Fixing a Metal Stool Pt. 6

Last time I worked on my metal stool chair, I made the pieces for the foot rest ring. My next step was to bend them all on a 90 degree. But before I began to do that and weld them onto the legs of the stool, I had to do one more step.

Question: Besides bending the pieces, what was left before you began to weld?

Kelly: I had to do two more things. I first had to smooth out the edges of my pieces. I also had to clean out the paint off the legs of the stool.

Question: How did you smooth out the edges of your pieces?

Kelly: I had to use a filer and sandpaper when smoothing out my steel pieces. I placed them on an vise in order to keep them still while I file the edges.

Question: What kind of filer did you use and why?

Kelly: I used a filer that had thin and closely spaced cutting edges. I used this one because it will give me a cleaner and smoother finish instead of one that had widely spaced cutting edges.

Question: Why did you need to smooth everything out if you're going to weld it later on?

Kelly: I smoothed them out because it would be easier for me to adjust the pieces anywhere without wearing my gloves.

Question: How did you know you could stop filing one side of the edge?

Kelly: After I used the sandpaper to add the finishing touches, I checked by first looking at the edges for splinters and then dragging my fingers softly across the edges to see if there were still rough edges.

Question: Did you have to do anything else to the pieces?

Kelly: No. I then had to work on my second step before bending the pieces and welding. I had to clean off the paint that is on the legs of the stool with a sandblaster.

Question: Oh cool! And how does it get its power?

Kelly: The sandblaster was powered by an air compressor which gives the hose enough pressure to push out the small glass particles and clean whatever piece of metal I put inside the sandblaster.

Question: Why did you have to clean the legs of the stool?

Kelly: In order to for me to have a successful weld, I had to clear off any impurities on the legs. If I welded without cleaning, I would get a messy and ineffective weld since the impurities will take up some of the heat the TIG Welder Torch is giving off.

Question: Did you struggle cleaning off the paint out of the legs?

Kelly: Yes and no. I didn't struggle in the beginning because once I pointed the hose to the legs, the paint came right off. However, I realized that there were some spots I couldn't get to because I was limited in space due to the size of the sandblaster inside.

Question: Oh that's a shame. Did you at least get a lot of the paint off?

Kelly: Thankfully yes! I only had to take out 2 inches in length of the paint going around the legs. this was because the size of the foot rest ring are only on a small part of the legs. All I needed was the insides of the stool's legs since it was hard to angle the hose to remove the paint off those particular sections.

Question: What did you use to take out what was left of the paint? Did it work out the way you wanted it to?

Kelly: I ended up using small sized filers and went in a smooth and circular motion to keep the shape of the curve of the legs. I then finished it by using sandpaper and going around the areas where I took off the paint. That way, I would have a much smoother and friction less surface.

Question: What did you do after?

Kelly: I noticed that there were two legs that had small stumps sticking out from the previous and original weld it had of the circular and pipe foot ring rest.

Question: Did you have to get rid of them?

Kelly: Of course! I used an air powered cutting tool to remove the little stumps on the legs. I first had to set it on the vise to keep it in place.

Question: Wow! Was the tool hard to handle? Did you have use a specific method?

Kelly: It was a bit intimidating at first. Once I started to place the spinning blade on the surface, I knew that I had to use two hands and hold the air cutter still because it would try to move sideways from all the friction and pressure being applied. I had to position myself to stay balanced and wear protective goggles to make sure I didn't cut through the actual legs.

(To be continued...)