Using P & O Steel

I’ve been using hot rolled steel in the past for plasma and/or laser cutting and decided to try using Pickled & Oiled steel since I completely strip to bare metal to prime and paint or lacquer after fabrication. The P&O is great. It takes much less time to clean and buff how I like it. It’s a little more expensive than hot rolled and a little less expensive than cold rolled. I bought a 2’x4’ 10 gauge sheet for about $46 with tax.

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I love using the stuff at well. It is much better than having to deal with mill scale.

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Here is what my bumper looked like as it was just P&O steel, 7gauge.

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That’s awesome. Did you paint it after fabrication or,did you just clear coat it?

I’m going to be building an arch with 8’ high by 4’ double swinging gates using square, round and flat stock. I was going to use cold rolled, but now I think I’ll use the P & O and save a little $.

I’m going to start calling you Road Warrior!

Wait what else would you ground if not the bumper you’re welding? I did the same thing when welding my back bumper on lol

What’s the worry coming from? Your vehicle was welded in the factory right?

Never had any issues, always ground really close to where I’m welding. Besides that bumper was getting heavy. Probably 250lbs. I put it back on with my floor jack.

I’ve heard best to clamp as near the welded area on vehicles as possible. You don’t stray current wandering around through something with a lot of sensitive electronics. Don’t know the degree that it’s true but seems reasonable.

hmm…
I think you mean cOjones…y’know, juevos…avacados, piedras, etc.
cAjones are tiny boxes/drawers…

Either way. Nice bumper weldin’.

Igniting fumes, burning plastic parts, etc…

I can see the desire to do it on vehicle. You’re assured that it all fits straight and doesn’t need to be massaged into place. :slight_smile:

Are you selling these yet?

Nope. I don’t have the time unfortunately. Back when I was making bumpers & off-road parts, my real job was mostly 7-3 & in air conditioned environments.

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If you could get them fabricated, what kind of demand do you think there is?

The welds your car got in the factory were robotic spot welds applied to fresh stampings with no paint, oxidation, residue, or anything else. This was also all done prior to any other parts, such as the electrical system, fuel system, or literally anything aside from a raw metal shell, being put into the car.

There’s a time and a place to weld on-car, don’t get me wrong. A bumper isn’t really the ideal candidate for this though.Easier to remove and repair a bolt-on bumper than a weld-on bumper.

Adding on to what @suchsojasco has said. If there is a tow hook bolt pattern that can be picked up, i.e. the point where the tie downs are on the vehicle are located (on my RAV4 the trailer hitch uses these for mounting) would be great because they have strength designed into them to the body. I’d use those with flanges coming down and then bolt the bumper into that.

This photo shows two: the one on the right is what is used when the vehicle is transported, picture that being unbloted and a solid flange with bolt holes being put that bumper ties into. The other is for when out in the mud and a chain or whatever.

A big problem is vehicles are now designed with crumple zones and the bumpers are made to crumple, whereas my 1959 Ford bumper was made to waste whatever it hit and was bolted onto a steel ladder chassis.

By tying in where these points are you know it is strong. You could weld onto the flange instead of bolting if desired.

@TBJK what is the weight of what your made vs the one it replaced? .

For a frame of reference my original bumpers weight about 10 pounds with fog lamps installed. These are just around 120 pounds.

LOL! . . . I would bet @TBJK Tim’s aren’t “light weight” 120#'ers His filler material is probably half that. :rofl:

Eh, this bumper is also 7 gauge steel but I think its hot rolled