[festerGU]

I got the first 2 rungs in place yesterday afternoon.

I have to be careful welding these 19mm tubes, they’re only 1.5mm thick and the ally heats up very quickly. So far so good.

I’m using a zirconiated 2.4 tungsten but sharpened to a very fine point about 4mm long and using a 1.6mm 5356 rod.
Doing it with a slow pulse so keep the heat buildup as low as possible.
Should probably swap to a 1.6mm tungsten, Gavin?

Couple of progress pics.
...

Yes I would suspect a 1.6 tungsten would be better but it is more determined by the amperage than the material thickness although they go hand in hand. Depending on the machine some have a setting somewhere that can show what size tungsten they are expecting but if you are down around say 70 amps it's probably worth a go. There are some flash Millers that have settings to suit a sharpened A/C tungsten but all the rest will be running a balled tip. This is where your smaller tungsten might give better control, the smaller ball being a bit more precise.

There's not much point sharpening the tungsten first and it can affect the ball shape. The ball forming off the end of the sharp point can be deformed, although you looks OK. I've never tried arcing on DC steel but the common method is arcing on copper with AC. I just tend to roll the end on the linisher like I am sharpening but do it gently so as not to sharpen and hold and spin it so it is more like forming a rounded end. This quickly makes it a rounded shape and it pretty much balls as it wants as soon as you arc up. This is also what I do to clean it if I touch down. Don't waste your time fully sharpening.

For some of that lighter tighter work I will stick the tungsten out just a little, 1 or 2mm so I don't need quite as much amps to get the heat in by having the tungsten slightly closer than the shroud allows but that can make it harder to not touch down.

 

[geeyoutoo]

This is how the tungsten balls for me just by using it. Sorry it’s not in focus but it shows it anyway
...

Hmmm! Interesting, that's how I would shape it arcing on a copper bar, should work fine.

 

[festerGU]

Looking good John, is the idea that it is just a clip on and off as you need it or is it going to be permanently mounted.

Maybe you can knock me up some bending dies for work. Co-incidently I've spent half the day today trying to find a suitable tube bender at a reasonable price for bending stainless and ally tube 25 & 32mm and there's just nothing around at a reasonable cost for the amount of times we would use it.

Save Skeg some hard work and dig out the soapy steel wool and it'll clean up nicely.

 

[JFF45]

I swapped to 1.6 to finish welding the rungs. It does a narrower bead too.

Amps are always varied for me because I use the foot pedal. I never learned to set fixed amps and speed up as it gets hotter For the small amount I do it works for me.

 

[JFF45]

Looking good John, is the idea that it is just a clip on and off as you need it or is it going to be permanently mounted.

Maybe you can knock me up some bending dies for work. Co-incidently I've spent half the day today trying to find a suitable tube bender at a reasonable price for bending stainless and ally tube 25 & 32mm and there's just nothing around at a reasonable cost for the amount of times we would use it.

Save Skeg some hard work and dig out the soapy steel wool and it'll clean up nicely.

It’s just hooked on top and will be fastened on the bottom. I didn’t want to drill through the door on top but I have to for the bottom because it takes all the weight.
Most pics I’ve looked at have them drilled through on the bottom.

I’ve seen pics of van ladders on the side that just clip into the gutter.

I would have thought that a fab shop would have dies for bending?

 

[JFF45]

Hmmm! Interesting, that's how I would shape it arcing on a copper bar, should work fine.

I’ll give it a try on a copper bar to see how it goes.

I recall one of the fabricators on here saying not to bother doing anything with a 1.6 tungsten.

 

[festerGU]

I would have thought that a fab shop would have dies for bending?

We should. The boss should have bought them years ago but the (ex) wife business partner believes you can continue to make money without replacing, upgrading or buying new equipment and of course now we have a big that needs one. Trick is finding something with a range of dies at a reasonable price because we don't have a need that often

 

[Overboard]

Co-incidently I've spent half the day today trying to find a suitable tube bender at a reasonable price for bending stainless and ally tube 25 & 32mm and there's just nothing around at a reasonable cost for the amount of times we would use it.

Try Specialised Force.

Edit; .. or this https://isurplus.com.au/mechanical-tools/hydraulic/izumi-pb10n.html

Don't get one of the $200 ebay units.They are rubbish and will dent the pipe

 

[festerGU]

Try Specialised Force.

Yeah spoke to them today. They have a version of the old Hilmor/Record bender but they are adamant that it won't handle 3mm ally or 1.6mm stainless even though the spec sheet says it will do 2mm steel conduit. The other problem is there is no more Hilmor or Record so we can't find that style machine that is heavy enough to do more than conduit but anything else is too expensive for our infrequent use due to the cost of individual dies.

We found a guy on the sunny coast who has an interesting manual machine at a decent price but he is still developing a concave die for 25mm and it doesn't look like he's interested in doing 32mm die let alone have one right now.

 

[JFF45]

Made some more progress this morning. I’ve put some Altrex Skinz clear paint protection film on the top painted band of the door and I have a thin film of hard vinyl glued to the aluminium so that should protect the paint.

I’m well advanced with the bottom step but still have a lot of welding to do.
I’m thinking of adding some ally gussets under each rung to strengthen it all a bit.
...

 

[JFF45]

Basically finished, added the gussets and the checkerplate covers on the rungs.
Just need to remove the rear door card and drill through to fix the bottom.

Was good to get some ally TIG seat time on a non critical item.

I can hold the ladder up on my index finger so it’s not adding much weight and I needed it anyway.
...

 

[warthog]

I wonder if you will have to move the number plate.
Pretty sure you would have to in Vic.
Can't have the view of the plate obscured for the revenue, sorry speed, cameras.

 

[JFF45]

I wonder if you will have to move the number plate.
Pretty sure you would have to in Vic.
Can't have the view of the plate obscured for the revenue, sorry speed, cameras.

I’ll need to make it removable for when I have a jerrycan on the first step but I’m not sure it needs to be moved otherwise.

 

[trev zd30]

I wonder if you will have to move the number plate.
Pretty sure you would have to in Vic.
Can't have the view of the plate obscured for the revenue, sorry speed, cameras.

I tend to agree with Warthog. You will be ok till either you get pulled up by the police or you need to get a roadworthy.

 

[JFF45]

I tend to agree with Warthog. You will be ok till either you get pulled up by the police or you need to get a roadworthy.

It’s my last car so I’m not too concerned about a roadworthy
@geeyoutoo also has a ladder but I can’t remember if he moved the plate

 

[geeyoutoo]

It’s my last car so I’m not too concerned about a roadworthy

@geeyoutoo also has a ladder but I can’t remember if he moved the plate

Did not move the plate, thought about ramifications but then looked from a heap of various angles and I could see no issue, it has been on now for a long time, it has been driven through every state in Australia since I fitted it with no issues, but, if I was a moron who pushed the limits of the design rules and/or continuously drew myself to the attention of the law then that maybe a little different.

 

[GeroGU]

It’s my last car so I’m not too concerned about a roadworthy

@geeyoutoo also has a ladder but I can’t remember if he moved the plate

Nice work. Why don’t you make a number plate and attach to jerrycan. Sounds like you will only need it when Jerry cans on car. Saves you having to change it over all the time.

 

[JFF45]

Nice work. Why don’t you make a number plate and attach to jerrycan. Sounds like you will only need it when Jerry cans on car. Saves you having to change it over all the time.

I haven’t designed anything yet but I have a half idea of something that clips onto the rear door with the required number plate light that can be quickly moved out to the jerrycan frame.

 

[JFF45]

I’ve called it finished for the time being. It’s bolted solid with M8 stainless bolts. I put another 3mm ally flat bar inside the door as well.
I’ll worry about a jerrycan later on because I’ll have to remove it again to make the brackets for it. I’ve put a 10 litre container for a pic just to get an idea.
I have 20mm clearance to the bumper with the door open.
I took a few closer up pics.

It’s an example of something that can be done with a cheap (sub $800) Chinese 200 amp AC DC TIG once you’ve spent some time practising a bit.

Between my ally airbox, my towing mirrors and this ladder and some other bits and bobs I’ve welded, this machine doesn’t owe me much now.
...

 

[JFF45]

Ha! I’ve found an unintended use for a rear ladder. A good place to carry recovery tracks where they’re easy to get to if needed.
Just made a bracket from scrap flat bar and it’s solid as..
..