Yeah you can, just use a rotating welding table. I doubt that you'll find one in a muffler shop though. You could build one with a lazy susan rotator and some steel plates if desired.

A standard grinding wheel might be too abrasive, try a weld dressing wheel - that's not the proper name for it, I'll try and remember the proper name, that's just the name it was always known to me and the people I worked with by. It was a very soft abrasive, almost spongey in nature. When it came to removing metal, it was a bit more than a polishing wheel and a bit less than a compressed abrasive wheel. You could even put compound on some of them if you wanted.

You could also sand or bead blast the finished product. Depending on what you're after, you could use this to create both a surface finish and obscure the look of the weld.
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Yeah I just figured he wouldn't really have a lot of specialty things in a muffler shop.

Sand paper discs for grinding wheels work pretty good as well. You just have to go easy really. Anything will work using the right pressure. Don't grind the bejesus out of it. Maybe a small air pressure sander for more intricate work?

Even spot welding looks fine by itself if you are decently skilled. Or if you could do one single pass and make it look nice you wouldn't have to mess around with it. Just depends how skilled you are with Mig welding and how nice you want them to look.

Yeah I hear what you're saying, in shops you learn different languages/units of measure. Rarely does anyone use "proper names" or do anything "proper" for that matter.
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I have dozens of ashtrays.

However, I find ashing on my shirt is the most likely outcome whenever I smoke.
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:-)I believe I may have seen this method in action.
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:-)

Definitely

That or the wind blows the ash off onto the deck. No wonder my Stinky could last months.
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Latest and greatest is that my friend knows a fabricator who can clean it up. He also shared his 2 cents. I find out the cost of the final prototype tomorrow afternoon. That is going to determine several things. One of the being, is this something that people will be willing to buy and is it something that is worth trying to do. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have some good news about this as well as some pics of the final prototype.
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Cool.

If you make it out to Ratter's this Saturday, hopefully Jakey-poo will be there, talk shop with him. The guy knows his ****.
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I like the concept...especially the deep holders and agree they could be shorter. I was tired of looking for a place to put my cigar down in my shop so I stopped what I was doing and turned and milled an ashtray out of aluminum...looks pretty cool but it killed a good 2 hours of my time.
For the guy that posted the links comparing prices...you posted auction links of items that didn't sell...one of the similar items a little ways down was listed at $30.
At any rate...nice idea...I hope it works for you.
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So here is the latest. this is the second prototype that was done. Notice the bigger bowl and that I extended the holder part into the bowl a little so if you need to ash before it falls onto your shirt or floor, you can. This is also the prototype that was taken to a fabricator to make a cleaned up one. The cleaned up one will be brushed stainless steel. So, it will still have some weight to it. Also notice that the cigar in the holder is a nice average size cigar and you would have no problems picking it up or putting it down. One thing I didn't like about some of the ashtrays you can get now is how short the holders are and that the cigar tends to end up with the burning end in the ash. I think that takes away from the taste a little. With having it as long as it is, you don't have to worry about that ash taste on your tasty cigar.:-)
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I can't speak for Tom, but I think he was just trying to provide an idea as to what other, possibly similar ashtrays are going for.

The one I posted above (http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showpo...81&postcount=7) is very similar in style to what the OP is building and sells for anywhere from $10 to $20 plus shipping. (If you want specifics on non-auction sites that carry this ashtray at these prices let me know.)
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They were still up for auction when I posted them, and the point now is they didn't sell...even at a price point significantly lower than the OP had mentioned earlier. Not sure what point you are trying to make? :-) I was just trying to give the OP some examples to consider in his research of the project.
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I like it!
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You and CigarNut are right...looking back at the posts and my post and mine comes out total nonsense. My apologies to you icehog3...I'm going to go smoke a Gurkha and think about what I've done. Next time I won't be so fast to type...
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No need to apologize to me, good that you're looking out for your fellow Brothers of the Leaf...I just wanted to make sure you know I wasn't trying to sabotage his idea, just giving him some potential benchmarks. It's all good, my friend. :-)
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I have no hurt feelings from all the input that has been posted. This is moving along nicely and I should be getting the final prototype tomorrow. Can't wait to see it.
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So the latest and greatest is that the prototype is finally completed. I will post pics of it tomorrow after I pic it up. I am still working on the pricing and should also have a final price range tomorrow too.
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Cant wait to see. Ill be lookin forward to the post. You guys might have something there, Keep at it!!:-)
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On my way to pick it up and talk with my business partner about the ashtray. Should have pics and prices up tonight. Might have a website up soon too.
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I must be doing it wrong. All the cigars I smoke have ash on the burning end. :-)
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:-) When i read that I thought the same thing, looking forward to the new pics though.
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