FoxZulu wrote:All your clothes have pinhead sized burn holes in them, because it's not worth getting changed just to do that 'quick' weld

HAHAHAHA.
all my t-shirts look like I've hit with bird shot

Do you have a magnet anywhere near what you're welding?
Like holding 2 pieces together?

[ Just curious as it does seem like it could come in handy for rough castings of aluminum. Thanks :) Castings are only as rough as the sloppiness of the operator. This one was done in 125 grit sand http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/20161118_162851_zpscuvqznkw.jpg 3D printed patterns ne...

I think its fantastic. Its one of those things that open up new ways of making things you never thought of before. Who needs a 3d printer that makes useless nicknacks when you can melt down some scrap and pour your own castings. everyone who has a hobby foundry needs a 3D printer. They are awesome ...

Its a very fun hobby! Commercial refractory is way better. I went home brew, portland cement, fire clay, pearlite and water. They say it wont last as long as regular refractory but where I live shipping would have killed me to buy commercial stuff. Fabrication skills make this hobby much easier as y...

BTW< you re headed down a long twisty involved highway. You thought welding stuff took you off on rabbit trails, you start casting aluminum and pretty soon you are trying to turn everything into a casting project :mrgreen: It is highly rewarding to be able to cast your own parts and pieces. For cast...

I bought my TIG welder t go along with my aluminum casting hobby :lol: My furnace is built from a 30 pound propane tank http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/w20160203_153158_zpsyncoguh5.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/20160204_100126_zpsffvggu0p.jpg You will find making ...

JFF45 wrote:Thanks for the replies.
I've read suggestions that later, even chinese, inverter AC/DC machines don't use gapped points anymore but I'll need to confirm that.

mine's 2016 model has point gaps. How hard is it to look?
Struggle on

I have an AHP 200X that did the same thing.
Adjusting the high freq point gap and aligning them, fixed this issue

OK, I'll play My last big project ground up build and photography by me http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/07aca466-2341-441c-80ec-8b193e25e6b3_zpsxaeau9bz.jpg I'm the little guy on the right lol http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/f55b6b25-fbb0-4454-923a-31aaf723571c_zpsyxhcc...

you can try Sketchup, its free and not too hard for those of us uninitiated in the world of CAD.
I struggle with all of this type of stuff and am of the opinion that software developers are disconnected with normal thinking people

Just cut the ass off whatever drill bit fits in the hole and green loctite it in there.
Your making WAY to big a deal out of this

I should have mentioned, the mil was set on a piece of 3/4 plywood with pushrods underneath,
greased lightning

my only concern with antifreeze is screwing up the properties of the coolant. on the other hand,any hting to clear chips and promote blade life is better than nothing. This is a cheap ass central machinery saw, with a shop built frame and chip/coolant pan. Had a system on it, but the pump died. Plas...

Throw some in a plastic cup, mixed as you would for the saw, and stick it in the freezer... "If" an additive is required, I'd think winterizing antifreeze for plumbing/RV antifreeze would be fine, and shouldn't take much unless your shop sees hard freeze weather for extended periods. The ...

I'm going to rig flood coolant on my horizontal saw, when my back heals up. My question is, my shop is not heated 24/7 and there is potential for the sump to freeze. I'm using CRC water soluble oil as the lube/coolant, does the oil do enough to keep it from freezing or do I need to add something, an...

that looks to be very nice machine, and I am jealous, as a knee mill is the thing most lacking in my shop. You will find 1000's of uses for it and I really like that it has the horizontal arbor drive as well. Grizzly tools seem decent for the most part. I would expect you will spend several days cle...

There is NO good reason to anchor a machine tool of this order to the floor, unless you live in an earthquake zone. Check on renting a fork- lift even a small one will lift 2000 pounds easy. You may also be able to rent what are called "machine skates" basically 4 wheeled caster like thing...

The purpose of leveling a lathe is to ensure that both ways run as perfectly parallel as possible with each other in the vertical plane, and has little to do with 'level' with respect to gravity. If the front or back way is slightly higher or lower than the other one, it doesn't matter as long as t...

weldin mike 27 wrote:You have enough meat next to the broken area to use a bolt and a hold down clamp. (a piece of flat bar) As you are not confident in repairing this, that is what I would do.

+1
over thinking

Some auto darkening helmets have this problem. Try turning the sensitivity right up. Even the shadow of the filler wire can be enough to block the sensor. 9000 series speedglas had this issue bad, but had a "hidden arc" mode that you could use. The new style do not have this issue, no mat...

The ONLY advantage IMO, of a gear head over a belt driven one, is no chance of slippage. The down fall is, it takes a fairly decent gear head lathe to give you good surface finishes. Gear heads have lash, lash = vibrations= less quality finish, unless its a really good machine. You can buy belts any...

Tile the floor, or hardy board it and find some old steel roofing, preferably white, to cover the walls.
Seal the floor to wall joint to prevent creepers from getting under it.
Always quite welding an half hour before leaving

Fido's Butt wrote: This has to be done every time I start up the welder because I always shut off the gas at the end and release the pressure remaining in the valve.

Why? Do you own stock in the welding gas company?
I release pressure on flammables (torches) but never inert gas

exnailpounder wrote:Aluminum is an absolute sponge for oils. I would NEVER use any oil based product to prep any AL I was going to weld.

Thats what I thought to, but when you preheat a casting to 450 to weld it, it must cook out, because it seemed to work.
Personally, when I came home, I used chalk