I just wish I had a truck that would carry a bumper like that. I'm a sucker for bumpers with attitude and I was smiling for sure when I got to the end of the pics and saw it mounted on the truck. Definitely keeps folks from trying to bluff you at a 4-way stop. To carry on with Steve's idea, you coul...

Yeah, what's passed off as country now just sounds like adult contemporary with the occasional pedal steel lick thrown in. I grew up when country was truly country and don't listen to much of anything else. Some 50s rock now and then, and some good Irish music once in a while. But >90% country -- of...

And those pictures, my friends, are some of what is called the "art" of welding. Absolutely beautiful.

LDB

Diesel,

I just have to comment on your sig line -- Truer words were never spoken.

LDB

LtBadd wrote:I see the TF in the store, I'm guessing that it's a heat resistance sock for a finger?

You got it, first guess out of the gate.

Neat device. Once you have one, you'll wonder how you got along without it all those years.

LDB

Thanks for the welcome!! Noticed you got an AHP Alpha tig, how ya liking it? I been eyeing one pretty hard. It's really too early yet to tell if I like the AlphaTIG or not. I'm pretty sure I do, but I've only got about 30 minutes on it -- and I'm going to be teaching myself to TIG with it. With ass...

Welcome to our little asylum. There's a lot of talent and experience here, and it sounds like you definitely will add some more.

Enjoy,
LDB

Excellent article on TIG welding Ti here: http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/articles/TIG-gtaw-titanium-welding You'll find a name you recognize in the Acknowledgements. I can't claim any aerospace engineering experience. Closest I've gotten is working as a QC inspector in the satellite program fo...

Yep, I was gonna suggest what noddybrian said. Slather some SPV 50 sunblock on your face and go light up some Al. If you still turn red, it ain't UV. Is it just red like sunburn, or is there a rash involved? Also, do you peel like a bad sunburn?

LDB

... say whats the deal with powder prices where you are - it's got ridiculous here & some are virtually unobtainable like Varget which I used to load a lot. Powder prices are nuts compared to what I used to pay, but so are prices on most everything if we compare to the 70s or 80s. I think last ...

AndersK wrote:... What was this thread about now again...
Yeah, tig beads, sorry mate for off topic

S'okay with me, I like to talk about guns at least as much as welding.

LDB

@ I'd like to have tried the solid bronze with pre-cut petals - forget the name but FPS Russia did some ballistic gel shots with them - looked awesome I think you're talking about the RIP (Radically Invasive Projectile) ammo by G2 Research. I too thought it looked pretty darn cool when I first saw ...

Check out Frank Ford's site at http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/hstpages.html . He's got a lot of good tutorials and some good projects. Also, just let your mind free-spool and start turning any off-the-wall piece you can dream up. One of the first pieces I turned when I got my lathe was a piece wi...

True, the first .454 Casulls were SA. The only one I've ever fired was SA/DA. The owner of the gun hyped up the recoil so much that I flinched in anticipation and pulled the shot high. I was rather chagrined to find out that the recoil wasn't near as bad as he'd made out. Unfortunately for me, he'd ...

A friend's brother, just out of high school, wants to move to Arizona and attend welding school. Does anybody here have any first-hand knowledge or experience of/with any welding schools or programs in AZ? All info appreciated.

TIA,
ldb

Very nice! That looks great.

ldb

exnailpounder wrote: ... And whats with the foam mat on the ground...back in the day we layed on hot coals for stuff like that

Yeah, we did. And after a couple hours under a D8, I'd have traded body parts for a foam mat like that

ldb

Keith Fenner of Turn Wright Machine Works has a large (4' X 8' IIRC) PlasmaCAM setup in his shop. Lots of videos featuring it on his YouTube channel. He seems to be very happy with it. Uses it for one-offs, production and art projects. Just search from Keith Fenner in YouTube.

ldb

Bigdeer 597, It may not matter to you, depending on the type of welding you plan on doing, but the Ranger 225 has DC welding output only. If you plan on needing AC welding output, you'll need to go to the Ranger 250 (for considerably more money) if you want to stay red. Or, if blue goes with your tr...

Yeah, thanks, IBD, for sending that storm my way! Got some OT at work, and met it on I-12 about 1900 driving home. There was a corresponding storm of "Stupid" on the interstate at the same time. Damn near spilled my beer! ;) I can't add anything to the excellent feedback you've been getti...

Thanks for all the encouragement and tips, guys. I certainly appreciate it. Might take a bit of time for me to get halfway decent at this, between my hand healing up completely and trying to find time to spend in the shop when I'm supposed to be ramrodding the planetarium remodel instead. I would ha...

rick9345 wrote:are you sure those are pictures of your weld beads?

Look an awful lot like pictures of my first beads, thought I had thrown those picture away,

Yeah, they're really mine. You really did throw yours away.

ldb

Went in to the shop at work today, since that's where I took my new AHP AlphaTIG 200x. I don't have a shop at the house and I have no desire to have all my argon blown into the pasture. Got the machine set up and looked around for some scrap. Nothing in the scrap bin but lathe swarf. Figured I'd go ...

Otto Nobedder wrote:Well, dirtmidget, that saves me a lot of work on the front end. Now I have to decipher that IWE thing about carbon content, and reconcile it with argon TIG.

Thanks for F@#King my weekend up...



Steve S

Well, Steve, at least it's only 1600 pages...

ldb

Bill, that Damascus knife is beautiful. Magnificent work.

ldb