Welding

topic posted Sat, September 4, 2004 - 12:39 AM by  *spectrum lit*
any tips on getting things custom welded? maybe some terms or ideas for other ways to make fire fans?
posted by:
*spectrum lit*
St. Louis
  • Re: Welding

    Mon, September 6, 2004 - 11:08 PM
    I am an engineer and I know a little bit about welding, but I know nothing about fire fans, got a picture of some?
    • Re: Welding

      Tue, September 7, 2004 - 10:31 AM
      check out bearclaw manufacturing. they are the first site to appear when you google fire fans. i really like both styles. let me know what you think. thanks a bunch!
      *peace* b
      • Re: Welding

        Tue, September 7, 2004 - 9:50 PM
        Well the first design isnt all that diffucult at all, just 4 pieces of roundstock, 3 are bent on probably a hydrualic mandrel (aka hydraulic pipe bender, you could possibly use a conduit bender but I would probably wouldnt reccomend that unless you are in a pinch.) <heh puns>

        The second design he has in there is very nice, but unless you are bending the pipe yourself it could get kinda pricey to have that made.

        I cant say i've ever seen one of these closeup. Only pictures on the web. I'm not sure how he has the wicks mounted on the fans. I'm sure their is some kind of specialty hardware that he found.
        I mean you could thread some ends onto the pie with a die kit and just washer and nut it on, alternatly I could look at a bass pedal for a drumkit and see how that is attached. I dont remember off the top of my head.

        I have no idea what the dimesions of the fans are so I cant crunch any numbers to give you an idea of what it would cost you in materials. I'm also not sure what kind of metal he used. Again since I dont have any experience with this art form I couldnt make any reccomendations there for tube or solid stock.

        I mean the solid stock is definetly safer, but it's also heavier. If you can give me some dimensions (length) and approximiate weights for the fan I could give you an idea of what to expect for pricing.

        I'm not sure what else you want to know. I have access to all the equipment to make these things, or I can give you the terminology so that you can go to a metal fabricator and speak her language. it's up to you.
        • Re: Welding

          Tue, September 7, 2004 - 10:30 PM
          wow thanks for all the info...i will try to come up with some numbers. i hope i can figure something out. i do have some guy friends that weld. but i am now on record saying..."i dont need any guy to do any welding for me, i will have fire fans soon enough" stupid pride. so thanks for getting me started and i will keep updating things as they proceed.
          • Re: Welding

            Wed, September 8, 2004 - 3:23 PM
            well you know the easiest form of welding to learn is probably mig welding. really you can goop that stuff on pretty heavily and just grind it down to perfection. As long as the weld is solid you shouldnt have any trouble. If not you can grind if off and try again.

            the cheapest and most accessible form of welding would be brazing or soldering. You can do this with a simple mapp + propane or mapp + oxygen rig. I've brazed everything up to hardened steel with this kind of rig. Although you wont need anything near hardend steel stock. You can pick up a complete gas kit for maybe $40 from sears.

            northern tool makes some really not so expensive, but good for occassional use tools. You can pick up a die kit and little hydraulic pipe bender on the cheap. once you get good at making fans you can sell them on e-bay or something and recoup the cost of your tools.

            the only other thing you will need is a protractor, and maybe setup a 10 or 15 degree offset between each of the "blades".

            I included some links to give you an idea of the type of equipment you can use. As far as the pipe bender or mandrel is concerend you may be able to get away with using a simple conduit bender. It depends on the type of pipe stock you plan on using. The conduit bender may cause the stock to twist or crease, so thats basically the difference.

            www.northerntool.com/webapp/...tDisplay

            www.northerntool.com/webapp/...tDisplay

            www.northerntool.com/webapp/...tDisplay

            This is a good project if your handy with tools or want to learn something about metal fab. Good luck, look forward to your progress reports.

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