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Brekelefuw posted:I'm in Boston this weekend. if you're in Canada Princess Auto is exactly the same stuff
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Aug 20, 2017 01:22
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Yeah, Princess Auto is pretty similar, although HF had a bunch of stuff I can't get there. Picked up a few sets of wire gage drill sets because those are more difficult to find locally, and some torx drivers and a micro chop saw because it was so cute and cheap.
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Aug 20, 2017 17:36
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yeah princess is like 75% venn diagram overlap with harbour freight, we trade fewer tools and machines at worse price-points for, like, hydraulic centres and farmer poo poo
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Aug 21, 2017 00:36
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Ambrose Burnside posted:yeah princess is like 75% venn diagram overlap with harbour freight, we trade fewer tools and machines at worse price-points for, like, hydraulic centres and farmer poo poo Man, their hydraulic poo poo may be junk, but it will get you through a pinch. The first rental company I worked for, the truck broke down and needed to go in for a long time for major engine work, and so they had a to rent one in the mean time. Except apparently nobody rents trucks with a hydraulic kit, so while they could pull the trailer, they had no way to operate the deck to load and unload equipment. Solution was to buy a knockoff Honda driven pump, bolt it to the deck, and plumb it into the trailer hydraulics. So when the driver needed to work the deck, he had to climb up, pull start the motor and hope for the best. Thing leaked right off the bat, but the tank was just big enough to fully raise and lower the deck if it was topped up, and it saw weeks of heavy use before the truck came back.
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Aug 21, 2017 06:50
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the real Princess Auto selling point is their no-questions lifetime return policy on everything. Realize a tool is shittier than you thought you could make work? bring it back. changed your mind? bring it back. bought an AC and summer's over? you bet your rear end you can bring it back and nobody'll even give you a dirty look
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Aug 21, 2017 15:58
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Ambrose Burnside posted:the real Princess Auto selling point is their no-questions lifetime return policy on everything. Realize a tool is shittier than you thought you could make work? bring it back. changed your mind? bring it back. bought an AC and summer's over? you bet your rear end you can bring it back and nobody'll even give you a dirty look "You have such a tiny apartment, where do you store your AC unit?" "Princess Auto" 
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Aug 21, 2017 19:07
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Ambrose Burnside posted:the real Princess Auto selling point is their no-questions lifetime return policy on everything. Realize a tool is shittier than you thought you could make work? bring it back. changed your mind? bring it back. bought an AC and summer's over? you bet your rear end you can bring it back and nobody'll even give you a dirty look Rent a tile saw for one job. 100% deposit, no rental fee!
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Aug 21, 2017 23:13
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That does sound appealing
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Aug 22, 2017 21:17
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Whereas HF are absolute <non offensive term> about receipts and warranties. Assholes?
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Aug 22, 2017 21:50
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Metal Geir Skogul posted:Whereas HF are absolute <non offensive term> about receipts and warranties. Assholes? As an rear end in a top hat I am offended by that.
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Aug 23, 2017 00:39
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I wish there was a British Baking Show version of Forged in Fire. I like the concept but I hate reality TV tropes and editing so muuuuuch.
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Aug 23, 2017 00:42
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I'd settle for an after-show that explains exactly what everyone is doing right/wrong and why. Also the car challenges are bullshit as you can only really expect to get springs and axles in the time allotted.
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Aug 23, 2017 03:45
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I've lost faith in TVproducers' ability to make a decent 'skills' based show without all the quick edit/forced drama bullshit. Thank goodness for Colin Furze, myfordboy, This old Tony and the others.
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Aug 23, 2017 07:32
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I've been thinking about learning to weld in order to make tube frames / legs for tables, shelves, desks, etc. 1) Is it a stupid idea to buy a welder for that? 2) Should I just take a class? (The only short / cheap ones available around me are mig/tig and oxy) 3) Stick, Mig, Tig, Oxy? (Oxy seems suuuuuper dangerous and I'm leaning towards stick but I know nothing) 4) PPE? Gloves? Mask? Something else I'm missing? 5) Would a metal cutting bandsaw be necessary for this? 6) What other tools / accessories am I forgetting here? I've always wanted an excuse to learn to weld and making desk frames and poo poo seems like a good one depending on how much up front cost there is to discovering how hard welding is.
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Aug 23, 2017 18:30
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Tig is going to give you the cleanest looking welds, but also takes the most skill. Most tig machines will be able to do stick too, though stick is going to be the ugliest/messiest. You'll want a welding helmet and gloves (a mask isn't strictly necessary if you're in a well ventilated space). If you go the tig route, you'll want to buy/have a bench grinder to sharper your tungstens. Figure in the cost of a cylinder rental/purchase too. You'll probably want to buy tube notchers and benders depending on what you're doing. A bandsaw is nice to have - if you don't have a lot of floorspace, you can look into a portaband.
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Aug 23, 2017 19:03
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For welding tubing, tig,, mig or oxyacetylene are most appropriate (and fwiw, oxyfuel isn't notably dangerous, the hazards are just different than electric processes).Tig and oxyfuel will get the best results but are the most difficult to do well. Oxyfuel is significantly cheaper than TIG to get working, but acetylene is expensive as balls and slow and requires more cleanup post-weld- its generally not considered commercially-viable outside edge applications nowadays. MIG is mid-range in terms of price and is very easy to learn, but will give less attractive results. I'd very strongly recommend taking a course of some sort; starting from nothing on your own is a good way to get frustrated and learn a bunch of horrible habits. It'll also let you play with welding approaches and learn what works for you. A bandsaw of some sort is very highly recommended if you can't get 100% of your project cuts done at the metal shop , you'll hate yourself as hour two of hacksaw labour creeps up.
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Aug 23, 2017 20:13
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Tres Burritos posted:I've been thinking about learning to weld in order to make tube frames / legs for tables, shelves, desks, etc. There is a huge effortpost on page 1 by AbsentMindedWelder that will get you started.
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Aug 23, 2017 20:24
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I think my friend walked the best path for learning to weld: he took a welding class at a community college and found they basically have open shop Fridays where the students hang out and work on their personal projects using the school's awesome equipment. He was saving to buy his own stuff but never did because the shop was so convenient. Welding equipment is a pretty big investment so I recommend a class or equipment rental to minimize your $$ risk.
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Aug 23, 2017 20:43
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Ambrose Burnside posted:For welding tubing, tig,, mig or oxyacetylene are most appropriate (and fwiw, oxyfuel isn't notably dangerous, the hazards are just different than electric processes).Tig and oxyfuel will get the best results but are the most difficult to do well. Oxyfuel is significantly cheaper than TIG to get working, but acetylene is expensive as balls and slow and requires more cleanup post-weld- its generally not considered commercially-viable outside edge applications nowadays. MIG is mid-range in terms of price and is very easy to learn, but will give less attractive results. Just as an addendum, oxypropane might be doable for welding, but I haven't tried it, just heating and cutting.
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Aug 23, 2017 20:55
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Oxypropane doesn't shield the weld site like oxy-acetylene does, so it's suitable for soldering and brazing where an external flux is added, but not welding. Oxyacetylene flames are unique in a couple ways that are ideal for welding- very high heat, very tight/localized flame, self-shielding. It's basically the only reason anybody bothers with acetylene given its cost and uniquely-challenging storage requirements (not to mention the hazards involved in its bulk manufacture- remember the Great Acetylene Drought of about 5 years ago, when the main carbide plant in the US went and blew itself up?) Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Aug 24, 2017 |
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Aug 23, 2017 21:41
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e: meant to edit, oh well unrelated, but anybody got recommendations for repositories of prints/schematics for tools and machining-relevant projects- or a good way of searching for em? There's a bunch of things I can probably get approval (and materials!!) to tackle as work projects, we're thinking a die filer and UPT-style tapping/drilling tool to start because they're too difficult to just purchase, but i'm not up to designing these things from scratch and don't wanna pay for plans if possible. Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Aug 24, 2017 |
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Aug 23, 2017 23:03
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That reminds me of a research project me and some friends were kicking around at college: Doing a survey of manufacturing equipment manufacturers. Figure out material cost, energy cost, and labor hours for producing a machine (this started with talking about the cost of mills and 3D printers) then you'd go to their subcontractor and find out the same stats for all the assemblies like bearings and tooling. Up and down the supply chain as far as you could. Even talking to that crazy austrialian who makes simple tools Make it an open source database It's kicking around as a potential masters/phd thesis. A database where you could theoretically get estimates for building your way from sticks and rocks to a modern computer. (This was pre-factorio too)
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Aug 24, 2017 01:58
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rawrr posted:Tig is going to give you the cleanest looking welds, but also takes the most skill. Most tig machines will be able to do stick too, though stick is going to be the ugliest/messiest. I know this is the conventional wisdom but I find TIG about 5x easier than stick even for just laying down someshit that works who cares what it looks like. Also gently caress catching your hair on fire TIG for life.
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Aug 24, 2017 03:07
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TIG is life
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Aug 24, 2017 06:23
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Ambrose Burnside posted:the real Princess Auto selling point is their no-questions lifetime return policy on everything. Realize a tool is shittier than you thought you could make work? bring it back. changed your mind? bring it back. bought an AC and summer's over? you bet your rear end you can bring it back and nobody'll even give you a dirty look Recently watched an AwE where he found he couldn't return a legit-failed-due-to-manufacturing-defect sump pump because Princess had stopped carrying it, and the manufacturer refused to honor their "lifetime warranty" as printed on the box without the cooperation of the retailer. So yeah, that advertised policy only extends to the life of the product on the store's shelves. Metal Geir Skogul posted:Whereas HF are absolute <non offensive term> about receipts and warranties. Assholes? I'm totally shocked that a retailer of absolute bottom quality chinesium "tools" doesn't just accept every broken lovely part return without a receipt, because I'm sure the average HF customer would definitely never dream of blatantly exploiting a return policy to rip off a retailer... babyeatingpsychopath posted:Rent a tile saw for one job. 100% deposit, no rental fee! ...oh. Yeah, you can pick one: high quality products and a good return policy, or, dirt cheap prices. Expecting both is dumb. I love me some harbor freight garbage tools for one-time usage, but I've got no illusions about the longevity of the poo poo they sell, nor any expectations of being able to return stuff. Ambrose Burnside posted:Oxyfuel is significantly cheaper than TIG to get working, but acetylene is expensive as balls and slow and requires more cleanup post-weld- its generally not considered commercially-viable outside edge applications nowadays. Addendum: oxyfuel has one advantage over electric welding, in that a fuel torch is very useful for things like doing spot bends, applying patinas, tempering blades, etc. So if your interests include combining welding and blacksmithery, an oxyfuel setup has applications for both.
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Aug 24, 2017 06:43
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Oxy fuel cost must vary because here it was about as expensive as a TIG setup, couldn't get under 1000 euros for a kit and that was for two small 11 liter tubes and restoring my dads oxyacetylene set on a budget. I gave up, bought a used 300A stick/tig welder with HF/lift-arc and other nifty functions for 500€ + 300€ for a purchased argon bottle (11l, like 80cfm), refills are 80€. I find TIG a lot harder than stick welding, but I prefer to use TIG since it's so clean, well when it turns out well anyway...
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Aug 24, 2017 07:44
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I bought a little 130A stick tig lift welder and I love it. Cost me $200 in Aus, with a 65% duty cycle. I've taken a class before without owning a welder and didn't get a lot out of it (they tried to do too much in retrospect - all welding types). I just bought a 20 tonne press to test my own welds.... this might have been a bit too OCD of me but I am looking forward to it arriving so I can test just how many PSI/force it takes to break my welds.
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Aug 24, 2017 10:55
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I'm considering working with some wrought iron, so I was looking for good etching methods to bring out the grain. Apparently quenching in hydrochloric acid is an option  https://youtu.be/fmdetM1mVGo
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Aug 26, 2017 02:23
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Um excuse me it's muriatic acid and its a trade secret
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Aug 26, 2017 02:37
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Hey all Not sure if this is the right place to ask but I am looking for a reasonable MTS welder. I'm not a professional welder, but a friend of mine is an incredible welder and has been teaching me MIG TIG and Stick welding. Now I'm in the market for a reasonably priced hobbyist level machine that runs on a standard 240V 10a single phase power input. Basically an Australian plug Any recommendations or things I should look for?
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Aug 28, 2017 02:57
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I think many people will tell you that it's better to pick one technique and buy a machine dedicated to that, rather than get a multi-purpose machine that is more expensive and less functional. What kind of work are you planning to do?
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Aug 28, 2017 03:20
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The 240V @ 10A requirement is pretty limiting, a 16A plug would be better. What do you want to weld, do yo need AC so you can tig weld aluminum?
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Aug 28, 2017 06:40
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McSpergin posted:Now I'm in the market for a reasonably priced hobbyist level machine that runs on a standard 240V 10a single phase power input. Basically an Australian plug Two I looked at were the Unimig VIPER MIG 182 MIG/MMA and Unimig RAZORWELD 160 PFC DC Inverter Your welder friend might be able to point you in the right direction too 
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Aug 29, 2017 00:12
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For the record, I know how to do MIG, TIG, stick and oxy work, but when I bought a welding machine of my own to keep around the garage I went with a small AC TIG and a stick holder. I'd say that's the most flexible small system -- TIG for general-purpose work and stick if you need to quickly glob some metal onto a tractor or whatever. MIG is easier to learn and faster than TIG, but also uglier and a lot less versatile, so it's pretty much the opposite of what a hobbyist (who has lots of time and few projects) needs to do.
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Aug 29, 2017 02:41
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How much of a concern is galvanic corrosion when it comes to wire inlay? Does the tight fit minimize the issue by keeping moisture out?
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Aug 29, 2017 02:52
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TerminalSaint posted:How much of a concern is galvanic corrosion when it comes to wire inlay? Does the tight fit minimize the issue by keeping moisture out? That's a good question, come to think of it. Doesn't answer your question directly, but there's plenty of very old wire inlay work that hasn't been eaten up. It helps that most inlay is done with metals of high nobility that are fairly close on the nobility spectrum and are corrosion-resistant to begin with, vs. the usual steel/aluminum or zinc/literally-anything-else combos that can deteriorate dramatically in poor conditions because of the disparity in nobility and the high potential difference. I made myself a fine pewter-copper inlaid band about 6, 7 years ago and have worn it around and generally not taken any special care of it, and there's been zero unusual corrosion of any sort despite the inlay being a twisted piece of wire that's full of nooks and crannies that want to hold on to moisture. Probably helps that the pewter (95/5 tin/copper) and pure copper essentially overlap on the nobility spectrum. I think the other saving grace is the simple fact that inherently-valuable inlaid goods are by default kept in good storage conditions. Nobody leaves their nice jewellery out in the rain for a year. Even things that are worn don't tend to stay wet because body heat helps to drive moisture off at a decent clip. I mean, all bets are off if we're talking about an inlaid ring being worn by someone who's job involves their hands being wet 8 hours a day, but that's going to be an edge case. You can't make a galvanic battery without an electrolyte, and anything worth inlaying is unlikely to be kept wet for significant periods of time. Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Aug 29, 2017 |
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Aug 29, 2017 18:36
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Sagebrush posted:For the record, I know how to do MIG, TIG, stick and oxy work, but when I bought a welding machine of my own to keep around the garage I went with a small AC TIG and a stick holder. I'd say that's the most flexible small system -- TIG for general-purpose work and stick if you need to quickly glob some metal onto a tractor or whatever. Yeah, the only strong endorsement for multi-process machines I've heard from the actual users have been for TIG/stick or especially TIG/stick/plasma cutter machines. The latter in particular I've heard lots of praise for because they don't cost dramatically more than just a TIG/stick unit, but they add a very valuable and handy tool to what's still an affordable, compact and portable unit. I was taught by a working blacksmith who paid his kids through college doing ornamental work (it isn't impossible if you work smart, apparently) and he loved his because it replaced him having to drag two or three whole dedicated machines to a job site, and in a package small enough that he could put it in the cab of his pickup and reduce the odds of his poo poo getting stolen dramatically. He worked with import machines and admitted they tended to die or lose a function after a year or two of heavy use and couldn't easily be repaired like a Miller or Lincoln or whatever, but that was a cost of doing business for him that was worth it.
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Aug 29, 2017 18:49
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Ultimately I'm just looking for something that can do all 3 so I can learn stick and TIG while also practising MIG. I have only done MIG in the past as it was all we used at my last job for primary work whereas the TIG was minimal (aluminium hose trays and 316 piping)
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Aug 30, 2017 01:07
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I would advise against that. A hobby-level machine that does MIG, TIG and stick will do all three badly for a high price-point, and trying to work or especially learn with a lovely machine is a frustrating waste of time. You will ultimately not use much of the machine's functionality, and will regret not buying something better at one task. I thought the same thing as you and bought a 3-process machine once, also specifically because I had MIG experience but limited experience with other processes. Within a few weeks I exchanged it for a dedicated brand-name welder for the same price and am very thankful I did.
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Aug 30, 2017 03:17
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The only CC/CV welding machines that I've heard good things about are the ESAB ones.
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Aug 30, 2017 04:02
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