Jump to content
The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Welding as an art form


Chris Wilson

Recommended Posts

i opened the pic up first Chris thinking it was your work and thought to myself you've already got it down to an art.

 

Then i continued reading, is it harder then it looks?

 

Just a bit yes :) I am actually better at ali than stainless, but that's not saying much! I practice as and when I can find time, but the difference between tidy workmanlike welds to those in the pic is probably 40 years of regularly doing it for a living.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aye, good welding is always a pleasure to behold. My uncle had a Bimota motorbike, all handmade alloy frame with welding just like that in Chris' picture.

We used to just go out to the garage and stare at it for ages.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're right, that's why I am going to Rotorstock :) I wonder if I'll see any nice welds.... ;)

 

LOL Rotorstock..depends which car you look at... could be a challenging task with the skills of some of the rotary builders we have in the uk :p

 

Must admit that is very impressive .. a good friend is heavily into metal work has been for many years buthe is not a patch on that lol!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to work for a company that made MRI machines. Part of these nowadays is a fabricated st.st. liquid filled helium pressure vessel, a couple of al.al. heat shiels, and then a st.st. outer vessel. Pretty much everything was fabricated in house, and some of the work was absolutely amazing. Also they would get apprentices in, and within a couple of months they were knocking out top quality stuff as well. I guess it's just like most things in life. If it's something that you're doing day in/day out you'll soon pick it up quite quickly.

Pity I didn't get to know any of the guys well enough to call on them to fabricate the downpipes etc for my turbo kit though. :o(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

years ago , health and safety was a joke , but its 100% better now , but if you can get an extracter chris , it will help reduce the amount of fumes you breathe in ,

cant be to carefull , and as you are welding stainless , and aluminium , these fumes are quite harmefull .

that me talking with my welding head on .

now for the fabrication side of things , grinding these materials is also hazadous to health , make sure you wear the correct face masks when grinding .

one set of lungs is all youve got , i cant stress this enough .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its great to see great welding.the guy who built mates rb30 skyline engine is brilliant at welding.he`s made custom manifold,custom i/c piping,swirl pot,throttle body intake.he also making me a custom tranny pan with temp gauge and baffles and cooling fins.

 

what you think to his work.

 

 

ps engineer was telling me he used to work with some top level welders working on rigs.he told me they were on 600 pound an hour and g/teed there work not to fail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its great to see great welding.the guy who built mates rb30 skyline engine is brilliant at welding.he`s made custom manifold,custom i/c piping,swirl pot,throttle body intake.he also making me a custom tranny pan with temp gauge and baffles and cooling fins.

 

what you think to his work.

 

 

ps engineer was telling me he used to work with some top level welders working on rigs.he told me they were on 600 pound an hour and g/teed there work not to fail.

 

Ahh, that's Robs work, from New Zealand. www.ripsltd.com

 

Am I right? Very nice, be interested in seeing how the manifold lasts, IF your pal does serious track day driving with it. Rob is currently shouting at me because he thinks I am mad to be spending so much on a UK made manifold in Inconel... :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh, that's Robs work, from New Zealand. www.ripsltd.com

 

Am I right? Very nice, be interested in seeing how the manifold lasts, IF your pal does serious track day driving with it. Rob is currently shouting at me because he thinks I am mad to be spending so much on a UK made manifold in Inconel... :)

yeah rob is great at welding and he does lots of custom work.he spending loads of time on lees car as it is the best car he has worked on.rob is confident in his work.cant wait for lee to get his car back.going to be a awesome car.rob is also mapping it too.

 

lee said the car is for a bit of everything including the shopping run. should be a good car with rb30 with gt42 and nos and custom everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ha ha, I had a go at Tig once... making adjustable suspension cones for a mini. Ended up melting everything & giving myself loads of electric shocks :blink:

 

Put me off for good that did.

 

Used to work with some guys that could fabricate anything. Beautiful F1 race manifolds & systems etc. The best was the test cell manifolds & system for a Rolls Royce Merlin V12.... God did that scream on full chat ;) :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ha ha, I had a go at Tig once... making adjustable suspension cones for a mini. Ended up melting everything & giving myself loads of electric shocks :blink:

 

Put me off for good that did.

 

Used to work with some guys that could fabricate anything. Beautiful F1 race manifolds & systems etc. The best was the test cell manifolds & system for a Rolls Royce Merlin V12.... God did that scream on full chat ;) :D

 

fooking big thing it is out of a spitfire...bet they are loud when started? i'm gonna run if we bench test it:blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest R.I.P.S NZ
Ahh, that's Robs work, from New Zealand. www.ripsltd.com

 

Am I right? Very nice, be interested in seeing how the manifold lasts, IF your pal does serious track day driving with it. Rob is currently shouting at me because he thinks I am mad to be spending so much on a UK made manifold in Inconel... :)

 

 

Ha ha, :rolleyes: I'm not shouting, I was in shock!!! But to be fair, we are not really comparing apples with apples, I'm sure your Inconel manifold will be far better quality than ours and I'm sure the workmanship will be top class, just 3700 pound just about made me pass out. Ours are 1000 pounds tops, but once again, my apples are not as nice as yours.

 

I can't take credit for the welding you see, sure they are R.I.P.S products, but with me being so busy with engines, design and making of parts I don't weld as much as I use to, I have an employee who most call a freak of nature, some customers even ask if I have a robot welder, he has such a steady hand.

R.I.P.S products are plenty good enough for most applications, we are extreemly fussy and we have had no problems with any of our manifolds but you must compare like products when talking about price, ours are not in the same league as the top shelf Inconel manifolds.

 

Good luck with your project Chris, I'd love to see the manifold when its done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. You might also be interested in our Guidelines, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.