Seems very few and far between that I actually get to do something nice for myself!
My Miller wire feeder came without a spool cover. I don't see many of these feeders with covers, perhaps cos if you're buying a benchtop feeder like this you're going through wire at a fast enough rate that you don't need or want one?
Anyways, I actually don't do very much MIG welding, despite wanting and having this bitchin' big welder. Seriously. Laying welds with this is such a pleasure, as far as MIG goes.
But I can go a month or more without touching it, and you all know what happens to MIG wire when you don't use it for a while... dust, moisture, bird crap if really unlucky... I don't really like having to cut a layer off the spool to get back to clean wire each time.
Secondly, I bought a new toy... a decent hand shear. Baileigh branded, had a bit of use but cuts 1.6mm stainless very nicely if you get it deep in the throat. And I wanted a little project to give it some use. Usually I use a big power guillotine, but it's fiddly for cutting circles. This way i was able to trim down to 1mm and finish the circumference of each disc on the belt grinder.
Thirdly, we had bought some stainless sheet from scrapyard, including a bodged up 1.6 sheet that was supposed to be something, I dunno, perhaps kitchen counter backing or something. It was good for very little because it had holes in it all over.
But enough was there for me to work with...
So I made the basic shape with two full discs:
cut out centre with grinder and flap wheel back to circumference
on the welder.
I bought a stainless hinge and welded the lid on, it's secured with a wingnut
And got the cutouts on the front somewhere close (I still wanted some adjustability) and covered in rubber.
I'm not too fussed about the bare bit of wire sticking out, I might put some conduit over it though.
I've still to either brush finish, polish, or swirl finish the outsides, and also I have a little door knob and some rubber edge trim to come.
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