my son is taking welding in his senior year at high school. He wants to make something for the bus. I emailed him a video on Sean's site that showed a really cool folding ladder, but my son says it would be too hard. So I need to come up with something easier. I need everything, so nothing would be off limits here. But I need to learn welding myself so Im not sure what to suggest. Do you guys have any ideas? Links I could send him of photos would be cool too! It doesnt have to be practicle, it could just be decorative....... but it needs to be something for the bus :D
Decorative is much safer, at least until you been welding a while. You dont want to be welding anything structural or mechanical until you have a good feeling for your weld quality and can trust it.
You can check this forum, may be handy(even if you have to register).
I got 2 of their product. good luck.
wrench
what kind of welding is he learning? We used to always make decorative plant holders, faux wrought iron style. Although a friend of mine who is a long-time master fabricator and constructor taught his son to weld by getting him to make a replica Lotus 7 car. A real replica, not one of those Lo-Cost things, although he Mig welded it instead of nickle-bronze welding it.
Brian
How about building a light duty slide for the cargo bays?
Maybe a spare tire lift to get the spare into its storage place.
How about a "U-boat" to load stuff on prior to a trip, then you could wheel everything out to the bus to load into the bus. This would save a hundred trips back and forth.
Boyce
grillin rack to go over camp fire.
My wife has been griping as she has no cup holder near the co-pilot seat. I have been intending to make a "Texas" antiquated looking cup holder. Maybe like cutting out a shape of Texas 8 inches or so with a small shelf for the bottom of the cup. Then welding a horseshoe for the cup to slip down into it. It would be really easy for a school project for there will only be a little bit of cutting, and three short welds. Leave it outside to rust then paint over the rust with a clear coat. Drill a couple holes for screws and your done.
Battery racks, battery slides, tool box slide out, bay trays that slide out. Front or rear bumper. Roo guard.
Check out my bed frame and battery rack setup about 2/3rd of the way down this page:
http://home.earthlink.net/~diehls0792/BusSection2.html (http://home.earthlink.net/~diehls0792/BusSection2.html)
This could be something very easy for him to build and easy to weld out of 1" square stock with 1/8" wall thickness steel.
Some awesome ideas here guys thanks! He does the mig welding (I think that is what it is called) with the sticks. But he has a real cool teacher who loves my bus ;) and he has access to the whole shop with a bunch of different neat tools.
I think he may end up making a rolling scaffold. We scavenged a bunch of old bed rails and that will be his main building material.
Brian, I saw your site before and love the photos thank you for posting them and keeping up the site!
Gumpy, yes to the battery racks and slides, tool box slides, bay slide and a beefed up front end. Eventually these will get done. I am scavenging metal for this stuff and wheels all the time!
Wal1809 the cup holder sounds real cool! Post pics when it is ready!
Robert, Im vegan so I dont do a whole lotta grillin but I do marshmellows and real perked coffee over a fire!
Boyce, (are you Bob?) Yes to the bay slides! I dont carry a spare though because it would be too difficult for me to store and then change the tire by myself. Im about 5'7" and 110 lbs and a girl lol. The desire may be there, but the body strength just isnt. I do however have new tires and road side assistance ;) Im not sure what a "U-boat" is???
Brian, he is doing the stick welding. Wow a lotus? Now that is a cool project! Maybe make it a piggy bank? Maybe a bus piggy bank?
Wrench, I didnt see a link?
Art, yes..... structual is kinda scary, decorative would be more safe. I think Im going to have him build a scaffold though and hope it doesnt fall down with us on it :o
How about a little step that sits on the ground that makes that first step into the bus easier? I would have one but I haven't had the time to build one and I own my own welding shop!!!
Scott, right now I got ideas for an onboard wheelchair lift that will be under the floor in the house. The platform will also be the floor where people walk when they come in the door. The door will open like a mini van and the bay door under the door will pivot and have the stairs on the bay door. It will sorta be like in this video of the 1st RTS experimental bus. Im going to seal up both my rear door and front one. The only door will be a new one that I have to cut in the passenger side of the bus behind the front tires. Ive finally got it all figured out how to do it. I think this is will keep the structure strong but I do have a guy down south that I need to get the bus to for him to go over everything and give me a final aokay.
This is what I want to copy, but in a less expensive version.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1847322232?bctid=1632737721 (http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1847322232?bctid=1632737721)
Damn Brat!! A great idea but what was the question you asked!! :D :D Now you got my mind wondering..... Cut it out!!!
Pretty radical huh?! It's too bad GM didnt ever actually market this design but instead scrapped it.
"We scavenged a bunch of old bed rails and that will be his main building material. "
I would avoid bed frame as they are brittle & break easy after being heated.
wrench
Im going to say again, nothing other than decorative projects until you have a better grip on your weld quality, knowledge of metals, welding rod and wire, the welding machine itself, etc.. As posted above, Bed rail is not very good metal.
A wheel chair lift is even higher up the ladder from structural, your into "man rated" lifting equipment. I'm not saying not to try it, just to get a more experience under your belt before you jump into something thats beyond your true ability.
FWIW cutting measuring is the hard part compared to the welding. Setting up accurate assemblies is the challenge (for me anyhow). Simple frames would be a great place to start, for slidders in the bays etc. Nothing as exacting as a truly flat and square frame for a beginner.
The rolling scaffold is just frames with braces so I figure it would give him the measuring and cutting experience....... You guys say no? Im confused what you guys are getting at here
Dont worry, we arent doing the wheelchair lift yet :) The first one we build is based on a design I came up with and the prototype will be built in wood as it is very forgiving. Im waiting until my son comes back out here for a couple weeks to put it together and test it out. If it works like I think then we will use it for our house and get rid of our ramp in front of the house. The one for the bus will be built with metal but I will be consulting professionals before choosing the metal and may even be hiring a welder to do it. I am concerned about week welds for something like this and accuracy!
As for bed rail being brittle? I wasnt aware of that, in fact I have read many bus converters sites who use it for all kinds of stuff..... even for holding up black tanks under the bus with no floor beneath (like on school buses or transits). Others have used it for battery tie downs, slides, etc.
We used Uboats to stack stuff on and roll it around our stores. It's basically just a cart, but imagine a U shaped deal with wheels on either end. OTOH why not just a plain old cart with some decent size wheels so it rolls easily....
Boyce...not Bob haha
Quote from: rampeyboy on March 05, 2011, 11:51:11 AM
We used Uboats to stack stuff on and roll it around our stores. It's basically just a cart, but imagine a U shaped deal with wheels on either end. OTOH why not just a plain old cart with some decent size wheels so it rolls easily....
Boyce...not Bob haha
I know a bus nut named Bob Boyce :) But he has a different kind of bus, so I was just wondering.....
He could make a U cart, right now we use a wheel barrel and my ground between the bus and house is mostly dirt haha!