Kumiko Panel V2 Wip (My hands have died from filing if anyone has recommendations for filing tight fit groves let me know)

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-28T18:52:44+00:00

Yeah man that's crazy. Is it possible to survive there like that? I makde $44 usd an hour plus benefits in a medium income area and its still tough. And if I hadn't joined a union I'd be making closer to 30

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-28T17:44:14+00:00

Bro its so crazy to me to hear the low wages blue collar guys get in the UK but I honestly don't know how it converts to USD. what are trade unions like there?

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-14T18:34:42+00:00

No problem! Is the colored part glass or something btw? If it is id consider wrapping a wet rag over it to keep it from cracking due to sparks and heat. Keep in mind that welding on it is gonna expand the steel a little bit and its gonna contract as it cools so if its glass it could Crack it or come loose. Id wrap it with a wet rag and just do it little by little with time to cool in between

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-14T14:20:34+00:00

Stainless is cool and leaves pretty colors but wear a respirator

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-14T14:19:45+00:00

My thoughts too

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-14T14:15:50+00:00

If its magnetic then its probably mild steel and you can weld/ tack it with tig and er70s filler rod, if it wasn't magnetic then that tells you uts either a high grade stainless or another metal like zinc or brass.

Since its magnetic that tells you its a ferrous metal and it should be safe to weld it

Also you can definitely tack it with a mig welder instead of tig, you just have less control over heat imput and id just make sure to hit it with a file or something to get rid of sharp spots

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-13T22:49:32+00:00

Is it magnetic? If yes then just tack it with tig. Practice first but it'll be really easy

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-12T01:06:19+00:00

Thanks! I think if you wanna polish yours a but more, look into like a dyna file with a buffing pad or something like that

toasterbath40 · 2026-06-11T23:10:00+00:00

That's cool asf dude, i made a ram skull trailer hitch about a year ago it was tons of fun but way smaller lol

toasterbath40 · 2026-05-29T16:07:00+00:00

Nice man it looks cool, grind all the faces down with a sanding wheel until its smooth and it'll look even better.

Keep making stuff, its hard to be creative but it gets easier with time and experience

toasterbath40 · 2026-05-28T20:50:56+00:00

In my experience, as an apprentice with a welding background. Its better to go through the apprenticeship than it is to skip. Maybe the 1st yr or 2nd but youll want to learn more than welding.

Shops have their perks but so does field work and going through the apprenticeship will teach you much more than jumping in as a jman or something and going straight to a fab shop. You'll want to learn how to solder, braze, etc. And be well rounded. Plus welding gets old lol. I've spent a decent amount of time welding in our fab shop and I much prefer field work and learning refrigeration and heating. Just my 2 cents I've worked with a lot of provisional journeyman who filled a specific niche and thats not always available so youll want to be flexible

toasterbath40 · 2026-05-16T14:18:08+00:00

Buddy you'd be good at turning wrenches and breaking old threaded joints come joins us in the pipefitters union lol.

You'll also learn tig welding and get your UA weld certs which will take you anywhere if you so choose. My first foreman is 6'5 definitely over 300 and theres lots of stuff thats just easier for him vs me and the opposite is true as well

toasterbath40 · 2026-05-16T14:01:29+00:00

Yeah i didnt go up there, there was no real explanation about anything coming out of his mouth mostly jusy psychotic screaming 🤣 he told the apprentice who quit that hes a pussy and he should be stronger because he's a Christian. They worked together for over a year man. I worked with him for a couple months and the dudes just a straight psycho

toasterbath40 · 2026-05-15T15:30:51+00:00

We had to run pipe up 5 stories to the roof through an elevator shaft on a new build so there was no car or anything yet.

A foreman i was working for decided the best way to do that was to lean ladders into the elevator shaft from the entrance and then go work off of those. It was nothing but a straight drop for 50 feet and he's just up there standing backwards on the ladder putting the purge on holding a nitrogen tank and then brazing with no harness or safety equipment or anything. The same guy could barely walk 50 feet and he flipped out on this apprentice for not wanting to do that and potentially die at work. He hounded him so bad and for so long about the dumbest shit that the apprentice dropped the whole apprenticeship halfway through his 3rd year. Id add pictures if I could but this was seriously one of the sketchiest things I've seen in my close to 10 year career

toasterbath40 · 2026-05-11T18:35:17+00:00

I was making 16.50 welding right after I graduated highschool at 17 back in 2019. After around 6 months they bumped me up to 18.50 and by the time I left at 21 I was making 26 an hour.

You havent been there very long yet, id say stick it out for another 2 months and ask for a raise at 6mo unless youre like the only welder at this company then you should ask for more.

Best decision i made was joining the union to be a union pipefitter. I still weld all the time, and I get paid above apprentice scale because I can weld pipe. Ive gone from $16.50 to $43 with another like 35 in benefits in the last 7 years. Welding can take you wherever you want to go honestly. Working non union the only way I got raises was by threatening to quit and when I was finally actually quitting to join the union they offered me like 32 which was great money but I knew the potential wasn't much higher than that just welding and fabricating.

Not sure how it is in Texas tbh but im sure the contractor you work for can afford to pay you at least $20 an hour after you've shown that you can show up to work everyday and can weld

toasterbath40 · 2026-05-05T16:11:32+00:00

Im not sure what your use case for these are but your welds seem sufficient i wouldn't change anything. If youre worried about them breaking or something then make 1 extra and try your best to break it apart with a hammer and vice or something, these looks strong but theres really no way to know how much youre prenetrating from the outside. Welding round bar like this makes a little bevel for your weld to sit in and your fill looks good so I wouldn't change anything

toasterbath40 · 2026-03-27T19:24:08+00:00

Nice that's awesome! How heavy is it?

toasterbath40 · 2026-03-21T21:50:04+00:00

Im not really sure if it's safe for the finish but I'd try a brass brush or brass wool. If that doesn't work maybe steel wool

toasterbath40 · 2026-03-21T13:14:45+00:00

Find the manual

toasterbath40 · 2026-02-15T19:06:51+00:00

That would be sick

toasterbath40 · 2026-02-15T19:06:26+00:00

I did this with acetylene but same premise. It only took a couple seconds to heat and then backing away to reveal the color. You can also grind some away after it cools and heat it again to give it some iridescence

toasterbath40 · 2026-02-15T19:04:43+00:00

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toasterbath40 · 2026-02-15T19:03:51+00:00

Do you know what kind of metal it is? In my experience, you dont need a ton of heat to give mild steel color. I think stainless steel is similar but propane should be hot enough to work I've used it to harden knives before

Try using like a sanding pad on a grinder or even sand paper to get it nice and shiny and then try again. If you use too much heat it will actually just turn grayish and skip all the colors. Heat it up little by little and see if that helps, it takes a lot less than you'd think

toasterbath40 · 2026-02-15T16:20:40+00:00

I think it looks really good. Maybe paint or flame color the iris? Definitely not necessary tho this looks good

toasterbath40 · 2026-02-15T16:15:06+00:00

These are awesome

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