Black Widow has begun

[Aladinbama]

Well, I had to! I grabbed the grinder, put the cutting wheel on it and cut the end off. Of course I couldn't stop there - I took a hammer and proceeded to beat the poop out of it. Again, these aren't the best welds - I know I've seen the threads, but for a first try with FCAW, not bad. Again, there is a pretty significant gap I filled (you can see) and everything held. After the hammer treatment (nothing even began to crack or break), I wouldn't hesitate to trust these on a go kart frame. This is 11 ga and I will be welding 14 ga. so I think I'll practice a bit at these settings on the thinner metal and see what happens.
I actually tried the methods mentioned - you can see it on the end (from the outside), but YES, I need MUCH more practice.


Update - 10-30-2012 - I didn't want to bump the thread so I'm adding it this way. I worked on two pieces of 14 ga making a 45 in a similar fashion as this one. I fit the pieces a bit better and beveled the edges a bit better. I also couldn't wait for tomorrow so I welded it with low light - I couldn't really see well until I was actually welding. Even with the low light I did alright - definitely well enough to start on the kart. I guess I'll be doing that this weekend - wish me luck!

 

[OzFab]

Don't beat yourself up, that's not bad. For that guage, yes, you could use a little more heat but, on 14ga, it should be just about perfect

 

[Aladinbama]

Well, I mangaed to weld up most of the frame. I'll post some pictures when I finish it.

Question: I spot welded the top weld of the front frame and checked - fine it was all square, after welding it I checked again and it was maybe 3 degrees or so canted (right side back), do I take it apart and re-weld or don't worry about it? He said I might be able to hammer it (rubber hammer) while finishing the welds, but ...
A neighbor who welds said that it would probably change a little after welding the three other sides and not to bother, but ...

What do you think?

 

[DaiSan76]

You need to tack all the way around to minimize shrinking.

 

[Aladinbama]

You need to tack all the way around to minimize shrinking.

OK, lesson learned, but what would you do from here?


Actually - NEVERMIND! Ground the weld down all the way, took a heat gun to it while beating from the backside with a rubber mallet. I've got some cleaning up to do and probably will shorten the main frame a couple inches, but we're at do-over territory!

 

[DaiSan76]

Depends on what is affected. On my build I got in a big hurry and didn't do as much tacking as I needed, and ended up with something similar to what you have, but it was on a part of my kart that wouldn't affect anything but looks, so I left it. It if is going to make your kart sit funny, I would cut it out and do it over.

 

[Aladinbama]

Managed to get the rest of the frame welded together. Some of the welds near the end began to look pretty good, but I wouldn't say any of them are beautiful. I will say, it's NOT going to come apart. There still needs to be some cleaning up, but ...
I've got the bearing hangers, the engine plate, and the extra pieces I'm going to put on the sides to go and the frame will be completed.
Oh, and after sitting on it for a while before adding on the front piece, I decided it was too long and cut 2" off the main frame piece. I guess we'll see - still seems there is PLENTY of room.

11-11 Update: I added the side pieces that weren't in the plans. They are parallel about 9 3/4" from the main center frame - just to fill in that side "V" with some metal.

 

[Nodroz]

It's looking great, good work so far! As long as it doesn't fall appart, you're fine

 

[Aladinbama]

Progress; it's almost ready for kids to start fitting parts on. I welded the spindle brackets, the engine plate, and the axle hangers on and cleaned up some other areas. A few more small pieces to add on and it will be ready to take to school. It's not perfect, but I think it will work.

 

[DaiSan76]

Looks very nice. Nothing at all like the stuff I build.

 

[landuse]

It looks pretty good to me. Welds look nice from where I am standing.