Smooth sanding and ball joints

[presyesc]

Hello- I took a trip to my local hardware store to find some ball joints with no avail- could someone tell me what they come off of and perhaps where to get them? I was at Lowes home improvement. I managed to hack some off of an old golf cart from its steering system, and I'm going to take a look at them to see if they will fit the bill. Also- I have
120 grit flap discs for my 4 1/2' angle grinder and I'm wondering if this will be sufficient to get that "smooth" look after grinding the weld or if I need to get a different grit. Thanks

[trikeman]

I got mine from McMasterCarr. They are called ball joint rod ends in the catalog.

[TheKid]

I stopped using grinder wheels except for very heavy areas where I kept the welder on the spot for too long. I sometimes found I was grinding too much material. I started using 36 or 40, 60, 80, and 120 grit discs. Now I only use 80 and 120 grit. If you grind only high spot in the center of the weld and not the area around it, making the center flat, you could finish off with 120, but you'll be going through a lot of discs. After getting the center of the weld flat and at the same level as the sides of the weld, smooth it out first with 80 grit, then 120 to take out the deep scratches. You want a smooth, rounded weld, that's slightly raised from the parent material. If you grind it competely flat and level with the parent material, it will weaken the weld.

[trikeman]

Same here kid. I very seldom ever use grinding wheels anymore. The flap disks are much better for the reasons you stated.

[SirJoey]

...could someone tell me what they come off of and perhaps where to get them?

I got mine locally from a shop that repairs & sells small engines & related; mowers, chainsaws, GO-CARTS, etc. Since go-carts also use 'em, he was able to get any kind or size I wanted.

[pcorbett]

I got my rod ends at the NAPPA AUTO PARTS STORE. I told the guy I was dealing with that it was for my hammerhead trike and he found some rod ends listed in his books. It helps to give them a picture in their minds if you tell him you have seen them in small riding mowers. Female 1/4" rod ends with a 28 thread was $8 in the Orleans store the next day. Bolts were bought at True Value and the heads ground round and welded into the back stay tubes of a parts bike. Protect your threads or be prepared to chase some threads. Or both in my case.
Pete

[TheKid]

I usually leave a nut on them when I weld the bolts into a tube. It keeps the spatter from getting onto the threads.

[TheKid]

That's true. Many of us are striving to get to that point, but haven't arrived there yet. I do notice that on most bikes, the overlapping coin effect is obvious, even on bikes that cost over $200. But the better bikes have very smooth joints, and I wonder if they aren't sanded to get that effect. The auto body guys I know tell me they weld sheet metal on both sides, but only the outside is ground and sanded. Personally, I don't sand any welds that aren't going to show prominently. There's no point to it, and all you do is use electricity, put wear and tear on your grinder, and waste discs.