Welding on playa

[alexis]

Hi Burners... So excited to see you all so soon!

My girlfriend is a welder... MIG, TIG and arc (stick), and she would love an opportunity to weld on the playa. Anyone know of a place or camp that may let her play or help build something? I saw a MIG welding workshop listed at playa info last year, somewhere on jakarata (J), but i don't think it was an official camp.

Any tips welcome!

See you soon!

A

[theCryptofishist]

She might be able to find people when she gets there. (Assuming she's bringing her equipment.) Putting the word out when you get there could bring her a bumper crop...

[Dr Helix]

Hi Burners... So excited to see you all so soon!

My girlfriend is a welder... MIG, TIG and arc (stick), and she would love an opportunity to weld on the playa. Anyone know of a place or camp that may let her play or help build something? I saw a MIG welding workshop listed at playa info last year, somewhere on jakarata (J), but i don't think it was an official camp.

Any tips welcome!

See you soon!

A

If she's bringing her welder she'll be very popular. Art cars are always breaking something and need emergency repairs. Also artwork. There's a few guys who bring their rigs. I have my welder but it just for erecting my art piece, then I'm done.

[Snow]

I did lots of welding on the playa (I was out there already when this was posted). Had my mine out there for some on-playa welding on the Trojan Horse but fixed a few cars and bikes when I felt like it. Had to turn some away due to obligations or needing some time for me to have a burn too. There are lots of welders out there if you can find them

[Btrja]

I have a gas-less 90 amp mig welder I would be happy to use it to help people out but I don't have a generator to power it. Is it worth bringing in that case?

[Dr Helix]

I have a gas-less 90 amp mig welder I would be happy to use it to help people out but I don't have a generator to power it. Is it worth bringing in that case?

That's a bit small to do any real good out there. Plus with no power supply you're extremely limited. If you are serious, start looking for a gas drive welder 200 amp minimum to bring. Then you'd be a real asset. Plus cutting torch and tools. Just having the hood and gloves is not enough.

[alexis]

That's awesome! What were you out there early doing? DPW? An art project? Volunteering...?

My GF managed to do a bit of oxyacetalene welding out there. I think now she wants to get a portable welder so she can do more on playa and maybe even in her backyard. Where did you get yours and what kind is it? Any suggestions?


[quote="Snow"]I did lots of welding on the playa (I was out there already when this was posted). Had my mine out there for some on-playa welding on the Trojan Horse but fixed a few cars and bikes when I felt like it. Had to turn some away due to obligations or needing some time for me to have a burn too. There are lots of welders out there if you can find them [/quote]

[sawdustbear]

Our art car's welder brought his welder out and definitely came in useful to other camp members who needed bikes fixed, etc! He might actually have ended doing more, but we didn't actually go and retrieve the welder from his car until later in the week.

He and I both own little Lincoln 140's, they're little portable wire feed things(I call them barbie dream welders). He has a MIG setup with his, and I have the standard(and easy) gasless flux core setup. They're powered on standard 110v power, and a lot of camps actually have generators or are plugged into the power grid, so it's actually not that hard to find power for something that doesn't have fancy power requirements.

His performs beautifully on playa. Mine didn't make it out this year because I lent it to another art car crew pre-playa, but I've seen the same thing weld on playa well before.

[alexis]

Awesome, sawdustbar, thanks for the info about the Lincoln 140s!

He and I both own little Lincoln 140's, they're little portable wire feed things(I call them barbie dream welders). He has a MIG setup with his, and I have the standard(and easy) gasless flux core setup. They're powered on standard 110v power, and a lot of camps actually have generators or are plugged into the power grid, so it's actually not that hard to find power for something that doesn't have fancy power requirements.

[Snow]

I was out early to build the trojan horse and later set it aflame with fire arrows! I built the steel axles (mostly in reno) and there were a couple things that could only be welded on the playa. My axles couldn't be seen, until after the rest of the horse was burned, then they were the last thing left, albeit quite twisted.

I have a Miller 175 MIG, it runs of 220v. I use gas most of the time in the shop, but used flux core on the playa due to wind.

A smaller welder is nice if you only weld smaller scale stuff like bikes etc. and easier to power since it runs off 110v, but use what you have. My welder fixed several bikes and also the big black scorpion art car (was damaged by a crane on set up).

PS lady welders are HOT!!! hold onto that GF of yours!

[Snow]

I have a gas-less 90 amp mig welder I would be happy to use it to help people out but I don't have a generator to power it. Is it worth bringing in that case?

That's a bit small to do any real good out there. Plus with no power supply you're extremely limited. If you are serious, start looking for a gas drive welder 200 amp minimum to bring. Then you'd be a real asset. Plus cutting torch and tools. Just having the hood and gloves is not enough.

200 amp is really overkill for "most" welding you'll run into unless you're making serious big things, but you can also do multipass welds. You can run 220 v or 110 v welders just fine off most genies. I was able to run mine off a 7000W genie just fine. MIG with gas shielding is a pain on the playa due to wind, so flux core wire feeds or stick welders are good

And yes all the accessories are handy too. A cutting torch is a great tool and you can weld with that too.

[Snow]

Our camp was on the corner of the esplanade and 3 and we were literally welding right on the corner there several days. We kept saying it was our welding performance art.

I was even gifted a shirt this year that said, "Outlaw Welding, Black Rock City, Twenty Eleven" My favorite gift EVER!

[motskyroonmatick]

I bring an older Miller EconoTIG. It is a combination TIG and Stick machine that runs off of 220V. I power it with a 10000W generator. It works well and I will rely on multi pass welding if I weld anything structural on the playa. As of yet I haven't had the need to repair anything over 3/16 in thickness. Most of my repairs are to very thin custom or add on bike frames. I used both TIG and Stick this year but primarily stick for speed and ease of multi position welding. One of my tricks is bringing a bunch of small scraps of various shapes to work as gussets that I add to home made bike frames to prevent them from braking again. Probably 20% of my repairs are welding in nature with the rest being tinkering, adjustment, troubleshooting, part replacement/modification and electrical work. Lots of electrical work this year and it was great!

The thing I like best about fixing peoples things is that it gets one or more of us burners back functioning on playa the way they wanted to do the burn. That is satisfying and it is soooo much fun to turn someone's day around from funk to WOOOOOOoooooooooo!

[Hedy]

Hey Motz!

So sad to have missed you yet AGAIN this year! I even saw signs for Stag camp (we were at 7:30 & L) but of course, never made that left turn. We had 4 trikes out his year, and it was awesome! I'll never forget the year you fixed up the Sand Reckoner for us


Hedy

[Bay Bridge Sue]

OK, OK already... I'll bring mine out next year! Last time I welded on playa was when we had art car issues, it was a small wire unit running fluxcore... I can actually pull most positions with it (if I'm careful) and yeah, it seems to do a pretty good job, as long as I take my time and pay attention.

Wish I had more genny power - I''d love to have a 220 box out there, but yeah, what power I have is kinda limited...

[Snow]

A word of caution though. Once word gets out that you have a welder in action everyone and their mom will be dragging in their broken art cars, bikes, art and sex toys for you to fix. Great if you love helping people. Not so great because you'll have to turn some away if you want to see things at the burn besides everyone's busted stuff.

[Dr Helix]

A word of caution though. Once word gets out that you have a welder in action everyone and their mom will be dragging in their broken art cars, bikes, art and sex toys for you to fix. Great if you love helping people. Not so great because you'll have to turn some away if you want to see things at the burn besides everyone's busted stuff.

Exactly. My friend Joe, never gets a moments rest with all the folks pleading with him to fix their broken MV's etc. He has a truck rig with a large gas drive welder and a high freq box so he can do almost any process out there. He's the one who assembled Bliss last year and the torso you saw this year plus numerous other projects. I brought mine (Miller Bobcat) to assemble my art project and kept it fairly low key. I do it for a living so I really don't want to be a playa welder. More power to all that do though!

[Snow]

I just met Joe this year, AWESOME guy!!!!!! He helped us out when someone didn't deliver our oxy/acetylene FULL. Saved our asses (well at least a trip to reno), and he and Jackie even took the time to help us making holes. YAY JOE! I made sure to pay his help forward as much as possible.

[motskyroonmatick]

Hey Motz!

So sad to have missed you yet AGAIN this year! I even saw signs for Stag camp (we were at 7:30 & L) but of course, never made that left turn. We had 4 trikes out his year, and it was awesome! I'll never forget the year you fixed up the Sand Reckoner for us


Hedy

I saw the Sand Reckoner several times this year parked so I knew you guys were on playa again. I just love the steering wheel which makes it very recognizable which is fun ..... Because I bost mildly that I welded on that. 4 trikes is awesome!!!
I have a source for the wheel stock you guys use and one of these weeks I'm going to go over to the pipe plant and see if I can establish a supply so I can be a source. From the chatter on here it seems that the wheel stock is hard to get in small quantities and I might have an in with that. There is scrap made when they build Tees and Ys and I might be able to get my hands on some for a case of beer or two.
My shop was on the down low this year because just by word of mouth I was pretty much swamped Monday through Wednesday. I didn't even put my sign up. I did have my best repair ever this year and it wasn't even welding. One nice thing about regularly doing repairs is that people who want to help do repairs are cropping up. It helps to have the help and might make it so I can have a camp that operates all week without totally cutting out my ability to interact with the city.

[Dr Helix]

I just met Joe this year, AWESOME guy!!!!!! He helped us out when someone didn't deliver our oxy/acetylene FULL. Saved our asses (well at least a trip to reno), and he and Jackie even took the time to help us making holes. YAY JOE! I made sure to pay his help forward as much as possible.

That would be Joe.

[alexis]

You guys are all such badasses. Thanks for all the tips and anecdotes. I have to tell you, I've gotten so jealous of the GF that I'm going to be taking welding classes (full time! ~4 hours a day 5x a week) in October, so wish me luck. Who knows, maybe we'll get a portable welder and do some low-key/DL welding next year with you fine folks.

[Btrja]

Even though mine might be light duty Imma get a generator for mine and bring it anyway. I could at least fix bikes or something. Hell its better than nothing I figure. You don't think it's strong enough, then go somewhere else, I didnt want to do it anyway, lol.

[moonrise]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! to all of you welders and tinkerers!

I used my disabled person's funkfied golfcart to haul welders and their rigs to a couple of BIG MV's in need of repair (also ice runs and a few medical type rescues etc)

I had a break down in deep playa at night and almost melted down myself I just sat there, upset for a bit.

Then, a nekked, thirsty, sparkle ponie? 18 year old kid was the first to offer help pushing the cart into the city (he took a short break to throw his clothes and shoes! into the Trojan Horse fire! wtf?!) After a few more minutes of me and the nekked kid pushing (I watered him and sent him toward more H20 and help, we hope!) more joined to help (regional folks looking for more interaction, thanks!! xs 10000+)
My first choice destination was to Stag Camp (much love Motz!!) the whole scene snowballed and several took peeps joined and took turns pushing and holding bikes; until we ended up at a camp that quickly solved the problem, WOOOooooo! WOOOoooo! (I was kinda looking forward to rolling into Stag Camp, ah well, there's always next year! lol)

[motskyroonmatick]

Glad it was a quick fix Moonrise. It's a great feeling to get your ride back isn't it.

[moonrise]

Yeah Motz it is

I rely on GC2 to be my set of legs for distances farther than a block or two.

I met a fantastic group of burner mechanics in my region...next thing on the 'to do' list is to add a snorkel from the air intake box up through the roof top, it'll help keep the air filter(s) much much cleaner.
There's nothing like a guy in a skirt banging the dust out of a clogged air filter, even though that's a normal sight in BRC! lol!

[Hedy]

I have a source for the wheel stock you guys use and one of these weeks I'm going to go over to the pipe plant and see if I can establish a supply so I can be a source. From the chatter on here it seems that the wheel stock is hard to get in small quantities and I might have an in with that. There is scrap made when they build Tees and Ys and I might be able to get my hands on some for a case of beer or two.

Hells yea, that would be awesome! It IS a difficult thing to come by in small quantities - usually we stop by construction sites & beg them to give or sell us the scraps. Frank's Kitchens (our shop proper) now has steel rolling capabilities...we are looking forward to trying a whole new way to make wheels.

[motskyroonmatick]

I have a source for the wheel stock you guys use and one of these weeks I'm going to go over to the pipe plant and see if I can establish a supply so I can be a source. From the chatter on here it seems that the wheel stock is hard to get in small quantities and I might have an in with that. There is scrap made when they build Tees and Ys and I might be able to get my hands on some for a case of beer or two.

Hells yea, that would be awesome! It IS a difficult thing to come by in small quantities - usually we stop by construction sites & beg them to give or sell us the scraps. Frank's Kitchens (our shop proper) now has steel rolling capabilities...we are looking forward to trying a whole new way to make wheels.

Steel wheels! Cool.!
Irrigation Wheel lines have 5 or 7 foot diameter galvanized steel wheels. They might be something to look at for inspiration. The part where they connect to the pipe is really wide spaced so is not directly adaptable to pedal power vehicles unless that look is desired.http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQddFV3iAbo/TcNcRuPkHhI/AAAAAAAAApE/hlEiPy8hYfg/s1600/wheel+line%252Ccontrast.JPG

[Snow]

What size cut-offs do you need? You should look into the cost of having what you need rolled it might be cheaper than you imagine. We ended up having a few things made for the Trojan Horse and they ended up being cheaper than the material to make them ourselves (cuz you have to buy the whole length). I have a really good steel hookup in the N.CA/Reno area if that's where you're from, they've helped us out on a few projects now. I'll pass the info along via PM if interested so its not an advertisement.

I used to work on a ranch that used those irrigation wheels, most ranches have lots of unused ones laying around. Especially since that system seems to be going out of favor. Might be a great wheel source for ya. And AWESOME work by the way!