My first weld

My electrician friend Matt came over and helped me put in a new 220 line for my welder so i could get welding. Here is the new plug. (i have a cover for it now)

and i got to cutting up some metal to play around with. Note to self: Wear pants.

My cuts. close, but not great.

My frame. No where near square, but close enough for this exercise. This might be the top shelf to my new welder cart. or it just might be a square thing i welded together to play with my new welder and figure out how it works.

my first weld. Not the prettiest thing ever, but...
my second weld
They cleaned up ok.

another one cleaned up. not too shabby.

I realized i didn't take an after shot of my square boxy shelf thingy. will do that tomorrow.

lessons learned:

• wear pants
• take your time
  
• don't weld on an old weather warped wooden Ikea dining room table
• grinding and paint will make it all look good in the end
  

All in all it was success. Sure its not straight, level, square etc, but the metal all stuck together and i didn't burn the house down, and that was the goal.