Scrap Treasure Chest-A scavenger's dream

Today I went to a warehouse for Habitat for Humanities. It was a literal treasure chest. Everything from Home Depot, slightly used for scrap yard prices.
Some good metal scrap too, especially on heavy duty bolts, nuts, and washers.Have at it.

Next stop, scrap yards.










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Welding Questions from others

When you have no idea how to do something that is too advanced for you or want to save money, ask the pros and your friends on welding forums. Here is a popular one. People upload and share their project photos on this website forum too.

Welding Web Forum:

http://weldingweb.com/forumdisplay.php?f=10

Welding Project Ideas

Miller Welding MAchine Company has a HUGE collection of welding projects that their faithful customers have built. They have an incredible collection of projects in 5 different catagories. Really amazing and will let you know what is possible with welding.

Miller-Project Ideas:

http://www.millerwelds.com/interests/projects/ideagallery/in-the-shop/

Welding Project Table:

http://www.millerwelds.com/interests/projects/welding-table/

Back Yard Texas BBQ:

http://lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/bbq.asp

Utility Trailer:

http://lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/mower-trailer-project.asp

Books Filled with Welding Projects: several welding

https://ssl.lincolnelectric.com/foundation/store.asp?PID=16&cat=8

How the Pros Do It-NOMMA

NOMMA: National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metal Association

NOMMA: http://nomma.org/dev/index.php

Do you want to know more about how to make Super Good stuff? Then you need to join up with and learn from NOMMA, the specialty metal working association of America. Their members are world-class metal art makers and fabricators. Many are high end artists that do amazing work in some of the biggest and most famous buildings in the world. NOMMA holds an annual international competition for Best Design of the Year. The entries are truly stunning in scale, scope and creativity. Whole fabricating shops will create projects just for this competition to be crown the " King of Metal". NOMMA publishes a quarterly magazine with special trade news from around the world. If you can get your hands on an old copy of the magazine or get a subscription you will be blown away. The design competiton isses are the best.
They hold classes for members all over the country and have an annual convention as well.




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Auto Paint Finishing-Pearlescent Paints

You can really make your work stand out and look refined if you use auto paint to finish it off. Go to an auto body paint store and get a spray canister that is precharged with air called a "Pre-Val". These canister can spray on any paint in a fine mist. These Pre-Val units are cheap and disposable. $5.00

http://www.prevalspraygun.com/around.htm


The car paint store will have hundreds of colors to choose from. Just pick one you like.




You can make your piece look really great if you tell them to add a clear-coat to your paint mix. It will look glossy with only one coat of paint. This is called 1-stage/single stage auto paint.
High quality paint jobs on exotic cars do 3-10 coats of paint and sanding between coats. These are called 3-stage paints.

You can make pearly, shimmering paint effects on your piece from an angle if you layer on the paint in steps. These are called Pearlescent paints. Have you ever seen a super tricked out car that shines in the sun with 2-3 different colors that perfectly blend together? This is how it is done, in layers.
























There is a special kind of auto paint for cars that has small, microscopic colored diamonds in it. These diamonds reflect different colored light to your eye, like a prism, giving the impression of multiple colors. You can get paint that will reflect 2 or even 3 different colors. These specialty paints are in their own class of paints, but are still used as auto paints. Several auto paint stores hold classes for car enthusiasts on how to use and apply these paints. Look up more information on Google on this topic under: "Pearlecent Paint"


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Making Metal Shine-Finishing Techniques

After all your hard work of preparing, welding and grinding to a smooth finish you will probably want to your masterpiece a finishing coat of paint to even out your burn marks and protect it as well.
There are several ways to do this. Paint sloughs off metal really easily and must be prepped before any paint goes on it.

1. Sand it smooth with gradually finer grit sanding wheels, called "Flapper Wheels".

2. Mineral Spirit-whipe everything down to remove the oil bath that the metal was dipped in at the factory when it was made to prevent rust. Most metals are covered in this oil when you buy it.

3. Primer coat-Apply a primer coat of paint that is compatible with your final top coat of paint. This is an important step, so ask a paint company to check that your paints match the application and material.

4. Final overlay coat-your choice of color. Auto paint will usually look the best.

This is the quick and dirty way to finish most any piece off in a hurry.

If you wanna make your piece look like a million bucks on the cheap, then you got a couple more options.

1. Autobody paint-ask a car paint store for details. They can mix and make any metallic paint color you might want and you can spray it on. Mix it with 1ounce of paint Hardener and it will stick to the metal and last for more than 5 years. Hardener is a MUST! It is cheap too, about $20. See my next Blog on Auto Paint Finishing.

2. Powder Coating- must be sent to a commercial powder-coating/ baking factory. These companies spray on a sandy powder coating and bake it at high heat to make an almost plastic like, super hard coating, fully encasing your piece. This coating fully protects against rust for many years, better than any paint will. It will rust only if chipped off or the bare metal is exposed to air. Look up books on Amazon about this topic: Powder Coating

3. Patina- the fine technique of artificially aging, coloring and finishing fine artwork and commercial pieces directly onto the metal itself using acids, chemicals, heat treatments and so on. This is a whole topic in itself. You can buy books on how to achieve different patina finishes. This is an expert craft skill used by foundries and professional sculptors. Look up books on Amazon about this topic: Patina







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Getting Skills Fast-Part #2: Layout

Layout

Learning to do good layout is a critical skill in welding fabrication. Simply welding one piece at a time and tacking things together as you go is a recipe for distaster. Metal is very unforgiving and can not be shaved down like wood or other soft materials. You MUST plan ahead to make something good. It will save you alot of money and time.

I do alot of NAPKIN Drawings when I get ideas. These