Very nice! What do you use to paint it with? Thank you. Rustoleum aluminum silver. I use the spray because it dries quickly. I just spray it into a cut off soda can until it gets a puddle in there and brush that on. I cut the bristles on an acid brush on an angle and shorten them to about half so t...

Even the novices here seem to have a good standing. You get the idea that they would be quick studies just by their enthusiasm alone and with not being afraid to show their work. More than likely, that's how we got to be where we are and it also goes to show that the pros here have not forgotten whe...

We buy the pipe already done. Most places that anodize aluminum should have the means to polish it to a bright finish that is more to the chrome look and there is the brushed finish as well. There is others but this is the most common. I think the bright finish is chemically polished if I remember r...

This is the only welding specific forum I belong to as well. I started on the Miller site years ago under a different handle that I don't recall. I think I made it to two or three posts before losing interest. Seems it had that ever present inclusion of forum troll hierarchy that so many forums do t...

The table handles it. It's the slack in the screw holes in the blocks more than anything. Either way, they are just tapped back to their line if need be. I end up welding it, resetting the blocks that move then tweak the frame so that it falls effortlessly back in between the lines and blocks. Anyth...

Cool. I have done that. I knew Otto would have in his work once I saw the manifolds in the other posts. I have also done that using the gas flow from a purge tube flowing down into the blind area when I knew I only had one shot at it. I have to do trapped repairs from time to time. Bent tungsten and...

No, that was a great response. Is basically what I am thinking of doing. I had great feedback on my initial try at it years back without even an ad or business cards. Fortunately, I did buy and continue to buy quality tools. I keep everything forever, even cars. I have a ton of layout and fab experi...

I have to use a wood top because we weld a lot of anodized and can't let it get scratched. This one has two layers of 3/4" cabinet ply. I have an assortment of hardwood blocks with predrilled holes. Still, welding will cause movements of the blocks so you have to keep track of where they were, ...

I'd like to separate. The owner actually has another career. You know his hunger is not going to be the same as mine, nor is the risk. His risk at worst is a credit issue, mine is a life worth of effort and making an actual living from it. I have too many skills to be somebody's grunt. I gave them 1...

I should add here that I appreciate the input. I really didn't expect to get much in the way of positive feedback. There is some good information here. It is just the type of dialogue I had hoped for.

Side business, small op is the best scenario in my case. I already have all of the equipment. At one point, I actually had my equipment at the shop I am at now because it was better than theirs. I took it back home once they started abusing it. As it is, I supply my own saw blades, drill bits, torch...

I agree Delray. . .I also own part of my business. But, I find that the majority owner will never reel in the losses by way of overhead. This in part, being the initial outlay as prescribed by SBDC. In the meantime, I have secured my own equipment and tools that would match, and in some situations e...

I thought this a good read. It's free. But I was surprised to find agreement that didn't sound like an entrepreneurial infomercial. A certain logic I have come to understand, even with regards to side work.
http://www.sherline.com/business.htm

I understand that completely. Is half of why I am still where I work. Full creative license. I actually started to get into business for myself at one point thru the SBDC. The problem for me was that they too, were of the idea of going all the way. The problem with their approach being, a huge amoun...

There is plenty of instances of ppl taking 5 minutes on a 15 minute job. Is why so much of our work these days ends up rivaling the quality of the worst of overseas manufacturing. I cannot make myself do a job wrong. I may at best have 20 years left in me for this trade. For all the up and coming, I...

Any input is appreciated. The one good thing about something as benign as a lawnmower deck repair is it's in and out and easy to calculate. At the very least, it could be as acceptable as a business card in a word of mouth sense. I often have to do some rather mundane repairs. 10 minutes can equal a...

Perhaps this topic has been addressed here. But how many of you work for yourselves at welding? Seems that welding would/should be one of the few trades where one could approach the idea of making money the old fashioned way. If so, how did you start out?

Thank you, Ultralow. I have been welding most of my life by now and still love it. I still look, talk, dress and walk like a welder. I still put out a lot of work for one guy. Often at times, the shop I work at will be a sea of aluminum that takes up the entire shop and often faster than the other p...

Yeah. You don't realize just how generalized welding school is until you get out in the field and start breaking all the rules.

Thank you, guys. You would be correct, Otto. That and sinking the tacks in such a way that they act as wedges or wrap the end tacks around the bottom initially to give the weld on top something to draw against. When welding for full penetration on aluminum, if you don't tig aluminum a lot, one can u...

Some more cast welding on an outboard motor. Also had to weld the skeg on this motor as well. The idea is not to use blending putty after the fact, or to have to use up a lot of abrasives. I don't do much in the way of reshaping the break itself. With cast, there is usually enough strength in the sh...

Looks like contamination in the base metal itself. If so, you may not be able to avoid it. Some metal is just not all that great a quality for welding.

I run into this a lot being I build a lot of one off stuff that creating a fixture or jig for is impractical. I compensate with strong backs clamped to the work piece. This can consist of a couple pieces of angle iron doubled up and make shift trusses using other rigid extrusions and shims to add co...

Nice job. If I bought 100 ball bearings, I would have to buy a wrist rocket too.

Is this the machine you have? This is the older 250 syncrowave we have and it's the one I opt to use out of 3 machines, including the Dynasty for my every day. We have a newer syncrowave and the arc wander is actually worse with the newer one. At any rate, arc wander has become a gremlin I have just...