First Build - Featherweight Bar Spinner

[Dr. Crane]

I managed to finish cutting out the two bulkheads.

Thats the thickest piece of ally I’ll need to cut for this build so glad the blade held up!

i also got myself an angle grinder to clean up the edges. I am really pleasantly surprised at how well the flap disks sand it down.

next up is the long horizontal bars which will weld to the bulkheads. Four of them at 3/8” so gotta keep up the momentum!

[RogueTwoRobots]

Flap discs are my favourite angle grinder accessory, don't know how I lived without them previously

If you don't already wear a dust mask when using one, I'd advise on one. Used a flap disc to remove a sizeable amount of aluminium from a pulley once, in the absence of a lathe. Didn't wear a mask and felt quite unwell afterwards. It didn't amount to anything thankfully but I always wear a mask now whenever I'm using the grinder; can't be great inhaling fine metal particles!

[Dr. Crane]

Thanks for the advice Jamie! I’ve been wearing a cheap dust mask when using the grinder and very thankful for it - the stuff that comes off is not nice at all lol.

aluminium is so messy! Didn’t quite expect the sheer amount of chips/shavings that come off it. I was out hoovering my driveway the other day lol - neighbours must think I’m daft.

the other thing I didn’t expect was the noise - especially the table saw. I mean I knew it would be noisy but it makes my ears ring and that’s when I’m using it outside! Ear plugs on the shopping list.

so I have managed to cut most of the pieces I will be needing and the ‘A’ shaped bars have come back from the waterjet cutter - they look awesome. The guys also gave me a tour of their shop so got to see the waterjet and laser cutters in action which was cool.

the pieces are still very rough so need filing and cleaning up before i move on to drilling the holes.

i do think I have overdone it with my thicknesses - I didn’t realise how strong aluminium actually is!

[Dr. Crane]

Hi all,

Most of the parts are ready now - just a few more holes to drill.

im now turning my attention to getting these parts welded together. I have done a lot of research and basically discovered that MIG welding aluminium is an absolute nightmare lol

i do want to give it a go though so I’ve bought a second hand Clarke 150te MIG welder off Gumtree. I wanted to stick with the MIG welder even though TIG is recommended for aluminium because hopefully I’ll be using it on other projects later on.

i have now just been reading that MIG welding thick aluminium is not possible unless you have a 200A+ machine which I cant justify investing in - is this correct?

I’ll basically be welding bits of 1/2”, 3/8” and 1/4” Ali pieces together. Is this at all possible with the equipment I’ve bought? Anyone have experience welding thick aluminium?

Advice is much appreciated.

Cheers!