another new starter
 

hi all
i just thought id let you know ive started my build i havnt got very far yet it took me most of the afternoon to build the stand for my chop saw :D anyway here are the pics so far

cheers Andy

https://vstuff.virginmedia.com/n/50-...4a90366c87f8a/

a warm welcome to the forum, from another Andy, there are alot of us Andy,s building a Roadster :D
where abouts are you located? most folk put their location in their profile;) .

best of luck with your build, lots of help from everyone on here.

all the best
andy (the handy one :D :D )

thanks andy ive updated my profile now
im really looking forward to starting some welding i have made some iron gates before and did a good job on them with a cheap arc welder i havnt got a welder as yet but im looking to spend around £100 if anyone as any suggestions im thinking maybe gasless mig ive seen a few on screwfix direct and one on diy.com (b n q)

thanks Andy

i,m not an experienced welder but i,d suggest using a GAS mig, as most seem to find its easier to weld the chassis ;) .

you,ll find most of the answers to questions about building a Roadster on this forum, i say most , but mean all, :D

all the best
andy:)

Never mind the welding, i hate it, i love milling stuff as i can control it! Welcome to an exclusive Club! I have been a little silent recently due to major changes in my life. Still in few weeks I will have a lovely lady living with me!

I started cutting up and profiling the box section six months before I even made the build table a long storey but...U have started and I hope your project makes you as happy as it has for most of us here.

Nick

Welcome.

It's good fun, and a good forum with some very knowledgeable people.

Get a GAS mig:D They are much nicer, you can see a decent weld pool!! And if at all possible, use the big bottles of gas. the tiny Machine Mart/Halfrauds gas bottles last about 6 minutes.

As an aside, if you are also new to welding, check out http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/ There is a forum there as well, and they are, once again , friendly and knowledgeable.

Good luck with the build

Sean

The main problem of the machine mart gas was not lasting six min's, just simply not being able to get enough heat into the component. I have refillable bottle of gas that is new an unused. It holds 4 x the disposables. If you need one I will ask South West Welding Supplies to get you one. I paid £40. on let 60 I think? Hope it helps

ive been looking around and i wish i could afford a gas mig and to run it but unfortunatly i cant so ive at least gone a step up from arc and got myself a nice little gasless set from screw fix that was on offer from £170 i think down to £117

cheers Andy.

A lot of the small disposable bottles of gas only hold 60L of gas. CO2 is measured in grams, but CO2/AR mix and Ar are measured in litres. The "big" bottles they sell hold 110 litres.

At a flow rate of 10L/min the small bottles will last 6 minutes or so. Which is, scarily enough, about a metre of weld.

I'm not sure the MM gas gives problems getting heat into a weld, I have welded plenty of stuff with disposible bottles, it's just they are VERY uneconomical.

And I have used a gasless MIG as well. The weld pool is pants but at least gasless meant I was able to weld some gates outside, in Lanzarote (very breezy).

If I were to weld outside now I would still use my gas mig, just crank up the flow rate (20l/min is cool when you have a 47L bottle)

Sean

well i ordered the kende welder from screwfix marked down to clear from £169.99 to £117.44 and it arrived today and so far im very impressed it looks very well built its quite a large welder really and it can be switched from gasless wire to gas wire it has a sturdy shelf on the rear for a bottle and comes with heavy duty castors the only downside it didnt come with any wire :( so now ive got to order some either gasless wire or some wire and a gas bottle and now i dont know what to go for to weld my chassis up :confused: :confused: :confused:

as you,ve got the option then go for GAS welding,

andy:)

gas welding does seem to be they way to go i like the easier to weld part as you can see the weld pool lol
any clue on cost of gasless and gas welding ie gas, wire, bottle, regulator type of gas type and thickness of wire etc

cheers Andy

i pay £7 for a large(3ft ) tall bottle of co2, the reg cost me £44, .6mm gas wire is approx £20 for a large reel.

tell you what, if you are happy to collect then i have a spare large gas bottle that you can "borrow" for long term ;)

cheers
andy:)

thats very good of you but im quite a drive away :( the best bargains are always so far lol
so can i just co2 gas then? the type from a pub my mates dad runs a bar i could try him

buy him a pint or two & you,ll have as much gas as you need :cool: :cool:

well i,ve welded my chassis with only co2, seems ok to me:)

andy

nice one il see him tomorow i think i will need a co2 to argon adaptor and a regulator tho im not sure of the fittings

cheers Andy

depends on the gas bottle i suppose, i have an adapter that allows 2 fittings of a gas bottle to fit the same reg.

machine mart are expensive for the regs by the way, try fleabay ;)

andy:)

update
 

hi all
just thought id post a few more pics of my progress

thanks for looking Andy. :)


https://vstuff.virginmedia.com/n/50-...4ab66c9633dc1/

Looks like you have made a good start there Andy.:D

How are you getting on with the welder? Did you go GAS or gasless in the end?

I am ordering my steel for Friday delivery as I have a couple of days off work, so hope to be cracking on with my chassis soon.

Sean

hi sean
the welders great i went for gas in the end so far its took me 4 weekends and out of that only really about 20ish hours
quite a few of them were head scratching moments aswell
the front frame the worst lol
the best advice i can give you is dont give up it will come good in the end and now im loving it

Andy.

Thats good work for 20 hours.

I do hear the front frame can be a pain

As for giving up, no chance, I already have loads of bits finished, ready to bolt on

Sean

https://vstuff.virginmedia.com/n/50-...4ab66c9633dc1/

just an update on some pics

thanks Andy

update
 

hi all just a little update i didnt do anything 2 weekends before last as i was ill in bed all weekend and the weekend before last we went to alton towers for halloween but this weekend i managed to get a few bits done inc cutting the back end off and putting it back on level lol
anyway heres a few pics
oh and a big thanks to un named unless he wants to be known for the wishbone plates :D

oh and the first pic is for you handy andy lol






thanks for looking
Andy

i really dont want this to be taken the wrong way but the wishbones are going to need grinding out and re-welding. from what i can see you havent got enough heat into them.

if you look at the front lower wishbones note that the ends are blue from the heat. you should be aiming for that all the way down the tube and on the plate.

what welder are you using?

sorry to put a bit of a downer on what otherwise looks like great progress.

i hope my comments are taken in a constructive way as i only want to help

Ash

Hi Ash
Spot on and very nicely said you have certainly made my day!

hi thanks for the reply im using a kende mig with 0.6mm wire and co2
maybe i didnt have it set high enuff for the thickness of the plate and the tube?

Andy

hi andy
you can name me if you want lol when you get to the diff plates give us a shout you never know what i find under our bystronic lasers lol.
thwang

sorry missed this last night.:o

:D nice one Andy, & thats totally in order... a photo sat in the drivers seat area upon completion of the main chassis, it should be the law :p :D

well done on your progress, its looking great, you,ll soon have it rolling.

all the best
andy