[ironmanjay]

I am embarking on my first welding project. After doing nothing but running bead after bead for stick practice I am finally taking on my first project. I am building a strong box that is going to fit in my trucks console. I am building it out of 3/16 sheet steal and it will hold my CCW and other valuable items when I need to leave them in my truck. I am trying to keep the cost under $100. So far I have about $70 into it for steal, lock and angle grinder cutting blades. I see more grinding/cutting blades in my future. It will be bolted in the console to the floor of the truck.

This is the pattern I gut out and used for the cuts.


These are the fit up photos.

[ironmanjay]

So I got some of the welding done today. I am using my Everlast inverter 160 STH running DC on 220 power. I started using some Lincoln 3/32 7018ac sticks and I was getting a lot of worm holes in my welds so I switched to some Lincoln 3/32 6013 rods and the welds got a little better.

My 6013 bead:



I figured that if I can grind down the welds and it looks like one peice of metal and still holds together after I try to hit it with a 3lbs hammer then it must be a good weld.





So here it is coming together. I still have a little more to do but it is looking good.

[AnvilJack]

I'm pleased to see you having a go at what is quite an ambitious project early in your welding work.

A lot of good sense on display in your photos -- planning, working to size -- and that bodes well for the future.

I cannot quite make up my mind about your materials: overkill in thickness? is it clean at the welds? would a frame have helped control the design / fitting requirements?

For years I refused to grind a weld. If it looked bad, let it show (and niggle me for ever): make them look good in the first place. And I have some ugly, bird poo welds littered around the products I made. Of course, I had to grind a few out and weld again, and I had to cut a few (!!) joints up and start again, but if it was strong, let it stay. I'm not telling you to do this, of course, (and I do regret letting some of my ugly welds go into the world), but I am "curious" about work with quite a bit of grinding. (I learned in time that my ugly welds were almost always a product of too slow a travel speed, and so too much weld material piled up on the joint.) In your vehicle you want things to look good: in your welding life, make your welds look good (then show them off). Choices!!

(There are some outdoor fire pits made from 44 gallon fuel drums at my local sand and metal yard and the welds on these look like they really are one person's first attempts at welding. My first reaction was something like anger, that someone presumed their effort was "welding", but I settled down after a while. When the welds fail, and they will, the drums will just sag onto the ground. But I hope that person knows to do a lot more work on welding skills and knowledge.)

I hope we get to see some more photos as you progress. Well done, a good start.

[ironmanjay]

I'm pleased to see you having a go at what is quite an ambitious project early in your welding work.

A lot of good sense on display in your photos -- planning, working to size -- and that bodes well for the future.

I cannot quite make up my mind about your materials: overkill in thickness? is it clean at the welds? would a frame have helped control the design / fitting requirements?

For years I refused to grind a weld. If it looked bad, let it show (and niggle me for ever): make them look good in the first place. And I have some ugly, bird poo welds littered around the products I made. Of course, I had to grind a few out and weld again, and I had to cut a few (!!) joints up and start again, but if it was strong, let it stay. I'm not telling you to do this, of course, (and I do regret letting some of my ugly welds go into the world), but I am "curious" about work with quite a bit of grinding. (I learned in time that my ugly welds were almost always a product of too slow a travel speed, and so too much weld material piled up on the joint.) In your vehicle you want things to look good: in your welding life, make your welds look good (then show them off). Choices!!

(There are some outdoor fire pits made from 44 gallon fuel drums at my local sand and metal yard and the welds on these look like they really are one person's first attempts at welding. My first reaction was something like anger, that someone presumed their effort was "welding", but I settled down after a while. When the welds fail, and they will, the drums will just sag onto the ground. But I hope that person knows to do a lot more work on welding skills and knowledge.)

I hope we get to see some more photos as you progress. Well done, a good start.

Thanks for the comments! I know that my welds are ugly and I am not afraid to show them. Why I am grinding them is because I am anal about keeping the welds the same. You see I welded the outside corners instead of the inside corners. The build up of metal from the weld made the box not fit in my console. I did grind them to help it fit in the console. Can I now weld the inside corners of the box...yes but my OCD will not allow it. In fact I did try it as you can see in one of the photos with my 6013 electrode but it bothers me knowing that its there and the rest are on the outside. It needs to be uniform or I am not happy. THe looks of my welds don't really matter in this case because the box will be hidden.

About the thickness...Yes its a little overkill for what I am doing but, I seem to burn thru anything less than 3/16 so that is why I chose that thickness.

You asked, would a frame have helped control the design / fitting requirements? I am limited to the size of the interior of my console. This is not replacing my console. It will be in my console bolted to the floor. This way if someone looks into my truck they just see the stock console.

[RichardH]

So, how'd your project turn out? And what did you use for the locking mechanism?

The lockboxes I've seen commercially use either a key (which I don't like) or a bicycle lock style spinner. I really like your idea of making my own box, so I can use a pushbutton style lock.

Cheers,
Richard