How to Weld Yard Art
Becaused yard art is often made from found objects, welding yard art sometimes requires joining more than one type of steel or metal. When you weld structural steel or repair an item, you are usually connecting similar low-carbon steels. Ground clamping becomes an important issue when welding dissimilar metals.
Things You'll Need
- Wire wheel
- 24-grit wheel
- Right angle grinder
- Alligator clamps
- Auto-tinting welding helmet
- Full welding leathers and gloves
- Rubber soled shoes
- Oxy-acetylene torch with rosebud tip
- Slag hammer
Instructions
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1
Don wrap-around eye protection. Use a wire wheel on a right angle grinder to clean the areas to be welded until at least a half inch of rust and paint is removed from the edges of the weld site.
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2
Use a 24-grit wheel on your right angle grinder to chamfer the edges for maximum weld penetration. According to ToolingU.com, a chamfer is "a small, angled surface added to an edge of a workpiece. A chamfer removes the sharp edge and helps eliminate burrs."
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3
Don your welding helmet, gloves and full leathers. Make sure you are wearing rubber-soled shoes. Use an auto-tinting helmet, if available. Secure the pieces to be welded in a vise or with clamps to keep both hands free while welding.
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4
Practice making weld beads on a sheet of scrap metal before attaching your project pieces, to avoid wasting flux and destroying your materials.
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5
Make your welds. Normalize your welds using your oxy-acetylene torch with a rosebud tip to slow-heat any high-carbon or dissimilar steels if you are welding bolts to railroad spikes or a file to a yard rake. To do so, heat the weld to dull red and allow the weld to air cool within four inches of the weld.
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6
Tap welds with your slag hammer repeatedly to make sure the weld is sturdy and normalized.
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7
Wire-wheel all welded areas until any burnt paint is removed. Refinish as desired, whether by painting, forced oxidation or patina application.
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Tips & Warnings
Welding inspector Charles Hayes says that "before the first welding arc is struck, materials should be examined to see if they meet specifications for quality, type, size, cleanliness and freedom from defects. Grease, paint, oil, oxide film or heavy scale should be removed. The pieces to be joined should be checked for flatness, straightness and dimensional accuracy. Likewise, alignment, fit-up and joint preparation should be examined."
View the examples of good and bad welds in Hobart Borthers' pocket guide, "Helpful Hints to Basic Welding" (see Resources).
