30 years back, IIRC, there seemed to be only two easily accessible options, gouge with oxy/acetylene using a special nozzle or gouging rods. Rods were quicker in removing unwanted materials but produced clouds of smoke not to mention showering the area with hot metal fragmenrts . . . not the...
I made the mistake of buying rods from Halfords years back. They were garbage. You're better off paying for a well-known brand like Oerlikon or similar.
Not acquired today but a few weeks ago as, for the last few months, I was off on a tangent that kept me away from visits to the forum. I've been commissioned to make the steelwork for small, decorative, mosaic-topped tables at my local men's shed. My Metalcraft roller/bender/riveter was just...
As well as the posts going into the ground, you might consider a couple of tabs welded on the side of the posts so you could screw into something solid and immovable like a wall. Some years back I made a steel door for my workshop: six feet plus high by about 42" wide. The frame was 3/4" square...
Plus if you suffer from even slightly shaky hands (annoying feature of increasing age :mad: ) then thinner rods will often make life exceedingly difficult. . . . you can't always guarantee being able to work with two hands.
2.5s and 3.2s would be my choice for most of the steel sizes you'll be...
I use an old, worn flat file that has the tang broken off and the end ground like a wood chisel. It works perfectly for dislodging spatter and other bits off both my bench and the workpiece.
This is the first of six occasional tables I'm making for the potters that share space at my local MIS. They'll be topping them off with mosaic patterned ceramic, glazed in a variety of colours. The tables are around 650 mm high with the table top around 420 mm in diameter and the materials are...
Older school here so my preference would be the Pickhill. If it's running 225 amps, it should be fine with a 6 gauge (5 mm?) rod. 7018s would be the rod of my choice.
I can't recall ever using a welder that had an amperage readout, only oil-cooled machines or more recently those that are referred to as 'buzz-boxes'. All I've done is set the dial to the amperage that's close to the recommended setting for the rod diameter and then fine tuned according to the...
Definitely a skilled guy - showed that well with the freehand burning as well as the weld quality.
Fast worker too . . . only took around four and a half minutes to do the job! :laughing:
A new member of our animal family - Minnie, a four year old Romanian rescue who we brought home from Kettering yesterday. Like many dogs over there, she was found wandering the streets in a pretty bad condition: skinny, riddled with fleas etc. She's already showing she has a lovely temperament.
I started my working life as a welder back in 1970 and was issued with a standard handshield. As the years progressed and I moved to other firms, I switched to a standard headshield, eventually coming across a smaller, lightweight version that has been a faithful friend for around 40 years. I...
Years ago someone said put a couple of dampened, used tea bags over your eyes when suffering from arc eye. I don't know whether it was just the coolness or the tannin and whatever else is in tea, but it helped quite a bit.
The few times I did get arc eye was usually by striking an arc before...