Bumper Building and General Fab'n Qs

[oughtsix]

Okay. So. Heavily interested in building a front bumper. I have a welder and am quite familiar with it. I need a cutting device of some sort. What do yall use? Will a cutting wheel on an angle grinder do the trick? (I plan to use no larger than 1/4 inch steel this go round) Should I opt for one of those 50 dollar mini cutter/welder outfits they sell at home depot and such?

If I do that, what sort of Eye pro do i need? I assume the welding mask will be too dark. (Non auto-darkening)

I believe that is all for now.

Oh wait, what about welding objects which are attached to the truck? Do i just need to disconnect the battery? Or not do it at all. (It will make the measureing much easier)

 

[wahlstrom1]

I use a torch, or a plasma cutter. I cutting wheel will work, just slower. As far as eye protection go's I'd get a set of tinted safety glass's if you don't currently wear glass's, if you do just get a full face shield.

-andrew

 

[greasemonkey01]

for cutting, cut off wheels work good on a 4" grinder, just as long as you have enough. for welding on your truck with the battery hooked up its always good practice to disconnect the battery but I've done it occasionally without any problems though I dont recommend it... Also buying a cheap plasma cutter works but you need an air supply and clean metal to cut through it, not to mention one big enough to cut through 1/4" steel. Hope this answers a few of your questions.

 

[OilPatch197]

You know a Cutoff chop saw isn't that outragously priced. That is what I would get.

IMO I am thinking saftey and you can use it to cut fairly precise angles. IMO I had the steel shop cut me up some 1/4" thick by 6" wide steel, it took a while to remove that material with a cutoff wheel.

I can see just using a bunch of cutoff wheels in a angle grinder, since you are just needing it for this job, but you probably won't get as a clean cut and will have to "fudge" a little to get everything square before you weld.

I've heard of using a circular saw with a cutoff wheel, I would tend to favor that over the angle grinder with a cutoff.

I've used a hacksaw, it works but getting a straight cut is not easy if impossible.

 

[4x4junkie]

I think you're safe on the truck as long as you connect your ground clamp on the same section of metal right next to where you're working. It's when welding current has to travel a long distance through different parts of the frame or body (or from the frame to the body ) that it can cause problems with electronics (If you're welding on the bumper for example, connect your clamp to the bumper itself)

I've always heeded this rule and have not had any issues.

 

[Hahnsb2]

If you're poor lke me cut-off wheels work. Me and my buddy have a built a few bumpers using just a cutoff wheel to cut, takes time and goes though a lot of discs. You're going to need a grinder anyways if you get a torch to clean up edges. And OilPatch, chop saws can be great but the vast majority of our cuts are not possible with one.

And +1 on what Junkie said.

 

[rangerbum]

I favor Oxy/(fuel) torches personally. I really like oxy/acetalyne because I have had alot of time to "experiment" with it and learn how it works best, but on a budget, oxy/propane works great

 

[metalmacguyver]

Check out www.bulletindustries.com for cheaper grinding wheels and other consumables.

I prefer 6"x0.045" cut off wheels on my 5" grinder.

I use a 7" flapsanding disk to grind welds down and smooth stuff out. (a variable speed grinder is needed as all wheels i have seen of this type are only rated to 8600rpm or so)

I use 1/4x5" grinding wheels for general grinding purposes.




Remember this! GOOD FAB TAKES TIME.





The more time you put into being careful and making exact cuts and grinding things properly the better the finished product will look and the stronger it will be.

Those $50 oxy-fuel kits at homedepot dont work for shit. The included torch simply is not meant to be used as a cutting impliment. They also cant flow enough gas to get stuff hot enough fast enough. They are ideal for a hobbyist working with jewlery perhaps but not much more.

I prefer to cut stuff with my grinder but it is quite time consuming and some times a torch or plasma cutter is the prefered tool for cutting curved item or making a really long cut. The flip side is that a torch/plasma requries much more cleanup work. A grinder gives you the finished cut in one step.

When using a torch or plasma cutter a shade 5 goggle is required. As you said, a welding mask is too dark and you need something to protect your eyes from the UV rays emitted by the torch.

Hope this helps!

 

[Mechanickid]

whats oxy propane?

 

[oughtsix]

^^^Oxygen-Propane Mix. As opposed to a Oxygen-acetlyene mix.

So the Girlfriend just told me that her dad had a Oxy-Acetylyne setup behind the house. Hasnt been used in years, needed hoses when it was put up. No telling what it needs now, but She said i can go look at it and see. How much does it cost to refill the bottles typically?

 

[metalmacguyver]

Depends. Usually its a pain to get them filled if you dont have a lease on them. That is the position that I am in right now actually.

 

[JohnnyU]

I had tanks that hadn't been inspected since the 60's. The set-up was bought at an auction for cheap. I walked into the welding shop/supply house and told them what I had. They replaced the tanks with full ones for the regular price. Call around, tell them what you have and see what they say.

 

[kinshin250r]

im starting a new bumper myself man and i would like to add an option fot cutting its a mitobo cutting grinder its made to cut not just grind it works wonders on metal 1/4 or less and can do more just uses blades a little faster but i use it on just about every thing i cut but i also have a full size tubing and channel cutter to use also

but still is way better than just useing the grinder and a good bit faster as it runs at higher rpms also i am intersested in exchanging designs if anyone else is thanks

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Properly done a torch (oxy-act or oxy-propane) will leave very little slag to clean up and a fairly nice cut that requires minimal grinding to clean up. It also takes a lot of practice to get that good and knowing which tip to use. I've seen it done before - an older guy that ran a junkyard axed through a frame and even with a partially plugged tip he left a very neat and straight cut. I think I still have a few bottles of fuel to go before I'm anywhere near that good, lol.

The most expensive thing is the tanks. Second to that is the torch itself. Hoses and tips are relatively cheap. My dad gave me an oxy-act rig that he bought years ago. It's a decent set and he had bought the tanks for it from a local weld supply shop. It hadn't been used in years and dad couldn't remember when the tanks were last filled. So when I drained them, I took them back to the weld shop and told them what I had. They checked the tags on the tanks, then dragged them in the back and brought out a full pair of tanks. Oxygen was cheap to fill, something like $20 or so. Actelyne was expensive - the tank I had took around $60 to fill or so.

So then I saw a guy selling an electric welder and when I went to get it, he had an old oxy-propane torch set there too with tanks. So I struck a deal on that too. I'll use the oxy-acet for heavy cutting or work that it's easier to use a really hot flame (propane burns at a lower temp) and the Propane for general work and scrapping to try to save a few bucks. Propane uses the same gauges and torch, but a different tip. And if you have to buy hoses, buy heavy duty good quality ones.

Angle grinders are useful. But they can also be hard to control at times. I use a 4.5" most of the time and have found that Metabo brand cutting/grinding disks seem to hold up the best. I got a pair of Bosch grinders, they're nice because you can run flat disks on them, some grinders have to run depressed center disks (my dad's craftsman), and those can be a pain.

You can do a fair amount of cuts with a chop saw. I would recommend one, it's a much more stable platform to work with.

You can fit a grinding wheel on a circular saw. But don't use a good saw, the metal shavings will find their way in the motor and trash it. We use them all the time for cutting rebar and steel decking at work, the cheap ones last just as long as the good ones. You could probably do some finer cutting with them, but it would take some skill with a saw.

 

[Destroyer000]

a portaband works great as well.. ive built a few bumpers myself with.. in one way or another i used the portaband, plasma cutter, and the grinder and welder on my front bumper... as tim said, bullet industries is a great company to get consumables for CHEAP..