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Spent most of the afternoon making a mediocre bracket for a receiver cover I could have bought online for $4. Next up: plasma cut the cover. Odds are outstanding this will go poorly. #hackofalltrades

You've got to finish it off still...

I'm pretty sure Kalashnikov has a GIF for this thread.

A trailer hitch on a handcart?

Shit used during the creation of this decidedly un-inspiring part:

* Plasma cutter
* Angle grinders (using flap disc and death wheels)
* Benchtop belt sander ($58 @ Harbor Freight woot)
* Stick welder w/ the tiniest electrodes you've ever seen
* Lots of spray paint (to hide everything done with the previous 4 items). Paint is a shitty welder's best friend.

The welds were less atrocious than my normal welds. I FINALLY started to get the rhythm down (too much electrode = burn through the work, too little electrode = no penetration/booger welds*).

I need to knock a bit more off the edges with the grinder to match the radius of the inside corners of the receiver, but I'm pretty damn pleased with myself: came up with a plan and executed it well enough that the part can be used for the intended purpose.

My respect for people who don't booger-weld continues to grow.


*Full disclosure: the inside corners were hideously ugly from tack-welding the parts. More paint!

Heh. My wife loves metal art. She hates me being around when she is looking at said art as I always point out how shitty the welds are

My certification may have expired decades ago now, but my respect for a good clean weld will never die.

I find nothing more beautiful than a well executed TIG weld. Similarly I find nothing more rage inducing than a shitty MIG weld. Seriously. It's a MIG. How do you fuck that up???

And if you want funny, watch an art dork trying to weld cast iron

TIG is sexy - but dammit, until I learn to suck less with the spool gun and the stick welder, I'm not buying any more tools. My lack of skill/practice is definitely more problematic than my Harbor Freight equipment.

Please point to the thing that you made. I see a trailer hitch with a hole in it.

Kalashnikov wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2020 8:42 am Please point to the thing that you made. I see a trailer hitch with a hole in it.

He made the thing going inside of the hitch. (Poorly.)

'Zackly. It's no doodle, but it will suffice.

An order of 1/8" 8x10 mild steel plates will soon be arriving from Amazon (for me to destroy). Also, another batch of plasma cutter consumables, because poorly.