Welding on Craig Andera

Trailer Hinge Repair

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Our robotics team was fortunate to have a trailer donated to us. It has been extremely useful. Unfortunately, I completely missed the fact that the door hinges have grease zerks, and we didn't lubricate it. As a result, they seized, and then of course one of them snapped. I took it home and welded them up on September 7, 2026.

First the fit up, with the hinge leaf held in place against the frame. You can see the crack.

Then tacked.

Welded inside and out.

And of course paint, to inadequately hide my sins.

I will note that all of this was done with my little Harbor Freight flux core welder. It runs on a 120 circuit. I did pop the breaker a couple of times, but overall I'm just amazed it can handle jobs like this.

Oh, and I didn't get a picture, but I forgot to put on my welding jacket, and that night I noticed my left arm had a slight sunburn from the welding glare. Whoops. UV output from welding is no joke. I'll try not to make that mistake again.

Wine Bottle Chain

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This was actually my younger daughter's first welding project. I forget where we saw the idea, but it's just so cool we had to make one. I made another as a host gift for some friends as well.

It was super easy, even for an absolute beginner. We finished it by sandblasting it (which she enjoyed) and hitting it with some spray lacquer.

Making it (December 2022)

Here's one of the chains early on, with lumpy welds and the bottle hanging from a hook at the end.

Then a quick run to the makerspace so she could sandblast it.

I happened to snap this photo of her welding links together.

And a finished one, painted grey. This was the best I could do for a photo; it's too big for my lightbox.

Welder Gas Bottle Storage

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I'd been meaning to build gas bottle storage for the welder for a long time. It matters that the bottles don't tip over: the contents are under very high pressure, and if the stem breaks off, it could become a projectile.

The brackets that hold the bottles are made in part from the crappy old Harbor Freight welding cart I used to have. Two bottles stand upright, chained to the side of the cabinet that holds the TIG welder.

Mobile Kiln Base

Wed, 27 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This is the base for my kiln, so I can move it around the shop. It was an early welding project, and I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

And the base on its own, on its casters.

And here is the enclosure for the electronics, a PID (ramp/soak) controller for the kiln, sitting on its stand next to the base. I wound up not liking the arm very much, so mostly the enclosure sits on the floor for now. I'll eventually mount it to the wall when the kiln moves to its forever home. Some day.

And yes, that's the inside of the kiln controller. The wiring is a bit of a mess. Something to improve on.

Building it (January and February 2022)

On New Year's Day I cut the steel tubing for the frame. On the right are the pieces I needed; on the left is what was left over from what I started with.

And this is what they were getting welded into: an octagonal frame.

A few days later the kiln's controller was plugged in and reading. Working!

By early February the kiln was sitting on its finished base, with the controller on its stand next to it. It works, and now I can get it out of the way.

This is an earlier version of the control box, before I decided that a metal enclosure would be a good idea with 25 amps running through it.

Spokeshave Repair

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have this old Stanley spokeshave that, unfortunately, I dropped, breaking the handle. It's made of cast iron, which is notoriously difficult to weld, so I thought I'd try TIG brazing it. It was also difficult, but it worked.

Here's a closer look at the brazed joint.

After grinding it smooth, it looked half decent, and it hasn't broken yet.

HouseMade Belt Grinder

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I bought this belt grinder as a kit from HouseMade. It was a lot of fun to put together, and it is one of my favorite tools; I use it all the time. I think it's my younger daughter's favorite tool in the shop, too.

It absolutely eats anything you feed into it, but you can do relatively delicate work with it as well. I use it to sharpen all my knives, and I can get them razor sharp. But it does a lot more than that: everything from weld prep to stock removal.

It was pretty easy to assemble, too, even for someone with my limited skill in welding.

Building it

Here it is partway through the build, before the belt went on.

At some point during the build, I thought I had misplaced a piece of tubing that came with the kit. I looked for it absolutely everywhere, multiple times, and in the end just couldn't find it. So I decided to weld up a replacement piece.

Of course, as soon as I did that, even though the replacement was working just fine, I found the missing piece sitting right where I'd set it, right next to where I was welding.

Afterwards (December 2021)

A few days after finishing it, I tried a leather strop on the grinder. Razor sharp in seconds.

Later that same morning I got it off the bench and onto a new plywood rolling cabinet stand. Well, it's off the bench at least. The shop is getting crowded.