We bought some "Hampton Bay" yard swing for adults (like a swinging seat for 3 people).
When assembling it, we found that one of the welds in one of the bars was bad and had zero fusion, so a flange fell off. I ground off the powder coat and tigged it back, which was quite easy. The good news is that my wife saw welding as sometimes useful "around the house".
iA guy's in the cat bird seat when SO sees his hobby as making stuff for the betterment of the household and family.
"Honey, do you think you could weld up a metal gate to replace that old saggy wooden one?" "Aw shucks dear, If you insist that I spend the next couple of days out in my shop I guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet for you. Yeah, and just because I love you, I have to go buy a couple more of those [expensive] clamps in order to do this project up properly."
Best, David Todtman
Very insightful.
i
Obviously, you haven't built any gates...yet!
--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--
Caution !!!
I have a good friend that is very capable in the shop. Beautiful work... One day his wife came home with plans to attend a week long seminar on how to weld with the neighborhood 'girls'. She has a Tig/stick and a plasma so far - I haven't seen him in a year, but last time I did (2000 miles away) she was doing the gate and an arbor. Cut out flowers...
Found out that the plasma torch would track around and not burn a wood figure.... Now both of them are into metal and wood and the son is beginning knife making... :-)
Got to love it when a plan comes into shape!
Martin
Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH & Endowment Member NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member
Ignoramus28957 wrote:
There is no job at all that doesn't demand a new tool of some kind. Hopefully she'll never notice that you didn't buy the tool to do that particular job, though!
Bringing in some extra green stuff now and then really helps their disposition, too. Be sure to tell her that the gate you made for $XX would have cost 10X $XX if you had to buy one just like it.
Steve
Yeah, which means that the tool you bought was free. Actually, it was better than free since it cost way less than all that dough you saved by making the gate yourself.
Best, David Todtman
That's pretty much my wife's excuse for spending a lot of money: "I saved so much money at this sale, it's like making more!"
Uh, hate to tell you this honey, but less or more, money spent is money we've got less of.
I dare not use it in my household, unless I approach it very carefully.
I was a steel erection contractor for nine years. In that time, I did a lot of ornamental metal. When I quit, a double security door would run $550 to $800 depending on designs.
Fast forward ten years.
New wife. We call for security doors. $1800 each! I said screw that, I'll buy a wirefeed and do it myself. Since then, I have made thousands of dollars in iron for about 25% of retail, and got lots of tools to boot. I made a double gate 24' wide and 7' high to hide my motor home. The two guys who came to bid out of five called both wanted more than $4,000. Countless other items fixed and made.
Welding is a handy thing to know. And a guy can't have too many tools.
Steve
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