2016 POTD Thread Archive

My dad asked me to weld a cap and handle on a piece of black iron pipe to use as a stake-driving tool. You ever weld black iron pipe? I assumed it's just a mild steel that we still refer to as iron, but I could be wrong. Even with careful prep work I could not get a decent looking bead. It will hold just fine, but I'm not going to post a photo of it. Instead of fabricating a handle I just welded four beads around the pipe to act as a grip. We'll see if that works well enough. I don't have time to do anything more elaborate right now. As it was it pained me to spend that much time on it with so many other projects waiting for my attention.
 
That's what I figured. I should have just used some actual tubing I have on hand, but I'm just this side of being a hoarder, so letting go of reasonably good tubing for a project where gas pipe will suffice is a challenge for me.
 
Black pipe, as used for plumbing gas lines, has always welded well for me. It is commonly used for structural work in welding shops around here. It is the same as galvanized water pipe but without the zinc and is preferred for welding because of toxic fumes when welding zinc.

On the other hand, if you are referring to cast iron pipe, commonly used for plumbing waste and vent before PVC or ABS, then Chevydyl is correct.
 
I am talking about gas pipe. I've always heard it called "black iron", and I know that's what I've seen it labeled as at the home stores. But steel has replaced iron in most industries (even most "wrought iron" is steel at this point) while the term has remained, so I wasn't sure.
 
Well, I did do some things in the shop today. Basically, I cleaned up two old jointers and started assembling an old (1941) South Bend 9C lathe that I've had sitting in a box for the last couple of years. Having gotten rid of a couple of wood lathes, I decided to start clearing out some other old machines I'm not likely to use. My shop is tiny and I really need the space. And now a really good buddy of mine thinks I'm a prince because I'm giving him a Craftsman wood lathe and a Delta jointer for free.

And I guess I'll give the extra table saw to my son-in-law. But no jointer. He'd probably be OK, but I don't want to run any risk of making my daughter a widow and my grandchildren fatherless.

But that wasn't the project I came on to write about.

And I didn't do it in my shop.

Since somebody was kind enough to provide a PDF link to a "Manual of Lathe Operations", I hypothetically decided to produce a hard copy. Thirty years of Government service experience sprang into action.

Fortunately, I had bought a required tool. One that was fairly standard in Federal service until recently. A made-in-the-USA three hole punch:

punch 1 s.jpg


And I had a black three-ring binder with label holder:

manual 1 s.jpg

And now I hypothetically have a copy:

manual 2 s.jpg manual 3 s.jpg

Hypothetically.

PS Under the old copyright law this would be public domain by now for sure.
 
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Since somebody was kind enough to provide a PDF link to a "Manual of Lathe Operations", I hypothetically decided to produce a hard copy.


Charles, could you provide that link to the PDF of the Atlas MOLO? I would certainly appreciate it. I must have missed it when someone posted it. Thanks, JR49
 
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