Burning Grass

No-not what you think! Got inspired with my little welding job, and the latest “The Shed” magazine to practice welding some more.

I have a large piece of 1/2″ steel plate, that I was using as a reflective plate in the fireplace of our last house. (The concept being a steel plate in the back of the fireplace heats up, then radiates that heat into the room instead of heating up the bricks behind the fire, then dissipating it to the outside).

It was originally someone’s BBQ plate, and had a few holes drilled in it. Someone had also tried cutting a couple of slots in it, about 5″ long and 3/8″ deep, so I used these as the aim – try to get these to disappear by welding – filling in the voids.

Set up a bit of a metal corner in the shed (which consists of nothing more than the Triton steel cutter and the welder

That is the limit of metalworking tools I currently have – bit discraceful.) Laid the steel plate on the ground outside (thus the burnt grass) and ground a corner to remove the rust, so the MagEarth would attach with good conductivity.

Went through a 1/2 dozen rods, and was seeing some real improvement between the first and the last. Do enjoy welding, so will leave this setup so I can keep practicing. Shame we can’t weld wood! There again, wood is a lot easier to cut and shape.

Perhaps one day I’ll be able to add a small metal lathe and mill – would have proven useful on many occasions already.