Container Weld Shop build -

[dragoneggs]

Sounds like a plan, mark - maybe you can find one of those "wheelie" bags that'll take a conversion to 13" tires, easier to pull when weight tops 50 lbs - one caveat on the calipers, you've probably already discovered - even the better ones seem to eat batteries if you leave 'em in, near as I can tell they are NEVER actually "off". I've had the HF ones AND the iGaging ones be dead if I haven't used 'em in a while. My work-around is just to pull the battery if I'm not gonna be using 'em for a few days, + I now STOCK the 2032 cells, LR44's, 357's and a couple others my stuff uses.

The upside on that iGaging - they were nice enough to make the battery fit into a little "mini-drawer", so you can slide the whole thing out and just leave it in the case with the caliper. I find it easier to turn the display AWAY from me and use a fingernail to pull the drawer, this puts the battery on TOP of the "drawer" so it doesn't automatically fall out and roll someplace you weren't looking ...Steve

Ya know, those wheelie bags are probably the right way to go long term! Gonna have to go check out those Husky brand bags. There seems to be a lot of choices. I bought a couple simple ones as gifts in the past but never thought too hard about functionality.

I've been using a crusty old duffle bag with no pockets and a busted zipper acquired somehow... memory faded. Also have a too little Dewalt tote bag that came with a 20v cordless kit. Neither works as I am having to dig through the pile to find the right tool. Also no place for screws, bits, and other small tools. Time for the upgrade.

 

[Oldpath05]

Thanks for the nozzle cleaning tip Oldpath

I will prob make a handle for the end mill.

View attachment 533917

Thanks for the compliment, and I'm willing to bet from reading your post, you had one of those end mills in a draw.............

 

[Oldpath05]

I needed to communicate with everybody from the production helper who wasn't sure which side of a pallet the forks went into,<<<<<<That describes me right to a TTTT, and Steve thanks for that link on that caliber thing, that might help me with some of my measurement issues.

 

[BukitCase]

You're entirely welcome; and I'm pretty sure that WILL help. The trouble with calculators (and slide rules, before that) is you kinda had to ALREADY KNOW (close, anyway) what the answer was, and how to get it - but using a digital caliper like the one in the link, you can actually physically MEASURE the thing you wanna know about, then push that middle button and it'll TELL you 2 other ways to describe it. (decimal inches, and millimeters)

Didn't get ANYTHING done on the subject of THIS thread today, instead I picked up a FREE laboratory oven (sold new for over $5,000) - doesn't work right now, but I spent the last 34 years fixing stuff exactly like this (and I have at least 3 "slightly used" controllers that'll slip right in where the (maybe bad) one is.

Thermolyne Oven 9 - free stuff

The thing LOOKS brand new, that model goes up to 250 degrees C (482 degrees F) which is plenty warm enough for powder coating, also just curing other paint. (It'll also keep me alive better than even THINKING about using Mrs. Bukit's MUCH-revered double oven stove )

If by some UNLIKELY chance I CAN'T fix it, I can always just stick a light bulb in it and use it for storing stuff I don't want dusty/musty/rusty; but from the lab tech's description, it'll probly be working by the time I've played with it for an hour or two.

That'll hafta come later tho, gotta get the weld cart wrapped up/painted/outa my face so I can move on... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Finally got back to it - pieces for welder front lip and aux. shelf, clamped - -

Welded - - rear view - -

 

[BukitCase]

And the (tastefully restrained ) nozzle gel, with room for temporary accessories (small ones, that is :thumbsup

FYI - the "restraints" will let me R&R the lid WITHOUT having to set the gun down - otherwise, that jar takes two hands to open... Steve

 

[Oldpath05]

And the (tastefully restrained ) nozzle gel, with room for temporary accessories (small ones, that is :thumbsup View attachment 534720

FYI - the "restraints" will let me R&R the lid WITHOUT having to set the gun down - otherwise, that jar takes two hands to open... Steve

Or if you ever get tired of smelling the jelly and the mess it could make, AND if you ever do get to alot of welding, this stuff works great and smells great, the applicator is sold separate, it's a little pricey, but with Trumps new tax break you can now afford it>>> E-WELD Nozzle - YouTube

 

[BukitCase]

Near as I can tell, I'm too rich to be poor and too poor to be rich so Trump's no help; still glad he kicked the Hildebeast's ***** tho -

At $34 a 12 oz can, think I'll stick to $6 for the gel - took me right at 3 YEARS to go thru a 44# spool of L56, somehow I don't think that puts me in the "volume user" category :laughing:

Been a few degrees too cool here for paint, so I'm figuring out a portable paint booth (4x4x8) out of 1" foam board insulation - that part's easy, but I also want a way to put a rack in it so I can hang several smaller pieces in there to cure - just a small bathroom heater inside overnight will keep things above the 50* minimum my paint wants.

I probably got something stashed somewhere that'd double as a rack, hopefully big enough to work and small enough to fit in a 4x4 footprint... Steve

 

[dragoneggs]

Steve, I am very interested in your paint booth concept! Please follow up. Mine consists of temp hanging of old bed sheets and the lighting and ventilation is an issue. It is portable though.

 

[BukitCase]

Mark, right now it's just a notch above "brain fart" status - I have 5 sheets of 1" foam board, 4x8 feet (bought for another project, things changed ) - I'm thinking cut one sheet into 2 4x4's - use 3 full sheets and both halves for 8' long, 4hx4w or 4 full sheets and ONE half for 4x4x8' tall (the way it'll be for the first use) -

Probably duct tape all the edges for a little better wear, thinking about some self-stick velchro in a few places to hold the sheets closed. Stiff enough to self-support (out of the wind, that is )

Leave one side open while painting (foil side in, 1 or 2 lights should reflect enough to see) - Close it up with small heater to preheat parts, open one side, "let us spray", close it up with heater, dry by morning.

Pop the velchro off and store flat, should take up about 6" x 4' of storage floor space.

I have 2 different hanger scenarios - for the upright version, I have an old thrift shop find - a base, upright with height adjusting holes every 6" or so, upper piece has a tee out of slightly bigger than 5/8" rod - cross piece is about 3' long and sturdy enough to hold a couple steel pieces each side, at least 100 lbs total maybe more. goes to about 5' high.

For heavier things (like the main frame on the "eternal weld cart") I can hang 'em from my "mini-jib" and use BOTH half-sheets for a lid, one on each side of the winch cable. If they're too tall for that, I have a 1 ton chain hoist hanging from one of the cross pieces in the "porta-shed" I built; 12'x12', roof is 9' to 11' height, hoist is about 9' to the max lift point.

For the horizontal mode (more pieces but not as tall) I have a few sticks of unistrut and TONS of angles, spring nuts, pipe clamps, etc, (a CL deal, $100 for about $250 worth of strut and about 250# of fittings, total worth around $2k)) so a few minutes with a couple wrenches and a rattle gun and it's a done deal.

I buy 3/16" gas welding rod at my LWS (used to get 1/4" too, no longer available) I call that stuff my "mil-spec coat hanger", use it for all kinds of band-aids that're too much for mechanic's wire - in this case, I'll make up a bunch of hanger hooks; they'll fit either the solid rod on my thrift store hanger or thru the holes in the unistrut. Even the 1/8" weld rod will support at least 50 pounds per hook.

OK, maybe SOME of that "brain fart" had some solids in it :laughing: ... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Oh, forgot ventilation - plan is simple; deep breath, spray fast, RUN - (you, not the paint )

 

[dragoneggs]

Oh, forgot ventilation - plan is simple; deep breath, spray fast, RUN - (you, not the paint )

You're killing me.

Shop time... I need heat! I almost bought an old gas ceiling hanging mount heater today at an estate sale for $50. But it looked in tough shape and in a couple pieces. Might go back but I don't have experience with these things.

 

[BukitCase]

Heat - you have too many nice tools to EVER use ANY heater that doesn't make use of a heat exchanger - using natural gas, propane, kerosene, ANY carbon based fuel where the actual COMBUSTION takes place in the heated area - will give you a RUST problem you won't BELIEVE - I have one of those "torpedo" heaters, the propane version - and I quit using it several years ago because I couldn't keep up with the rust.

My next door neighbor runs a custom car shop and has propane heat, but his is an actual FURNACE that draws air in and vents OUTSIDE - the heat of combustion is the ONLY part used INSIDE because of the heat exchanger.

Here's what happens if you burn propane INSIDE, with INSIDE exhaust (like my "torpedo" for example)

Google Answers: Combustion of natural gas

Check out the amount of water generated, about a fourth of the way down from the top...

I have several cast iron topped tools and even keeping them WAXED won't stop rust if I'm using gas heat; and I haven't found a REAL gas furnace I'm willing to pay for yet, so I just use a couple of electric heaters for now.

I'm lucky we're on a co-op for electric, 8-1/2c a kw beats over TWICE that for Pacificorp customers -

Oh, if that ceiling heater you looked at LOOKS rough (and if it uses a heat exchanger) the exchanger is probably full of HOLES, so besides adding as much water as you burn gas, it'll nail you with CO that should have gone outside thru the flue - probably best to keep looking.

If I scared you with all that, GOOD.... if RUST isn't enough to spoil yer day, DEATH probably would be ... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Forgot to mention - what I do to keep woodworking tools in shape between uses - I use one of these

Router Speed Control

to feed a power strip, with several of these

Woods 15-Watt Brooder Clamp Lamp With Porcelain Socket (6-Foot, 18/2 Gauge) - Led Household Light Bulbs - Amazon.com

plugged into the strip(s) - then each tool gets at least one of the clamp lamps with a 100 watt INCANDESCENT bulb - the big table saw gets TWO, as do both my jointers (one under each end), both wood band saws get one each - My milling machine also gets one under each end of the table. ALL get oil cloth covers over. I turn the "speed control" down to around 50%, which cuts power usage to 1/4 - if it gets colder than usual, I'll either turn it up some or bypass it. A side benefit - those light bulbs last for YEARS at the lower power...

The object here is to keep all metal surfaces ABOVE DEW POINT temperature, so any vapor won't condense on their surfaces.

Then, when I'm actually gonna BE there I have a couple RADIANT electric heaters I keep pointed at me from about 3-4 feet away. Cyclone dust collector and an air filter help keep combustible particulates down so I don't get the "wrong" kind of heat

Hopefully this covers a couple things you can use... Steve

 

[Oldpath05]

" still glad he kicked the Hildebeast's ***** tho -"<<<<<<<<<<<WOW, I guess we do have something in common:thumbsup:

 

[Oldpath05]

Heat heat heat heat<<<<<<<<<I see your using that word a lot, makes me wonder how you can weld without your welding lens fogging up? That's the problem I had a couple years ago before I put a woodstove in my shop, soon as I started welding, lens fogged all up. I finally tape a piece of soft foam just below the the welding hood lens so it would divert my breath downward, but then I had to take my glasses off and install a cheater lens in my hood because that foam piece would hit my eye glasses.

 

[Oldpath05]

Why is that light call a Brooooooooooooooooooooooder clamp light? I know another stupid question. I use these clamp lights, have about dozen of them >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Woods 162 18/2 SPT-2 Clamp Lamp with 1 Inch Reflector, 15 Watt, 6 Foot Cord - Led Household Light Bulbs - Amazon.com

 

[BukitCase]

"I guess we do have something in common" - yup, couple things at least :thumbsup:

"weld without your welding lens fogging up?" - I START with a warm hood; keep a heat gun plugged in where I'm working (OK, playing ) - if it's been long enough for the hood to cool to ambient, I wave the heat gun under the hood til it's a little warmer than ME ('bout 8-10 seconds @ 1-2 feet away) - doesn't fog up then. Fog is just condensation, doesn't happen when the item is warmer than what's called the DEWPOINT. IF the hood's cold and you put your WARM head inside, it causes moisture in the air to gather on whatever's COLD.

Cheaters - never use 'em, I'm so nearsighted my world ENDS at about 10" from my nose, so I just take off my glasses when I weld (or look over the tops, more likely) - WITHOUT the glasses, I actually have BETTER than 20-20 vision up to that "end of the world" point... If position won't let me get that close, the glasses let me see ALMOST as good as close-up...

"Why is that light call a Brooooooooooooooooooooooder clamp light?" - NOT a stupid question at all; IMO, the only STUPID question is one a person DOESN'T ASK 'cause they'd rather let people think they know more than they do...
People who call those "clamp lamps" BROODER lamps are used to using 'em to keep baby chicks warm til they get more feathers. Personally I haven't done much "chicken ranchin'", so I call 'em clamp lamps.

For small animal meat I prefer rabbit; they don't stink as much when you process 'em, no dang feathers, and ya get FOUR drumsticks :licking: (two of 'em are kinda small, tho ) 'Nuther downside is rabbits don't lay the right kind of eggs - unless you're lettin' 'em lay in the garden ... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Mark (or anybody looking for a SIMPLE paint "booth" for smaller projects) here's an idea -

Simple, home made indoor paint booth - The Garage Journal Board

...Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Well, it finally warmed up enough to get a little painting done - - and a couple smaller parts ready to paint - - And some that still need "shinified" - - manana's 'sposed to be warm (above 50) too, might actually get somethin' done TWO days in a row ...Steve