Got the 7.6 Ft Unimesh Today - Some Surprises have Pics

[gpat]

This may not make any sense to you but you could drill the holes in it with the dish intact.
Just rotate it 45* from your proper setting and drill the 1/2inch holes
If you nick the pole when going thru the mount no problem as the setscrew will be at
least 2 inches away when the dish is repositioned.
They make a drill bit that cuts the outer edge like a hole saw would,its called a bullet bit.
Then you can C clamp 2 nuts at 180* and tack them in place.
A full weld can be done after the C clamp is removed.
Have you considered doing the welding yourself?
Im sure rental places will rent a small 110V mig welder for a few hours.
I welded nuts on my mount with a mig and it works just fine.

 

[Anole]

welding @ home

Mobile welding companies charge anywhere from $150.00 to $200.00 to weld nuts on steel shafts,

I was going to say, for that price, you could buy a flux-core welder!
See Harbor Freight.
No, I'm not seriously suggesting purchase.

Have you considered doing the welding yourself?
Im sure rental places will rent a small 110V mig welder for a few hours.
I welded nuts on my mount with a mig and it works just fine.

Rental? Wow, that's a great idea!
But, find a buddy with welding experience.
I have two friends who bought MIG welders last year, and neither can weld worth a crap!
It takes experience and practice. You won't do well without both.

If you can find a local class to take, maybe at a ROP school, get some lessons - it's not expensive.
Then, give your instructor a few bucks to come over and "show you how".
(...or maybe one of the better students)

Maybe one of you welding experts can comment on this idea...
What about a MAP gas torch?
You can get 'em at the hardware store for $30 ? , and they're a lot hotter than the usual propane.
Does a fine job on plumbing, but not sure if it'd get the job done on this project?

 

[linuxman]

Maybe one of you welding experts can comment on this idea...
What about a MAP gas torch?
You can get 'em at the hardware store for $30 ? , and they're a lot hotter than the usual propane.
Does a fine job on plumbing, but not sure if it'd get the job done on this project?

You could braze the nut on with MAPP gas, but it would probably never hold with the tightening force you need to hold the dish in place. When you tightened it down good, the nut would pull away from the cap.

I don't think you could get it hot enough to actually weld steel to steel without an Acetylene Torch. Then you would need a good steel filler rod, and flux to keep out the harmful atmosphere while it cooled.

 

[jsattv]

This may not make any sense to you but you could drill the holes in it with the dish intact.
Just rotate it 45* from your proper setting and drill the 1/2inch holes
If you nick the pole when going thru the mount no problem as the setscrew will be at
least 2 inches away when the dish is repositioned.
They make a drill bit that cuts the outer edge like a hole saw would,its called a bullet bit.
Then you can C clamp 2 nuts at 180* and tack them in place.
A full weld can be done after the C clamp is removed.
Have you considered doing the welding yourself?
Im sure rental places will rent a small 110V mig welder for a few hours.
I welded nuts on my mount with a mig and it works just fine.

Thanks gpat for the advice, really great ideas / suggestions. Doing the job without having to remove that heavy Dish and Ring off the Pole Cap sounds like a great idea!! When you say C clamp do you mean Drilling the Holes with the Pole rotated over 90 degrees, then temporarily attaching the Nuts with a Clamp and tack welding the Nuts, then removing the Clamp and permantly welding on the Nuts?

Anole and Linuxman thanks for the suggestions, the reason the Welding Shop gave me that their price was so high was that dispatching a guy with a portable welder was high re the price of gas the Truck etc. etc. He did say if I brought in the piece (Dish Ring) to their shop the cost would be anywhere from 25 to 50 dollars.