First Welding Project

My first real welding project.

During my 2nd or 3rd year of college, our engineer-club wanted to propose a project.

Previous years we designed and built a beowulf-clustered-computer. This time around, I figured going a more mechanical-engineering-approach would be different.

A recumbent bicycle-build was proposed; with one minor-problem; none of us could weld.

After trying, and failing, to get access to a welder; said project fizzled out.

A few months later, during a visit at a big-box store, I found an openbox-welder. It was less than $200, and seemed to have all the parts. Why not. :)

It turned out to be a great buy, given I still have the welder to this day. A few of us still had interest in the project, however the club's interest had fizzled. So we went at it alone. I spent a few weeks toying around with the welder, and started tackling the project.

A friend donated a bunch of bicycle parts, and we welded this monster together.

I rode the unit around for a few summers, then it got stored in a shed. Sadly when I moved into our home, the state of the cycle was exteremely poor. A bunch of the metal was rusted, some parts were bent, tires were flat. I made the mistake of deciding to trash it.

I regret that decision to this very day. :(

Another important thing, I learned back then, be super careful with what metals you're welding. The chair is made from EMT, and said material is coated with Zinc. I was welding in an enclosed garage, with very little ventilation. After that day of welding, I came down with a really bad flu; or so I thought. It turns out, exposure to vaporized zinc-oxide, can cause what's called "Metal fume fever."

In high enough concentrations, it can be fatal. I was damned lucky.