I''m not sure if you figured out how to make the balls for the skirt yet, but if you haven't you can take aluminum foil and compact it into dense balls and then polish them as seen here: ua-cam.com/video/ctJDPjnZ3Ag/v-deo.html
Thank you for sharing this informative video! I'm building a MK3 out of fiberglass and I wasn't too sure on how I was going to plot the hemisphere holes on the skirt but now it will be super easy. using a block to support the marker is genius and it will certainly save me a lot of time and effort.
Well done Simon and great effort. I'm building a smaller Dalek but looking at everything in detail before I make a start. I have an engineering background but what I don't understand is why people make holes for the hemispheres. Surely it's a million times easier to make hemispheres that can be simply screwed onto the outside of the skirt and then you don't have to waste a load of effort cutting large holes. The skirt is weakened with the holes and it's actually more difficult fixing them from the inside where a screw on the inside and hemisphere on the outside means invisible fixings.
Thanks for the comment. 😀 TBH I don’t know why Shawcraft (the original builders of the Daleks) decided to go with push through hemispheres. Possibly it was something to do with the original idea of having them light up randomly (which never made it to screen). For me and a few others, I like the more authentic look of the pushed through hemispheres as it just seems more right to me. So even though this Dalek is aluminium I still want it to look like an original where I can. 👍
It looks good. Surface mounting the hemispheres might have saved you a lot of effort? Also, aluminium welding gives off toxic fumes, so make sure you have good ventilation and a respirator.
Surface mounting would have been easier but loses a bit of that authenticity you get from a Shawcraft style Dalek with push-thru hemis. Yeah I won’t be trying the aluminium welding again any time soon. Don’t have the appropriate equipment at the moment. Hopefully can grab a TIG welder somewhere in the near future and try again.
I'm by no means an expert (I'm only a lowly amateur stick welder) but the blobby effect you were getting can be caused by too little heat getting into the part. The basic idea of welding is to maintain a small puddle of molten base metal around the arc while adding filler to build up the bead. It looks as though you weren't getting much of a puddle formed, so the molten filler just blobbed onto the surface. Two ways to ensure you can maintain the puddle are to go slower, and to increase the current. If you have to do more welding, I'd recommend setting aside at least a day to get used to the welder/filament. Start off on some offcuts just laying flat, straight beads of material without trying to make a joint. Set the current as high as you can without blowing holes in the material and go slow and steady in a straight line with no rapid back-and-forth movement. About 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of travel per second is probably a reasonable speed. Once you can lay a neat bead on a flat sheet, move onto butt joints like you'd be doing on the actual piece. Tack both ends of the edge first with a blob of weld, then join them up with another slow, steady bead. A slight weaving motion can help in making sure both sides get heated evenly for the bead to fuse. Hope some of this helps! Welding can be a real pain when you're not sure what exactly you're doing wrong, as I know from extensive personal experience! Also, there are some excellent videos on the Weld.com UA-cam channel, some of which deal specifically with aluminium MIG welding. Nice work so far!
Hi marinedalek. Thanks for the comment, that’s really helpful. 😀 I had tried watched hours and hours of welding videos but that didn’t help me a lot when it came to the real thing as I didn’t know what I was watching. Hopefully with a bit more practice the videos will become more clear. I’m just about to finish building a shed/workshop and then I’ll be working on the fender, which is going to be made from welded steel angle (which I already have) so I’ll certainly make sure I put the hours of practice in before jumping in to the real thing again. I’ve watched a few vids on my particular welder so hopefully will be a bit late better prepared with settings, etc. Enjoying your thread on Project Dalek, btw. 🙂👍
Hi thanks for watching. Not really done a huge amount since then. Kinda got scuppered by all the recent bad weather. Hoping to get casting a few more parts next week. Fingers crossed. 🤞
Late to the party. I taught myself to weld the same way you did. take your time and keep make sure there is aways 1-2cm of wire sticking out when welding. I've never welded AL but settings for steel I go by eye and sound. you'll want good penitration and it should sound like bacon atleast for flux core
Having many years of aluminium welding I can tell you stick welding is not the usual method due to contamination of the weld. Tig welding is the normal method. What thickness is the sheet? The thinner it is the more difficult I.e 1.0mm 2.5 to 3.0mm is easier, I would probably also stitch weld I.e 3 to 5 inches apart to avoid distortion. Well done for drilling those holes, a 4" Q max cutter would have been a lot easier. I take my hat off to you though.
Well not a bad attempt and result for a total newby novice to Ali welding . Personally I would have got your mate to do it if he can weld Ali with a mig .you picked the worst mix possible in my opinion Ali and mig ..I've never heard of any good results from it as you said the better option is the spool gun but even then experience is key . There are other solder style products on the market as mentioned worth a try but also as said short stitch welds 2 to 3 inch . For finishing again you used an orbital sander even with fine grit paper you will still see rings , a random orbit or air powered D.A sander would be my choice . End of the day you did what you have with what you had available and within your skill zone so well done it's a valiant effort and also you like us all have learnt ways how to and how not achieve the end result .
Thanks. :) I think it's pretty clear I'm clueless but gave it a go anyway! I've tried out a bits of wire wool on the surface and that gives a good effect so I'll probably rub down the whole skirt with that when I get some time.
@@SimonAyers as i said at least you were prepared to have a go and it wasnt a complete train wreck like some projects on here. Thanks for posting it up
You should have tried the appoxie resin and aluminium powder to cover the screws and painted over them with the silver paint like with the other filled parts
Hi. It is on my plan to do that when I come back to finish the skirt. I need to swap all the nuts for nylock nuts first so it can’t shake loose. Then I can fill all of the screw heads. Thanks. 🙂
Just as a footnote to.my last message, a tig welder is probably price of a ready made TPE Daleks.so this probably was your reasoning for stick welding. 😉
Hi. Thanks for the comments. 🙂 I actually did look at hiring a TIG welder. I only went with the MIG because my friend convinced me it could be used. I’ll probably just use the MIG for steel for the time being.
If anyone has any clues as to what I'm doing wrong with the welding, please leave a comment down below. I need all the help I can get! 🤣
I''m not sure if you figured out how to make the balls for the skirt yet, but if you haven't you can take aluminum foil and compact it into dense balls and then polish them as seen here: ua-cam.com/video/ctJDPjnZ3Ag/v-deo.html
Omeganinjaboy Thanks. My current plan is to have a go at casting them but this is worth a look. 🙂
Mate, love this video series. I'm an expat in Vermont and I am working on my 2005 era Dalek, 13 days of 3D printing!
Well done Simon. When I built my wood and glassfibre dalek (NSD) there was a lot of trial and error. Just added to the fun... I think!
Thank you for sharing this informative video! I'm building a MK3 out of fiberglass and I wasn't too sure on how I was going to plot the hemisphere holes on the skirt but now it will be super easy. using a block to support the marker is genius and it will certainly save me a lot of time and effort.
Brilliant work Simon !!!!
Infinity Masks and Sculptures Thanks. 😀
What an absolutely brilliant video. Just keep up the good work. I have just subscribed !
Ah thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video. 😊
Well done Simon and great effort. I'm building a smaller Dalek but looking at everything in detail before I make a start. I have an engineering background but what I don't understand is why people make holes for the hemispheres. Surely it's a million times easier to make hemispheres that can be simply screwed onto the outside of the skirt and then you don't have to waste a load of effort cutting large holes. The skirt is weakened with the holes and it's actually more difficult fixing them from the inside where a screw on the inside and hemisphere on the outside means invisible fixings.
Thanks for the comment. 😀 TBH I don’t know why Shawcraft (the original builders of the Daleks) decided to go with push through hemispheres. Possibly it was something to do with the original idea of having them light up randomly (which never made it to screen). For me and a few others, I like the more authentic look of the pushed through hemispheres as it just seems more right to me. So even though this Dalek is aluminium I still want it to look like an original where I can. 👍
Looking great!
How has the welding improved since this effort . I presume you may have discovered Tig welding . It would give you a great result .
It looks good.
Surface mounting the hemispheres might have saved you a lot of effort?
Also, aluminium welding gives off toxic fumes, so make sure you have good ventilation and a respirator.
Surface mounting would have been easier but loses a bit of that authenticity you get from a Shawcraft style Dalek with push-thru hemis. Yeah I won’t be trying the aluminium welding again any time soon. Don’t have the appropriate equipment at the moment. Hopefully can grab a TIG welder somewhere in the near future and try again.
Looks great! Informative video and a good watch!
I'm by no means an expert (I'm only a lowly amateur stick welder) but the blobby effect you were getting can be caused by too little heat getting into the part. The basic idea of welding is to maintain a small puddle of molten base metal around the arc while adding filler to build up the bead. It looks as though you weren't getting much of a puddle formed, so the molten filler just blobbed onto the surface. Two ways to ensure you can maintain the puddle are to go slower, and to increase the current. If you have to do more welding, I'd recommend setting aside at least a day to get used to the welder/filament. Start off on some offcuts just laying flat, straight beads of material without trying to make a joint. Set the current as high as you can without blowing holes in the material and go slow and steady in a straight line with no rapid back-and-forth movement. About 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of travel per second is probably a reasonable speed. Once you can lay a neat bead on a flat sheet, move onto butt joints like you'd be doing on the actual piece. Tack both ends of the edge first with a blob of weld, then join them up with another slow, steady bead. A slight weaving motion can help in making sure both sides get heated evenly for the bead to fuse.
Hope some of this helps! Welding can be a real pain when you're not sure what exactly you're doing wrong, as I know from extensive personal experience! Also, there are some excellent videos on the Weld.com UA-cam channel, some of which deal specifically with aluminium MIG welding. Nice work so far!
Hi marinedalek. Thanks for the comment, that’s really helpful. 😀 I had tried watched hours and hours of welding videos but that didn’t help me a lot when it came to the real thing as I didn’t know what I was watching. Hopefully with a bit more practice the videos will become more clear.
I’m just about to finish building a shed/workshop and then I’ll be working on the fender, which is going to be made from welded steel angle (which I already have) so I’ll certainly make sure I put the hours of practice in before jumping in to the real thing again. I’ve watched a few vids on my particular welder so hopefully will be a bit late better prepared with settings, etc.
Enjoying your thread on Project Dalek, btw. 🙂👍
You can clearly see the immense hard work you are putting in - what’s the latest on this? Any progress?
Hi thanks for watching. Not really done a huge amount since then. Kinda got scuppered by all the recent bad weather. Hoping to get casting a few more parts next week. Fingers crossed. 🤞
@@SimonAyers No pressure - I can see what a ridiculous amount of work it is. But an ACTUAL full-size metal Dalek!!!! What an achievement
Late to the party. I taught myself to weld the same way you did.
take your time and keep make sure there is aways 1-2cm of wire sticking out when welding.
I've never welded AL but settings for steel I go by eye and sound. you'll want good penitration and it should sound like bacon atleast for flux core
i know this was a long time ago but did you master welding in the end???
Looks fantastic (remember me from last year?)
Hi yes definitely remember your username. Thanks. 😃 Were you watching my Cinema 4D livestream?
Having many years of aluminium welding I can tell you stick welding is not the usual method due to contamination of the weld.
Tig welding is the normal method. What thickness is the sheet? The thinner it is the more difficult I.e 1.0mm
2.5 to 3.0mm is easier, I would probably also stitch weld I.e 3 to 5 inches apart to avoid distortion.
Well done for drilling those holes, a 4" Q max cutter would have been a lot easier.
I take my hat off to you though.
Well not a bad attempt and result for a total newby novice to Ali welding . Personally I would have got your mate to do it if he can weld Ali with a mig .you picked the worst mix possible in my opinion Ali and mig ..I've never heard of any good results from it as you said the better option is the spool gun but even then experience is key . There are other solder style products on the market as mentioned worth a try but also as said short stitch welds 2 to 3 inch . For finishing again you used an orbital sander even with fine grit paper you will still see rings , a random orbit or air powered D.A sander would be my choice .
End of the day you did what you have with what you had available and within your skill zone so well done it's a valiant effort and also you like us all have learnt ways how to and how not achieve the end result .
Thanks. :) I think it's pretty clear I'm clueless but gave it a go anyway! I've tried out a bits of wire wool on the surface and that gives a good effect so I'll probably rub down the whole skirt with that when I get some time.
@@SimonAyers as i said at least you were prepared to have a go and it wasnt a complete train wreck like some projects on here. Thanks for posting it up
Did you ever compare the weight between the two? Which was lighter?
No I don’t have access to a fibreglass skirt at the moment but I’m sure the aluminium one is lighter (until the hemispheres go in at least).
You should have tried the appoxie resin and aluminium powder to cover the screws and painted over them with the silver paint like with the other filled parts
Hi. It is on my plan to do that when I come back to finish the skirt. I need to swap all the nuts for nylock nuts first so it can’t shake loose. Then I can fill all of the screw heads. Thanks. 🙂
Just as a footnote to.my last message, a tig welder is probably price of a ready made TPE Daleks.so this probably was your reasoning for stick welding. 😉
Hi. Thanks for the comments. 🙂 I actually did look at hiring a TIG welder. I only went with the MIG because my friend convinced me it could be used. I’ll probably just use the MIG for steel for the time being.
😂😂Crazy is mzee saw😢😊❤
Almost there in about 2 years it might be done