What other tools to buy?

[Welderpaul]

Dunno - galv is pretty nasty to weld, coupla hours welding that and you spend the rest of the day with a headache, snotty runny nose and sore throat. We've got airstream helmets and nederman fume extractors but you can still feel the effects after a while

 

[weldequip]

Galvanising is the least harmful metal coating to weld

Have you or your college Tutor tried welding it? It's bloody awful stuff giving off all kinds of toxic nasties, and I wouldn't attempt it without fume protection!
weldequip

 

[Alex]

Yeah I just hold my breath for galvanised it kinda hurts but works out ok in the end.

 

[Haze]

try cutting it with a grinder and ur sleeves rolled up.

 

[MigTig]

Dunno - galv is pretty nasty to weld, coupla hours welding that and you spend the rest of the day with a headache, snotty runny nose and sore throat. We've got airstream helmets and nederman fume extractors but you can still feel the effects after a while

I think it gives of some form of Zink (Oxide?) gas, and some other nasties.. it really is toxic. My welder instructions say that you should wear a full respirator and vented helmet, using an extractor hood to weld Zink coated metals and other painted surfaces.
If you want to live long and healthy, dont do it

 

[Drains]

Avenley didn't say galvanising wasn't harmful, just that it's not as bad as coatings like cadmium and beryllium, and he's right. A good lungfull of zinc fumes will make you pretty ill for a few hours, and it stinks. But those other ones are nasty nasty, and can kill you in the long term.

That's the issue with most welding fumes, unlike zinc - you don't notice the damage they're doing until it's too late, and you die, coughing and sick at 50, instead of the 85, in bed with a young floozie that you were hoping for. well that's what i'm hoping for!!

Later folks

 

[jimcroisdale]

Did my first bunch of welding with flux wire and that gave me a bit of a headach, even with ventilation. Mind you, since i've stopped drinking I need a source of alternative hangover....

 

[Country Joe]

Careful Simon!

SimonDrains says:-
"in bed with a young floozie that you were hoping for. well that's what i'm hoping for!!"

I hope "Mrs Drains" doesn't come on the forum and see that!

However, my lungs were shot through long ago - in fact I'm on my second set now, so it looks like "Mrs Joe" is gonna be the one shacking up with a younger model when I'm gone!

Oh look! That'll be her now - setting fire to another pile of "mixed metal coatings"!

All the Best,

Country Joe

Why can't I do Quotes from other posts, like other folk do?

 

[malcolm]

Why can't I do Quotes from other posts, like other folk do?

Have you tried pressing the quote button beside the post you want to quote rather than the reply button at the bottom?

 

[Drains]

I hope "Mrs Drains" doesn't come on the forum and see that!

So do I!
LOL

 

[Country Joe]

Have you tried pressing the quote button beside the post you want to quote rather than the reply button at the bottom?

I was gonna post back to say there isn't one! But I've finally found it!

(even used the preview to make sure it worked, mind!)

 

[rusty69bus]

if i were just starting out getting tools i would proberly buy a sealy tool chest set for about £200, one of those buy this get these free, then replace tools that get broken with better quality.
its nice to have good tools but you need to put them away after you use them otherwise they go missing.

 

[grunty]

I stay away from roll cabs because if an oik does break in he can have all your tools away in a nice shopping trolly My tools are spread around draws and cupboards which I cant find let alone some oik

Buy reasonable now and replace bits with higher quality as posted earlier.

We all know chineses tools are yuky, lathes and pillar drills are no exeption. I have had a couple cheap pillars and they do not do a good job. Watch ebay and the local papers etc, I picked up a 1970 Ajax drill which does a fine job, came from an R&D dept, no holes in the bed and only 150odd quid. My lathe is a 3phase Colchester Student I got for 250. My dad picked up his mill and lathes the same way, he waited and got top notch kit for peanuts. you can get converters or a single phase motor if you havent got 3 phase. I am now saving for a weldequip welder
Alan

 

[MrFluffy]

Thats the big advantage of proper industrial tools, Id like to see someone run off with my BOC ADR tig, without the aid of a winch, ramps and van and Im pretty sure the milling machine and lathes are safe as you have to partially disassemble them to fit them through the doorway even. What they will nick if theyre determined is the tooling, which costs more and takes a lifetime to get just-so.
The only problem with old industrial lathes is theyre often shagged. The bed ways wear out near the chuck and if it hasnt been set up level on a proper floor and stand, often the bed is twisted. Id say if you are just starting out, and dont want to be getting into taking trammels and gauges with you to look at old tooling (and dont have someone who knows how to use them!) you might be as well just getting a little clarke or the like. It might be a bit sloppy and mickey mouse, but you have at least a resonable expectation you are not taking on someone elses cast off problems. If later you decide you need more, you can always sell the clarke and by then you will have more of a idea of what you actually need, and hopefully a idea of how to not buy a puppy.
When you get your clarke, level it off, using a proper machinists level. The bed is cast iron and it will slowly settle to a twist if you drop it on a uneven floor.
Ive just spent the past two years trying to get my harrison to cut properly (accurately and repeatably), and it has involved new cross slide leadscrews, a new toolholder, and shimming and anchoring to the slab to pull the bed straight. Its still not perfect as the headstock has a chipped gear inside (and its a one piece mandrel, with gears cast directly on it) In short it HAS been a project in itself, and in all practicallity it would have been more sensible to just buy a better one, but there is some sentiment there...

For sensitive (pillar) drills, Id buy a oldie every time, but id lower the spindle right down and try to move the chuck horizontally, any movement and the quil is worn and wont be perfect for really precise reaming and drilling. Most made in china drills do this from new mind

Id also buy the biggest compressor I could lay my hands on, I hate waiting for compressors when your using a die grinder or da sander. "Shop Air" goes hand in hand with all those machine tools too...

Rome wasnt built in a day so dont worry about having it all up front, and there is something to be said about getting a machine shop to make things, until you need it making at 2am

 

[rtbcomp]

If you buy second hand try to get stuff from a firm that's closing down, they are selling the kit because they have to liquidate assets, not becuase it doesn't work properly. (Although the directors may have spirited the best stuff away).