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.