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Ferremit posted:Driving Adelaide to Melbourne and back again for a $3K bridgeport mill isnt silly is it? Around here, depending on condition and warranty etc that's about $2900 too much, but I seem to recall machining equipment being hard to come by in Australia.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:20
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kastein posted:Around here, depending on condition and warranty etc that's about $2900 too much, but I seem to recall machining equipment being hard to come by in Australia. Where are you finding $100 J head Bridgeports that aren't headed to the scrap yard?
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Jul 26, 2016 19:22
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I've not found them, but usually at equipment auctions at closed down companies. They go for basically scrap value since they want them out of the warehouse/shop so they can sell the building. A friend bought his for $175, the only stipulation was that he be capable of picking it up that day. The VP of engineering at my company got his for $20 at a similar auction, and I got mine for free because a fellow AI goon knew I liked stuff like that and called me as soon as his boss told him to toss it in the scrapmetal dumpster with the forklift. So I rented a uhaul trailer and he tossed it in that with the forklift too. I also got a 50 gallon C-H air compressor that just needed motor gubbins (I said gently caress it and threw a whole new motor on since I didn't feel like troubleshooting it) and a $4700 giant 3 phase drill press (Clausing 2276) the same way. They charged me a $100 "loader fee" for those, basically just because they didn't want to spend the time loading them for me without some cash and didn't want me risking loading them myself either, which I found to be entirely fair given what I got. kastein fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Jul 26, 2016 |
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Jul 26, 2016 19:36
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kastein posted:I've not found them, but usually at equipment auctions at closed down companies. They go for basically scrap value since they want them out of the warehouse/shop so they can sell the building. A friend bought his for $175, the only stipulation was that he be capable of picking it up that day. The VP of engineering at my company got his for $20 at a similar auction, and I got mine for free because a fellow AI goon knew I liked stuff like that and called me as soon as his boss told him to toss it in the scrapmetal dumpster with the forklift. So I rented a uhaul trailer and he tossed it in that with the forklift too. Sure you can get deals like that if you wait long enough and look hard enough. Doesn't hurt to have a bunch of drinking buddies that work in those places either.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:45
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Plus your geographical area needs the manufacturing/industrial history to support it.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:51
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It doesn't really take much waiting, at least around here in the northeast where our formerly incredibly strong manufacturing/machining industry is a shadow of its former self and most of the old brick mill buildings are being turned into hipster condos or brownfields. There are equipment auctions at bankrupt/closed down industrial firms every few weeks if you know where to look. Most stuff gets bought by machine tool resellers that refit them as needed and then sell them for the four figure prices everyone else pays. The funny thing is that I didn't really go looking for them, they came to me. I was in no way ready to pick something like that up and actually use it on that schedule, so I covered it in WD40 and grease and tarped it, it survived quite unscathed. And when I posted pics of it on facebook, another friend messaged me and offered me a Southbend Model A metalworking lathe that was either going in his dump's scrapmetal pile or to me, so I ended up getting that too. If you get the word out that you are an idiot and will pick up unknown condition metalworking tools on a days notice no questions asked, eventually they come to you. The odds are good, but the goods are odd, as they say.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:52
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Get friendly with guys who do professional asbestos removals. When they do the removal anything left in the space is contaminated and meant to be dumped (at least by our local regs). This leads to workshops deciding that, you know what, we really don't need that second lathe/mill that we never use. Also guys who fit out industrial sites with benches and storage, they know every workshop and help move them to new places. Same deal, no-one can be hosed to move the old iron.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:52
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Ferremit posted:Driving Adelaide to Melbourne and back again for a $3K bridgeport mill isnt silly is it? Pffft, thats less than a days drive. Grab a mate and call it a roadtrip.
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Jul 27, 2016 02:48
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In a temporary fit of madness I bought a chinese 200A TIG. It has HF start, AC/DC switch, pulsing, adjustable duty cycle, foot control, etc etc, and looks stupidly complicated with a big pile of switches and dials on the front panel. When I took home my MIG it took me 2-3 hours to figure out how to put down a decent bead. Since I have no TIG or oxy training aside from maybe 10 minutes of youtube videos I was expecting the TIG to be a disaster. Instead in the first 5 minutes after grinding my tungsten I was making nicer welds than I have ever done with the MIG. It just seems stupidly easy to heat up metal and gradually massage it where you want it, blob down some filler to bridge a gap, etc. It's slow but seems really intuitive, way easier than stick. Either people overstate how difficult TIG is, I bought some kind of magic welder, or I've missed my calling.
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Jul 27, 2016 15:47
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LibertyCat posted:Either people overstate how difficult TIG is, I bought some kind of magic welder, or I've missed my calling. That said, one thing I'd watch for if you were that "successful" from the git go and haven't been constantly dipping your tungsten, is there's a good chance your arc length may be a tad too long.
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Jul 27, 2016 16:09
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I haven't tried TIG for more than like ten seconds yet but I've been told if you can braze or solder, TIG comes pretty naturally. Can't wait to try. (all I did was fill a hydraulic line adapter with weld with a TIG to make it into a blockoff plug. It was ugly, but functional.)
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Jul 27, 2016 18:45
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I have a question I'm woefully under-qualified for, I hope you guys can help. At work we have amongst other treasures a Harrison M500 lathe. The operator requested new gib slides for the cross slide and compound slide so I located and bought them. They were labeled for the M450 but I was assured the only difference is bed length. Operator installs then, compound is perfect, cross gib is too thick, tapers too quickly. He'd have to grind 1-2mm off it on two sides to get it to fit so we assume it's wrong and return it. New supplier, new criss slide gib, labeled for the M500, exactly the same issue. So now I suspect the operator needs to do something to the gib or our slide is subtly different somehow. Suggestions?
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Jul 28, 2016 06:27
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I have done an awful lot of soldering, so maybe that's it. I just like the part where you can go "if I apply a little bit of heat right here that blob will flow into that hole and make it look pretty". Point taken RE arc length. I did hit the puddle a few times, and it'll take a long time before I'm good at it.
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Jul 28, 2016 10:26
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Cakefool posted:The operator requested new gib slides for the cross slide and compound slide so I located and bought them.
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Jul 28, 2016 11:50
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Cakefool posted:Suggestions? We maintain some ancient equipment and see variants of this often. What was proper at date of manufacture was revised at some point in history. Someone like Hardinge is pretty good about tracking those changes. Smaller manufacturers... not so much. When it comes to stuff like that we apply something like Torlon or Glacier DX to the worn out gib and scrape it in. A Biax scraper would be overkill for this, you'd be fine with a hand scraper.
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Jul 28, 2016 17:18
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Got a Myford lathe in my sights at an estate auction tonight. It'll be sight-unseen for me, unfortunately, but there was a viewing yesterday and it's pretty popular in the bidding right now (and came from a metal shop) so it seems pretty safe to assume it's in working condition. Let's see if it gets too rich for my blood or not.
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Jul 28, 2016 20:13
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Love myfords. Got one at work and there was one in the back if the silversmithing class. I do have trouble cutting steel on the one at work though. Cant figure out why it doesn't take a smooth cut regardless of the bit. Parts are still made an available through their UK seller.
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Jul 28, 2016 20:56
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:I am am woefully under-qualified as well for this specific issue, however first question that pops in my head is why did the operator request new gib slides in the first place? Ran out of adjustment on the current ones (not enough meat left to drive further in and take up the slack) Yooper posted:We maintain some ancient equipment and see variants of this often. What was proper at date of manufacture was revised at some point in history. Someone like Hardinge is pretty good about tracking those changes. Smaller manufacturers... not so much. Problem is to get any further use out of it it would need to be longer. As far as I've learnt new gibs get scraped in as described, then cut to length. Current one is already cut with no adjustment left, new one required from 1 to 2mm scraping off its entire length which seems excessive, I was under the impression scraping in took microns off the high spots only. Thanks for the help though guys, I'll see if I can find anything out about mid-series variants
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Jul 28, 2016 21:29
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Cakefool posted:Ran out of adjustment on the current ones (not enough meat left to drive further in and take up the slack) If you haven't already you may want to head over to practical machinist forums, this is the kind of problem that is right up their alley. There's probably an old timer that has a half a lifetime on these machines and knows all their idiosyncrasies.
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Jul 28, 2016 21:56
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Cakefool posted:Ran out of adjustment on the current ones (not enough meat left to drive further in and take up the slack) You could take heavier amounts, but we'd usually do that on the surface grinder first. For some of the bigger dovetails and such we've got special cutters and stones to get into the corners. Our equipment is almost entirely centerless and OD grinders, so they don't see anywhere near the wear a high use lathe would. That and they tended to protect the ways and design it to shed grit better.
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Jul 29, 2016 12:01
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We thought about that but our surface grinder doesn't do tapers and we'd struggle to shim and support it at the right angle.
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Jul 29, 2016 12:08
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Bring out the monster magnetic sine plate! You know, the one someone bought at an auction that was certain to get used once every 27 years. Is it a hardened gib? Do you have the fixturing to to do it on the mill?
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Jul 29, 2016 12:24
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Lincoln AC/DC tombstone for $100. I didn't even know there was a DC version of these things...
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Jul 29, 2016 15:28
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Crazyeyes posted:Lincoln AC/DC tombstone for $100. Yup. The A/C "Buzzbox" was much more common. The DC version is worth a lot more, and $100 is a very good deal.
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Jul 29, 2016 19:22
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sharkytm posted:Yup. The A/C "Buzzbox" was much more common. The DC version is worth a lot more, and $100 is a very good deal. The bastard sold it out from under me 
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Jul 29, 2016 19:30
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 Last forge I made, I tried cutting the ends off of an air compressor. That was kinda tedious, so I decided to make one from scratch. Used a slip roller to curl some sheetmetal, and here are the results.  Test fitting everything. I used a plasma cutter for the hole in the top. When I do the next one, I'll wait on the final assembly before welding. You'll see why in a bit.  Pretty good for something we eyeballed. Elsewhere in the shop...  This is my partially completed angry upside down bot forge. He needs a cement liner. I have a much sturdier form, and I've got a little more experience with this material (Kast-o-lite 30)  I'm aiming for about 3/4" of this stuff minimum  20% water by volume. Actually 18% but I doubt it matters. I didn't take pictures as I was pouring since my hands were a mess, so you'll just have to wait until it dries, just like me. Now, about that big ol' hoopajoop in the corner.  This goes back to order of assembly... I marked out holes on the small side and drilled them in a regular drill press no problem. Then realized it was going to be a hassle to get them to line up. I think I'd be better off drilling the holes on the flanges before welding, but that's how you learn, right? I tried using a hand drill, but it was slow going. We've had this massive radial drill press sitting in the corner for a few weeks, and one of the more experienced shop hands mentioned that this was the exact sorta job it was meant for. So let's give it a shot! I love a chance to play mad scientist. First problem I ran into was the shell of the forge flexed a lot, and bent under the press.  This worked very well. I still wasn't able to get holes in the front near the stabilizing feet, but I think that's a solvable problem. I ran out of time to fiddle with it. Otherwise, I found this machine pretty intuitive to use and to line up my work. Now I'm going to hate every cheap flimsy drill press for the rest of my life. Speaking of drills...  Let's go back 200 years in technology. That's a beast! But wait, there's more...  I've heard I can do things with this?
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Jul 29, 2016 22:36
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Don't feel bad about missing the tombstone... even tho it was cheap, you really don't want a tapped transformer. Neat stuff Pagan!
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Jul 30, 2016 00:40
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kastein posted:Around here, depending on condition and warranty etc that's about $2900 too much, but I seem to recall machining equipment being hard to come by in Australia. Yeah, it's either expensive old iron or overpriced new build Chinese garbage here. It's all moot because if I'm moving a 1 tonne piece of machinery I'm only doing it once and since my shed floor is currently wet blue chip gravel I'm not 100% sold on its stability...
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Jul 30, 2016 03:35
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Has anyone used the ESAB Rebel 215ci combo MIG/TIG. It seems to have good reviews over the net. I am tasked with spec'ing one for a makerspace and am planning on using it for both aluminum and steel projects. It seems to have a lot more feature/amperage than anything in it's range. Since it is a DC Tig only, the aluminum would be done by MIG with a spool gun. Any thoughts? https://www.amazon.com/Esab-Rebel-EMP-215ic-0558102240/dp/B01BXDOENG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469975236&sr=8-1&keywords=ESAB+Rebel
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Jul 31, 2016 15:29
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I've always used 25/75 co2/argon for the mig and 100% argon for tig. Are you planning on two tanks or will one work ok for both? No personal experience with that welder myself.
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Aug 2, 2016 23:59
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honda whisperer posted:I've always used 25/75 co2/argon for the mig and 100% argon for tig. Are you planning on two tanks or will one work ok for both? I was planning argon for both.
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Aug 3, 2016 00:04
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A co2 mix is Bad News Bears for aluminum welding, I'm afraid. It's great for heat transfer on steel (even better, if you can afford it, is helium mix) but if you try to weld aluminum with a co2 mix you mostly just get horrible black soot all over your expensive checkerplate. At work we keep co2/ar for steel, pure ar, and ar/he for thick aluminum. Pure AR is probably best bet if you can only get one tank, but you'll have lower heat capacity on steel. If all you're doing is steel, try to get TriMix (ar/he/co2).
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Aug 3, 2016 00:06
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Mr. Bill posted:A co2 mix is Bad News Bears for aluminum welding, I'm afraid. It's great for heat transfer on steel (even better, if you can afford it, is helium mix) but if you try to weld aluminum with a co2 mix you mostly just get horrible black soot all over your expensive checkerplate. At work we keep co2/ar for steel, pure ar, and ar/he for thick aluminum. Pure AR is probably best bet if you can only get one tank, but you'll have lower heat capacity on steel. If all you're doing is steel, try to get TriMix (ar/he/co2). Is this a reply to me? As stated I am welding both aluminum and steel. Also it's a fablab so probably very little in the way of thick stuff.
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Aug 3, 2016 00:08
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Speaking from experience, welding steel with 100% Ar is miserable. Get 75/25 for that, seriously. I'd rather run fluxcore than 100% Ar MIG.
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Aug 3, 2016 23:13
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kastein posted:Speaking from experience, welding steel with 100% Ar is miserable. Get 75/25 for that, seriously. I'd rather run fluxcore than 100% Ar MIG. I have TIG'd a hobbyist amount of steel with 100% Argon and it was fine. Why do you claim it should have been miserable?
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Aug 4, 2016 00:56
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CarForumPoster posted:I have TIG'd a hobbyist amount of steel with 100% Argon and it was fine. Why do you claim it should have been miserable? Tig welding steel with pure argon is recommended, argon-co2 mix shouldn't be used with a tig welder for any material. Mig welding steel with pure argon is not recommended, you need an argon-co2 mix preferably. Mig welding aluminium requires pure argon.
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Aug 4, 2016 09:10
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CarForumPoster posted:I have TIG'd a hobbyist amount of steel with 100% Argon and it was fine. Why do you claim it should have been miserable? As I noted I was MIG welding. Now that I think about it, not sure if you were intending to use that 100% Ar with MIG or TIG on steel. If TIG, disregard my input  It worked, but the welds looked like poo poo (because they cooled real fast comparitively), splattered a lot more, and didn't penetrate anywhere near as well for the current I was using. Only did it because I ran out of 75/25 on a weekend when all the local welding shops are closed, needed the project done, and had a tank of argon handy. kastein fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Aug 4, 2016 |
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Aug 4, 2016 16:17
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How well do you guys think anodizing would hold up to heat and flux from soldering? I have some anodized discs on the way to me that I want to solder to some brass. If it doesn't work, I will just epoxy it.
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Aug 4, 2016 22:21
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Brekelefuw posted:How well do you guys think anodizing would hold up to heat and flux from soldering? The ASM handbook on welding, brazing and soldering doesn't note any issues with damaging the ano layer that I found in a quick search. Speculation based in some scienceish knowledge: If it is something like 6061 or any of the lower transition metal content alloys (i.e. not 2XXX or 7XXX) that has been through desmut before a Type II ano, pretty well. Type 1 (chromic acid) I dont know. Type III (aka hard ano) is more likely to have issues. Less thermal shock is better. No idea about the whetting of braze to various ano'd surfaces. For corrosion inhibition ano'd actually seems much much better because it will inhibit galvanic corrosion between the copper and aluminum. (Or, potentially, whatever filler metal you have) EDIT: You could also hit the surface with a clean SS brush or sand it then poof, no more ano. EDIT2: Apparently whetting is not good because successful brazing involves the formation of alloys of the braze material and base material at the interface. I dont know of any interfacial oxide alloys so I'd guess you should probably remove the ano in the area of brazing. quote:Oxide layers inhibit wetting and spreading, as do grease, dirt, and other contaminants that prevent good contact between the brazing filler metal and the base metal. One of the functions of a flux the oxide layer on the joint area and thereby expose clean base metal. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Aug 6, 2016 |
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Aug 6, 2016 05:42
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Actually, I want to preserve the anodisation. I have got some discs coming with anodised patterns and colours that will be used as inlay decoration. I won't be brazing, just soft soldering with lead free low temp.
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Aug 6, 2016 15:55
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