


Been trying to do a project or so a week, to keep myself from going insane at home. Last week i welded up a table out of some scrap steel, and then remembered that im a garbage welder. Part of my problem is fixturing, i cant ever seem to get my bits and pieces to sit still long enough to get them welded in place. The other problem is a Harbor Freight flux core welder. Ive tried tacking pieces together, those magnet angle blocks, MacGuyvering contraptions out of C clamps and 123 blocks, just couldnt get something to work.
Decided i needed a nice, beefy hunk o block to clamp the pieces to. First thought was one of those right angle clamps doodads, like they use for making picture frames, but even the welding specific ones look kinda chintzy. Something like the FIreball Tool squares looked a lot better, but uhh, theyre pretty proud of those huh. Cant justify $100 for a pair of the small ones, or stomach it. Sure as hell can make one.
A better welder wouldve just welded together some angle iron, but if i could manage to weld together 2 lengths of angle iron and have them be A) square and B) not look like i just pointed a chicken rear at the joint i wouldnt be making this, now would I? Ordered in a piece of 1/2" hot rolled plate, did a bit of slicing and dicing. Nothing fancy, just a basic L shape with some flat bar on either leg as a clamping surface. Measures bout 6"x6", clamping face is about 2" on the outside, some clearance cuts to give near full access to the corner to be welded. Came out pretty rigid, should make a nice clamping surface to hold the size of pieces im likely to weld, namely 1" square tube. Added bonus, itll serve double duty as a try square or home defense tool. Sucker probably weighs 6 pounds or so.
Regarding the Anchorlube review, the stars aligned recently; I finally ran out of the bottle of dark thread cutting oil ive been using as a general purpose cutting fluid, Menards didnt have any of the dark oil, i didnt feel like going to Home Depot and i found out that the company that makes Anchorlube will actually send you a small trial bottle for free. Been on my "i should try that stuff" list for a while, and i do enjoy free. Turns out im pretty fond of the Anchorlube too, its good stuff. Used it making the square, cutting the hot roll it did just as well as the oil ever did, but with way less mess. No oil everywhere, cleanup was just wiping it off with a rag, no residue. No smoke either, thats a huge plus. The smell of cutting oil doesnt really bother me, but i dont really like breathing a cloud of it in. The Anchorlube just kinda steams if it gets really hot, and the smell is actually kinda plesant, almost like a laundry detergent or something. Makes sense given its soap based. Anyways, i like it and it works excellent for the kind of work i do, ill be ordering a bigger bottle once the trial bottle runs empty.
And no, im not planning on welding a plastic level to a piece of square tube. Yet. Just grabbed whatever was closest for the example picture
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