This Instructable is dedicated to the generosity of Steveastrouk, who taught us (Perryscope and I) the rudiments of welding, as well as lending us the equipment and materials to achieve this project.
He even brought the meat.
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Signing UpStep 1: When welding, first learn how to weld.
Before we could put the barbecue together, we needed the skills and equipment to be able to do so.
Steveastrouk put together a nice TIG welding kit, along with masks and gloves, some lumps of scrap and a huge cast-iron bench to work at.
We learned:
- Take it steady.
- TIG welding gives you sun burn.
- Make sure you have a good ground.
- Keep the Amps as low as you can.
- Moving the tip further from the work-piece increases the temperature.
- Don't let the working end of the welding rod touch the welding tip while the far end is touching "ground". The current earths through the rod and makes it very hot far too quickly to let go.
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Keeping the arc as small as possible will reduce the area where heat is applied, however keeping it longer will result in a slightly lower working temprature, if spread over a larger area. What method to use kind of depends on what you are welding. But like previously said, when welding sheetmetal you should try for a shorter arc rather than a long one.
In addition, having the legs bolted on, it meant that they could be removed for storage or transport.
As for penetration, we needed to reduce it because we kept burning right through the sheet metal.
It wasn't about saving money, it was about learning while also building something functional, besides cheap barbeques barely last a season and expensive ones are not worth the investment in the UK climate.
It worked perfectly.
It survived.
What more could you want?
L