Any Welders by Trade Here?

Got questions? We got answers....
Post Reply
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Any Welders by Trade Here?

Post by KDXGarage »

If anyone is a welder by trade, what do you or the place you work at charge per hour for simple jobs? This is assuming that you are not doing it in an assembly or line fashion.

I have a couple of areas on some frames (just brackets, no frame cracks) and am wondering what it would cost to get some professional welding work done.

Thanks.
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
clutchcover
Supporting Member II
Supporting Member II
Posts: 70
Joined: 12:49 pm Mar 21 2005
Country:
Location: Pocatello Idaho

Post by clutchcover »

Welders around here usually charge 40-60 dollars per hour shoprate depending on what you need done. If you already have the brackets fabbed up, should take them 15 or 20 minutes.
97 Kdx200
Summuda goodies.... But not quite enough.
User avatar
bradf
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 703
Joined: 02:17 am Dec 11 2004
Country: USA
Location: Anderson, SC

Post by bradf »

One place you can try is a good exhaust/muffler shop. Not Midas, but a locally owned and operated one. They are not told what to do by "the Company" so they can do simple 10 minute jobs without taking 30 minutes trying to figure out how to bill it. Have everything ground down and the metal clean. Take it in on the truck when you ask them so they won't have to guess at what you are talking about. Tell them you pay in cash, no receipt needed.
'04 220 w/'01 KX250 USD forks, '02 RM125 Showa shock, Rekluse EXP 3.0, LHRB & all RB'd
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Post by KDXGarage »

clutchcover and bradf, thanks for the answers so far!
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
bronco95tgp
Member
Posts: 192
Joined: 09:39 pm Dec 01 2004
Country:
Location: Huntsville Al

Post by bronco95tgp »

Well it seems like I got a new job Jason, I work at a place called Iornworks, they make mailboxes and wrought iron fences/down rails from scratch, there is some amazing work that comes out of the shop. Everything is welded on site, it is a pretty small operation so it probably wouldn't be a problem for me to ask one of the guys if they wanted a little side work, I am pretty sure they would. I am doing stuff like installing mailboxes and cutting the steal to all these specific measurements and installing the railing and fencing, the mail boxes are really the only things that are welded on a jig, everything else is custom. If you want me to ask one of the welders, maybe you could e-mail me some pictures and I can take them into work on monday and get back to you. The shop is on Greenbrier Road, off of Interstate 565, near the big Target Distribution place and the Harley Davidson store.
its a '04 KDX 220 cadillac
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Post by KDXGarage »

Hey, Bronco. I'll e-mail you with the details. Asking someone if they want some side work sounds good to me.

Thanks!
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
89kdx200rdr
Supporting Member III
Supporting Member III
Posts: 245
Joined: 04:06 am Nov 16 2004
Country:
Location: Blountville, Tennessee

Post by 89kdx200rdr »

you dont know anybody that can weld jason? hell i would do it for free (maybe some beers) but it would probably be cheaper for you to pay someone there as opposed to driving all the way up here
1989 KDX 200
2003 KX 250
2006 KX 250F
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Post by KDXGarage »

Thank you very much for the offer. I'd be thrilled to just be able to buy someone some beer to get them to do a little welding.

wsjkawasaki might be able to do it, but it may be easier on me to have it done locally. If bronco's co-employees ask too much to do it, then I will just let him do it.

When this thread started, I was going to use a 2nd frame instead of the original frame on my 87 KDX200. I noticed that the second frame's steering bearing races are a little rusted and pitted. Although I have a new set of OEM bearings already, I see no easy or cheap way to get the races out. I think it will just be better to get the original frame repaired.

An exhaust pipe hanger mount is totally screwed up. I have a 3rd, unuseable frame that I am going to cut a hanger from to use on the original frame.

That is the main welding project. There is also a threaded hole where a seat panel bolt goes. In the back part of the hole, there is a piece of a tap broke off in the hole. In the front part of the hole, the threads are pretty stripped, and the bolt does not really catch well on the litle bit of threads that are left. Getting the piece of tap out would be nice, but not necessary. On the stripped threads part, can one just weld up the hole and then drill a new hole and run a tap in it? I am not sure how welding exactly works. Would the frame and whatever the welding does become one sold unit? Would it make it one solid piece of metal? I don't want it to be where the new welded portion just sits in the old hole. I think that if I tried to drill and tap that, that it would just come undone, as in come apart.

Yep, I am that dumb about welding. :prayer:

Here is a picture of what a good exhaust hanger looks like, then the bad one that I want to replace. I am wanting to just cut the bad one off with a hacksaw, then sand it down smooth with my air die grinder. I am hoping I can just cut off the old one and have someone weld on one cut off another frame.

The piece is about 3/4" of an inch wide and about 1/2" deep, with a 6mm x 1mm threaded hole in the middle. It looks like the tophat on a Monopoly game.

Image

Image
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
89kdx200rdr
Supporting Member III
Supporting Member III
Posts: 245
Joined: 04:06 am Nov 16 2004
Country:
Location: Blountville, Tennessee

Post by 89kdx200rdr »

how to post pics in the forum now i ask. i saw the new starwars movie. yoda pisses me off. i have to think about what he's saying
1989 KDX 200
2003 KX 250
2006 KX 250F
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Post by KDXGarage »

I have them on my own webspace provided by my ISP, then I put the left bracket [, then the IMG, then the right bracket]. I then put the URL for my picture, then the [/img] at the end.
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
karbon_dunn

Post by karbon_dunn »

Jason when you stated the races are rusted in and pitted do you mean the races won't come out as in rusted in? When I changed mine I just took a brass bar and came in from the opposite side of the stem tube and knocked them out from the bottom of the race with the bar and hammer and they popped out. I did spray it down with WD40 and let it sit first.

To put the races in I just layed it up flush on the stem and took a piece of wood and knocked it down with a hammer. It wouldn't set all the way down so I took the old race and flipped it over to match the new race and then the wood and set it down onto the lip. Worked great for me.

Now I will tell you what you have told me before since we had the whole powertool conversation before. If I can do it..... :razz:
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Post by KDXGarage »

They have a little bit of rust and pitting on the surface where the bearing rides. I checked my '94 frame and saw how easy it would be to come in from the other side with a punch or drift to knock them out. The race edges really stick out on that frame. The top race on an 87 has a little bit sticking out and it may possibly be removed with a punch or drift, but there is no way to get to the bottom race's edge with a punch or drift. Beyond the inner edge of the lower race is an inward curving arc that leads to the head tube opening.

KAY DEE EXER recommended a slide hammer. I hear they are great for roll pins :razz: The wood block suggestion sounds like a good idea if I ever get them out. How wide is the "contact patch" of where the outer edge of the race contacts the head tube? I am wondering if putting one punch at an angle and then hitting that punch with another punch would work. I have a 4 pound "Gentle Persuader / Little Tapper" drilling hammer that would love to take a shot at it. :mrgreen:

Thanks for the suggestions.

I hacksawed the exhaust pipe hanger off early this morning. It has a piece of a broken bolt, a piece of a broken screw extractor and damage from attempted drilling, plus damage from welding (wsjkawasaki's attempt to fix my screw up). I think the main part of screw extractor is SCREW, cause that is all I get with those things. :evil:
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
User avatar
KDXer
Supporting Member
Posts: 2845
Joined: 12:11 pm Nov 12 2004
Country:
Location: Sydney, Downunder

Post by KDXer »

:razz: :lol:
Image

"I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car."
karbon_dunn

Post by karbon_dunn »

Not sure what you meant by 'outer edge of the race contacts the head tube'. I took my '93 frame and popped both upper and lower races out. I just used a long flat head screw driver this time and both popped out with a couple hits. The bottom of both races, where the bottom of the race seats in the tube is 5mm for both races. The bottom race had a clearance of about 1.5mm and the top had about 1mm that sat outside of the lip that seated the race. I tried to get a pic by my camera won't focus down that small. The outter cylindrical width of the bottom race a measured at 13.5mm and the top was 11mm.

The one issue I had was putting the bearing on the stem. That was where I used the old race flipped over and placed onto the top of the new race and then you can either use a close diameter sized pipe or I used my jack handle on my 3 ton car jack that worked perfectly. Just be sure to use the wood when placing the bearing in to make sure it seats straight at first since the wood will absorb alot of the force when first seating the races/bearing. Make sure it is hard wood too or stuff like pine will just split.
karbon_dunn

Post by karbon_dunn »

Forgot to add there a pic pretty much of the same procedure I used in the manual in the wheels/tire section under hub removal I believe that has a picture of pretty much the same direction I went with removing the races.
Post Reply