Welding Question

I'm fabbing some new railing sections for our deck, getting rid of all of the wood but using my existing spindles that were 1/2" rigid conduit which is galvanized. They are getting welded between a pair of 1/2x1.5" C channels, top spindle inside the C, bottom atop the C (open sides of the channels face down so they don't collect rain). My question is welding the galvanized pipes. I'm running them across the belt sander about 1/2" up on each end to clean metal, but the galvanizing is inside, too. I know the heat from welding creates a weak cyanide gas in the fumes. Am I OK just keeping a fan pushing all the fumes away from me or do I need to take other precautions? Never welded on galvanized metal before....

If your out side you should be OK If your mig welding galvanized and want to use a fan you'll need to have the fan pull the stink away. as if it is blowing on the welding you will blow your gas away also. I just wear a resporator same one I use for painting. Benn doing that for over 40 yr. and still here.lol

I've welded a bit of galvanized over the years - kinda stinky, but pretty harmless. Read the attached - it's got some good safety information.

http://www.sperkoengineering.com/htm...Galvanized.pdf

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Originally Posted by cffisher

If your out side you should be OK If your mig welding galvanized and want to use a fan you'll need to have the fan pull the stink away. as if it is blowing on the welding you will blow your gas away also. I just wear a resporator same one I use for painting. Benn doing that for over 40 yr. and still here.lol

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Charlie,
The fan I would use is an old box fan providing a light air flow from across the room so blowing the MIG gas away should not be a problem. I may use a half mask, just in case - thanks for the reply.

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Originally Posted by glennsexton

I've welded a bit of galvanized over the years - kinda stinky, but pretty harmless. Read the attached - it's got some good safety information.


http://www.sperkoengineering.com/htm...Galvanized.pdf

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Glenn,
Thanks for the link, that provides a wealth of good info. I had heard the guys on the construction sites talking about getting "poisoned" by welding fumes, and I guess they could have gotten sick enough to claim a day or two off of work, so precautions for a production welder make sense. I'll keep my head out of the smoke, but won't worry about keeling over from a whiff or two. Thanks for taking time to reply.

All are good answers, but i would like to add my 2 pennies. If you weld for some time with galv. you may notice a metalic taste in your mouth, just drink some milk.

I've had that taste as well Jim - beer works as well as milk to remove the taste:LOL::LOL:

yep you will be ok .. sand/wire knotted cup wheel. some of the plating off. just need abit of air movement ..i welded all that nasty stuff for many years to . i just smoke a cigarette or cigar under the welding hood that fillters all them bad welding fumes:D

Smoke a cigar under the welding hood-----

I knew a guy named NYE FRANK that smoked tipperillos all the time--he had cut out a section of his hood and put a metal shield there so he could smoke the tipper ---he was a very good metal worker who worked in Quincy's shop(old age i don't remember if that was first or last name) they built lots of Indy cars, Mickey Thompson's stuff, land speed record streamliners

Unfortunately he was beaten to death by some home invaders , sure was a tragic lost to automotive history



Quinn Epperly--remembered finally (well after 2 cups of coffee)

Hummmmmm:HMMM::HMMM:Take the galvanized you have to the scrap metal place and trade in for stuff that is not.;):LOL::LOL:


Just kidding.:3dSMILE:

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Originally Posted by 1gary

Hummmmmm:HMMM::HMMM:Take the galvanized you have to the scrap metal place and trade in for stuff that is not.;):LOL::LOL:


Just kidding.:3dSMILE:

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Tell you what, Gary;). There's 221 existing spindles and they weigh about 1.5# or a little better each so I figure that I might get about $0.75 each for the galvanized pieces if I'm really lucky, less fuel to take them to the scrap yard ($20) so I might net $145 for them. The new ones are $3.50 to $6 each, depending on how fancy you want them, so I'll drop $775 to $1350 for new material. If you want to make me a deal on the old ones that keeps me whole send me a check and I'll stack 'em up by a tree for you till your next trip to Kansas - they won't rust!;):cool:;):LOL::LOL::LOL:

Don't think it did not cross my mind to toss them, but I'm just too cheap!**)

221 x both ends = 442 welds!!!!! x 3/4x 3.14== inches of stinky weld

8 hr day x 60 min =480 minutes/day

one weld per minute -couple potty breaks=====

Ahhh shucks just tear the deck off the house

Roger,

Since you've not welded galvaized metal....you'll know right away what youve got when the cotton candy starts floating around. If it has a heavy coating there will be little wisps of cotton candy like stuff floating around. I use to weld suction pipe 16-36 inches for industy with an acetaline torch and wire. I would get some serious headaches in no time. Just saying.

David

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Originally Posted by jerry clayton

221 x both ends = 442 welds!!!!! x 3/4x 3.14== inches of stinky weld

8 hr day x 60 min =480 minutes/day

one weld per minute -couple potty breaks=====

Ahhh shucks just tear the deck off the house

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:LOL::LOL:Jerry,
I need to get you over here to talk to my wife!!:LOL::LOL:

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Originally Posted by rspears

:LOL::LOL:Jerry,
I need to get you over here to talk to my wife!!:LOL::LOL:

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let me know how that works if your wife is any thing like my mother .. she ask me to machine /rebuild a engine for someone in the family . i told her NO them engines i just of soon not get in too.... then she told me i seen and know what you can do so you will machine/ build this engine ..... yes mother ... if Jerry works i be making a call to him :)

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Originally Posted by jerry clayton

221 x both ends = 442 welds!!!!! x 3/4x 3.14== inches of stinky weld

8 hr day x 60 min =480 minutes/day

one weld per minute -couple potty breaks=====

Ahhh shucks just tear the deck off the house

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Ya' know Jerry, I had not put the numbers to it like that, and you did not put in time for squaring each spindle, prep, etc. In fact, I had not actually totalled up the spindle count until I was looking at the "come back" to Gary's friendly poke;) I awoke this morning with the thought of using my metal posts, but getting some pre-fab hanger pieces for rail section 2x4's and replicating what I had originally out of composite material to eliminate maintenance and rot. Going to visit with the metal guy to price out some square bar stock spindles and punching holes in channels for setup/spacing, and to the home/decking supply place to compare prices on the replication way. I may owe 1Gary :eek: a beer or two for making me look at another angle for this railing project, but the jury's still out.:LOL: I'm also listening to all the good comments about the headaches, etc from the stinky welds, and I appreciate the input.

Now enough about deck projects ;) or this is going to start being like one of those "other" places that has more discussions about home owner projects than hot rods :eek::HMMM::LOL::LOL::LOL: Thanks for all the help, guys!

Not to be a spoil sport but if this is a railing around a deck OR any other for that mater.... you should check with a local contractor in your area.. There are codes for spacing spindels as to many kids have hung themselves from them. Around here if I remember right a baseball should not fit. But I haven't put up a deck in 10 years, but good thing to check an inspector can ruin your day if you have to redo it when half done.

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Originally Posted by cffisher

Not to be a spoil sport but if this is a railing around a deck OR any other for that mater.... you should check with a local contractor in your area.. There are codes for spacing spindels as to many kids have hung themselves from them. Around here if I remember right a baseball should not fit. But I haven't put up a deck in 10 years, but good thing to check an inspector can ruin your day if you have to redo it when half done.

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That's true. Your local building dept should have the specs - though you might find that you should have gotten a building permit first (if you don't have one).
Our balusters (New York State Code) are supposed to be 4" max edge to edge apart. I'm at 5", but height from the ground is within the distance of not even being required (30")

Weekend projects! No inspectors! Total cost under 500.00 bucks no permit required, on repairs, Key things to remember! :)

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Originally Posted by stovens

Weekend projects! No inspectors! Total cost under 500.00 bucks no permit required, on repairs, Key things to remember! :)

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Worked for me - that is until my wife went to work part time in our town's building dept:o

My criteria now, if it's behind closed doors .......... it didn't happen :LOL:

i weld in a factory and we do alot of work on galvanized metal. if you do get sick from the fumes off the galvanized metal drink a crap load of milk and it will cure it pretty quick. just a tip

It dosen't cost anything to ask. Compliance it up to you.. BUT if I did somthing that caused a kid to get hurt I don't think I could live with that.

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Originally Posted by cffisher

Not to be a spoil sport but if this is a railing around a deck OR any other for that mater.... you should check with a local contractor in your area.. There are codes for spacing spindels as to many kids have hung themselves from them. Around here if I remember right a baseball should not fit. But I haven't put up a deck in 10 years, but good thing to check an inspector can ruin your day if you have to redo it when half done.

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Charlie, that's excellent advice, and I'm aware of the local codes for decks. Here the maximum spacing for spindles is 4", with railings not less than 36". I am replicating the spacing of the rail system that was on the deck originally, just using metal vs wood to minimize future maintenance. We are outside of the municipalities, out in the county, so any of the local city nuances are not applicable, but I'm in compliance anyway.

Thought I'd post up a few pictures of the finished railings. I let the stair rails intimidate me for a while, but I finally got my head around the relationship of posts and angled rail sections and I think they worked out OK. Each rail section is made up of four horizontal pieces of 1.5"x0.5" C channel, center spindles of 3/4" rigid conduit, and three small sections of the same conduit used to tie the bottom & top together. Posts are 4x4x1/8" metal posts, with rail sections hooked on with 1/4x20 bolts. Rail sections are capped with a TREX composite 2x4, and the new decking is also TREX.

nice rail job:D

I think they worked out OK.

Are you kidding? I think it worked out great, the deck and railing looks awesome!!!

Mike

Good grief Roger, that rail will be standing after the house turns to dust!! Nice job

Excelent Roger. Looks like a pro did it! Way to dive in, and make something you can be proud of for the rest of your life!

Thanks for the kudo's guys. I'm really pleased with the way the deck rebuild came out - took me several designs to find a way to use my old spindles with a look that I liked. And yes Dave, they are indeed stout!! I think that a seven foot section weighed in at almost 80 pounds, and the longest section is a bit over nine feet long....:eek:

Now that you been practicing with that, are you interested in bidding on a facility so we can close Guantanimo???

Really looks nice Rog, fantastic work!!!!