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[Webby the Bear]

Looking good mate. Did you do much practising before embarking on the dog cage?

[F1 9LFG]

Looking good mate. Did you do much practising before embarking on the dog cage?

Cheers, I did indeed. I carried out some simple seem welds and lap welds - mainly to play with amp settings and wire feed speed. The welding of the mesh to the angle stuff is more like spot-welding but they are holding well enough so far. I had to break one of mitre welds and ended up bending the steel either side of the weld so that'll do me!

Cheers

[Webby the Bear]

Yeah that's spot on mate. . . If the steel around it bends and your welds don't break then that's good enough. Obviously that's not acceptable for something critical but for a woofer cart I'd say that was spot on.

Out of interest did you not mess up at all? You must be a natural cos I know it took me about 5 hours approx. to get my beads looking acceptable 

[F1 9LFG]

Yeah that's spot on mate. . . If the steel around it bends and your welds don't break then that's good enough. Obviously that's not acceptable for something critical but for a woofer cart I'd say that was spot on.

Out of interest did you not mess up at all? You must be a natural cos I know it took me about 5 hours approx. to get my beads looking acceptable 

Well if I'm honest my beeds are not great when left exposed. I know that using flux core leaves a mess'er finish but I wouldn't stand and show off my beeds at the moment! I had an hours practice and a handful of 'youtube' tutorials to aid my learning. the dog cage is a project that'll be 'covered over' as in welds being ground down & painted. If my welds were ever to be left exposed than I'd have to invest in a gas bottle and many hours in the 'man-shed'

I'm very pleased with my first go at welding and I'm sure I'll move on to bigger and better projects!

[EMD]

Coming along nicely , well done 

[Darth Loo-knee]

Are those strapping hooks in the boot? Maybe an idea to weld something to your dog cage which enables you to keep the cage secure

[F1 9LFG]

Are those strapping hooks in the boot? Maybe an idea to weld something to your dog cage which enables you to keep the cage secure

Yep - Thats the plan. The ideal cage (for me) is one that doesn't rattle over bumps etc so hopefully I'll make something up.
 

[F1 9LFG]

Coming along nicely , well done 

Cheers - Weather forcast for essex is (currently) good this weekend so fingers crossed I can crack on with it 

[F1 9LFG]

UPDATE

Given the nice weather today I managed to get a bit more done 

Back and sides now finished



Started working on the front, the center section will be where the door will go. (not yet figured out what type/operation of door I'll make yet!)



Finished off the other front section and sprayed the whole thing with self-etching primer (this will also prevent anything rusting)



The roof panel is yet to be welded but I thought I'd leave the cage in the 'dog room' so they can get used to it - leaving the roof section off for now should make the dogs feel a little easier getting used to it.



Sugar (German Shepherd) can easilly stand and get in & out. Honey, (the black Lab) is smaller so has no problem!



They are getting used to it already! Enough room for them to both lay down (phew!)



I'll update the thread during the week/next weekend once the roof is on and the door is fabricated.

Rob 

[tidla]

Just out of interest as a cat owner, why a full cage rather than the bars you buy for the headrest area?

[F1 9LFG]

Just out of interest as a cat owner, why a full cage rather than the bars you buy for the headrest area?

Well two reasons. Firstly, when we walk them the dogs rather enjoy a lake or river to play in - this is usually a muddy one. Once finished the cage will have a plastic cover to prevent mud flying everywhere when they shake, (they usually wait until they are 'in' the car to shake!) secondly I've just spent lots of money on a new car and intend to keep it protected from 'dog-damage'

[Webby the Bear]

Really professional looking job mate.... you sure you're new to welding? 

As well as a good finish it also looks true (in terms of measurements) so well done

Nice woofers too