Anything welding

Dialing in the plasma CNC and Titanium 45 (along with the Fusion 360 CAM processing.)

 

Ok that’s impressive. I’m surprised by the detail.

 

PS - what cnc is that? So I can dream.
PPS - if anyone out there also does a bit of machining, I started this... come on by.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/anything-machining.780123/#post-27895261

 

I have a couple of questions. Why is there no water in your table? And what made the silver looking outlines around the cutouts and the piece in your hand?

 

I was genuinely wondering that as well (the white outline that is). I've only seen white like that when welding on aluminum.

As for no water, not everyone uses it. It's super messy.

 

And no, I didn't forget the tag

No need to convince my wife! She's been on board and will continue to be on board with me getting one!

We just had our wedding 2 days ago (planned a year and a half ago) so other things had taken priority for quite awhile.

Only thing now is expendable cash for said cnc table and software.

 

Langmuir Systems CrossFire XR

There's no water because I simply haven't added it yet.. more smoke and dust but my shop is already a mess. Water is in the works but the plan is to have a pump and filter system to drain/refill and haven't fully spec'd out all the plumbing details.

The silver looking outlines? It's the slightest bit of slag.. this particular piece of scrap may have been treated or sealed.. it was a stand of some sort. I haven't ordered any flat plate yet and my options were this piece or a nice 3' square of 1/2" AR 400. I may have "office worker looking hands" but not that dainty... that's the wife.

 

congrats!

 

Went to Airgas yesterday to exchange my C25 tank. Got charged twice the amount I usually do plus a few extra fees I never heard of and a hazardous material fee. Came out to a total of 115 for a size 125 cylinder cause there’s a shortage of CO2. The same gas that everyone complains about having too much of lol.

Also hazardous material? They’re both inert gases (I get it though, it’s compressed gas).

 

It's only like $5 isn't it? The handling/safety fee?

75/25 costs $52 here for a 145cf tank.

Sucks if there's a co2 shortage...

 

they charged me 15-20 for safety and handling.

 

Tell them you’re a student at the local college/welding school. You’ll get a discount.

 

*after 18 years of welding and bottle exchanges*

Still in school I take it?

 

I mean, I’m learning everyday aren’t I?



it was actually one of their employees that told me about it. I was buying a few things and did the heavy sigh when he gave me the total. He quietly mentioned the student discount and said, “didn’t I see you at the college?” *wink-wink.
I said sure and been doing it ever since. Same guy always laughs when he sees me. It’s been so long that I Must be working on my doctorate in welding.

 

To all you guys that do sheetmetal work, what do you use for bending? Box/pan brakes? The few industrial shops I've been in use huge press brakes even for tiny stuff. But I've always been puzzled that you can't find lighter duty press/finger brakes that take standard tooling. All I've found are the goofy little things from grizzly and baileigh. Doesn't the press brake have advantages for making more shapes (deeper boxes, bends closer to each other) over a box/pan brake?

This is the best thing I've found so far - but if I'm going to make one I'd want to make it accept standard European tooling. Please explain if I am missing something!
https://www.swagoffroad.com/products/swag-30-finger-press-brake-diy-builder-kit

I want this, but 1/3 the tonnage, 1/2 the width, without the CNC or the electric pump.
https://www.baileigh.com/cnc-press-brake-bp-3305cnc
Wouldn't that be perfect with a small cnc plasma table?

 

SWAG offroad sells kits that work with Harbor Freight's press, and is one I'm planning to buy later in the future.

But you said sheet metal; first one you listed isn't doing sheet metal (although it can) and the second one is commercial.

Harbor Freight sells a bender just for bending sheet metal.

 

That's awesome.

Yeah they don't give discounts on tanks, but they do on their merchandise IE tools, hoods, stands, consumables, etc.

5% discount for students (I asked when I was in school) and 10% for military, but no I can't combine both

Nice to see other shops around doing what they can to take care of us.

 

Sheetmetal/plate - I guess I use those interchangeably. I am thinking 1/4" thick and under, though I admit that's a big range. My fantasy tool would be burly enough to do an occasionally bend in 1/4" to make a piece of trail armor or something like that, but mainly bend 16ga and under in to cool shapes for brackets and enclosures.

Trying to learn about tooling I found this. Right idea but looks a little too light:
https://www.rolleriusa.com/products/meccatronix-40/easy-press.html

 

Again, SWAG offroad - SWAG 20 TON Finger Brake Heavy Duty DIY Builder Kit – SWAG Off Road

Easy DIY kit, which is why it's super affordable.

Just wait for the 20 ton press to go on sale, or use a coupon when available.

12 ton press is currently on sale at HF if you go that route, but the 20 ton will do 1/4" thick at 15" wide.

 

I do like the SWAG off road kits - looked at them before - I just wish they took standard tooling - but maybe I can modify or make something similar. This is the general idea though!