On this episode of HOT ROD Garage presented by Lincoln tech
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00:00 Hey this is Hot Rod Garage, I'm your host Tony Angelo.
00:03 You guys asked for it and today we're going to bring it to you.
00:05 We're doing a Fabrication 101 episode.
00:07 But before we get into that, don't forget you can check us out online at MotorTrend
00:11 On Demand.
00:12 You can search, click and view a whole wealth of automotive content from our MotorTrend
00:16 universe.
00:16 Welcome to Hot Rod Garage presented by Lincoln Tech.
00:42 Today we're going to do something a little bit different in the garage.
00:44 We're going to teach you the basics of fabrication.
00:46 And with a basic understanding of fabrication, some patience and a small collection of tools,
00:50 you're going to be able to do a whole lot of different things on your hot rod builds.
00:53 That means making this engine fit into that, making exhaust, making intercooler piping,
00:57 making bracketry.
00:58 Whatever you want to do, you're going to be able to do it with these skills that we're
01:01 going to show you today.
01:02 But first, let Clarence Barnes lay it on you with this quick tech tip from Lincoln Tech.
01:10 You know, when it comes to cutting sheet metal for a project, the right tool makes all the
01:15 difference in the world.
01:16 Believe me, there are so many expensive power tools that will do the job, but you can also
01:20 get by with a few cool hand tools.
01:23 These are some of our favorites.
01:24 Now, the Beverly Shear is a unique hand tool because it cuts sheet metal between a pair
01:29 of thick metal surfaces that are not necessarily that sharp, but because the tolerance between
01:35 the surfaces is so tight, the metal has no choice to be cut in half as the tools operated.
01:43 This tool makes straight cuts or general radius cuts as well.
01:46 Now, a stomp shear is like a giant pair of scissors that's operated by your foot.
01:52 This tool creates minimal waste while making perfectly straight cuts in the sheet metal.
01:56 It's fast and the material limitation is governed by how much the tool costs and your ability
02:02 to apply your body weight to the lever that moves the blade.
02:05 No doubt, the more expensive the stomp shear, the thicker metal it will cut.
02:10 Lincoln Tech can teach you how to have a career working with cars.
02:13 See LincolnTech.edu.
02:14 Now, back to Fab 101.
02:20 I brought my buddy, Colin Wolf, in here today.
02:21 What's up, Colin?
02:22 How's it going, Tony?
02:23 Good.
02:24 Colin's a fabrication expert.
02:25 He's going to show us everything we need to know about fabbing up stuff.
02:28 But what we need to build today is a human-sized fabrication table because this one is ridiculous
02:34 and it's way too tall.
02:35 So whoever built this before me, I think it was like six foot six in this shop.
02:38 I don't know.
02:39 This is unusable.
02:40 You can build this table, but you can use those skills to build all sorts of different
02:43 things for your car.
02:44 But first, let's talk about these tools.
02:46 These are a lot of simple hand tools mostly.
02:48 Colin, you want to lay out what these are?
02:51 Sure.
02:52 Getting accurate measurements is probably the most important thing with fabricating.
02:54 If you can make it out of paper, then you can make it out of metal.
02:57 These are all the tools that you're going to need to help you do that.
02:59 Just simple combination squares, protractors, all kinds of shapes and sizes, a digital one,
03:06 levels, keeping things straight and plumb, inside and outside, spring calipers.
03:12 This is a contour gauge.
03:15 These are one, two, three blocks.
03:17 They're a known perfect dimension, one inch, two inch, and three inch.
03:20 You can use them a thousand different ways.
03:21 They're super handy.
03:22 All right.
03:23 So that's it for the measurement tools.
03:24 Now we're going to talk about sanding, grinding, and cutting metal.
03:27 And to do that today, we're only going to use a dual action sander and an angle grinder
03:31 with a few different attachments.
03:32 We've also got a set of hand files for fine tuning metal.
03:36 And anytime we have to make holes, we're just going to use a simple punch and drill.
03:40 That's it.
03:41 So once you've got your metal prepared for welding or bolting together, get yourself a
03:44 nice basic MIG welder and go to town.
03:46 Or if you want to bolt it together, grab a nut and a bolt.
03:49 Or there's a couple other cool options like welding metal slugs in to thread the hole.
03:53 Or you can use a nut cert tool, which rivets a nut into a hole in metal.
03:56 That thing is awesome.
03:57 We'll show you how it works later.
03:58 But first, let's get into building this table.
04:00 All right.
04:01 So this pile of metal is what we're going to turn into our table.
04:03 Now, Colin drew up this really cool plan on SolidWorks.
04:06 You can check it out.
04:07 We went to a local metal supply shop to get this stuff.
04:10 It's far better than trying to go to a hardware store for a few different reasons.
04:13 They're going to have better stock.
04:15 It's going to be more affordable.
04:16 And for bigger pieces, especially thick ones, that are going to be a big pain in your butt
04:19 to cut, they will cut that stuff for you usually.
04:23 So what are we looking at here, Colin?
04:24 This is all obviously mild steel.
04:26 Yes.
04:27 We went with hot rolled plate.
04:29 It's a little bit cheaper.
04:30 And also, the slag from your MIG welder is not going to stick this as easily as cold
04:33 rolled steel.
04:34 We got two by two, 1/8 inch wall or 11 gauge wall.
04:39 This is for the legs and the main structure.
04:41 And then we went ahead and got little inch by inch sections.
04:44 And that'll serve as the braces and then little hangers for tools or clamps.
04:50 And on top, we're going to put one of this big thick plate on one side.
04:55 That's how thick, 3/8?
04:56 Yes.
04:57 This is 3/8.
04:58 Got it.
04:59 We have some 3/8 plate for the top.
05:00 So we're going to talk about the thicknesses we're going to use to build this table.
05:01 But let's say you're doing car stuff, exhaust, or building brackets for radiators, engine
05:06 mounts, stuff like that.
05:07 Do you have a rule of thumb or a good guideline?
05:09 Typically, we use 11 gauge and 16.
05:11 11 gauge is somewhere around 1/8 inch.
05:13 And then 16 is somewhere about half of that.
05:17 Anything that's going to be load bearing, we're going to want to use 1/8 inch.
05:20 Use your brain.
05:21 If it's an engine, you're not going to want to use tin foil.
05:24 Anything small, a radiator bracket, a little switch panel, you can get away with 16 gauge.
05:29 If you're trying to match up with your body, sometimes they use 20, 22 gauge, which is
05:33 really thin.
05:34 And as far as exhaust piping, stuff like that, I know usually it's like 14 gauge, right?
05:39 Somewhere in there?
05:40 16 gauge.
05:41 The exhaust is generally 065, which is 16 gauge.
05:45 Cool.
05:46 All right.
05:47 So we've got all the metal cleaned up, wiped down with isopropyl alcohol.
05:50 Use that instead of like brake clean or acetone.
05:53 It's less toxic for you to touch.
05:55 It's going to burn cleaner if any of it is left on there with any kind of residue.
05:58 Colin is going to start cutting these table legs with an angle grinder with what's on
06:02 there?
06:03 We've got a metal cutoff wheel on here.
06:06 One of the things you're going to want to make sure that when you're using an angle
06:08 grinder, this is not a precision instrument.
06:10 So you're going to want to mark all four sides if you're cutting a square.
06:14 Make sure that you go all the way around with your mark.
06:17 So that way when you go ahead and cut it, finish it off, you have a nice clean butt
06:21 joint to weld.
06:22 And another thing, anytime you're measuring, you want to take into account the width of
06:25 whatever you're cutting with.
06:26 Now this is pretty thin.
06:28 It's about a sixteenth of an inch, but sometimes if you have a big chop saw or something like
06:31 that, it can be far bigger and it can really screw up your measurements.
06:33 So take that into account where you mark it and what you're cutting with exactly.
06:37 All right, so we've got all of our metal pieces cut.
07:01 They're all rough cuts, so we're going to clean them up now using this flap wheel, which
07:04 is a sanding wheel.
07:05 It's just a bunch of tiny pieces of sandpaper glued into a wheel.
07:09 These things are rad.
07:10 They're very durable and they take off a ton of metal.
07:12 So when you do use them, you're going to want to be careful because that stuff's going to
07:14 eat it up quick.
07:16 So we cleaned up all the ends of these pieces with that dual action sander and then wiped
07:19 them down again with the isopropyl alcohol.
07:21 So now they're ready to weld.
07:22 What we're going to do is we're going to put a couple of different pieces into place, tack
07:25 weld them.
07:26 Those are little bits of weld that will hold your different pieces of metal together.
07:29 Once they're held together, you can check, make sure you've got the angles right, the
07:32 placement of the metal right.
07:33 If everything looks good, then you can go ahead and fully weld it together.
07:36 We're going to be MIG welding today.
07:37 And one of the most important things you can know about that is how to set up the machine.
07:41 We're using a half inch nozzle on the end of the gun.
07:44 So typically you're going to want anywhere from 22 to 27 CFH on here.
07:48 The cleanliness of your tip is also super important.
07:50 See, this is just from mild use.
07:52 There's a slight buildup from slag.
07:54 So you can just pop this thing off and run a pair of dikes inside to clean them off.
07:58 You should be doing this all the time when you're MIG welding.
08:00 You get more buildup in there.
08:02 It's going to create turbulent flow coming out of here and it's just going to give you
08:05 bad weld quality.
08:06 Okay.
08:07 So now we've got our table frame fully tacked together.
08:09 Now comes the fun part, welding.
08:11 Colin, you want to start it off?
08:13 You do some, I'll do some.
08:14 We'll take turns, whatever.
08:15 Sure thing.
08:16 I'll get the welder, set it up.
08:17 All right.
08:18 Let's do it.
08:47 Okay.
08:48 So we've got the whole frame for our table welded up.
08:51 Now you might've noticed in those plans that we showed earlier, this thing isn't just any
08:54 table.
08:55 This is a modular fixture table that Colin designed himself.
08:58 That means this side of the table is going to be one big block of 3/8 metal, 30 by 30.
09:03 This other side is going to be three 10 inch wide pieces that are going to slide and move
09:06 around in case we want to say we're working on a piece that has an arm on it and we're
09:11 going to be able to lay it flat.
09:12 We can slide it, make enough space between the two plates for that arm to lay down, lay
09:16 the piece flat and then clamp it down.
09:18 So Colin made these six rails that we're going to weld in place and then the metal sheets
09:24 on top will slide around.
09:25 It's pretty cool.
09:26 All right.
09:27 So I'm making these lugs that are going to ride in these rails and allow us to slide
09:31 those top plates back and forth and tighten them down without having to get underneath
09:34 the table.
09:35 I've welded these nuts onto these plates that we made.
09:39 So they're going to secure these screws that are going to go down to the top plates.
09:44 Now when you do something like this, you want to go a little bit bigger with the drill bit
09:47 so you don't have any trouble getting the bolt through.
09:49 Usually about a sixteenth of an inch or so, that's what we're doing.
09:52 But you want to make sure you get this centered before you weld anything on there or you may
09:56 still have trouble.
09:57 So what you want to do is, a little pro tip here, is if you use a countersunk style screw,
10:04 that cone is going to center itself in here.
10:07 All you got to do is tighten it down and the cone will center that nut.
10:12 You don't have to worry about making sure it's in the center when you weld it on.
10:26 Alright, moment of truth, we're going to flip this thing over and see if it lays flat like
10:30 a regular table.
10:32 Look at that.
10:36 That's pretty sweet.
10:39 I can reach stuff all the way around.
10:44 Alright, I'll see you guys later.
10:48 Alright so this thing is on the ground and it looks awesome.
10:51 The only thing we have left to do is we're going to put our one big block on this side.
10:55 That's going to be a thirty by thirty inch piece of three eighths inch sheet metal.
10:59 Over here we're going to use these rails and bolt in three ten by thirty inch pieces.
11:04 Using those lugs and screws, we'll be able to move these around and lock them down in
11:07 sort of whatever position that we want.
11:13 Alright, so that's just about it for this fab table.
11:28 It came out awesome.
11:29 Here's how this thing works.
11:30 So it's a modular fixture table.
11:32 That means we have one big slab down there for welding and heavy duty stuff, but if we
11:36 want to get over here, we can, with just a simple screwdriver, loosen, tighten these
11:41 things up, put them wherever we want them, lock them down in those rails.
11:45 This would be like we had some uniquely shaped part, we wanted to pull one of these off so
11:52 we could lay it flat across a couple of the other ones.
11:55 We could do that.
11:56 We could even work with these panels, make other panels that have say fixtures for tools
12:00 like a shear or a tubing notcher or a bender or something like that, and we can take this
12:06 off, put the new plate on with the fixture for the tool, and work on our tool right on
12:10 this table.
12:11 This thing is sweet.
12:13 But looking at it, I feel like maybe it's missing something.
12:16 I got something in mind.
12:17 You think you can come up with something?
12:18 I got it.
12:19 While Colin's doing that, I brought in Roll Smokey and I'm going to show you guys a couple
12:21 more things.
12:22 Okay, so when I whipped this truck together, I used one of the pre-formed pipes that came
12:27 with the exhaust kit for the tailpipe.
12:29 As you can see, it leaves a little bit to be desired as far as style.
12:32 I was aware of that, but I caught a ton of flack online, and now it's time to change
12:35 that.
12:36 I'm going to use all the fab skills we just learned to make this thing look sweet.
12:38 I'm going to pull it off first.
12:41 Okay, so what I think I'm going to do is cut this pipe right on the middle of this little
12:47 straight, run it straight out so it should come right in front of that rear wheel, do
12:51 a cool slash cut on it, and this thing will look rad.
12:54 Actually, that kind of looks awesome.
13:04 I may just leave that.
13:07 All right, so this is a luminized pipe, so I did my best to clean that coating off because
13:12 this stuff can be kind of gross and toxic.
13:14 I think I've got it exactly where I want it.
13:16 Put some big tacks on it, check it one more time.
13:18 Hold it for good.
13:27 All right, this thing is ready to go back in.
13:28 All right, that looks awesome.
13:35 Now we're going to go under the hood.
13:36 I'm going to teach you how nutserts and templates work.
13:38 Okay, if you watched the Roll Smokey build episode, you saw we made these trick little
13:42 upper radiator mounts to hold the radiator in, and they fit great, but what you didn't
13:45 see is how we made them.
13:47 I work all the kinks out in paper first, and then when it fits great, I transfer that over
13:51 to metal, and the metal should fit right the first time.
13:53 The reason we're talking about these things again now is that because of the way that
13:56 they're situated, it's really hard to access the hardware underneath, so these are a perfect
14:00 opportunity to show you how nutserts work.
14:02 That's that tool I showed you before that rivets a nut into sheet metal.
14:06 I'm going to grab that thing.
14:07 We're going to drill some holes, show you how it works.
14:10 This is a nutsert, and this is a nutsert tool.
14:12 First thing I had to do was open up these holes a little bit bigger to accept the nutsert.
14:15 I did that already.
14:16 Then all you've got to do is load the nutsert onto the tool, which really is just like a
14:21 big riveter.
14:22 This is going to put a permanent nut riveted into this sheet metal, and it actually can
14:26 support quite a bit of weight.
14:27 So once it's in there, you just squeeze it, spin it off, and that's it.
14:39 That thing is in there for good.
14:40 What?
14:41 Colin, now this thing looks right now.
14:42 Thanks, Tony.
14:43 You did a kick-ass job.
14:44 All right.
14:45 That's it for our Fabrication 101 episode here at Hot Rod Garage.
14:46 We'll see you next time.
14:47 Bye.
14:48 [00:05:00]
14:49 [music]
14:50 [00:05:10]
14:51 [end of transcript]
14:51, and I'm going to take that C340 out of my 71-inch, and I'm going to put it in a
14:59 [00:05:15]
15:00 [music]
15:01 [00:05:20]
15:02 [end of transcript]
15:02 Thanks, Tony.
15:03 You did a kick-ass job.
15:04 All right.
15:05 That's it for our Fabrication 101 episode here at Hot Rod Garage, presented by Lincoln Tech.
15:06 Hope you guys learned something.
15:07 Don't be afraid to try to make yourself some parts.
15:08 Nope.
15:09 Hold on.
15:10 Come on back.
15:11 Let's go back.
15:12 Stay tuned for next time.
15:13 We're going to take that C340 out of my 71 Demon.
15:14 We are going to tear that thing apart and hopefully get it back running stronger than ever.
15:15 Don't forget to check us out on social media.
15:16 Facebook is Hot Rod Garage Show.
15:17 You can find me on Instagram at tangelo96.
15:18 I'm @tangelo96.
15:19 I'll see you next time.
15:20 Bye.
15:21 [00:06:00]
15:22 [music]
15:23 [00:06:10]
15:24 [end of transcript]
15:37 [music]
15:44 [00:06:36]
15:51, if you could work in a line, the biggest tool in fabricating is you.
16:16 That'd be great.
16:17 I feel like I'm standing in a bar.
16:18 Don't be afraid to try new things.
16:26 Now, that's kind of weird, right?
16:28 That feels weird.
16:30 Yeah, get out there.
16:31 See who you are, man.
16:32 Figure yourself.
16:33 Everybody's got to figure themselves out.
16:35 It's a journey, man.
16:36 Life's a journey, dude.
16:38 There are no wrong turns.
16:39 All right, let's do this.
16:40 Bam.
16:41 [00:07:00]
16:42 [music]
16:43 [00:07:03]