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The Proc posted:another manual machining shop class where 75% of the grade is fabricating an arbor press. That truck owns bones, but ask if you can make a flypress instead of an arbor press, I want to see someone cut an acme thread in the throat of something beefy 
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Aug 19, 2013 05:19
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Slung Blade, I was actually wondering about how to approach a flypress without any castings the other day because of that awesome restoration job you did! It'll never happen in the shop because time, but that could be fun to tinker with in the CAD lab. What's the thread pitch on your spindle? Wasn't it multiple helix?
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Aug 19, 2013 08:41
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The Proc posted:Slung Blade, I was actually wondering about how to approach a flypress without any castings the other day because of that awesome restoration job you did! It'll never happen in the shop because time, but that could be fun to tinker with in the CAD lab. What's the thread pitch on your spindle? Wasn't it multiple helix? You wouldn't like to build a flypress with a frame of less than 50mm/2" steel and full penetration welding. Just saying. You're working with rather large forces. The spindle normally used for a flypress is 2-,3- or 4-pitch. Cutting the spindle is bad enough, but isn't the worst job - cutting the female parts is. Buy a used flypress if you need one, and don't kill yourself. Sir Cornelius fucked around with this message at 14:57 on Aug 19, 2013 |
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Aug 19, 2013 13:31
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Finally put the mace into service. The melon was coming right for me, it was self defence.
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Aug 20, 2013 15:26
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Gallagher:1642
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Aug 20, 2013 21:45
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So today at work I realized the only way I'm going to lean to tig weld is to buy my own machine. That poses a bunch of problems I don't have a garage/shop, no 220, and I can't afford one of the new machines that can be plugged into 110 or 220. I'm pretty sure I'm doomed to pull trigger my whole life.
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Aug 21, 2013 05:17
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Can you take a course at a community college? That's only $450 or so and will get you professional instruction and lots of practice with good machines on all the material you could want.
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Aug 21, 2013 05:23
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I could probably take an adult Ed course at one of the local vo techs but I work second shift. So unless they do Saturdays I'm boned there too. I did look on the one schools website and they did offer adult Ed welding classes but I think they were general courses. I don't know if they'd tailor a course for me if I talk to them and tell them what processes I'm proficient in and what certs I have/had.
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Aug 21, 2013 06:03
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Another solution is to make friends with someone who has a TIG welder. I suggest going to one of the forums out there, welding web, hobart, miller, etc. The people on those boards are spread out pretty well and you may very well find someone local willing to help out. But your right, it's like learning to drive a manual transmission. You can even go to school and have someone teach you, but in the end it requires a bit more practice then what you'll get from the school, and the best way is to just buy a car. If you aren't in a union, and your private sector employer doesn't have the equipment, time, or inclination for you to practice on it, then seeking out a machine you can practice on is certainly worthwhile if that's the direction you want to take your career in.
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Aug 21, 2013 16:13
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Well, I've almost got my forge in working condition. Firing the ITC-100 liner after it dried, and heating up the pipe to make the Reil burner nozzle. I used one of those Northern Tool propane torches meant for killing weeds.  This was a test of one of my burner configurations to see how it worked before installing it in place. I didn't get a picture of the other configuration test, but it's in the next pic.  This is me testing the forge with the other burner configuration. Basically I just put the nozzle directly onto the fitting, replacing the 6" nipple and elbow. However, this step is where I ran into problems. As you can see (hopefully, I'm not good at taking pictures) the burner isn't acting like the flame jet torch like I expected. Watching videos of Reil burners, and testing my two burner configs outside the forge, it should have a jet of flame coming out the tip. However, when I put everything in place and test it out, it basically just dumps the propane into the forge to burn there, rather than acting like it did outside the forge. When testing it, I stuck it in the back of the forge and it worked great, but when put in it's porthole on the side of the forge body, I just get these weak flames out each end of the forge, not heating it inside much at all. Any tips on what to do to fix this? Or am I just doomed to putting the burner in the back, rather than on the side?
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Aug 21, 2013 17:18
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You probably have to remove the flare. Most burners, when tuned properly to work inside a furnace/forge, will not even light in free air. The forge/furnace itself acts like a flare.
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Aug 21, 2013 17:29
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:You probably have to remove the flare. Most burners, when tuned properly to work inside a furnace/forge, will not even light in free air. The forge/furnace itself acts like a flare. I tried that just a second ago.  You can't even see the flames in this pic. Same problem as before.  Until I stick it in the back.
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Aug 21, 2013 18:09
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:I tried that just a second ago. Looks like it lacks air to burn efficiently.
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Aug 21, 2013 19:14
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Sir Cornelius posted:Looks like it lacks air to burn efficiently. Looks like this is ultimately the problem. I used my heat gun as a blower and stuck it in the air intake, which definitely upped the flame intensity, but was actually too powerful. I'm probably going to buy a cheap computer case fan and put it on the air intake and see how that works instead. I'm going to keep playing around with different combinations of things until I get one that works for my needs, but if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Y'all know waaay more about this poo poo than me and might save me some time.
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Aug 21, 2013 21:58
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PC fan would probably melt if it was placed close enough to blow enough air in there. Most people use the types of fans you see in bathrooms. Hook it up to some hose and have a valve (anything can be used to partially block airflow, like a piece of wood) to only allow as much in as you need.
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Aug 21, 2013 22:03
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hayden. posted:PC fan would probably melt if it was placed close enough to blow enough air in there. Most people use the types of fans you see in bathrooms. Hook it up to some hose and have a valve (anything can be used to partially block airflow, like a piece of wood) to only allow as much in as you need. Yeah, I was going to mount some longer 1" pipe to the back and mount it to a 1"-1.5" coupling to get it farther away. A bathroom fan would also be a good idea.
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Aug 21, 2013 22:11
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It's possible to make a naturally-aspirated forge like you're trying, but there's a lot of weird geometry to figure out and air flow/fluid dynamics is complicated. Most gas forge setups I've seen have some kind of forced induction. A basic cage/squirrel fan works great, and you need to be able to adjust the air flow to get it where you want it so you want something with continuously-variable settings.
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Aug 21, 2013 22:54
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Post a picture of the hole where the burner goes into the forge. I went out and took some pictures of my forge for reference, but you can see that I have a piece of pipe welded to the forge shell that the burner tube slips into. The end of the burner tube is set back a little bit from the inside of the forge lining, allowing that space to act as a little bit of a flare. You might try emulating my setup to see if your problems go away. I also found out that too long of a burner tube caused me issues, but it has been so long, I don't remember the exact problem. I can get you exact measurements of everything if you want. The floor of my forge is a soft firebrick cut to somewhat contour to the round bottom of the forge, allowing me to remove and replace it when it gets pitted with flux. Edit:I spent some time tuning things on this forge and I can forge weld 1/2 inch bar at 3 psi of propane  Edit2: I should probably get around to removing all that old paint and hit it with some grill paint or something.  
iForge fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Aug 22, 2013 |
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Aug 22, 2013 02:13
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iForge posted:Post a picture of the hole where the burner goes into the forge. I went out and took some pictures of my forge for reference, but you can see that I have a piece of pipe welded to the forge shell that the burner tube slips into. The end of the burner tube is set back a little bit from the inside of the forge lining, allowing that space to act as a little bit of a flare. You might try emulating my setup to see if your problems go away. I also found out that too long of a burner tube caused me issues, but it has been so long, I don't remember the exact problem. I can get you exact measurements of everything if you want. The floor of my forge is a soft firebrick cut to somewhat contour to the round bottom of the forge, allowing me to remove and replace it when it gets pitted with flux. Yeah you want some widening in the area immediately after the main 'tube' of the burner. The purpose of a flare, or a properly constructed tuyere, is that it has a similar shape the input pipe but a larger diameter. As the gas expands to fill this space it slows down, meaning that it can't burn back into the narrower pipe. Some sort of adjustable choke for your air intake, whether it's naturally aspirated or forced air, is also essential.
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Aug 22, 2013 02:38
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So I recently came into possession of an atlas 10" metal lathe. I'm planning to mount it to my workbench, but I'm pretty sure I need to level the whole thing first. All I have is a 36" carpenter's level from lowe's. Should I shim the lathe mounts, or should I try and level the bench itself? Leveling the bench may be difficult, since it's basically just a plywood top reinforced with 2x4's sitting on some particleboard cabinets. It doesn't even have legs on the front at present, though that should be easy to fix. The lathe looks to be in good shape, though the lead screw is a bit worn through one section of it. Came with a 3-jaw and a 4-jaw chuck, tooling, and some drill-holding chucks too. I'm excited to get it set up and get turning metal.
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Aug 22, 2013 14:09
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As long as the table top is relatively flat you may not have to worry much about levelling it out like you do with a floor standing lathe. Do the test where you turn two collars on a round and compare their diameters. If you aren't turning a taper, don't worry about it. If you do have to shim, I would say do it at the lathe feet, not the bench.
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Aug 22, 2013 16:41
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Well, I got it working. The bathroom fan idea works wonderfully, thanks, .hayden.  It got heated up in about 10 minutes. I'd post more pictures of how the setup looks but
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Aug 22, 2013 17:33
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What size orifice do you have in the burner and how many PSI are you running at?
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Aug 22, 2013 19:02
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Uncle Enzo posted:All I have is a 36" carpenter's level from lowe's. Should I shim the lathe mounts, or should I try and level the bench itself? A common misconception is that lathes have to be level within half a gnat's whisker. The only requirement for a mounting point for a lathe is flatness. You could mount it on the wall; as long as it's flat, it'll cut evenly from one end to the other (provided the lathe is adjusted properly, yadda yadda.) What leveling does is give you a quick reference to measure that flatness, and to set up the work in certain instances. As AbsentMindedWelder said, if your lathe cuts a test bar uniformly from end to end, it's good enough for most work.
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Aug 23, 2013 00:14
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I finally took the time to learn how to use a cad program. Solid Edge 2D Drafting is free too! My first schematic. Took an hour. These programs aren't intuitive at all. That is a schematic for these:  I make them much cleaner then that now. I refined my assembly a bit since I made that set.
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Aug 23, 2013 02:56
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Uncle Enzo posted:bench top lathe leveling Get a piece of channel iron (aka c-channel) from a crop steel supplier and mount that to your bench, then the lathe to that. You can make any fine adjustments you need by shimming under the lathe feet, since the channel will be plenty rigid for your need. It also won't change shape with humidity like the wood bench under it will.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:18
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I've got about 8m of Asbestos lined 8" steam pipe sitting in the yard at work- Im pretty sure it would make a drat good forge if it wasnt for the fact that it would give you cancer. The asbestos lining would be easily 3/4" thick and the walls of the pipe about 1/2".
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Aug 23, 2013 06:18
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Brekelefuw posted:I finally took the time to learn how to use a cad program. Beyond loving getting off my lazy rear end and putting my loving milling machine together, this here, is the single most important thing I need to do before I start turning this poo poo on and making chips. It's great to have the ability to machine all sorts of cool poo poo, and even some beginner's knowledge of how to do it, but it doesn’t help you a drat bit if you aren't organized enough to put your thoughts on paper to machinable specifications. Edit: Seriously, it must be the fumes! While I don't weld for a living anymore I'm starting to think my 8 month stint at the lovely railcar shop caused permanent damage. That would certainly explain my co-workers at the place. OK, enough E/N for now. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 06:46 on Aug 23, 2013 |
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Aug 23, 2013 06:43
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:Beyond loving getting off my lazy rear end and putting my loving milling machine together, this here, is the single most important thing I need to do before I start turning this poo poo on and making chips. It's great to have the ability to machine all sorts of cool poo poo, and even some beginner's knowledge of how to do it, but it doesn’t help you a drat bit if you aren't organized enough to put your thoughts on paper to machinable specifications. I notate all my designs and measurements of parts in a notebook, but I do it not in blueprint form, so its more like "name of section: .583" "name of other section: .392" etc. It was getting annoying to visualize which area of a part I was going to cut next. I also want to buy a tablet so I can have all my blueprints with my on my bench while I work. 9 more schematics to draw...
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Aug 23, 2013 11:35
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:What size orifice do you have in the burner and how many PSI are you running at? The orifice is 3/4", but I don't know the PSI level. That's how redneck it is. I have a flow regulator, but it's for a grill, so it doesn't show PSI. Next paycheck, I'm gonna be getting a flow meter to put on it, but I'm broke as a joke right now.
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Aug 23, 2013 14:19
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I meant the orifice of the propane nozzle. Edit: Also, a grill regulator is going to be very low pressure, and rather low BTU's. That is why the naturally aspirated burner did not work. It really is not suitable for the purpose. You really need a good regulator, preferably one meant for propane and can do a 0-60 PSI. Welding shops have them, with the gauge they are $40-60. 
AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Aug 23, 2013 |
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Aug 23, 2013 14:26
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:The bathroom fan idea works wonderfully, thanks, .hayden. My charcoal forge uses a £6 ($<10) hair dryer with all the elements ripped out and 12v DC soldered onto the motor, I use an old wall wart from an external hard drive to run it. I've also used screw terminals so I can run it on a car/motorcycle battery or whatever (it's designed for portability). I actually need to obstruct the pipe a bit because it's got too much air flow.
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Aug 23, 2013 14:33
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In addition to the one I just posted above, the other popular regulator sold for propane is the big red one: You could use an Acetylene regulator without hurting anything if you already have one laying around, and you likely aren't going to need it past 15 PSI. It would need the right connector for the propane cylinder, obviously. They do make torch regulators that are made for higher pressures and non-acetyelene gasses which would work also, but they are more expensive then the small brass and big red ones.  While looking for regulator images I stumbled upon this image: 
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Aug 23, 2013 14:45
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The red style regulators are often sold by places that carry turkey fryers if there isn't a welding shop near you.
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Aug 23, 2013 15:07
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:I meant the orifice of the propane nozzle. Ah, the orifice of the propane outlet is 3/32". That all makes sense. I'll definitely get a regulator with the gauge to run everything more efficiently. Thanks again for all the help guys. I actually have an acetylene regulator lying around, but it's the harbor freight hobbyist size regulator and doesn't have the propane fittings. I was super excited for a second, then disappointed again.
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Aug 23, 2013 15:39
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:Ah, the orifice of the propane outlet is 3/32". 3/32" is a bit too big for the orifice. At the amount of pressure it would take to get an orifice that size working with a naturally aspirated burner you would melt your forge. Off the top of my head I forget, but I believe the standard propane orifice size for a 3/4" burner tube would be somewhere in the high 70's (or 60's) of the numbered drill bit series. Do what Ron Reil recommends on his site. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Aug 23, 2013 |
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Aug 23, 2013 15:47
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:3/32" is a bit too big for the orifice. At the amount of pressure it would take to get an orifice that size working with a naturally aspirated burner you would melt your forge. I'm a moron. It's been like four months since I drilled the hole for the propane orifice and was going by memory. I just compared the hole to my drill bit set, and it's actually 1/32". It's still probably not the right size, but it's what I have to work with at the moment, so I'm gonna just keep using it as-is, upgrading certain things as I get the money for them. I also might just buy a commercially made burner and save a lot of frustration, but that feels like I'd be cheating. I've made everything else in the process, so I'd feel weird about just buying a burner.
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Aug 23, 2013 16:48
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:I'm a moron. It's been like four months since I drilled the hole for the propane orifice and was going by memory. I just compared the hole to my drill bit set, and it's actually 1/32". It's still probably not the right size, but it's what I have to work with at the moment, so I'm gonna just keep using it as-is, upgrading certain things as I get the money for them. Those tiny drill bits are cheap to buy but can be hard to find as not everyone stocks them. I believe my forge uses a #74 but i'm not 100% sure. Start small and keep enlarging it until you get the results you want. 1/32 is way way way too big.
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Aug 23, 2013 17:39
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So, I just started a welding class, and I am pretty bad at it, but marginally improving. My only problem with this class is how hands off the instructor is. Are there any good pointers/tips you guys have for a novice? I switched to a #9 shade and I can actually see the bead now. If I can master welding, I would be fine making a career out of it, but I don't know if my unsteady hand will allow for it. Forge welding is so much easier for me....
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Aug 27, 2013 04:25
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What process are you using? And holy poo poo, starting with a shade 9?
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Aug 27, 2013 04:42
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