Whoa.......... Look at that nice rack!!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

.....I thought that would get your attention :D

I have to make up four of these, two for the normal sized cans of beer, and two for the long cans.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/cutoff_saw1.jpg
Using my new fancy cut off blade on my steel cutting saw, I was able to make a lot less mess than usual, and the cuts were all nice and clean, no extra grinding needed.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/steel_cut.jpg
Got all the pieces cut up, and ready for welding.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/all_jigged_up.jpg
I made a jig to hold everything in place, I was a bit worried about the wood burning, but not really.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/ladder_welds.jpg
Here are some of my lousy welds...

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/ladder_welds_2nd.jpg
More done

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/angle_iron_welds.jpg
I then tacked the angle iron in place

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/angle_iron_welds_2nd.jpg
Ready to start the other ends of the angle iron.

continued below...................

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/2nd_ladder_welds.jpg
All welded up, and ready to stand up

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/beer_shelves/frame_done1.jpg
OK, three more to go.

I'll paint them, and then put some thin plywood in there as shelves.

I think I'll use some sort of glue to keep the plywood to the stand, as scews etc could be hard to do......?

Just to show you I can do stuff that is not round ;) :D

Cheers!

[Steve Ash]

Stu, by the looks of it you can weld up a frame for a top fuel dragster now!

[Tyler Howell]

You're cookin Stu.
Well Done:cool:

[Brian Buckley]

Stu,
I am impressed with your welding ability. I can see I have a long way to go before doing that good of work.

Brian

[Mark Singer]

Very nicely constructed....you are a man of many trades....steel and welding too!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Thanks guys!

Oh, and for anyone with a MIG welder, when you welds start to really suck, and you think you have lost your touch, check you gas bottle, it is most likely out of gas............. :o

Man is it easier to weld with that gas bottle full! :rolleyes:

Steve, I'd rather weld up a top fuel dragster with a TIG, and the take a LOT of DAILY practice, but I'm sure I could weld up a fast go-cart :cool:

Thanks for the kudos Mark, when you come from a fairly small town, like I did, you do a lot of jobs, and try to learn a little of everything, this way you can always get some work.

I've been a Weldor and a Waiter, sometimes on the same day! :eek:

Brian, welding with a MIG is so easy, it is embrassing, really, compared to sticks or TIG, it is fun!!

Just get some time in welding scrape iron, and work at getting your settings right, the heat and the wire speed, really MIG is fun, fast and clean, compared to other things.
It is all good.

Now I have to find or make some adjustable feet for the shelves, as the floor in the walk-in fridge is not level (water drains).

Cheers!

[Julio Navarro]

Impressive as always Stu.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks a lot Stu. You got me all hot and bothered for nothing.:) Nice work though!!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Thanks a lot Stu. You got me all hot and bothered for nothing.:) Nice work though!!

What...?

What in the world did you THINK I was talking about........??? ;) :D

[Karl Laustrup]

I knew you were talking about the beer racks, but I thought you'd show them with the BEER. Geez Stu, ya got me all excited too.

Nice job by the way. :D

Karl

[Jacob Snow]

mmmmm, beer!

Nice work.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

What...?

What in the world did you THINK I was talking about........??? ;) :D

I was thinking of beer racks of course. What else would I be thinking? :p

[Norman Hitt]

Heck, Stu,
I thought you'd got a shot of some nice "Elk" that had strayed across some continents into Tokyo, maybe.;) :D

Nice job on the racks. Just a thought.....Self tapping screws installed into predrilled and countersunk holes in each corner of the plywood should drill and tap into that thinwall metal pretty easy though if you start at the bottom shelf and work your way up to the top.

[James Biddle]

Nice job! If you're not worried about the plywood shelves tipping, you could just screw some wood blocks to the bottom of the ply, locking the ply between the frame members. Then you could remove them for cleaning up that occaisional beer spill.

[Mark Rios]

What...?

What in the world did you THINK I was talking about........??? ;) :D


Well I thought that we were gonna get to see Stu in a bikini top.

My hopes have been dashed to pieces.

[Frank Chaffee]

Stu,
Nice rack indeed. Seeing this project whets my appetite for my next MIG welder.

Thanks for showing that steel cut off blade, as I was unaware of that type. I would never go back to an abrasive blade for cutting steel because of the airborne particulates, but bandsaws are expensive…, so you have helped me make an important decision. Thanks.

One question I have is how do you deal with the welding fumes in The Dungeon? Do you run your DC? Curious.

At this point I too would glue in the shelves, tho another option would be to drill horizontally through the upright leg of the angles (on your drill press), and screw parallel to the ply layers.

What I would have done, and it may not be too late for your remaining racks, is to drill and countersink the level leg of the angles on the drill press before welding, and screw upwards into the ply shelves using a right angle drill (mine is black and green).

One last question, will you paint these racks or have them powder coated? If paint, then where; Dungeon or garage? I ask because I will be faced with this issue myself soon.

Somehow I knew you weren’t referring to antlers…

Frank

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Frank;

I think glue will be the easiest way to fly with the plywood shelves. The plywood will only 5mm thick, really it is strong enough, the other racks I have are over 10 years old, and not one is busted.

The Dungeon has an exhaust fan, it really sucks, 8" pipe out and an 8" pipe in. I run it and it sucks out my cool dry air, replacing it with warm moist stuff :(

But it is better than the welding fumes.

I wear a charcoal respirator as well, a new slim one the fits under the welding helmet, works great!

I'll paint them in the Dungeon, I have this WB spray, in rattle cans, fairly good stuff, and it was on sale, like $3 a can, as the Japanese don't trust it unless it stinks to high heaven and destroys brain cells, go figure :rolleyes:

I make a temp paint booth, and run the exhaust fan again, while wearing my respirator.

The steel cut off works well, there is very little mess, in comparison to the abrasive, and no smoke etc, the small chunks of steel can fly around a bit, and they are HOT but still, it works VERY well.

James;

Spill beer, what are you nuts :eek: ;) :D

Cheers!

[Tom Sherman]

Great beer racks Stu...I'm glad to hear that you don't spill beer I was thinking you might get your head stuck between shelves trying to clean it up.:rolleyes: