yes, I can do that

Today Dad was trying to assemble his new grill. As he lifted one of the leg assemblies out of the box, it came apart. the two welds holding it in place had snapped, and the piece he was holding had come out of the assembly. Dad said, "Joe, I think I just broke the welds on this." I picked up the assembly and the offending bit and headed to my house.

A cursory examination revealed very thin walled square tubing, only held together by four tiny tack welds; two per side, on only two of the four sides. It didn't take long to grind the paint off of all the joints and lay some nice fat beads down to hold it together properly. Dad drove over to my place with the other side, and it went even faster; he already had the paint off the seams of the second leg assembly before I was done with the first one. I ground the welds flat on their outer surfaces so they'd be less obvious, and Dad rattle-canned all the spots I had welded.

It felt good to be able to fix the grill, and to make it better than it was before. Does any body else have a story where they took skills they from this hobby and used them to help somebody with something else?

Rewelded a pulley bracket for a neighbors lawn tractor, and made it stronger than new. Nice to be able to do little things like that with all the tools in the garage.

Are you going to name the offending grill?

I don't have a story like that..but I have a renewed sense of caution about CCS.

CCS: Cheap Chinese..um..uh.."stuff".

I thought you were going to make him a grill out of old washing machine parts?

Awesome story.

Good on ya Joey!

EastCoastMojo wrote: I thought you were going to make him a grill out of old washing machine parts? Awesome story.

Nah, those are nice thick metal....I save stuff like that for fenders.

(...and Wheels777 used a the sides from a clothes drier for the floor pan in his yellow volksrod)

if i broke the spot welds on a brand new grill as i was taking out of the box, i'd be taking a trip back to the store where i bought it and making one hell of a scene at the customer service counter..

but i'm weird like that..

^^^That would have taken more time than fixing it.

I've made a number of things at work that make life easier since learning to weld...hangers for hoses so they don't lay on the floor, supports for pipes coming from tanks, a bracket for an electrical box, a little tool that opens 55-gallon plastic drums of chemicals...being able to weld makes a lot of stuff easier. I also got promoted a couple years ago partly because my employer knew that I worked on cars and that I knew my way around wrenches and power tools and whatnot.

Despite not being able to find time to finish my own goddamn race car, I've spent about 25 hours over the past 2 weeks machining, fabricating and welding stuff for others. I got a nice bottle of scotch and 3 cases of good beer - but depending on who I'm working for - my long term contract, some short term consulting, and consultation calls through an agency w/ financial types - My time is between $85 and 250 an hour.

This evening after I drop off and install something I designed/machined/modified/machined etc. I'm retiring for a while.

When my dog got sick and required an elevated food dish I could have done like everyone else and just driven up the road to petsmart but hell, I have a scrap metal bin, I have a welder......

I have that exact same dog bowl, minus the rubber grip ring.

EastCoastMojo wrote: I have that exact same dog bowl, minus the rubber grip ring.

The rubber grip rings never last long.