Anything welding

I built my friend some bed bars with all scrap I had. The steel store didn’t have any of the size I needed so I thought I’d make it. The tube is 1.75 OD .120 and eachh joint has some 1.5 OD .120 as an inner sleeve. Makes it strong and helps keep the tube straightish.

0/10 would not recommend for this many joints. Took forever to get them welded together and ground back down. Should’ve just called around to find a stick of tube.

Came out ok. I was able to make it so all the joints would be hidden by his RTT. I also recommended he bed line the bars to hide imperfections.

 

fun! I see him post on the 1st gen Facebook group all the time

 

Haha. You're "4LOPRO" and he's "4LOBRO".

Also, 1st Gen For The Mother Fucking Win!

 

All we need is a 4LO HO to finish the trifecta

 

I mentioned a while back I ordered a table for my plasma cutter. Yesterday I got my laptop upgraded to Win 10 so I could download Autodesk Fusion 360 for making drawings.

Made my first attempt to create something today. Decided to start try to make something in 3D, even though for plasma cutting 2D will be mostly what I need. 3D is just more fun.

It's like a cable clamp with set screws on both sides. Just playing around.

This took me a few hours since I didn't even know how to start a drawing in Fusion. If an experienced person did it, I can see about 15 mins max. I am hoping to get good before my table arrives in July. Back ordered....

 

I think this is a little more complicated of a subject. I've seen many people grow to hate what they used to love because they're doing it for an employer. A perfect example is buying a mechanic's car. You shouldn't, because even though most mechanics start because they love it, after years of 8-14 hour shifts working on other people's cars, the last thing they want to do is work on another car after work, something they used to love to do, and so their cars are often neglected. It's a treacherous slope putting your passion in the hands of someone else who wants to make money off it. It's actually the reason I did not become a welder, because I talked to enough old welders and their story was often the same.

 

Noticed I was having a harder time seeing in my preferred helmet, which is a $15 hobart fixed shade lol. It fits well, and I find the viewing quality better than my HF autodarkening garbage.

Went to Tractor Supply and got a #9 gold lens and 2 clear lenses. Was looking for #10, but the gold #10 they had was scratched so hopefully I don't blow by eyeballs out on #9. Supposedly the gold changes color where some people see the puddle easier and supposedly helps reflect some light back to the work as well, so interested to see how that ends up looking like in real life

As a side note, now that I found that I like welding and making things, ready to spend some monies on a decent hobbyist helmet. Maybe $100-$150 budget, so open to recommendations. Can stretch the budget as well if its going to be something worth moving up to the next tier for

 

Buy once, cry once.

Lincoln 3350

I *really* like the grind mode for some situations where I'd have a bunch of stuff flying around.

You can find "$20 off first order with email signup" coupon for bakersgas.com to take a little bit off the price.

 

I agree, buy a good one. You only get one set of eyes.

 

Thanks dudes! I look into that one. $250 isn't terrible for keeping my eyeballs healthy. At first glance, looks like it has a really good head holder, which seems to be something that cheaper helmets are lacking.

 

I really, really like my Vulcan helmet from HF, about $150. Been using it for about 3 years now. It's comfortable as hell, can see what I'm doing and also has grinding mode. Which I never use because I'll forget to put it back to weld mode and flash myself 9/10 times.

 

Yep. I've been very happy with it, even as a hobbyist. I'm of an age where I find a 1.5x cheater lens at the lower half of the viewport helps a lot.

With this one the grind mode causes an LED on the inside panel to blink every second or two, reducing the chances of forgetting I'm in grind mode.

 

Oh yeah and as far as keeping your eyes healthy, I always recommend wearing clear glasses under your helmet too. Another level of protection against UV as well as sparks and whatnot.

$33 3M Safety Glasses, Virtua, 20 Pair, ANSI Z87, Unisex, Anti-Fog, Scratch Resistant, Clear Lens, Clear Frame, Affordable Eye Protection, Lightweight, Wraparound Coverage

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JZD8TO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8

 

Thanks, I'll have to look into that one was well. I love harbor freight lol.

I do like the grind mode idea, but I may also just flash myself by leaving it therelol. Currently have a flip up lens, but I found that if sparks ever some back towards the helmet, they stick to the back of the flipped up glass lens and kinda ruin it. I end up using a dedicated face shield.

I do wear over glasses safety glasses too, combined with my prescription glasses that are already have workplace oriented lenses. I'm double bagged lol

 

All are eyes are somewhat different I can`t see with a Gold lens so that was a failed experiment for me.I also do the majority of welding set at #9 a #10 is just right for me when Air Arcing with a 400 amp machine.

Welding Hoods are like Bras they need to be comfortable and do the job since I have yet to find any of the hood manufactures reps to give demo hoods on the higher end models over the last 40 years I owned maybe 50 hoods most given away because I did not care for them Find one that your Comfortable with and can see.

 

Just great. Now Everytime I grab my lid, I'm gonna be thinking brassiere s...

 

After a Few Years you get used to it.

You can hang a bra or several next to your hoods.

 

Only takes one time watching a needle goin into your eye to dig out metal to do this.

 

That’s why I always wear goggles when doing any sort of grinding. That shit sucks.

 

Couple mo sets of slidahs