2016 POTD Thread Archive

Thanks RE, it worked out and saves on floor space when not in use. I should prime both this and the die table tomorrow before 06:00 and let the sun bake it in. By 09:00 it should reach at least 103ºF. :fireman::devil:
Turn and burn!
Paco
 
problem is I don't want to have to reply just o see a photo. It can get quite time consuming.
 
omni_dilletante said:
How do you use these?

Google let me down when I searched for "how do you use an argon purge/backer boxes"

I found someone who had fittings to fill pipe they were welding with argon, which made sense. I found several examples of how to build them. But I could not find any images of one being used.

I am very curious.
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Filling a tube or pipe with argon works great when the component being welded is in itself a vessel for containing the argon, however, for welding things like tabs and/or brackets to other material the backside also gets that sugar look to it much like stainless steel. If you want to actually weld the backside of a tab or bracket the weld will turn out terrible looking unless you protect it first by supplying some argon to the back side.

On sand drag chassis when I was building them I would usually wrap some aluminum foil around the back side of a mounting tab or bracket and then put my argon purge hose inside. This worked fair but was time consuming and was hard to hold the foil and purge hose in place. I had seem one similar to these many years ago in a co-workers toolbox and he told me what he had used them for at his previous employer. I thought to myself I had to fabricate one, then decided why stop and one. I may as well fabricate several for various situations.

Now it is a simple matter of grabbing the best suited one for the situation and using a spring clamp to hold it in place. Also easy to move around if needs be, and best of all, NO tape residue as sometimes I would tape the foil and hose in place.

Hope that helps to explain the usefulness of them. I just can't believe I waited so stinking long to build some.

Mike.
 
not machining related, but restrung my hammock, which I am super happy about. It's my outside office and general chilling spot (have one at work too), and I bought it in Brazil in 2000. The strings started snapping a while back and it finally dumped me on my ar$e a couple of weeks ago. Now it's back in action :)
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also went to have a rummage around the scrap yard, looking for a center block for a power hacksaw (where to mount the crank). Found a couple of pieces to bolt together, some other bits'n'pieces AND a whopper of a chunk, completely unmarked. 18lbs for what was in my wallet - $17! I'm going to use the big chunk for the upright in a currently dreamed about belt sander build.
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Nice catch, I wish I could find stuff like that and my scrap yard. They get rusty old stuff and nothing new looking like that.
 
thanks! First time I've lived somewhere that has one. I never come away from there empty handed :) The big block was buried under a container full of recurve bow frames for some reason. I think the money they get from selling to the public goes in their coffee and beer fund, so they usually eyeball it and ask a couple $$. This lot was a bit too heavy for that.
 
Today was maintenance day. Cleaned machines and did some repairs. My Burke #4 mill had a lot of back lash in the table X axis. I thought I was going to have to make a new nut , after disassembling and cleaning, I fount the nut was loose. I tightened the nut and needed a .010" shim washer for the crank end of the screw. I couldn't find anything .010" thick ..... So ......here I am cutting a .010" brass shim washer on the lathe.
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It worked! The washer came out at .011". The back lash in the table is .020". I can live with that until I get around to making a new nut.

I made a modification to my south bend lathe tail stock. Some previous owner cut about .375" off the screw to hold tanged tooling ( it is longer cause of the tang). This reduced the travel to 1 5/8" :(. I made a new screw 1/2" longer and reduced the length of the stop collar on the screw . I also shortened the bushing that holds the screw by .200"
image.jpeg This now gives me a full two inches of travel on my tail stock.
 
we used to have a place to buy metals here called Greene's . They had a huge building full of round, squares, rectangles, tube, sheet. you name it. They would cut it for you too and the price was cheaper than anywhere else. But they stopped selling to the public a couple years ago. I really really miss that place.
 
Billh50 said:
problem is I don't want to have to reply just o see a photo. It can get quite time consuming.
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Of course. That's why that's not the normal behavior. But I can't seem to get a response from anyone on this site or at Tapatalk about looking into it. Just absolute silence.
 
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