standard 7018 or AC7018?  The standard stuff for DC is a bugger to use on AC.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:Makes me feel a little bad that I have a miller thunderbolt 250 just sitting in the corner for the last 10 years. I'd like to sell it but it isn't worth a real lot and I keep thinking it may be useful for something someday.Nice job on the attachment! I am glad I don't have to work on the heavy stuff!
Reply:Originally Posted by duaneb55Off to a great start Lance - the first of many to follow I'm sure.   The guys at the yard should prove to be good advertisement for you.No doubt you will be hearing this from others but just know that when you accept payment for your work you're also accepting the liability that goes along with it so plan accordingly. Did you use standard 7018 or AC7018?  The standard stuff for DC is a bugger to use on AC.
Reply:if the 7018ac rod cost more but was the proper rod to use, you should have bought it and passed the cost to the customer
Reply:It was only the "proper" rod to use, because it is made to run a little nicer on AC. A simple creature comfort, that I didn't really need.[Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009