After the rain stopped
Haven't been able to post an update in a while because it's kind of hard to use a plasma cutter in a boat! Well, we didn't get rain like SC did but I did miss over a week of getting anything done.
So after my hillbilly engineering in the previous post (who needs G Code? Well, I would like it!) I cut my template out with a jig saw and then used the plasma to cut four of these parts (picture in previous post) out. That went pretty well except I ended up running my compressor quite a bit (more than usual) and when it heats the lines then you get condensation. I had a small dryer just before the plasma and it got saturated while cutting the parts out and I got about 1/8" of water in my separator that I emptied about three times!
So I realized I needed to do something different so I bought the Harbor Freight dryer (69923). I read the reviews and saw where people complained about the little plastic service indicator (a orange thing that pops up when the filter gets too much of a restriction and needs changed/cleaned) but didn't think much of it. I got the thing for $40 so I thought that was pretty good compared to others I had seen and a lot of other stores don't even carry them anymore ... they show up on their web site but when you look real close it's not available in stores - available online only - ship to home.
I rigged up quick connect fittings because I have no place to mount it so I just want to fix it up for temporary use. I hook it up and go to try it and ... yup, the clear plastic service indicator thing is blowing air big time ... so the entire rest of the evening was spent screwing with that.
To make a long story short, I needed to ditch that service indicator and plug it. I determined the threads were M16x1 which is an odd thread and none of the local suppliers had it. Sure, you could order a plug on the Internet but I need to get busy now!
I finally give up and just filled the cavity up with two part epoxy which turned out to work very well and not leak at all ... so now I'm in business:
After cutting out the four 1/2" plate parts, I was going to use my grinder to make a 45 along the edges because I plan to stack two of these parts together to get the thickness to 1" and I wanted a nice 'V' grove in the middle to fill in with weld to get better penetration/strength. I was kind of dreading doing this because I knew it was going to suck and take forever ... that's when I had an epiphany! I thought to myself 'hey, I could use the plasma to put a 45 on the edge'. I tried it out on one of the parts and boy, that's why faster than using a grinder! I was rolling along having a good time then I hear POP and my torch lost air and shut off. See anything wrong with this picture?
The two bodies are standalone units and they are held together with a ramp type clamp on each side that draws the bodies toward each other and compresses a rubber O-ring on each side of the mounting bracket in the middle. The screw backed out from the vibration of the compressor and the seal pooched out and blew all my pressure. It was easy to fix but looked pretty freaky.
I made it through three parts putting the 45 on the edge and then my dryer started getting used up. I didn't get any moisture in the plasma separator so it was doing it's job but I decided to change out the desiccant (I have a gallon more on the way from Amazon):
Hey buddy, want a dime bag of pink stuff?
This job made me realize I need a BIG compressor and one of those fancy refrigerated air dryers but hey are $$$$!
Here is one of the parts after I put the 45 around the edge:
Now I have to cut out the cradle area for the four pins to sit in and clean them up and weld them together. I plan to cut some holes on one side so I can plunge weld them too so they get some strength from the more than just the edge.
