[zachv]

Originally Posted by BESRK

Plus, the bumpers paid for a new shop drill press (3/4" chuck), a plasma cutter, a new Lincoln Promig 175 and a wet metal cutting bandsaw...

See that...there is an upside to everything. I do the same thing. Between buying steel and new tools/equipment I do not make anything either it seems.

[JIM79CJ7]

I stickied this thread ! thanks BESRK for a great write up .

JIM :{>

[BESRK]

Woohoo! No problem. I've got somemore ideas bouncing aroung in my head. As I spill them out onto metal I'll take pics and writeup some other stuff.

[phlex234]

SO BUMPERS ARE GONE DAMN IT I WAS SSAVING MY PENNIES FOR FRONT AND REAR AND JUST ORDER A COMBO! your neighbor officially sucks!

[BESRK]

Yeah... I'd really like to find out which one it was. I know I made quite a bit of noise (with the 7" grinder) but I always limited grinding between 10am and 5pm. Sorry for those of you who planned on purchasing these bumpers... I really am sorry as it was a source of extra income for the Jeeps... now I gotta dust off the credit cards again

[Jeep Daddy]

Originally Posted by BESRK

Price of steel is killing me right now. Here is what I pay for the steel. I still have to break it down by the inch to see what my actual cost per bumper is...

2x4x1/4" wall... $240 for 20' (4 rear bumpers @ 55") or (5 front bumpers @ 48") My price for 10'x 3/16 wall $63.80 (not same wall)
3x3x1/4" wall $220 for 24' (mounting legs..5") My price $9.85 for 1' (10' would be $98.50)
2 1/2x2 1/2x 1/4"wall $190 for 24' (receiver 7")I paid $14.66 for 2' (so 10' would be $73.30)
2"x3/4" flat .. $75 for 20' (clevis mounts 12")I paid $3.34 for 1' so 10' would be $34.40
2"x1/4" flat.. $23 for 20' (end pieces 16")I paid $2.00for 2' of 3/16" thick flat (not same thickness)so 10' would be $10
3"x3/8" flat.. $75 for 20' (mounting plates 16-18")I bought the wrong size here. I got 2' of 3/16" thick flat for $2.94
2 1/2"x1/4" flat.. $27 for 20' (chain plate 7")I paid $1.47 for 1' so 10' would be $14.70 (that's a little higher than you paid)
2x2x3/16" square.. $110 for 20' (swingaway frame 88"+-)I paid $$48.40 for 10' so 20' would be less than $96
spindle and bearing.. about $25 w/shippingpaid about the same
De Sta Co latch.. about $25 w/shippingpaid about the same

I am wondering why prices of steel are so different. I guess it might be because of the different geographic locations. I did compare some prices of steel that are of different wall thicknesses. Some pieces I have not purchased yet. I need go go over my list again. Anyway, I spent about $193 for the steel and another $50 for the latch and spindle and I can probably get both front and rear bumper out of this. I am not including the spindle tubing because I think I can get a piece of solid free and turn it on a lathe for the tire carrier.

[BESRK]

Man!! I wish I could've bought steel at some of those prices before I made about 50 bumpers! Only reason I can think of for the higher prices that I paid are that this is the only steel distributor here in Newport News. I might have been able to go southside (Norfolk or Portsmouth) but it would have been a long trek with metal sticking out the back of my pickup truck. Maybe when I start up making bumpers again I'll look for a better distributor. I should have another trailer by then to haul larger quantities too. That's cool that you've got a distributor that sells small quantities too...

[Jeep Daddy]

Originally Posted by BESRK

Man!! I wish I could've bought steel at some of those prices before I made about 50 bumpers! Only reason I can think of for the higher prices that I paid are that this is the only steel distributor here in Newport News. I might have been able to go southside (Norfolk or Portsmouth) but it would have been a long trek with metal sticking out the back of my pickup truck. Maybe when I start up making bumpers again I'll look for a better distributor. I should have another trailer by then to haul larger quantities too. That's cool that you've got a distributor that sells small quantities too...

I bought all this mild steel from the first place that was recommended to me by a friend. I bet I could do better on prices if I shop around. I know that there are a bunch of places around here that I can buy it from. Almost all of that steel comes in 20' lengths and you get charged anywhere from $2.00 to $3.50 per cut to buy smaller pieces. If you find a rem from a previous cut, you don't have to pay for a cut. But, if it is 16" long, you pay for a 2' length piece. I felt that it was cheaper to buy it to the nearest foot longer than I need and pay for a cut. They also discount the steel more if you buy the entire 20' length.

Today I tried cutting a piece of 6" x 1/4" steel down the middle so I'd have 2 3" wide pieces but that chop saw is not dealing with a large piece that well. I wonder if they have different grades of cut off abrasive wheels????

[BESRK]

I've tried cutting steel down the middle with a chopsaw in the past and it doesn't work too well. Finally dished out the $$$ for a plasma cutter and it is one of the most used machines in the shop. It's awesome. I've used it to cut metal lengthwise, burn off frozen leaf spring ubolts that used to be a PITA, and gouge out old welds on brackets or mistakes. It zips thru that 1/4" steel like butter. If you just need a small piece of something, you can pick up some steel at Lowe's too. That steel distributor here won't even sell scrap steel. It's full length or nothing. Then, they charge $1 a cut to cut it in half. Guess you can do that when you're the only store in town..

[Jeep Daddy]

Originally Posted by BESRK

I've tried cutting steel down the middle with a chopsaw in the past and it doesn't work too well. Finally dished out the $$$ for a plasma cutter and it is one of the most used machines in the shop. It's awesome. I've used it to cut metal lengthwise, burn off frozen leaf spring ubolts that used to be a PITA, and gouge out old welds on brackets or mistakes. It zips thru that 1/4" steel like butter. If you just need a small piece of something, you can pick up some steel at Lowe's too. That steel distributor here won't even sell scrap steel. It's full length or nothing. Then, they charge $1 a cut to cut it in half. Guess you can do that when you're the only store in town..

I'm going to try out my boss' plasma cutter. He said that 1/4" is about it's limit. I don't know much about them but he said that you need compressed air to make it work. That's not a problem, since I've got 4 compressors, but I had no idea they used compressed air. He said he'd loan it to me for a while - so I'm looking forward to giving it a try. I've also got a cutting torch that I may put to good use. I'll use the chop saw for those pieces of angle iron, and smaller jobs.

[BESRK]

Once you use the plasma, you'll buy one... sooner or later The 110 volt plasmas struggle a little with 1/4" but the 220 volt ones shouldn't. Most of the 220 volt cutters will use either 110 or 220 and they switch automatically. All you have to do is make an adapter plug for it.

[johnnySV]

BESRK,

when finishing w/ POR-15 and the Chassis black, what equipment / settings are you using to spray it ??

also, in your experiance what if the difference between conventional POR-15 and the Chassis Black ??

how would you compare these finishes to powdercoat ??

thanks,

[BESRK]

It's hard to say what pressure I'm shooting at as I just turn the air pressure down on the gun until I get the pattern I want. I use a HVLP gravity feed gun that uses a max pressure of 17 psi (if I remember correctly). With my old Devilbliss gun (siphon feed), I set the pressure to about 50-55 psi and shot it. The difference between the two is that the POR 15 (base) flows out a lot nicer (into all the nooks and crannies) and is tougher when dry. The Chassis Black can be shot "wet" which will leave a semi gloss finish or you can turn down the air a little bit and sort of "spatter" it on which will provide a matte finish. Powder coating is definately tougher to begin with.. but POR 15 is pretty tough too (especially if you spray on several thin coats) and can be touched up easily. However, POR 15's shelf (after opening the can) is probably about 2 months or so (depending on humidity) so plan it out by buying what you can use at the moment.. pints, quarts or gallons.

[Baas]

Great write up!
I am building a similar tyre carrier for my TJ but using tubes. I will post the pics once I am done.

On the issue of the neighbour – yes it sux but there is a reason one cannot run a business from a residential area.
Here is the situation in South Africa. (hope you never have the same problem in the US)
In apartheid years you were not even allowed to own a welder, grinder or any other manufacturing type tools. You needed to show them a manufacturer’s license before you could get a power tool. Those were harder to get than a firearm license.
Now in post apartheid South Africa the situation is different.
They wanted to stimulate the economy and create jobs. In this free for all environment we don’t have quite residential areas anymore (except if you are willing to fork out $$$$$) Your neighbour might be building in his garage for a while and one morning you wake up there is a mini factory next door. They allow this without upgrading the roads, water or power supplies. We have power outages every day for a couple of hours because the system that was designed for home use is now supplying power to 10 factories. Your children can’t ride their bicycles in the street as there are big trucks driving up and down. The roads are being damaged by the trucks - Makes for a great offroad track right on my doorstep.
So although your neighbour is a #@%$#@%# , you need to sacrifice some things to protect your (and every other American’s) way of life.

BTW Extremely neat welding. Have you ever done coded welding before?

[BESRK]

I've gotten over the whole thing. I think it was the grinding that pissed them off the most. No big deal. I retire from the military in a couple of years and will probably pursue something then. As for right now, I can focus more attention on my projects. For one, I just towed home a military M1008 truck with a Dana 60/GM 14 Bolt combo that are gonna be stuffed under my 71 CJ5. So... I guess the peaceful days of no grinding are about to come to a "grinding" halt As for the welding, no.. I haven't done any code work. I bought my first welder about 20 years ago and have just learned by reading, practicing... and then practicing some more. Next major project.. probably a 3 link suspension for the rear of my Big Lime!! I'll be sure to photo document the whole thing too...