Welding

Everything has been cut out and I have started to weld everything together. I should be done completely either today or tomorrow with my project. I am using a pulse mig bead on all of my weld joints because I think that it looks the best. A pulse bead is when you do not have a constant weld it is a bunch of small welds on top if each other that overlap and make a weld. I think that this type of welding looks the best.

In class jurnal

I would like to borrow the way he did his power point. He put pictures up and not much words on his slides and then explained what was happening in the pictures and I would like to do that.
A particular strength of the presentation what the playing he did when he was explaining ways of playing on the slides to really give us the feel of what he was trying to describe
I won't have anything to play so I will need to find a different way to get the evaluators involved in what I am examining.

Today I finished up drilling out the slits on the piece that will be screwed into to back of the tv. I used a drill bit to file out the metal that wasn't over on the inside of the three holes.

Today I started making the piece that will be put on the back of the tv. I measured the screw holes in the back of the tv and it was a 4" by 4" square. I used the same process as the piece that will be put on the wall. I plasma cut a 4 1/2" by 4 1/2" square and then blended the side smooth. Then I drilled four holes in a 4" by 4" square. I took the piece home last night and the holes did not line up perfectly. The top ones did but the bottom ones were A little bit low so today I started to make the bottom two adjustable so that it will fit no matter what. The holes I drilled were 5/16" holes so I made a 5/16" slit that was 1/2 long on both sides. I am not Sony with this I drilled three holes and now I need to get the remaining material out of the slots tomorrow and hopefully when I take it home it will line up and I will be able to screw it into the tv.

Drilling

Today I got the holes laid out and got them drilled I measured so that the holes would be centered and an inch and a half from the top and bottom and then drilled the hole

Red flag

Over the past week I have gotten a lot of work done in my project I got the piece that will be screwed into the wall cut out cleaned up and drilled the holes in it. I have spent about 8 hours working on my hands on. I had three journal entries on the process of making and cutting that put. For the next week I plan to compete the tv mount and get it ready to personalize it with things that I want to add. The project is moving along we'll and I should be done even before I had planned. This will give me a lot of time to customize it and paint it well so it looks really good when I am complete. I have had a mentor meeting and we talked about how the project is coming along nice and what work I got done this week.

Cutting and blending

Saturday I cut what I drew op and it came out really nice. I cut it with a hand plasma so the cuts were not perfectly strait so once I was don't I had to take a variable speed grinder and a blending disk and blend the cut marks down til they were smooth. After that I used the blending disk again to make is finger friendly and got all the sharp edges off and rounded them. Tonight I need to go and pick up two skews that are big enough to hold the whole tv mount up but not too big so it will split the stud in the wall and ruin it. After I get the size screws I need I will k ow how big of holes I need to drill in and be Able to lay all of that out and drill it tomorrow.

Lay out

I started in the part that will be screwed into the wall today I got it all layed out and drew the lines that I am going to plasma cut out with soap stone. First I cut the 8" by 6" 1/8" rectangle out of a sheet of metal then I drew in the curved lines so when I am cutting with the plasma I can follow the lines and make a good cut.

Metal Arrival

Finally today the metal came in. The metal came in at a late time in my ship hours today so tomorrow I will be able to get started. Now that the metal came in it should not take me very long to make the mount. The project should move along very quickly. I am very excited because of how long I have had to wait for the metal to come in.

Red flag

Over the past week I have work on my project but I have had a set back of the metal order getting messed up. I have been just waiting for the metal to arrive. I am having a mentor meeting today. I plan to tell her about my frustration about the metal order getting messed up. I only had two journal entries because what I had planned for the week got messed up by the metal not coming in. My plan for next week when the metal comes in is to get started and work a lot on it because of the shortened time I have to work on it.

The metal

There was a problem with the orders at the metal company and they got tons of orders messed up so they said that the order is scheduled to come in Monday of next week. This has been pretty frustrating because I can't do much on my tv mount without the metal. It has been a major set back on my project so now I do not have as much time as I thought I would to make it. I will be cutting it close with time but I'm certain that I can still get it done with the time that I have.

Holding on to Comfort

My project involves a lot of welds on it. The best way to weld is to use tig but for my project I am using a more comfortable form of welding and that is mig. Mig welding is the easiest type of welding to do, to make look good and, to do at awkward angles. This is something that I am sacrificing to hold on to comfort. Tig would really be challenging to do on my project. I professional welder would use Tig but there is too much room for error for my to use tig and I want the welds that everyone will see that comes into my room to look good. So that is why I am staying in my comfort zone and using mig instead of tig or my project.

Red flag

This week I spent 8 hours on my project. About 3 hours of research. 2 of class and mentor meetings and 3 of hands on work. For hands on work I used a stud finder that ms. Freeman let me borrow to try to find a stud and that didn't work because my walls are made out of wood not Sheetrock. So I had to do some research on how to find a stud in a wood wall and I could buy.a whole different stud finder but instead of doing that I am just going to use a small nail close to the floor to find the first stud and measure out from there. The research I did was how to find a stud behind a wooden wall. I also did a lot if studying for me test in welding witch will help me with my project with the knowledge I gained about the field of welding. I had a mentor meeting and during it is when I got the stud finder and we talked about how it worked and how I had a wooden wall so it might not work. We also talked about my past week work of the new metal I had to order and my test that I took this week. My journal entries this week were about the stud finder because I did not have any shop time due to the test. I was in class this week I did not have to use my journal because I was late to class and when I got there we were just discussing how everyone's project was going. My fulfillment of the WISE requirements was pretty good because although I did not have much shop time I still found ways to move forward in my project instead of just coming to a halt. My play for the next week is to get the metal in that I for ordered and get to work on building it because shortly after I have the metal I should finish the mount pretty quickly.

Stud finding

Because the wall that I am going to be hanging the tv mount on is made out if wood the traditional stud finder that ms. Freeman let me borrow did not work. I have been doing some research in finding studs and I will need to find the very first stud and then measure out 16in in between each stud and keep going till I get to where I want. I am thinking that the only way in finding it is with a small nail very close to the floor where it will not be noticeable.

Stud finder

In my room I do not have traditional sheet rock on my walls a have a type of wood panelling. I know how to find studs in sheet rock but I was not sure how to find them with the wood panelling I have in my room. So my mentor let me borrow this stud finder and tonight I am going to see if I can find a stud around where I want to put the tv mount. The stud finder seems pretty simple to use so I do not think that it should be too hard to find one.

Red flag

Over the past week I have work the required 8 hours on my project. Hands on this week I did a metal order sheet that I had to make for the new model that I made. I also made a cut list of the new metal that I am going to order. I met with my mentor and we talked about the new design that I drew up and the metal that I ordered so that I could make the new model. I had two journal entries because my project came so somewhat of a halt because I am waiting for the new metal that I need to come in and next week in my welding class I have the welding regents so I am spending a lot of time practicing for that. This can also be helpful to my project because I am getting a lot of practice on the welds that will be needed on my project so when i start welding on my final project the welds will look really nice. I was in class this week. During class we got an assignment to partner up with someone and do some research for them. I am partnering up with mike so I will be doing some research on how to make a ring. My plans for the next week are hopefully getting the new metal in that I need to make the new design but this can take A little wile because they will only deliver it when the order is over 200$ so I have to wait for the boces metal order to be over 200$ this doesn't take very long we normally get a shipment of metal every week so hopefully it will come in by next week.

Welding regents

Next week a boces we take the welding regents. So most if the time I spend at boces(when I do my hands on) I am practicing for that. This works out good because right now I am waiting for the metal to get delivered so this gives me time to practice for the test.

New metal

Due to the new design that I drew up last week I did not have all of the metal I needed from the when I got metal the first time. So I made a new metal order list and a cut sheet today. Now that I have that done I just need to wait for the new metal order to come in so that I can continue with making it.

The weekend

I've been out of town all weekend so I could not work on my project but starting tomorrow my project should move along pretty quickly.

The shop

This is the shop that I do my hands on work for the tv mount. Everything that I need for the project is available in this shop. There are some more specific tools that are more important that I will blog about also.

My welder

This is the welder that I use for my project. It is a DC+ DC- AC~ Tig welder and also a high frequency stick welder. It goes up to 270 amps so it can weld just about anything that needs to be welded. It is a $8000 machine that I am lucky enough to get to use daily.

Out of the Rut

PLANNING
7 things that I want to accomplish in the next week. I would like to get the part of my tv mount that will be screwed into the wall cut out. And then u want to have it shaped to how I want it. Then I have to draw and measure two spots on it that are perfectly in line with each other, be centered on the plate and, be far enough apart that I can weld the connection piece onto it without making it so I can't screw the screws into it. Than I need to drill the holes the size I need for the screws.
Supplies I need to get. I need to get the metal that is needed to make the part that goes on the wall. And I will need a lot of tools such as a drill a plasma and a soapstone. 3 things I should talk to my mentor about are what my plan is for the week in making this part my day to day plan in making it. 7 things I will need to more about. I will need to learn how to find studs in a wall that is not sheet rock I know how to find studs in walls that are Sheetrock but I do not know how I. Walls that are not and where I am hanging the tv mount it is not sheet rock.

Red flag

Over the past two weeks I added putting a shelf on my tv mount so I spent a lot of time figuring out how I was going to add that into my project. I spent the required 8 hours on my project. Hands on I did I 3-D drawing of the new tv mount and did a new metal list with the shelf added. I had a mentor meeting. We talked about what I was doing with the shelf addition to my project. I journaled twice this week about the new 3-D drawing on my project and a description of what was going on in the drawing. I was in class this week and I did not have to use my journal. I think my work this week was pretty good because now that I have everything squared away with what the final project is going to look like I should be able to make it pretty quick. My plan for the next week is to at least have the piece that will be screwed into the wall cut out with the holes cut out.

Sketch

This is my new sketch of the tv mount with the shelf on the bottom added. I have the thee pictures numbered 1,2 and,3 picture #1 is of what Is going to be strewed Into the wall. The three circles will be drilled holes for the screws into the wall. Picture #2 is a side view of the tv mount with the shelf coming down under the tv. Picture #3 is a back view of the mount the four that are rounded off are what will be holding the tv to the tv mount by screws in the holes. The two squared tabs that stick out are what will be connecting the tv mount to the wall piece. You can see how it connects in picture #2

Sketch

Today I finished my new sketch of the tv mount that included the tv stand. I simplified my original drawing so that some weight would be taken off so I could add the shelf onto the bottom of the mount. I would post a picture of the new drawing but I forgot it at boces so I will post the drawing tomorrow and go into mor detail on it.

Practicing

In the field of welding there is tons of practice needed before actually doing any work. Welding is not something that just anyone can pick up a welder and do there is a lot of practicing that is needed to do a good weld. I have spent a lot of time practicing my welding abilities to get to be able to do the work I can now. Still after all the time I've spent I still get stumped all the time and find myself out of my comfort zone on a weld. Every project that I take on brings another challenge that I have to overcome.

Roku

I just bought a roku for my tv. This is a tv transmitter so on the tv mount I need to build a shelf that sits underneath the tv. The tv I have has a DVD player built into it so I am going to try to make a shelf that can be a place for both the roku and DVDs but I was already worried about the weight of the tv mount without the additional shelf so I need to figure out a way to include this shelf and keep in at a reasonable weight for hanging on a wall.

Dug this old AC 30-270 amp stick welder out of my grandpas barn. It is from the 1970's and it still works. I'm not going to use it on my project because of its age but it was still a pretty sweet find. I have been finding lots of tools that will help me a lot in my grandpas barns.

Red Flag 3/28

Over the past week I have done a lot of hands on work. I worked on my project for about 8 hours hands on and got a lot done. I cut the parts that are going on the back of the tv out and am now getting it ready to drill the holes for the screws in the back of the tv. this is a lot of work because i have to use a tap and dye set to put threads in the drilled holes. I met with my mentor last Friday and we talked about how my blog was going and what my plans were for the next week. I was in class this week. I did not use my journal we went over how everyone's project was going. I think that my fulfillment of my WISE requirements was just ok because I got a lot of work done but I did not really journal through the steps of what I was doing so I missed out on a lot of good journals I could have done.

Red flag 3/21

Over the last week I have spent about 6-7 hours hands on working on my project. I got the metal that I need for the project and have started drawing it out and getting it ready to be cut. The rest of the time I spent working on my project I was either in class or having a mentor meeting. I did not do much research over this week because my past couple weeks I have done most of the research that was needed to move forward in my project. I had a mentor meeting this week we talked about where I was getting the metal from and what I had planned to have done in this week. I have completed most of my goals for the week I wanted to have everything cut out but it is more time consuming than I thought it would be getting everything laid out and ready to cut but now that I have that done I should be able to start cutting very soon. I was in class this Monday and we did the gleaming from the past assignment. I blogged about that and I would really like to start posting pictures of what I have done so far as soon as possible. Once I start cutting the pieces out I will post pictures of them. My plan for the next week are to get everything ready to be out together by the end of next week.

Monday Class 3/18

2-3 Gems of the Project

The pictures that he put in his journal were a very good part of his project. He did step by step drawings of what he was going to do and then he would put step by step pictures of what he did in there with a good description of what was going to happen/ happening in the drawings and pictures. He also did a good description of what his plans were for the project.

2-3 oops.

He did a hand written journal so some of his journals  were kind of hard to read his hand writing and when he was not doing his step by step of what he was doing for the snowboard his journals were very boring to read.

Things that I’m going to borrow from his project are the step by step pictures and drawings. The step by step pictures will work very well in my blog because there will be lots of steps into making the TV mount and I will be able to show that by doing step by step pictures and then describing what is happening in the pictures.

 

Red Flag

This week I figured out where to get the metal for the tv mount but I have been very busy and have not found much time to order it and start cutting. Lacrosse started this week so I have been very busy with that. I do not think that I will complete my goal of getting some of the parts cut out for the week so I am moving that to my goal for next week. I've done a lot of research on where I get the metal from and I have decided that the best option would be huan welding supply. I have had one mentor meeting this week and we talked about getting all the priced cut out and how I am going to do that. I am pretty sure that by next week I can have enough time to have all the pieces by the next red flag class.

Welding Supply

Today I did some research on where would be the best place to order my metal from. There are a couple places in Ithaca that sell welding supplies such as argas welding supply and tractor supply but both of these places are expensive. The place that I found was the best is huan welding supply. The only difference with huan is I will have to call and get the metal needed delivered instead of going to the store to buy it but at huan welding supply the prices are much cheaper because that are a metal manufacturing company and actually make the metal right there at there shop.

Red Flag

This week we got a torchmate in the welding shop so for hands on I just practiced using that so once I get good at it I can cut the pieces out on the torchmate. This week I wanted to have the prices cut out using the hand plasma cutter but I did not get that done because the torchmate will cut all the parts out so much better then I would by hand. I have done tons of research on how to use the torchmate software and the CAD that the torchmate designs run off of. I've watch many torchmate videos and tutorials that have helped me a lot in using the CAD program. I am meeting with my mentor today 6th period for this week. My plans for the next week are to have the CAD program all figured out so that I can cut the parts out of the metal that I need for the tv mount.

Torchmate 2

Yesterday I did a lot of research on the torchmate watched some instructional videos and read all about it and today I started to use it. After doing all the research it is much easier to use. I think that by next week I will be familiar enough with it to start cutting out the pieces for the tv mount.

Torchmate

Today at TST BOCES we got a new machine called a torchmate this machine can cut anything out of metal that I put into the computer using CAD. This will really help me with cutting out the parts for my project because instead of hand cutting them out with a plasma I can put the dimensions into the computer and it will cut it out perfectly for me. This will save me a lot of time but will take some time because I will have to research CAD and get good with CAD before I can use it to cut out any of the pieces of my project.

Red Flag

This week I found my mentor. We have not had our fist meeting yet but in the up coming week we will have a meeting. Over this week I have gotten started on the design of the TV mount. I have made a metal list of what I will need to make the mount and next week I am going to call to get a price on what the metal will cost to make the mount. I am hoping to have all the metal I need for the mount by the end of next week. So I can get started with making my project. The research I have done is finding what kind of metal is needed for my project.

Red flag 2/14

Over the past week I have been working on getting exited from the class. I have been trying to figure out what exactly I am going to do for my project, write a project proposal and, revise it for the project. I have narrowed my project down to making a tv mount and opening my own welding company I have not done any hands on work yet for the project but I have done some research. My plan for the week are to get exited so I can start my project.

Red Flag

As of right now I am still working on getting exited from the class. Although I am still trying to get exited over the past week I have started working on my project. I have done some research on what mottle TV mount I am going to make and I have found a set of screws that I can use that came with another TV mount that I have at my house that fit in my TV. I have not done much research on the design of the TV mount but I have measured how far apart the screws are on the back of the TV so I know where to drill the holes for the screws when I start making the mount. My plans for the next week are to get a metal list around and find out pricing on the metal that I will need to begin making the TV mount.

First 2 Weeks

The first two weeks of my project I would like to get all the paper information needed to make the TV mount. I would like to fine a TV mount that I can mottle my design from and also just have a basic idea of how one function’s just by visually looking over the TV mount. After I get all the measurements down and the design of my TV mount I would like to make a metal list that I will need to order so I can call and see how much it will cost in metal to make the TV mount. That is what I would like to accomplish for the TV mount for the first two weeks. For the first two weeks with opening a business I would like to go through all my barns and make a log of what tools I already have and the ones I am missing that are crucial for opening a company just to get an idea of what I will need in tools to get my company rolling. Throughout the week I will be meeting with my mentor regularly in the mornings whle I am at TST BOCES.

 

Dear Reader:

The goals of my project are to have made a Functional TV mount that I can use in my bed room. I am doing this because instead of paying $100+ for one from the store I thought I would just make one indeed. I am interested in this topic because I have always been very welding and making things out of metal. I have been in a welding class for the past two years and have made many thing out of metal in my past and i think that this will really push my skills and really be a challenge for me to make. Also over the 16 Weeks by The end I would like to be out in the world of welding and start my own welding business. I have wanted to be a welder for a long time and I see WISE as a good opportunity to make that happen. This will be hard to do both make the TV mount and open a but I feel that it is a good goal to shoot for because it is something that not only will help me now but it will  my whole life. Welding is what I want to do for a career and this is a way I can get that started early.  I have many fears of both making the TV mount and opening a business. One of the fears I have for making the TV mount is that when it comes down to the final welds that need to be done if I mess them up then it will ruin the whole project. This will be a big waste of time and money if I mess up. With the business I am very nervous because my welding skills need to be on point if they are not then I can mess up on a job one ruin my reputation as a welder and also it can cost me a lot of money depending on when I am welding on. So I have a lot of practicing I need to do so once I am ready to open my skills are ready.