That's a great question actually. I had thought about doing just that, but I realised that if I did the backside would be uneven and when it was shot and swung to the otherside the chance of it being hit and causing a ricochet was a real possibility.

I was able to get some quarter inch bar stock that's the same thickness as the actual target and when I weld it up I used a 6010 to really burn it in and then capped it with some 7018s so I'm hoping that they can withstand a bunch of direct hits. But I do suspect that will be a point of repair eventually for sure.

Ah-ha, that makes sense. I kinda figured you had a reason.

Out of your welding class... Did you pick up any AWS certifications?

Yep I got certified in 3G structural ARC. I was hoping to get one in 6G but they stopped offering the cert, and its pretty cost prohibitive atm for me. Its around 400 to get a local shop to administer the test and have an AWS inspector check it.

From what I understand, they will also do one for Flux Core in my spring class, not sure of the position or what that really entails but its included in the class.

I really wish they had done some Tig certs too, I would have loved to have gotten one for that.

I took a class at the local Tech school in 2014. Fortunately it is also an AWS test facility. I got a D1.1 FCAW 3G, D1.1 SMAW 3G, and a D17.1 GTAW in 3G. I wanted to spend more time on pipe but the time ran out. For what it is worth, 6G pipe tig root and hot pass/7018 out is one of the most difficult things I have tried.

Wow thats actually really impressive!

6G was really tricky for me with TIG because I was not prepared to weld off hand and that took a long time to get right for me. I never did a mix of Tig and Stick but if I could do a Tig root, and a stick fill and a Tig cap I would probably do pretty good. I have always struggled with my stick cap passes. Its the one part that I just dread every time because they never look like I want them to.

I watch welding videos on youtube and see a bunch of rod manipulation on pipe. I am going to go back one semester for the night class and try it again. That tig root is a difficult process for me. Might just try the 6G with a 6010 root.

One of the biggest things with the Tig 6g root and really any pipe root is the land and gap. With stick you can put a decent land on it and find the right gap that fits you. With tig a lot of the time its really hard to figure out exactly what land feels right because 3/32 feels a lot bigger with tig then it does with a 6010.

I used a very small land on the few 6G tig attempts, because I wanted to leave an edge to catch myself on and to fuse it better. Really the hardest part of 6g tig for me was finding that perfect speed and burning it in all the way. I was having a hard time adding enough filler to not get suckback on the root, and its something I struggled with on all my Tig roots.

I got a lot of mileage out of this guy's videos, as he really explained everything and exactly what was happening.

Since I don't really have any new updates because I still need to go get some more disks to finish my project I saw this last night and it was actually really interesting.

For those of you who want to play around with TIG or Stick, don't want to spend any real money and DON'T have a fear of being electrocuted, this may be for you



Admittedly I am considering getting one of the cheaper TIG DC welders that only cost a couple hundred bucks, because I really just don't have the money to get the Miller or Lincoln I would actually want.

I DO have class signups in a couple days, and am going to go by the school tomorrow to see if I can't get into the classes before they open since I have to get into the specific courses or I won't graduate when I want, and pretty much all my plans for next year revolve around that on top of needing to get into at least 4 classes so I can use all my scholarship money.

While it might be a little more than you were thinking, the Lincoln Square Wave 200 welders have been on sale for about $1500. They come with everything you need to Tig weld except gas. You get a regulator, the remote pedal, a set of consumables, even a tungsten.

They’re AC and HF capable, so you can do aluminum with them as well.

I have one, and while I haven’t done a whole crap load of welding with it yet, so far it has been really nice.

I would love to get one, but the cost has just been really prohibitive for me

Part of the reason is the VA election. There has been a serious risk of AWBs and a ton of anti gun legislation that was barely held off in the summer, and now with full control of the state government being Democrats, its sure to come next year.

So I have been pretty much putting every single spare cent into guns, mags and stuff that frankly I may not be available to get next year. I have been spending money on stuff that I needed, but because of finances had put off buying and I still have a bunch more to get.

Its really been frustrating. I had gotten almost all the guns I really wanted, and there are a few that I wanted to build eventually that I had to at least get receivers for and then mags for those guns, and so on.

I had been planning on getting a nice welder soon and just focusing on getting my skills better but now all my extra money has vanished, and on top of it all I have classes starting up in the spring that I will need stuff for.

Its been pretty stressful honestly.

But on a good note, I was able to get into every spring class I needed to.

I was even told the date to apply for graduation, so that was kind of a surreal moment. My scholarship will cover 2,000 bucks worth of classes, which with all thats going on has been a MAJOR burden removed for me. I am a little nervous because I do have to take a math class, and I am really bad at math but so long as I pass that a C I am golden. I'll of course try my hardest on that but math has always been something I struggled with.

So right now I'm slated for the following classes.

Metallurgy, Metals and Heat treatment, Flux core, and Basic Technical math.

Then in the summer classes, I will take "College success skills" and "Team Building" which are required and that's it.

I'll Graduate I guess in the spring if all goes according to plan, and I plan on taking the month of July and some of August to wrap things up at my current job, and after my birthday in August (20th) I'll start applying to some local shops.

That's a bit nerve wracking, but I am ready for the second part of my life to really start and as scary as it is, I am really looking forward to making a good living and finally getting a house and out of this apartment.

The good thing is that I know some of the shops are desperate for people, so I am pretty confidant in my ability to be hired quickly.

But this long journey, is finally coming to a close.

Get the Kahn Academy app for your phone or tablet.  They go all the way from 1+1 to AP Calculus.

I hear ya on that. I live in TN, and thankfully we’re doing good here that way. To that end I can, turn up GI AR mags for peanuts in my area(down the road from Ft Campbell).If you need some, PM me and we’ll work something out. Beretta mags, same story. I think I paid $6 for the last M9 mags I bought. Maybe I can help your $ go a little further.

Of course you can put together a whole lot of neat parts kits with a TIG welder...

I greatly appreciate it, and I just may end up having to take you up on that.

I just figured out that I can build an AK, using an 80% receiver and  parts kit, and instead of riveting it I can weld it Needless to say, IDGF what it looks like, if I can make my own AKs completely unregistered I would be very pleased. Hell I can probably Tig a couple rivet heads on and mike the entire thing look like it was done with rivets

That and a M11 lower may be a fun project haha

These would make a fun TIG project....

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/845358399

Thanks for the thread OP.  Fun read.  Ive considered taking a couple of classes just for shits and giggles.  Welding is something I wish I had some knowledge on.  I can think of all kinds of projects.

You should man, even if you only take the introduction class, you'll be able to do most home projects with a little help of a grinder and have a fairly good idea on what to buy should you be interested in getting a welder.

It will probably cost you about 500-550 for the class and some basic gear and you'll be able to learn the basics of stick and Mig. Then get yourself a welder and hit up the scrap yards for cheap metal and just make basic welds until you start seeing the results you want.

Thats really what I did in class. I have never been great at reading my text books and will usually cram for a test the night before for hours so I can pass a test the next day.

But I would spend the entire class period welding. Doing the same welds over and over until I looked right then I would ask the teacher for tips and he would point out what needs improving.

Good luck man!

So I could use some advice guys, particularly folks who are actual welders.

I do some side work for a guy who does general handyman stuff, and he usually calls me in when he needs some help building additions and the like and I work with my dad and him, and my cuts usually 25 an hour on those and 15 an hour doing stuff like helping him with ladders and small simple tasks that require 2 people.

He called today and asked if I could, or knew anyone who could fabricate a steel security window thats made of bars welded up. I told him I can do it, and told him to get me an idea on the window size and what they want how they want it made. But what I don't know is what to charge? I mean its a custom fabricated window with a fair amount of labor involved. I don't want to charge too much or anything, but I also would like to make a profit on this as well.

I don't know the dimensions yet, but they did say they want it done checkerboard style which can be done two ways. First being a row of bars, with a row of bars ontop of the first row, and the other would require a lot more work, and that would mean cutting the individual crossbars and that will obviously be a lot more work, but would look better. Mounting it would not be my job.

So what should I consider charging for this? I know I can do the work, and make it look great but I also want to set myself up for potential future work, but also make it worth my time.

The options are like this.
Option 1, the bars laid out, and then the cross section ontop of the first set.

Option 2, the bars cut so that each individual cross section is fitted

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I think cutting all the little bars wouldn't be too bad if you had a stop setup on the saw. Much more time welding and cutting, but I would ask what their expectations are and what they're looking to spend. I would expect to pay around $300 minimum for something like that which actually looks decent in my area.

So quick update on everything, I was able to get into all the classes I need and am officially on track to graduate. Still will have 2 classes for the summer but they are both the joke classes of "college success skills and team building".

I also scored a sweet deal on a grinder. As some of you may remember my grinder died during my last class this summer and seeing as it was a cheap one I got for 30 bucks I was surprised it lasted as long as it did. But I happened to stop by a pawnshop and scored a Milwaukee grinder for 22 bucks with tax. It was so cheap because they had damaged the cord from letting it rub on I assume hot steel (I had done the same thing)

It works perfectly and I got to try it out on my project and because its much better, in only 30 minutes I was able to cut all the connecting bars, and notch all the backer plates.

I had taken a bit of a break on this mostly because I have been pretty busy and its getting dark at 4:30 (usually the time I go to my parents). But the only thing remaining now is to cut the final plate out which I have been planning on doing with the plasma cutter at school, but now that I have a much better grinder I may just go ahead and get some cutting wheels and let it rip. With this new grinder (the same one we use at school) I was able to cut everything in 1/4th the time it normally takes so this last plate might not be so bad. And when I get that done, I'll have everything completely prepped now, and ready to be welded. Thats the part I have been stoked to get to, and I plan on getting some fresh electrodes next week and heading over to my uncles garage and welding it up shortly after Christmas but definitely before the New Year.



So heres the 6 pipes with the 6 backer plates.

I start Basic Welding Processes in about 2 weeks.  It'll be interesting having a night class that runs until 10 and then having to be back for Mag Particle the following morning at 9.  This semester is Basic Welding, Mag Particle, ENG 114 and PSY 150.  My math classes will have to come later.  I'll be required to take Algebra/Trig, Calc 1 and a Physics class.  I'm not remotely prepared for those yet.  

Damn that's a hell of a schedule man, Is PSY150 a psychology class?

I'll be at class on a couple days from about 11AM until around 10 at night myself assuming the teacher doesn't let me bail and do what a lot of people do, and do the homework and read the book and submit the classwork without having to be there in person.

Still not looking forward to my math class and really nervous about it honestly. Everything else is something I actually will enjoy (minus the summer classes)

Well Tuesday is my first class of the year, I'll have Metallurgy and the Technical Math classes on Tuesday.

I guess it's best to get the most boring classes out of the way first lol.

I'll have some free time to kill at school most likely so I'll definitely be hitting up the lab to brush up on some skills while I'm there. Probably won't do that for this upcoming week but in the following few expect some pictures finally.

A side note, I did discover one downside to the ESAB Sentinel. From what I can tell there is no "OFF" button so the battery's will drain over time because its pretty much constantly on. Kinda irritated about that but I still wouldn't have gotten anything else because its just that good.

So wish me luck Tuesday, I'll need it for that math class

Yeah, it's psychology.  So, now my course load is Welding 112, Mag Particle 1/2, English 114, Psychology 150 and Industrial Safety.  I had to add Industrial Safety so I could get to 12 total credit hours.  Fortunately it is a self-paced class.  unfortunately, I had to buy a $250 access code for the program, on top of the $350 I spent on books today for Mag Particle.

I'm heading out the door for my first welding class in a few minutes.  Shitty weather and rush hour traffic is going to be fun.  I can't wait to see how much more I get to spend for that one on top of the $130 book.  The classes are the cheap part.  The books will put you in the damn poor house.

You are not kidding man. Best of luck with your classes!

I'm waiting until tomorrow's classes to find out what books are actually required. I'm sure I'll have to get a math book, but I'm hoping my current welding book will include the metallurgy and there won't be another book needed.

If you end up taking welding blueprint reading, and your book happens to be Welding Print Reading 6th edition, I'll mail you mine for free. (That goes for anyone taking classes, if you need this book PM me I'll be glad to help you out)

That's an amazing offer and I really appreciate it.  I'm not sure if I'll be taking that class.  I may have to but I can't remember.  I am bummed that they are dropping the Nuclear Power Plants class from the offerings.  I was kind of looking forward to that one.   It seems as though the instructor retired and said, under no uncertain terms, he is not interested in returning to tech part-time.  I guess I can't blame him.

The good news is my welding instructor seems pretty down to Earth and he also used to work for a friend.  Hopefully he stays laid back.  I've got 15 more weeks with him and don't want to have one of those instructors that gets pissed off when the wind blows.  The bad news is I'm struggling to figure out a solid rhythm with this many courses.  I did 4 last semester but it was split 2 and 2 with short sessions.  I'll be managing 3 through the whole semester with 1 in each short session.  This is the most amount of classes I've taken since high school.  And that's been better than 20 years.

Its really no problem. I was so mad because I paid like 109 for it new, and did all my work in a notebook so I could resell it and when I took it back to sell, and with it in brand new condition they offered 20 bucks. I even tried to sell it at a 80 bucks, to people who needed it for the class, and still had no takers. Mostly because they had the Pell grant paying for books and classes, no one wanted to pay for a book they could get for free (or they chose to just buy it from Amazon)

So ya, if you need it I absolutely don't mind giving it away, I have no use for it.

My book totals this semester were 165 If I remember correctly. I actually had paid for them with cash, and as I was walking out realized that I should still have had some money left over from my scholarship and sure enough, I did and I was able to return the books and use that money instead. And I still have 40 to go towards my next set of books.

Which brings me to this. I just got my renewal membership for the student AWS today, and I'm going to go ahead and renew.

The AWS student membership is a GREAT DEAL. It's 15 bucks a year for students, and you have a really good chance at receiving a scholarship for classes which is awesome for those of us who are paying out of pocket because were not eligible for any government grants.

Its not hard to apply for the scholarship, and you basically get your teachers to write a letter of recommendation to them, write a small essay and click apply. You will also need to email them your transcript, and a couple other things, but overall its not hard to do and the benefit far outweighs any time you have to spend filling it out.

If anyone reading this needs help applying, feel free to ask as I would be more then willing to help. You also DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER to apply. It helps because they give preference to student members and the cost is minimal. Most welding stores also give student discounts, as well as AWS member discounts on welding supplys.

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For those buying books, I have had every instructor tell me that the edition of the book generally doesn't matter. My welding textbook would have been over $200, but there were older editions available on Ebay and Amazon for less than $20. I did find a couple electronic versions out there on the internet too.

At the end of the day I haven't purchased a textbook since my first year of college. After 8 full time years in school and a few classes afterward, I can honestly say it hasn't affected my grades any. YMMV.

I can see that being the case.  I'm not sure how common it is but, my school has its own English book.  I got lucky and scored one on Amazon.  It was the last one.  The downside is no one wants to buy it.  I opened it 5 times.

Yes that's the case for my main welding book, but these specific classes unfortunately require either workbooks or specific books that you can't get on the second hand market.

My metallurgy class is a great example, technically the book were using isn't the newest book, but after this semester they are moving to the new edition. What sucks about that is by doing so, the bookstore won't buy back the book because it won't be the one used in the next class. Kind of a dick move but it is what it is. I rented for that exact reason.

I will say that a LOT of the colleges books are now moving to open resource, so they will be free. Just not any of my classes

Work books are the same way, you kinda get fucked because that specific book is required and you can't usually sell those back because you use it.

Hope everyone's classes are going well. I am looking forward to the next 8 weeks because I'll finally be in the damn lab lol

Getting hands on with my mag Particle stuff has been interesting so far.  You might like a class like that, Seatbelts.  You hear about flaws in welds but seeing them present themselves really makes it click.  Mag Particle or liquid penetration may even be helpful for you in the future.  Xray and ultrasonic require a physics class first for me.  Maybe just UT.  No matter, I'm enjoying this stuff so far, even considering my English class has a huge SJW tone to it.

I will hopefully be doing something like that, I plan on pursing this to eventually become a Welding Inspector, but thats a few years off.

Glad your classes are going well, I know mine are just an insane amount of paperwork. Dying to get back in the booth.

The metallurgy class was almost painful during the first test. We don't have to actually go to classes only test days, the rest of the work is in the books and online. We had 2 and a half weeks before the test to do the homework. I was one of 2 people who actually did it before test day, out of about 12 people. The frustration on my teachers face was just palpable.

People we trying to do 6 chapters of homework in one book, and 4 more from the other before taking the test, which they could only get once the HW was done.

I shouldn't be surprised at this point how lazy students can be, but I always am.

The reports are my weak link so far.  Small boxes dont like lots of words.  And my drawing skills are, well, subpar.  I'm halfway done with Mag, so theres that.  After this semester, ivwill have 29 credit hours completed of the 67 required.

Pretty crazy feeling, I applied for graduation today. Last metallurgy class is on the 3rd, and then I'll have heat treatment and Flux Core and the two bullshit summer classes of team building and college success skills and I'm done.

So in about a half month I'll finally have some welding pics again. Just been to busy to make it in the shop to practice anything in my spare time

One class is now done, It was a lot of info but I feel like I actually learned some important shit when it comes to metal, and its wasnt nearly as bad as I expected. Still in Technical math, and my god there is so much info being crammed into each class, I honestly don't think I'll do great in this class but I know I'll pass it. It used to actually be two separate classes, but it's been condensed into one so there is a bit of a overload simply because there's so much info to learn in 16 weeks.

This week is our spring break, but next week I'll be starting flux core and heat treatments. Really looking forward to getting back into the booth, it's been driving me crazy to be going to school and not be welding something.

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Well in a ridiculous twist of fate, my school just extended spring break until the 20th and then only online classes are back. So since you can't exactly learn to weld online I'm pretty much boned I guess. (Edit: you can learn to weld online, just not what these classes are teaching)

God damn panicking. We don't even have a single case here or for 100 miles

Not a single case that you know of.  We just got our first two in Charlotte confirmed today.  With travel on spring break, chances are someone at your school picked it up.  We start back on Monday but I'm almost expecting there to be something similar happening.  One of the infected works in one of the big bank buildings downtown, so you can imagine how many people have potentially come in contact with.  I feel about the same with not being in the welding class.  We've had a rough semester.  MLK Day, a water main busted that caused the school to close, a fuse blew in the gas distribution system shutting down the lab, and now CV possibly coming into play.  But, I've made some pretty dang good progress.  We are moving on to brazing and soldering starting Monday.  I want to get better with MIG and learn TIG.   I hope we have enough time to do it.

Thats a fair point, I am hoping it all calms down in the next two weeks.

I got emails from my instructors so it's looking like my Math class is going to just move to online to finish the semester and right now according to the head of the welding department, the lab's are just TBD at the moment.

So I guess were just going to be in a wait and see situation

I was really looking forward to going back to the lab Tuesday. With this being an 8 week class, missing even a week is going to really fuck shit up.

Feel free to share some of your work Bax, this thread desperately needs some new pictures

Well my entire year is already looking like shit now. My plans for this year are looking more and more unrealistic and frankly I'm pretty down about it.

My entire spring semester was just canceled, and since there are simply no real answers about what we are supposed to do, I feel like I'm just sort of stuck in limbo.

My math class that was half over is now online, no biggie but it looks like all my other classes are canceled and what really fucking sucks is that the classes that are canceled are only offered in the spring. So unless the panic subsides and school re-opens I'm looking at not being able to graduate until spring of 2021 now.

My plans had included me leaving my current job this August, my boss retiring and me moving to my new trade seamlessly around my birthday in August. Now I am pretty much SOL and the school is offering no direction other then to say its canceled.

Not to mention the great economy and desperate employers are now not so desperate, and even by August I have a bad feeling about not being able to find a new job.

With the degree I should have had my pick of about 3-4 local companys and I should have been looking at a decent salary with benefits. Now I'll probably be lucky to get on at 14 bucks an hour at the shittiest place to work locally if they are even hiring.

This could not have come at a worse time for all of us.

I hope the rest of you guys already working in the trades are staying busy at least.

My work is not photo worthy.  It has improved but I haven't really made anything.  Just melted some metal. I did make a house-like thing.  Half of it was done by another classmate and I decided to mess with that instead of getting fresh metal.  I try to not be wasteful.  

This CV is really screwing everyone.  I feel kind of glad I'm not really to the halfway point yet as it may give me enough time to get in after recovery.

I hear ya, reusing metal is something I would do all the time because you can pretty much use as much as you want, and every weld helps you learn


Just an update for my classes. As of now my teachers have all responded and it's looking like I won't be back in the lab until August.

This pretty much completely destroys my plans, and I'm really not sure what exactly I'm going to do.

I have finally cut and finished all the parts to the dueling target I have been working on for nearly a year, and I'm planning on welding it all Saturday or Sunday since that's all thats left to do. I'll be doing it with MIG since thats all I have available.

With this shutdown, I'm seriously considering finally taking the plunge and buying a welder since my parent's have a large building that's wired for 220, so now it's just a matter of choosing one.

So if anyone has any experience with the Unlimited 200™ Professional Multi-process Welder let me know if you think its worth the money.

I want to get something that I can TIG and Stick weld with, Mig isn't that big of a deal to me but if it's included that's cool.

I'm not opposed to getting one of those cheaper inverter Tig welders thats like a couple hundred bucks, but I don't know much about them.

So if any of you guys have suggestions on what will be the best value for the money, please let me know. I really just want to get something so I can get back to practicing and making myself a better welder.

Well I finally got to weld up the year long target project. It was frustrating for a couple reasons honestly.

First being that the stick welder used an older plug, which didn't match the receptacle so I was going to Mig weld it. So I get the mig welder setup, and turn the gas on and set the flowmeter but my uncle says it might not be working right. So I try and run a bead and its pretty obvious the gas isnt on. So he starts trying to locate the source of the problem and for a stopgap I run up to the local ACE hardware to get a conversion plug since they were closing in 20 mins. The fucking plugs are a "build it yourself kit" so I go ahead and buy it but the old cord basically has to be taken apart and replaced. But when I got back my uncle had figured out the problem. A fucking stink bug had somehow gotten into the regulator and was blocking the hose from getting air.

So I can actually start welding stuff. That's when I realize just how bad the galvanized tubing welds, and just how nasty the smoke was. About that time I realize the tank is empty so the best I can hope for is some really good penetrating tacks to hold everything in place.

Not to mention working from the floor was a bitch haha. I have never wanted those weld booths at school more.

I also decided I wanted to shorten everything a bit, because it was nearly 6 feet tall and shooting at something that tall is a bad idea. I had also failed to account for the space needed to remove each plate so shortening up everything made sense. So I also had to cut all 6 tubes, and all 6 parts of the swiveling parts as well. I'm going to be able to shave a foot plus off the height now.

All and all, it came out pretty much exactly how I had envisioned it. There were some changes that made sense, and one of the biggest regrets I have is not finding/buying regular steel pipe for the target holders. I fucking hate galvanized steel with a passion.

It was dark when I got done so the pics aren't great, and it may look like they are crooked, but its just because the plates are leaning inwards.

I plan on going back and using some 5P+ stick electrodes this week, and running a 7018 1/8 for the fillet welds up the sides of the target holders. Hopefully that works like I want it to, but we'll see.

The welder plug and the one I actually needed.



The first completed section.



Building one of the targets


The target plates all pretty much done


I used a long rebar to line up the target holders, and that worked pretty well


This shows the spacing for removal I mentioned, when coming up with the plans I didn't account for the space needed to remove the swinging targets. The solution was to shorten everything up some


And these show the final assembly. Its pretty tall but I am going to remove a good amount off the bottom so it's no more then 5ft tall.





These are the stencils I made to paint my brothers YouTube channel logo and his name and shit on the targets. They are not perfect, but I am hoping once I get them on the plates it looks good.



This is a smaller logo, and the first attempt I made.


This was the plans I made a year ago, and I think I shared them but I can't remember at this point

Besides the final welds I am hoping to run, I'm planning on grinding all the welds flush and then wire wheel cleaning the residual paint that's still on each target and giving it a new paintjob for the entire thing.

I'm thinking something like a bright Red and Blue for each side, including the backs. I'll probably do the main post in a flat black, so that everything but the targets will be black and clear coated.

I'll put the logo's on and then I think it will actually be totally done. It's taken me a lot longer then it should have, but I can honestly say that I'm happy with the final product.

All the targets will pack up into a small box (maybe I should make a wood box or something for them) and then besides the actual target system itself, it should pack up and fit in most car's but especially his 4Runner.

The idea behind doing this, was it fitting over a T post so that even on rough, rocky or hard terrain, you can just use a post driver and in minutes your set up and ready to go.

I am really looking forward to giving this to him. I'm also looking forward to posting the finished results for you guys.

I spent today using my uncles Miller Mig welder and I can honestly say, I really fucking hate MIG.


But the good news is, my project is complete and I even managed to give it to my brother all in the same day.

It came out pretty damn good I think. It's not perfect, and definitely not as perfect as I had really been striving for but thats life I guess. I would have liked some of the more rough shaped targets to be a bit more circular, and I am a bit irritated that a few of my blocking bars aren't perfectly level. I was able to get a few good welds in, but not nearly as many as I wanted.

Here it is. Completely done.

Painted up



The fillet welds. Not a lot of pics of these, I was in a bit of a hurry to get it done before a storm came




And here is the final product. It's not perfectly straight in the ground, but close enough for pictures.




We shot it from probably 100 yards with his APC9 SBR which was pretty damn fun. His first shot was into one of the welds

Nice. I put together a target stand from some bullshit I had laying around here-but it’s way too ugly to put pictures up. I used some mystery metal pipe. But material cost was zero, so it’ll work.

I found myself attempting some Tig Aluminum today. Hadn’t done any since I was in school-more than 5 years ago. I really need to work on that. Thankfully nothing I did today needed to pass a weld test or be load bearing-just needed to stick 2 pieces together.

Haha that was pretty much where I was at with mine. Besides the paint I didn't have to pay for any of the materials. The circle targets came from a VDOT or farm tractor metal blade guard I had found a few years back, and we had been shooting it for a while so I knew it was able to take pistol rounds.

Its been almost a year since I have been able to TIG weld anything. I'm really dying to get back in a booth and weld something, anything at this point.

The best I have been able to come up with is building a small addition on my parents metal shop building (their building is packed to the gills with shit). I got bored and made a kinda outline of what I would like to make.

But it really sucks because the cost of building an addition even with going as cheep as possible on everything is still going to be close to 2k I'm guessing. Add in the 1k welder and argon bottle and I'm looking at a pricey shop.

I got one of the Lincoln Squarewave 200 welders. I absolutely love it. Prior to it, I hadn’t tig welded in a few years. I’m not going to say I’m as good as I was right when I finished school, but I’m getting it back. I hadn’t fooled with aluminum since then, so I’m trying to re-learn how to do it. I had a couple decent beads today at least.

Thats a great welder right there. It really does pay to buy once cry once.

Feel free to post some pics, I don't really have any welding content to share now and this thread desperately needs more welding pics

It actually wasn’t that bad. They were on sale last summer, $1400ish if memory serves me. It came with leads, tig torch, regulator, etc. Literally set it up, and weld. Just needed gas.

If I get another project going I might well put some pics up. My aluminum work the other day was pretty nasty as I tried to remember how to do it. Fortunately that was all stuff that just needed to be stuck together, and then ground down. So it won’t be obvious how ugly those welds were. But I’m getting my skill back(which I had in school and lost from lack of use).