Tacos: A Delicious Summer DIY Project for the Welder

Welding crafts are great decorative items. They’re durable, unique, and a conversation piece for your home. You can even give these handmade gifts to your friends and loved ones. Shanen L. Aranmór, founder and chief wellness welder of Weld Like a Girl^TM, Yuma, Ariz., created a fun taco project designed for summer camp welding classes at AstroCamp in Idyllwild, Calif. And who doesn’t like tacos? Here, she offers her expertise on how to weld these decorative and unique tacos with a taco stand.

Welding/Cutting Equipment and Tools

-Plasma arc cutting (PAC) machine

-Oxyfuel torch with rosebud and welding tip attachments

-GMAW machine (0.030 or 0.035 ER70S-6 wire)

-Metal vise

-Blacksmithing tongs or long-handled pliers (to hold and bend)

-14-in. chop saw (optional)

-Variable speed grinder (optional)

Note: Only variable speed angle grinders are used at Weld Like A Girl because they can be dialed down to the lowest possible setting permissible with any abrasive wheel. This increases safety and reduces kickback at startup.

Materials

-9 in.², 16-gauge sheet steel (1 square)

-A handful of 1/8-in. round stock cut into 2–3 in. pieces or nails/bolts

-Expanded mesh (any size)

-¼-in. nuts

-¼-in. split ring washers

-¼-in. washers

-Wingnuts

-Silicon bronze rod

-Oxyfuel flux

The Taco

Step 1:

Make a fresh, hot corn tortilla. Trace a 7-in. circle template in the center of a 9-in., 16-gauge square. Plasma cut the circle (retain the excess for later steps).

Start by making the fresh, hot corn tortilla.

Step 2:

Fold the tortillas. Draw a center line on the circle then mark 1.5 in. from either side of the center line (thus creating a 3-in. margin at the center). Oxyfuel heat the metal tortilla on one border of the 3-in. margin; use a rosebud attachment on an oxyfuel torch to distribute heat evenly. Bend the metal tortilla in the vise along the heat line; use tongs or very long-handled pliers to achieve a 90-deg angle.

Step 3:

Add the taco meat or meat alternative. Prep the taco filling. Use a chop saw to cut 1.5–3 in. pieces of 1/8-in. round stock. Note: Nails or bolts can be substituted.Add the taco meat or meat alternative.

Step 4:

Shred the lettuce. Use a PAC machine to shred the lettuce (cut the expanded mesh) into pieces that are no larger than 4 in. long and 2 in. wide. (It looks more interesting if pieces are of varying sizes and shapes.)

Step 5:

Add toppings: Weld toppings onto the 3-in. margin in the center of the taco/upright edge in layers. Be sure the layers extend to the edges. (The inside of the taco will not be visible once the taco is assembled.)

-Taco meat: Cut the round stock or nails/bolts from Step 3.

-Lettuce: Expanded mesh (previously cut into strips and small, irregular shapes)

-Tomatoes: ¼-in. nuts

-Onions: Split washers

-Olives: Small flat washers

-Awesome sauce: Wingnuts

Step 6:

Close the taco. Oxyfuel heat the remaining (unbent) side of the 3-in. margin on the taco. Fold up the second side of the taco shell. Use tongs to begin the fold then place in the vise to close the taco shell.

Step 7:

Melt the cheese on top. Use an oxyfuel welding tip to braze silicon bronze (with flux) on top to melt the cheese in various places inside the taco. This will appear gold in contrast to the rust that will accumulate on the taco.

Melt the cheese on top.

The Taco Stand

Step 8:

Build your taco stand. Plasma arc cut curved remnants of the sheet steel and trim into two bulky L shapes. Weld the L shapes together to create a stand like an easel. Note: The taco should stand upright on this stand. If it doesn’t, continue to adjust the curve and fit until balance is achieved and the taco does not tip over.Build your taco stand.

Step 9:

Build your brand. Cut a small rectangle from the 16-gauge steel scrap to serve as a sign for your taco stand (approximately 3 × 2 in.).

-Weld words onto the sign (i.e., Critter’s Taco Stand).

-Weld the sign to the top of your metal taco stand.

Step 10:

Open for business. Your taco with taco stand is complete. Go forth and admire your handiwork. Aranmór offered some words of advice: “If your taco is not symmetrical or is not 100% perfect, do not sweat. Have you ever eaten a taco that fell apart? Do you know what that was called? Delicious. You ate it anyway, and it was amazingly good. Congratulations on a job weld done.”

This article was written by Roline Pascal (education editor of the Welding Journal) for the American Welding Society.