cornmuse wrote: Move this to the top of the list!

Good suggestion - done!

That's one of the easiest, most practical things I've done to my system. Even a portable compressor setup will benefit from doing this.

Here's the condenser setup. It's about 48" tall, and the bottom header uses 45-degree fittings to slope toward the filter on the outlet. (Tucked behind the compressor, so I couldn't get it in the pic.) The compressor outlet is a 1/2" which I step up to 3/4 for the lead-in hose and feed int...

Is there an adapter to make this connection work, or is it possible to modify the end of the cable/gas hose to make it work for my machine? When you buy a single-hose CK torch, you'll also need an adapter like this: http://store.mwsco.com/storefront/CK-SL2-35QD-SafeLoc-Male-Dinse-35-1234.CK917MR70-...

To my great annoyance, our new masters' policy says no one can have a personal recording device of any kind (including camera) on the premises. I have to wonder if they'll take my pen and notebook... :lol: So, all the managers will be leaving their smartphones at home, right? You can't buy a phone ...

I just finished plumbing my shop with type L 1/2" copper and cast 1/2" outlets. I used common silver-bearing plumber's solder (you can get higher PSI ratings with other types). But did pickup a few pointers on layout that might be useful... * I added a ball valve at the tank because the qu...

Nicely done.

I've wondered about using 36" tubes for filler rod... over time, won't the tube fill with shorter rods that you can't reach?

Welding carts seem to be like trucks - infinitely customizable. There are some pretty amazing projects out there.

I'm still comfortable giving descriptions of the process, because it falls within the job description, and does not tell competitors anything they don't already know. Thanks for sharing what you can. Very cool stuff, and it's neat to see real-world challenges. An awful lot can be learned from failu...

One junk gas lens was all it took for me. Now it's a CK torch, CK consumables (wedge lock collets are sweet), Diamond Ground Wolfrum tungsten. I can't afford to chase problems. FYI, I wandered over to Diamond Ground's site and they have a free sample program. http://www.diamondground.com/request-a-...

The only place I found if was Amazon. The shipped it in 2 days for free and it was a great deal so we thought. Hey, Matt... Check to see if the first one you got came from "Warehouse Deals". Given the price and the fact that it was clearly used and a dud out of the box, the odds are high....

Thanks for the description, Steve. I'm curious how you can narrow the cause when it involves the inner tank - are you able to get inside it and bag different areas while the outer container maintains a vacuum around it? Or do you pressurize the inner tank and vacuum sections of its bell from inside ...

So, how'd your project turn out? And what did you use for the locking mechanism?

The lockboxes I've seen commercially use either a key (which I don't like) or a bicycle lock style spinner. I really like your idea of making my own box, so I can use a pushbutton style lock.

Cheers,
Richard

Hey, Steve. Would you mind describing your process for finding leaks like this? I'm envisioning that you'd put dye on the pressurized side of the vessel wall and check the exterior for dye leaking through? At least that's what your first example here looked like, but I can't imagine how you'd get dy...

There's some stuff there a hobby welder could build a good fume extractor with. I like the idea of the legs with welding curtain wrapped around it. That solves a problem with how I'd shield from someone getting flashed while I'm working in the garage, without hanging large curtains. Only for tablet...

Be careful with cutting and grinding. My chop saw is the only thing started a fire on me cause it throws alot of sparks. With welding the sparks are contained to a much smaller area. One of the first things I would do personally is build a metal work table. Spatter and sparks hitting you nice woodw...

Does anybody here use their table saw as a welding table? I'm a lifelong woodworker who's finally getting into welding, and I'm trying to figure out how to overlap space. My wife isn't keen on me taking over the whole garage. Yet. ;) The shop is a 3rd-car bay in my garage, and it's fairly cozy (as i...

with alumina nozzels i dont notice much difference. gas lens i do... ck has a much higher quality and i do notice a difference in gas coverage with the ck gas lens. another thing i really like is ck wedge collet. holds tungsten with out having to tighten the back cap so much. they seem to be made o...

One junk gas lens was all it took for me. Now it's a CK torch, CK consumables (wedge lock collets are sweet), Diamond Ground Wolfrum tungsten. I can't afford to chase problems. Fair enough. Thanks for the perspective! If I were using my gear to earn a living (especially in the field), I'm sure the ...

I have bought quite alot of torch parts - both Tig & plasma from " Shop River" & they have always been fast / efficient & their product seems fine to me - I'd like to buy local - but either they don't have it or it's just stupidly over priced 3shop-river and river-weld are the...

Hi, Glenn. This is the other forum I mentioned... You'll find my thread here on cheap consumables. As an excuse to share research with the forum, here's the video I found on the diamond wheel, which is apparently the preferred media, but this option is cheaper than a dedicated sharpening tool: http:...

By the way of consumables I started with a name brand "kit" consisting of a nice plastic storage box, 3 collets, 3 collet holders, 3 cups and 3 pieces of tungsten. A very expensive nice plastic storage box. I found nothing special about the contents. I bought a couple assorted packs off e...

OK, I'm new to welding, and jumping in head first with TIG, after years of watching Jody's videos. (I expect most of my welding will be on light-gauge aluminum, and spool gun wasn't very appealing.) As I build a collection of consumables, I'm finding hugely different prices - one place might have th...