Praying Mantis

[llamafur]

Here is my latest piece. A praying mantis.
I made it for my neighbor, she paid me $100 for parts, and possibly more when I deliver it.
I used scrap rail road junk and other stuff parts.


here are the welds with a quarter for reference.

[llamafur]

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[SpyGuy]

Now you need to weld three or four 55-gallon drums together end-to-end, paint 'em red, and put "RAID" in three-foot-tall letters near the top .....

Great work on that mantis.

[llamafur]

thanks, lol. how are my welds?

[SpyGuy]

From what I can see, pretty decent. Then again, I'm no real expert on how welds should look, unlike the "conny-sewers" on here ...

[littlefuzz]

Originally Posted by llamafur

thanks, lol. how are my welds?

The second ain't bad but the first looks like chicken sh!t Is it gonna be painted?

[llamafur]

na, the neighbor wants that old rusted look. there are at least 2 passes on all the welds.
and this was done with a home made welder...
Its output voltage is 24 volts. but i have no clue how many amps (it will turn a 1/8 inch rod into a dripping mess within a matter of seconds.)

[littlefuzz]

I give ya credit, everyone can't say they built their own welder. Could you use a meter to test the amps I don't know squat about electricity.

[llamafur]

the amp rating on my fuke meter is only 25, it says using more could cause damage.
I've used other welders before, a 110 volt mig unit at school, it sucks. the plasma cutter is a different story. its fun, fast and there's no preheating involved. i really want to learn tig, but its too expensive at the moment.

[henrym]

Microwave-Oven-Transformer welder much! I was considering making one myself. I now feel bad about not grabbing the 4 units that were in the garbage!

It is therefore definitely an AC welder, and most Cheap, CLAMP-STYLE multimeters can probably measure it. for like $15-$30, you can get one that will take 400 amps. many do more.
clamp-type meters clamp directly to one pole in one place to get a current reading. but for some reason, most cheaper ones will only do AC.

[SpyGuy]

Geez, homemade welder ..... that's more impressive to me than the praying mantis. Nice work!

[llamafur]

thanks guys, i couldn't have made the welder without help from the instructables community.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Buil...memade-Welder/

[llamafur]

Originally Posted by henrym

It is therefore definitely an AC welder, and most Cheap, CLAMP-STYLE multimeters can probably measure it. for like $15-$30, you can get one that will take 400 amps. many do more.

where? i can't get anything online because i don't have a credit card. i have never seen them, except at lowes and HD but they were >$50. (I'm saving up for a nvidia 8600 gt)

[weldbead]

since you asked

the first weld... you gotta watch the puddle and see the metal flow ..differentiate between the metal and the slag..even the second weld near the end on the left, slag flowed in and theres a pocket with no metal..6010 doesnt deposit as much as other rods and you gotta wait till theres metal down..
congrats on the work and building yer machine...

[llamafur]

I used 6013, they seem to work the best for me. off to school now

[oxy moron]

i like how it says "WELDER" on it.... very nice touch.

[Billdacat]

You got to give this guy some serious credit... I like the home-made chokes... I would hate to see his welding helmet...

I

[specter]

1st weld needs some help 2nd weld much better. I don't know anyone that has made a welder! Congrad's

[welderman1]

Don't let the fire marshall see that

[llamafur]

Originally Posted by Billdacat

You got to give this guy some serious credit... I like the home-made chokes... I would hate to see his welding helmet...
I

ya, i spent some $$ on a helmet, its a non auto darkening Lincoln, my eyes arn't replaceable.
theres no chokes. four transformers the secondaries wired in series, the primarys wired in series/parrile so it will run of of 240.
Im buying a lincolin welder from craigslist after school tomorrow for $75. probably convert it to dc to.

[farmersamm]

wow!!!!!!!!!

[scorpio_vette]

Originally Posted by llamafur

na, the neighbor wants that old rusted look. there are at least 2 passes on all the welds.
and this was done with a home made welder...
Its output voltage is 24 volts. but i have no clue how many amps (it will turn a 1/8 inch rod into a dripping mess within a matter of seconds.)

so is that a gateway, compaq or HP welder???

and that nvidia card is a very nice piece, but i don't think it's gonna help your welds any. that computer is missing alot more than just the video card.

[SpyGuy]

Looks like a Compaq with an extremely hot mouse .... Me, I would redo the lettering with stencils, and maybe wire up another fan or two to help keep everything cool inside the case.

Instructables.com, good place .... they got some REALLY great stuff there. I'm looking at one of the bicycle-frame trebuchets as a project.



Some people say that if you run one of Bill Gates' CD's backwards, it speaks the words of the Devil.

That's nothing. If you run it forward, it installs Vista.

[azlar]

Originally Posted by SpyGuy

Instructables.com, good place ....

Some people say that if you run one of Bill Gates' CD's backwards, it speaks the words of the Devil.

That's nothing. If you run it forward, it installs Vista.

I've followed lots of woodworking, welding and techie threads, but this made me

[llamafur]

speaking of woodwork, I made these a while ago the round table was made freshman year, and the oak entertainment center was made this year.