Printable View
My schools HVAC class had been having some serious problems with high value equipment being stolen or disappearing. My welding class received the task of building a secure enclosure to put an end to the "sticky finger" problem. I and another student were the main fabricators for this project.
Here is a picture of some of the unsuspecting parts
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/4589/img0144xt.jpg
Parts of the frame
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/8240/img0146st.jpg
Bottom all framed up and ready to go.
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8814/img0149vp.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
HI oxide00
you may see about a cage for the whole AC outside units too. Might be a good business for you when you finish school! (welding cages I mean)
Here is Fla we have had a rash of clowns stealing the outside AC units for the copper in them. Nobody is safe churches, small stores, big stores, and anything not protected.
They put this units behind the place and out of sight people come in and the place is hot and they find out the units gone.
Sad state when a group thinks they are more important and take from others.
acourtjester It's horrible over here too, can't go a single day without reading something in the police beat about someone stealing copper tubing or in fact today I read someone stole a $4000 York air conditioner from a downtown office building in broad daylight!! As for my schooling I finished on the 3rd of June and started college the Monday after that. (all students who graduate from the Midwest Technical Institutes welding program are welcome back anytime to weld(That means more posting from me!!).
Congratulations to the new Graduate! Good on ya!
Thanks DaveO!!
Here's the partially finished frame with one of my instructors.
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/3319/img0161cq.jpg
Hi Oxide00
Sounds like you picked up welding to help work your way through college. That’s much better then building a large debt of college loans. I cannot believe the amount of debt some people start their working life with. I come from a different time period and am now retired I picked up my training in the Navy in electronics. Best of luck to you and your career choice.
Have fun
Tom
Thanks acourtjester!! I'm trying really hard to get a job at Bunn in my city (Next time you go to McDonald's look at there coffee machines-Bunn makes them) hopefully my time at MTI helps me stand out a bit among the others.
Top storage shelf door hinges welded on
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/9084/img0199o.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Side Door laid out on expanded metal with chalk
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/585/img0205fr.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Getting there
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/7433/img0196em.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Hey Oxide00
Looking at your work it reminded me many years ago I worked for a military contractor and we needed to build a secure cage for the Navy's disc systems. I welded up a similar cage for the computers and discs. It was about 25’ X 14’ X 8’ tall. I fell into the job, as I was the only one on the crew that could weld and had my own mig.
Nice job Oxide00
Everything looks straight.
Do you have a cost of the materials or can you estimate what you spent on them (comparing prices to my area). We had issue here a couple years back. They would get on the building and take the fuses. Surprised no one got shocked, maybe they did :)
Nothing like getting to work and no AC. And fuses are not cheap, copper is like $3.50/lb here, fuse us $12.
The building had really bad access from the outside as well, but never found a body on the ground in the AM, so they got up there.
Hey thanks for the reply!!! I'm not real sure about the total cost, I'll be sure to ask when I visit the school to fool around . From what I know the lead instructor had bought 2 kinds expanded sheet metal (thick stuff for the pipe fitting area, thinner stuff for the cage). I remember asking him and he said something about it being really expensive (but then again he ordered ALOT of it). More pictures to come!!
expanded metal is really high right now. I bought a few sheets of 1"x1/2"x16ga and they ran me $47/ea. I don't know what the deal is, but that's about 2/3s what I pay for a solid sheet of 16ga from the same supplier.
Congrats Oxide and I wish you well on your welding career and your project looks great. Here in Maryland there have been cases of a crew of people posing as construction workers, in broad daylight, and stealing the copper wires from the metro power lines and stealing the copper and steel piping from under the streets. Last summer in Baltimore, people were stealing man hole covers and street lights poles. Yes its hard times for everyone, just pray to GOD that he makes things better and give thanks that he has provided for us.
I was at the LWS and the guy said people are stealing leads off welder's trucks for the copper. I can not believe the cops can not track these guys at the local scrape yards. They make you show ID when you sell scrape. If a guy shows up with 200 pounds of bent up tubing or wire somebody has to smell a rat there.
Really officer I was walking down the road and this fell off a truck that drove by.
The good side for me, I know the new local scrape yard guy. And fixing his 6x12 HD metal trailer. Bought a 1'x6'x1/4 diamond plate for $6 last trip. Normal get it all free, but I had to have it.
Bad side for me. I had a number of cables in the back of my truck (for golf cart batteries, about 10 all 3 feet long I was gonna cut down). Went in a store in a rough part of town that day, only place I stopped. That night went to get the cables, there were two there. I asked my son if he unloaded them when he pulled the batteries from the truck. He said no. Then it dawned on me what happened.
I can't believe it's that bad, but seems it is.
Ugh get this, yesterday in the paper there was a report about 100 manhole covers gone missing around the city. Some buffoon is using them to increase weight/payout at the junkyards around town. The city has started welding them down to prevent this from happening. :mad:
side hinge welded on
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4585/img0198ly.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Looks Nice
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8881/img0208hl.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6977/img0209tu.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Looks good Oxide00. I can not imagine hitting a manhole with no cap and I have a lifted truck. That would tick me off and I would go looking for the clown myself.
In my case of the missing copper wires, I had aluminum (painted) in the truck, they did not take that. I figure they grabbed and ran since I was in and out of the store, since they left two of the cables. Time for a cover or topper I guess, to slow them down.
Here in Memphis the city passed an ordinance requiring scrap yards to I.D. and document people selling scrap. Last summer there was a big problem with people cutting catalytic converters out of broken down cars and from car lots. Back in the spring this moron literally cut up a bunch of working farm equipment (plows) and sold it for scrap. They have even had case where people have stolen broken down cars from the side of I-40 and sold them for scrap. A lady found her car at the scrap yard, only it was crushed! Stealing scrap has become big business...
Ack!!! Well, here's the finished project (out of all colors HVAC class had to paint it blue!!:() HVAC class just kinda threw some paint on it and hauled it away to their shop. Nevertheless I feel proud of the results!!
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6864/img0219kz.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Doesn't that suggest there's some funny business going on at the scrap yard end, too. If 100 covers show up, turned in by a guy who is clearly not a city employee, somebody should start to smell a rat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Oxide00
There's a lot of effort that goes into that kind of theft. Too bad we can't harness that effort into something helpful. But the payoff is there, and in many cities property crimes don't get the same attention as personal crimes.
Hey Oxide00
Are you sure that’s not a holding cell that looks like a bench seat in there.
Great job.:D
acourtjester haha It sure does look like one! In the end we thought about locking one of the students in it, but he took off before we could do it. @DaveO I don't know, the people who run the srap yards around here are awfully shady if you ask me. Also mods can you please count this as project #1 for me (forgot to title it as that.)
I changed the thread title. It does look like a cell for a bad person for sure.