Bush mechanics course, a review

[jotto]

"Due to the courses, I have got finally myself a grinder which I have used for various things already including making my k@k welds a bit more appealing."

I will gladly set up a day to show anybody interested in learning to weld a bit better - we can do stick/arc, MiG and TiG (Alu and Stanless) - even a bit of plasma cutting and what not. Maybe a small group event....

Ek sal regtig waardeur om n kurses in one-hand tig welding te doen. Kon altyd 2 handed, maar met one handed weet ek nie wat om met filler rod te doen.

Ai ou Reenen ek voel jou pyn ou maat. Daar is n spool-gun opsie wat jy eenhandig kan operate, maar gewone TiG met filler rod met een hand - dink nie dit sal werk nie. 'n Ander opsie is laser welding vir "TiG" want die gun feed vanself - maar dis baie duur.
Aan die ander kant, die hand wat die filler rod operate hoef nie te beweeg nie, net die vingers wat die rod feed....

[jotto]

"

I will gladly set up a day to show anybody interested in learning to weld a bit better - we can do stick/arc, MiG and TiG (Alu and Stanless) - even a bit of plasma cutting and what not. Maybe a small group event....

Some Tig welding
But most guys will really battle with that in the bush

Hehe, definitely not for the bush-mechanic...
For welding in the bush - you get really small arc welders these days, and they will run off a 2kva inverter system. But that takes preparedness to a next level.

[Bugjuic]

Best for BUSH welding:

Two batteries (used a cranking battery and deep cycle battery) connected in series.

Thus you will need proper jumping cables to do this.

Steps:

1. Remove both batteries from vehicle(already electronics are disconnected, thus plus point), never weld with crank battery still in place.

2. Connect two batteries in series (Again make sure to use proper size cable)

3. Connect positive of the battery(+) to the chassis or as close to the weld as you can(current will choose the path of least resistance) and connect the negative(-) to the welding electrode (stick). My preference is 2.5mm arc rods. Effectively this should output 24V at 80Amps.

To make life easier holding the electrode(stick), I drilled a 3-mm hole into a M16 bolt with dual nuts to "clamp" the rod into place and makes it easier to attach the negative of the jumper to the electrode.

Now if you have an old helmet, you can carry around the welding glass not to get arc eyes, but let's be realistic, wearing 2-3pairs of sunglasses will do the trick, or just weld with your eyes closed.

This is really a small kit to carry around. You already have jumping cables, you already have a battery, so just bundle up a few rods into a 20mm PVC pipe and cable tie the bolt with a hole to it. There you go, you can weld!

Yes yes many haters will now argue that this will bugger up your battery etc etc. And by no means this is a substitute for a welding machine. But damn, in a pickle this really works!

[Mad Manny]

Peet, one day you should tell us something we don't know....

[PsyPhin]

First test we did was with 2x starter batteries. It didn't seem quite enough.
3rd round was 3x batteries and apparently that worked a lot better.

I am not a welder so I don't have my own opinion. No idea on battery condition etc.