Cutting bumper to add winch

[ErikSS]

Why do I think of things when I don't have a welder handy.

That kind of thing will fade with time. If your like me, it will never go away though. Your welds look fine man. We all goober once in a while, but most of them look good. It's nice to see another guy taking some initative. It's great that your handle fits into the hole in the grill.

[JoeyT]

It seems there's always something I could've added or done differently. I was looking at a small welder for home so I don't have to spend all my time at work to do mods. I think the everlast 140 is all I need. http://www.everlastgenerators.com/produ ... i-mig-140e

[v7guy]

Yeah, those welds look pretty alright, a smidge of porosity maybe on the one base plate to side piece, but a heck of a lot better than a lot of the stuff I see. You'll get better at thinking of different ways to approach things the more you do it. I have a natural talent for doing things the hardest most complicated way possible... just ask Barton lol

Nice to see some more guys building stuff!

[JoeyT]

I've seen some people weld and it's kinda scary. My biggest downfall is that I tend to use to much power and have to fill in holes from blowing through but I know I get penetration. I also add more weld then needed just to make sure it's strong enough. I haven't had a weld break yet. There's more fabrication to come. After the drivetrain upgrade.

[Trail X]

Looks good Joey. I agree with Jason, but overall not bad. The porosity is probably due to edge prep - or lack thereof.

[v7guy]

Yeah I was just figuring the metal probably wasn't completely clean, especially given the confines being worked in. Personally, I tend to move too slow and pour unnecessary heat into the joint, I'm getting better though.

With a fair portion of the welds I see I wonder how somebody can make the welds that bad.LOL

Maybe Barton will chime in with his thoughts, he's got a lot more experience than I

[JoeyT]

If the porosity was on the winch plate I would've grinder it down and rewelded it. Where it popped up I didn't see it being a big issue down the road so I just left it a lone.

[bartonmd]

I didn't see it before, but the little bit of porosity is from one of two things:

1. Paint still on the surface where you were welding.

2. Slag/dross from a torch or plasma cut edge. I use a plasma a lot, and it's MUCH better than a torch, but before you weld on a plasma cut edge, you need to grind the hardened, aerated steel off of the very edge. You don't need to grind 1/2" off of it or anything, but just run a grinder up and down the edge once or twice and it'll get enough of it off that it won't cause problems. Since the head-affected edge is bigger on a torch cut, you need to take a little more off of a torch cut edge, but it's not bad either. Just go until you see freshly ground metal with no bubbles in it.

Mike