The chassis had been ground down and de-rusted using a special chemical that changed the iron oxide into iron phosphate. This stabilized the steel and prepared it for reinforcements to be welded on. The way the chassis is constructed, there are two larger beams that run the full length from front to back, with flanges jutting out to the full width. These flanges are all fairly skinny and flimsy compared to the rest of the trailer’s construction, and so needed to be reinforced before we can begin to build the deck on top next week. To reinforce each flange, we stitch welded two angle irons to each top and bottom to stiffen up and strengthen them.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and as you can see from the before and after, there was a bit of a learning curve to the whole welding thing. For most of us, it was our first time doing any real welding. We learned a lot about welding really quick (like don’t put your foot directly under what you’re welding). As for the before picture, don’t worry, we touched up the ugly ones. After we got comfortable with the welder, we were able to really get to work and our welds started looking better and better with each subsequent one. It was definitely a fun learning experience with tons of variables you have to get just right.
While welding, the construction documents were being finished up, and our new GoPro camera was being charged up and prepared to start shooting our construction time lapse.
Image Credits: Nolan Rish