Weber Silver A Cross Member Length?


 
Ed Pinnell said:
So I'm sitting here with a big grin on my face and my wife asks me what I'm smiling about...talking about welding brings back some funny memories for me.

There was the time that Otis was welding and a spark flew under a corn broom that was sitting nearby. He looked like an Olympic Torch Bearer as he picked up the flaming broom and ran to the sink with it.

Then there was the time that Reggie was TIG welding and having trouble so he wondered if the gas was coming on. He held the torch up to his ear to see if he could hear the gas flowing and hit the pedal. The high frequency start gave him quite a jolt.

I've already told you about Elliot (he was named after "Wild Bill" Elliot and the name suited him) and the arc burn. He was out of work for a few days and came back to work with his face all greased up and peeling.

Darryl was sitting at the bench TIG welding. We had this HEAVY 6" Kurt-style vise sitting on the table and he knocked it off while under the hood and it landed on his foot. He had to cut the toe off his boot while his foot healed. We had a steel-toed shoe mandate so he would hobble in through the gate and change his shoe and try to lay low for the rest of the day so they wouldn't send him home.

I was stick welding a dumpster that had been hit pretty hard by a forklift. I had just finished straightening and welding a corner when Andy came up to me and before I could say anything he slapped his hand down on the corner that I had just welded. I still feel badly about that one.

Of course anyone that has ever welded has had a spark fly into a shirt pocket, Talk about a purple nurple! And I've used cotton gloves for TIG and had those start smoldering and not known it until I smelled something burning. Other than that they work great!

Or the time old Hubcap (his name was Bill but he had a metal plate in his head from an automobile accident so everyone called him "Hubcap") hit one of the steel I-beams that supported the roof with the forklift and punched a hole in it. I guess the fork stuck and he had a hard time reversing and getting the fork out, but anyway I welded a 6"x8"x1/2" plate over the hole. He hit it again, just below the plate, so I welded a plate on the other side. There was something wrong with that guy, I tell ya.

This one place I worked had a Lincoln MIG welder with a large bottle of gas on it. The POL fitting was bad on the regulator and we couldn't tighten it up enough to stop it from leaking so you always had to remember to shut the gas off when not using the welder. One of the guys left the gas on over the weekend and we lost a whole bottle of gas. Get in the habit of turning the gas off when not welding.

One more and I'll stop...I finally figured out why we have hair in our ears! I've had a spark fly in my ear before and you can hear the hair sizzling but you won't get burned!

I dunno, maybe this belongs in the humor thread...anyway, thanks for making my day!
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Great stories, I'll never think about welding again!☺
 
Steve Hoch said:
Great stories, I'll never think about welding again!☺
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I got more, so don't encourage me!

At GE, they had the Test Cell about 1/4 mile from the main overhaul facility. They would haul the jet engines with a tug down to the Test Cell for testing after a rebuild. The tow bar was made from maybe 3/8" wall 6"x6" square aluminum tubing and those drivers were so lazy they would deliberately jack-knife the thing to "hop" an engine into an engine bay. They put a kink in one of them and asked me to repair it. Not knowing any better, I had the TIG welder cranked up all the way to 300A and it still wasn't anywhere near hot enough, but I sure got burned to a crisp. There was a small v-shaped section of my neck between the helmet and my cape sleeves that was unprotected and I wore that arc burn for quite a while.
 
It is kind of funny that no one answered my original question about the length of the bottom cross member;-) Well I took a WAG at 22" and did my first MIG welding on Saturday. Thanks for all the suggestions, especially playing on some scrap first. They may not be the prettiest welds but I was able to weld the 2 tabs back that the legs screwed into even though there was barely any metal to weld them to ( I did a little weaving or bridging or what ever to add some metal) and also the top cross member. Did some grinding to smooth things out and the grill is nice and really stable now. Waiting on the burners and such to post the finished pics. Here are a few.
20211218_115638.jpg20211218_115644.jpg20211219_120735.jpg
 
Joe, I think I have one out back in my corral. If you still need the measurement, I will go measure it. Let me know.
 
That is some incredible welding. I have never welded, and if I try it this spring and get results even half as good as that, I will feel like the master of the universe.

Are you welding everything now? Kind of like when you first get a garbage disposal you throw everything in? I would be welding the crap out of everything by now.
 
THyde said:
That is some incredible welding. I have never welded, and if I try it this spring and get results even half as good as that, I will feel like the master of the universe.

Are you welding everything now? Kind of like when you first get a garbage disposal you throw everything in? I would be welding the crap out of everything by now.
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Thank you. It was fun and exciting. As @Bruce stated "a grinder is you best friend". Helps you really clean it up and smooth it out. Unfortunately I don't have anything else to weld right now but I am on the lookout;-)
 
Joe Anshien said:
Thank you. It was fun and exciting. As @Bruce stated "a grinder is you best friend". Helps you really clean it up and smooth it out. Unfortunately I don't have anything else to weld right now but I am on the lookout;-)
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A cart for the welder is usually the first project. Angle iron is relatively inexpensive and easy to work with...even an old bed frame if that's all you can find. Water pipe is another alternative, but again, stay away from the plated stuff if you can.

Or tubing salvaged from an old grill or two. It would be a shame if you were to knock that shiny new welder off the top of the trash can.
 
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As long as you were not welding anything really heavy, I would think using the frame from and older Genesis grill as the frame for a welding table would be a good project. Just need to weld on a top. Probably would want to replace the casters with some HD ones or even another set of 8" wheels on an axle.
 
You could definitely weld all the stuff Bruce and Ed just mentioned. You're probably busy welding right now actually. I sure would be.
 
Ed Pinnell said:
A cart for the welder is usually the first project. Angle iron is relatively inexpensive and easy to work with...even an old bed frame if that's all you can find. Water pipe is another alternative, but again, stay away from the plated stuff if you can.

Or tubing salvaged from an old grill or two. It would be a shame if you were to knock that shiny new welder off the top of the trash can.
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That is a great idea. I was just looking at the ones from Harbor Freight for $44. https://www.harborfreight.com/100-lb-capacity-welding-cart-61316.html Funny but it would cost me more than that in tubing from HD as just the 2 pieces of tubing to fix the grill cost $35!

BTW I bought this set of burners and flavorizers and they are non-magnetic for $36, which isn't too bad a deal. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AXNFG1Q/?tag=tvwb-20
I will post pics and link to the ad after I have it up.
 
Joe Anshien said:
That is a great idea. I was just looking at the ones from Harbor Freight for $44. https://www.harborfreight.com/100-lb-capacity-welding-cart-61316.html Funny but it would cost me more than that in tubing from HD as just the 2 pieces of tubing to fix the grill cost $35!

BTW I bought this set of burners and flavorizers and they are non-magnetic for $36, which isn't too bad a deal. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AXNFG1Q/?tag=tvwb-20
I will post pics and link to the ad after I have it up.
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Well, if you're going to buy this stuff rather than make it, why have a welder? But I get what you are saying, although that stand with a welder looks a little too top heavy for me unless you have a bottle on it.

That tubing at HD is 'way over priced...I suggest you check with a local metal supply. Many times you can buy "REMS", or cut-offs, for pennies per pound, just go over there and browse through the yard.

New metals are typically sold by the pound, rems are discounted. They will cut it to size for you, usually the first cut is free and the additional cuts have a cut charge, unless you want the entire length (typ. 20 - 21ft for steel angle and tubing). Alternatively, you might be able to browse your local scrap yard for material.
 
Ed Pinnell said:
Well, if you're going to buy this stuff rather than make it, why have a welder? But I get what you are saying, although that stand with a welder looks a little too top heavy for me unless you have a bottle on it.

That tubing at HD is 'way over priced...I suggest you check with a local metal supply. Many times you can buy "REMS", or cut-offs, for pennies per pound, just go over there and browse through the yard.

New metals are typically sold by the pound, rems are discounted. They will cut it to size for you, usually the first cut is free and the additional cuts have a cut charge, unless you want the entire length (typ. 20 - 21ft for steel angle and tubing). Alternatively, you might be able to browse your local scrap yard for material.
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I have a HF Welding cart. I give it 4/5 stars.
 
I like that idea and will check for metal suppliers. Also, I am a repair person. I fix things, and can sometimes come up with inventive ways to do that. However, I am not a creator. I really am not very good at the design and architect things. I may check YouTube for projects down the road, but going out to a very cold, unheated, detached garage to create things isn't my idea of fun. I do have to go out there and replace the caliber on my van tomorrow. It will have to wait until next year until after we move and I have my nice new attached garage workshop to have fun in. Also if I can find something I need as inexpensive as it would be for me to build it, I will probably take the easy way and buy it. That is not to say I may find it would be in need of improving and modify it;-)
 
Looks great Joe! What did you think of those aftermarket grates? I've seen a lot of mixed reviews on those. They look great in the picture.
 
Keep us posted on how the sale goes. While you are not quite a northern state, I am sure grilling isn't quite as popular this time of year as summer time.
 
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