Tamarack's SF Project

[Tamarack]

Hey all - just recently started building my StreetFox trike. It is rather slow going because I have not yet purchased a welder or any steel. I managed to find two donor bikes for the matching heads and have cut them free and ground them. Next step is to cut the ends to length for the axel mount pieces. I have converted my 3-season porch into my workshop since I do not have a garage (anyone want to donate one? LOL).

I will be purchasing a welder - most likely this coming this weekend. I haven't decided if I will be getting a stick (arc) welder or a wire-feed mig but I am restricted to one that uses 110 volt. Any ideas on which would work better? I have never welded before - I have heard that a mig is quicker to learn than an arc - is that true? I have at least 3 stores here (Duluth, Minnesota) to buy from (Sears, Northern Tool, and Harbor Frieght). Any advice would be helpful.

I will post some pics when I have more substance to show. I also finally broke down and bought a new Mountain Bike from Walmart for the rear end (looked for a used donor on Craigslist, rummage sales, etc. for over 2 months with no results). Got it on sale for $75. Got that already cut up and ready to weld the pivot point to the main frame (when I get it and cut it to length).

Been only able to work about an hour a day after work on weekdays and maybe an hour or two on a Saturday - so another reason it's going slow, but it's fun.

[SirJoey]

Hey Tamarack, welcome to the Krew! Sounds like you're off to a good start. You'll find a great bunch of guys here who are extremely skilled & always willing to help, so don't hesitate to ask.

Having only learned to weld a few months ago, I'm not that knowledgeable OR skilled, but my general advice would be to buy as good of quality welder as you can afford. You'll be using it a lot, so don't skimp & buy some cheapie, off-brand junk. There are plenty of guys here who will advise you with more specifics.

Good luck! :)

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/9206/signaturehalloweenvr0.jpg

[John Lewis]

G'day Tamarack,

Looks like you are moving right along and have quite a bit done already.

The Krew will be only too willing to help I'm sure. Always Like to see new builders. You are of course aware that this is just the beginning. The N+1 principle applies and there will always be another one to build. Each better than the last as your skills improve.

I only have a cheap AC stick welder and its taken me a while but my welding is improving. The single thing that helped me the most was getting a self darkening helmet.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride.

John Lewis

[ggriffin924]

I am in about the same place as you, except for the welder, I went with a gas-less MIG, but now I have the gas for it. But it would have done OK for my first project either way. I like the MIG, but then its just easier than my stick welder to make the welds look good. I have the donor rear end for this project and also some other misc parts. I am wanting my fox to have disc brakes so I'm looking at buying a disc hub that uses the 20mm axles that the link has been posted for here in the forum for $35 each. For this project also you kind of have to build the front end soon to get all the other things to line up. At least that's what I'm reading into it.

-Griffin-

[lumo]

hi tamarak!
good to see more newbies like me around!
i started welding last weekend (actually my first welding!)
i own a TIG welder (tried MIG/MAG before but that was out of my budget!)
the gas bottle and gas is still enough to pay if you do not earn money by welding.

keep the information about your status in flow!

PS: i begrudge you guys to get bikes and parts THAT cheap! (the cheapest CRAP bike costs here about 200USD / 150 EUR)

[locolarry]

Welcome to the Krewe!

I would like to echo John's recommendation on the auto-darken hood. I got mine from Northern Tool...less than $50.00 US. It really made a difference for me on learning to weld.!

Take your time, fix mistakes as you make them! Enjoy the build...it's all about the building...:D

Don't hestitate to throw the questions out...

We like pictures!!!!!!!!

LL

[AtomicZombie]

Hey border neighbor - welcome to the fun!

Brad

[KoolKat]

Looking good, Tamarack. Welcome to the insanity!

[blupe]

Hey, I've got to here by a very roundabout way, more or less starting with reading art-bike/art car postings on Burning Man's ePlaya forums, and the folks there recommend the auto-darkening welding hoods, too. (They have long, long threads on welding, with lots of links.)

[Tamarack]

Hey everyone:

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. Have not yet gotten one of those auto-darkening hoods for welding. It's on my list but not in my budget just yet. The cheapest ones I can find are $54. Bought my MIG welder on Thursday. I got a Northern Industrial MIG 125. Tried it out yesterday, but did not have any real luck. I kept getting the tip stuck on the work and would loose the arc and have to start over again. Did this for like 10 minutes and finally gave up. Will be trying again today.

Anyway, back to our program. . . I bought my steel on Friday. I didn't want to buy a large piece of quarter-inch plate steel so I went with quarter-inch by two-inch flat bar. I cut my axil tabs out of that but ruined several of them trying to cut the two-inch tabs down to the one and three-quarter-inch lengths as outlined in the plans. Wondering if I could leave them at two-inches and just take the extra one-quarter inches out of the fork tube instead. In other words - I would cut the end of the fork tube down to three-quarters of an inch instead of the one inch as in the plans. Or could I just leave the extra quarter inch in? Would that change anything else in the steering angles?

[Locutus]

Have not yet gotten one of those auto-darkening hoods for welding. It's on my list but not in my budget just yet. The cheapest ones I can find are $54.

Try this:

http://cart.tool-mall.com:2500/EXEC/1/0vraddg1gh8ur71ah4e0j05i9j3z

I bought one of these and it works fine.
.
.

[lumo]

hm those auto-darkening helmets are not that expensive if you do not want a super-robust one.
mine was about 60 euro

edit: i doubt that a quarter inch changes a lot. and it will only add a quarter inch height to your vehicle (if i remember the plans right.)

[theDude]

Try this:

http://cart.tool-mall.com:2500/EXEC/1/0vraddg1gh8ur71ah4e0j05i9j3z

I bought one of these and it works fine.
.
.


I second that. I love mine and it's only $10 from them. Their site uses javascript(yugh) for their links so that one won't work. Just go to tool-mall.com, click on "welding", and it's on the bottom of the first page.

[Tamarack]

Well, I bought an auto darkening helmet from HFT and it is awesome. Thanks for the tip, guys.

Anyway, it looks as though I will have to put most of my project on hold. As I mentioned earlier, my "workshop" is actually my three-season porch - and winter is not one of those seasons :(

I will still be working on the project this winter in that I still need to get my wheels with the 14 mm axels and also some minor hardware items. But I won't be able to do any welding or assembly of components until it warms up again in April or so. Just can't afford to insulate or heat this porch right now.

So, I'm still going to hang around here, but you probably won't see me post anything in this thread until I start up again in April.

[locolarry]

T'rack,
Read, Study, look at pictures, read the plans over and over..."build" in your mind....you'll be surprised at the number of posts you'll make just asking questions...Spring will be here before you know it! study your welding guide! Lot's of work to do!
LL