Box Metal For Garage Door Frame

by J
(Ruffy, Victoria, Australia)

I am a 'learner' welder. My father Stan is a genius and has been using an old old welder that must surely be from the ark but was discarded prior to the flood because it was heavier than the anchor.

For as long as I can remember, it has been on our farm in the one spot probably because it has no wheels and is too heavy to move.

Your introduction describing the fascination of good welding was exactly how I felt after seeing dad weld all sorts of repairs and construct ingenious inventions to help with life as a lone farmer self taught in arc welding.

My son desperately wanted a start gate for ski racing, so I drafted one up and asked various people to manufacture it but they were too busy. I enrolled in a couple of economical 'learn to' weld courses at TAFE and with each one got more confident. I bought the metal, got it cut at the yard for a few more cents and brought it home to dad's old arc. That was a lesson in frustration. Dad was used to using 1/4 inch rods, I had learned on 3mm or so rods with dials, lights and buttons but his machine just seemed to have a power chord and an on off button. Quietly I welded the start gate - very roughly and not at all worthy of showing to anyone but functional. Then Dad walked by and when he saw my welds, he ground them all back and re-cut the metal to precise angles and under his hands it turned into an Olympic start gate.

Last September was his birthday and as shallow as I am I bought "him" a new little light weight inverter arc. I let him use it while I quietly got a 15amp power point installed into my powerboard in my town house. Now I am borrowing the welder to make a new door frame for my rickety old garage. I wanted to use timber but the general consensus was a 3m wide door would be too heavy for any screwed on hinge.

Dad has been very helpful in advising me and loaned me a right angle jig that he made for farm gates with his ark arc and all the clamps he has in his workshop.

In the next few weeks I will attach a few pictures to show the progress and frustration.