February 27, 2008 - The cardboard template, transformed into aluminum.
I've never welded aluminum before, but after all of the TIG practice with the header I found it really easy. The biggest difference was how the filler rod melted - and it was really fun to simply melt the seams together with no filler at all. I could get to enjoy doing this. After the picture was taken, a bit of work with a wire wheel cleaned up some rough edges on the cuts.
Next, to make it lighter (not that there was a problem in that regard!) I decided to cut some holes in it. Looks as if my hole saws were intended for wood, not metal. Whoops. The holes were rather ugly looking and the saw kinda wandered around. No worries, I was planning to paint the bracket black anyhow. Raw aluminum looks cooler and more racy, but is far more likely to reflect on the windshield.
tags: computer |
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