I got the go-ahead to build a kart..

[Flexibel_kampfe]

For a while now I have been wanting a cart... but It fell to the wayside for woodworking.. and other stuff.. And this year I will be old enough to get a real job(14 for working papers... but no one will hire till 16..)

I was worried about pitching it to my father... but he didnt object when I said I was thinking about it... I was supposed to go get an Arc Welder today(HF $50 one..) but there wasnt enough time... so hopefully tommorrow I can ask him to.. in exchange for me going to CCD(I havent slept late all weekend because of him.. if not Ima sleep tommorrow..)

Ill have to look through the junkyard for steel, but thats a ways off, until I can get proficient at it....

 

[Bluethunder3320]

i give you props.

im 14 as well, and i am basically in the same shoes as you. i know how hard it is, finding cash, parents permission, time, etc... i think that welder will be just fine, i weld at a class im taking with my dad a nd we use 250 amp stick welders but we only put them at 125 max anyways.

good luck. where are you getting a motor? if you cant find one local or used save up for the HF 6.5.

oh also get the harbor freight grinder and a few disks you will need it to cut metal and get rust off, real handy. got mine for 15 bucks.

 

[r97]

i give you props.

im 14 as well, and i am basically in the same shoes as you. i know how hard it is, finding cash, parents permission, time, etc...

sounds like me except 1yr younger.

 

[Bluethunder3320]

lol there needs to be more kids like us

 

[mrfreyguy]

lol there needs to be more kids like us

Id agree withya on that one. I think theres more of us on here than you think though.

 

[bighead]

Being this is your first kart. I would find a used frame to start with.

Look for a frame that has steering. The more parts on it the better. Chances are you can find one for around $100 or less. That would be a great start and all the hard stuff is out of the way?

You cn also find old school mini bikes cheap. That may be an option for you. Mini bike you can also ride places a kart cannot. They are a little cheaper to build as well.

Make your kart/bike quite. this way you don't piss the old lady off down the street. I have learned mini years ago that quite is much better when thrashing thru neighboorhoods. You can ride all day long. With strait pipe everyone and the mothers are looking out the window to see what the hell is going on.

good luck

 

[brendonv]

I started building my first kart when i was about your age. My dad did most of the cutting as it was "too dangerous" until one day he came home to find me using it. I thought he would be really angry but saw i was doing it all correctly and left me too it.

 

[fowler]

i hated those moments when u would get caught doing somthing u werent alowed to under any cecumstaces and u thought oh **** thats it im dead

 

[bighead]

Or when dad is looking for his hammers? Left the gas on the torch and it all leaked out. Bumped the family car ridding down the drivway. Mowing the lawn and dad runs over his brand new rubber hammer that I left in the grass. Getting caught red handed siphoning gas out dads work truck for your go kart. Followed home by the cops (lights flashing)on your mini bike. thought I would lite a whole pack of sparklers in the fire place in the living room, then when running out the door I drop all them on moms new carpet. (got beat for that one) I busted out the main large house window multible times.

Yah I have been grounded for life many time when I was your ages.

 

[Flexibel_kampfe]

I dont have to worry about the cutting... I own many woodworking tools.... so I think the "watch out hunny you dont cut your hand off" stages are over...


Brendon: what were you using to cut it, that was "too dangerous"...

 

[Bluethunder3320]

im 14 and ive used an acetalyne torch before a few times.... but i really dint like the idea of having gas tanks that may blow up at any second.

and so... i use a HF angle grinder to cut all my steel.

takes a while but does fine.

 

[devino246]

im 14 and ive used an acetalyne torch before a few times.... but i really dint like the idea of having gas tanks that may blow up at any second.

and so... i use a HF angle grinder to cut all my steel.

takes a while but does fine.

Ive used an oxy-acetalyne torch a few times and it was kind of intimidating. But they wont blow up unless your an idiot.

 

[Bluethunder3320]

yah, but still, i wont even be allowed to get gas.

just seeing the horror stories.

my teacher's friend was with someone while he was welding. he didnt know the gas was leaking and well... lets just say he is the only one alive of the two and he has half a face.

another horror pic... there WERE kids in the back of this truck.
http://svartalf.freeshell.org/hoaxes/boom20001_redmarked.jpg

 

[r97]

my parents didn't want me to have a tank of 75/25 argon/co2, thats and cost prevented me from getting mig. i almost bought an old oxy acetylene torch today at a yard sale just because it looked cool.

 

[Flexibel_kampfe]

I wont touch them, unless I get formal training... I'll do Oxy-Propane, if I get around to it... but acetylene is nasty stuff... Open the valve too much, and Ka-boom...

Number one thing to remember, is chain them to an upright... my shop teacher was telling us to always be careful when working with cylinders, because if one drops, it becomes an instant missile.. But lucky we dont have to work around too many of them, due to it being woodshop.. not metalshop...

 

[r97]

one cutting tool i wish i had the $ for is a plasma cutter!

 

[redsox985]

I don't mind torches. Crack open the acetylene so that the know unsticks from closed, just a fraction of a turn, and spark it. Then open the oxygen very slow so that it doesn't choke out the acetylene. Just turn it until the flame is nice and pointed and not feathering. I've used them for both cutting and brazing and the only mishap was when I tried to move a piece of recently brazed metal and I fried my finger tip but that was my own dumb fault. R97, as long as you keep your tank secured upright, the regulators properly maintained, and off when not in use, 75/25 gas only risks the valve cracking off and becoming a missile. It is used for MIG because of the I, inert. It's not flammable and not poisonous. Just explain to your parents that, when stored properly, it's very safe.

 

[Flexibel_kampfe]

I see no danger with that setup: co2 is present with every exhalation you make.. Argon is inert, and non-poisionous... Now if it were co1(carbon Monoxide) then we would have a problem..

 

[r97]

yea i know its completely inert (metal INERT gas) i know all that, but i guess my parents either didn't or just didn't like the idea of having a pressure vessel in the house (lol), cost didn't help the decision either, but i got my welder as a b-day present so i can't complain.

 

[Flexibel_kampfe]

Ask them if they own a propane cylinder? Tell them its the same thing... except smaller...