The Metalworking Thread

[Firewood Hoarder]

Funny story; We have a few guys in our shop who will happily seek out the best looking tooling for a job they are working on, and then proceed to destroy it. When they are done, they will put chipped and dull endmills and taps back where they found them, and not order replacements or mark the tools to get re-sharpened

I had to order a 1" endmill 2 years ago, for a bearing housing we were machining out of Cast Iron. I didn't spend a ton of money on it, as you can see by the color of it's sleeve. As a joke, I wrote "Garbage" on the outside of it, hoping to deter the tool thieves from using a brand new endmill to chew weld off of something, leaving me with nothing to finish what I was doing.

Two years and counting, and the same tool is still usable and hidden in plain sight. Sharpie markers are powerful tools haha

 

[Wilhelm]

View attachment 413669

View attachment 413670

Funny story; We have a few guys in our shop who will happily seek out the best looking tooling for a job they are working on, and then proceed to destroy it. When they are done, they will put chipped and dull endmills and taps back where they found them, and not order replacements or mark the tools to get re-sharpened

I had to order a 1" endmill 2 years ago, for a bearing housing we were machining out of Cast Iron. I didn't spend a ton of money on it, as you can see by the color of it's sleeve. As a joke, I wrote "Garbage" on the outside of it, hoping to deter the tool thieves from using a brand new endmill to chew weld off of something, leaving me with nothing to finish what I was doing.

Two years and counting, and the same tool is still usable and hidden in plain sight. Sharpie markers are powerful tools haha

That is the kind of mentality I have to deal with at work every day.

And, we use mills like that (most likely a different brand though) - I like them very much!

 

[Wilhelm]

 

[Wilhelm]

Some of my creations, far from perfect but fully functional

 

[Squareground3691]

Some of my creations, far from perfect but fully functional

View attachment 413673

Those are the perks of working in a shop ,

 

[Wilhelm]

Those are the perks of working in a shop ,

Sometimes I wish I had a mill at home!

 

[Wilhelm]

Setup and fine tuning is a bit©#, takes time....

 

[srcarr52]

I am sort of a tool w#ore and a big sucker for Solid-Carbide tooling.

Compared to You guys I don't know squat, but my limited knowledge, or lack there off, gets me by making stuff when I need to.

I still use the drills and taps you sent me, they work great!

 

[Wilhelm]

I still use the drills and taps you sent me, they work great!

I am glad to hear (read) that!

 

[Wilhelm]

When I broke my favorite OEM Dolmar PS-6400 scrench I made this one.
Double sided 13mm, 12.9 grade bolt steel socket & stainless steel handle



It is my new favorite scrench.
You could knock someone unconscious with it, heavy duty.

I don't need a spark plug scrench, it is rarely the spark plug that keeps a saw from running - at least as long as You run Japan made NGK.

 

[Squareground3691]

When I broke my favorite OEM Dolmar PS-6400 scrench I made this one.
Double sided 13mm, 12.9 grade bolt steel socket & stainless steel handle

View attachment 413677

It is my new favorite scrench.
You could knock someone unconscious with it, heavy duty.

I don't need a spark plug scrench, it is rarely the spark plug that keeps a saw from running - at least as long as You run Japan made NGK.

You need one of these ratcheting

 

[Wilhelm]

You need one of these ratcheting View attachment 413679

Nah, I like crude & simple - I am strong, not bright!

Can't recall when I last used a ratchet.

 

[srcarr52]

When I broke my favorite OEM Dolmar PS-6400 scrench I made this one.
Double sided 13mm, 12.9 grade bolt steel socket & stainless steel handle

View attachment 413677

It is my new favorite scrench.
You could knock someone unconscious with it, heavy duty.

I don't need a spark plug scrench, it is rarely the spark plug that keeps a saw from running - at least as long as You run Japan made NGK.

It needs a hammer face and you could pound wedges with it!

 

[davidwyby]

You need one of these ratcheting View attachment 413679

I like mine for swapping bars but not tensioning chains.

 

[Wilhelm]

30+ year old stick welding electrode, arcs on second to third strike on a old school 105Amp MAX transformer welder, keeps a steady arc throughout its whole length in one go, puddles real nicely.
It is a 3.2mm stick (w/o coating!).


20+ year old angle grinder wheel, bites into steel creating a huge rooster tail without ever "burning/glazing", removes a lot of material in no time.


They don't make consumables like this no more!

 

[Wilhelm]

While welding yesterday I tried utilizing two welding stick types (that I took randomly out of my rod supply).
Encountering a major difference in welding performance of the two I was curious and checked brand and intended purpose.
To my surprise both are Oerlikon, but one is "Fincord" and the other "Spezial".
Intended purpose is identical enough, recommended amperage is close enough as well.
With my welders 105Amp (nominal) I was on the very minimum of the recommended amperage.



The one pictured in my previous post is the rusty "Fincord".
It would instantly arc and hold the arc quite well at only 105Amp going through it.



The other rod was the "Spezial".
It would arc shortly and die.
I had to smack it onto the steel plate I was welding just to again get a short lived arc.
Upon inspecting the rod I noticed that the mantle wasn't melting fast enough to maintain the arc alive.
I am guessing that a 105Amp arc was not hot enough for this rods mantle to melt properly.



Quite interesting!

 

[Wilhelm]

While rummaging my rod supply I found these!



Stick welding copper?

 

[Wilhelm]

BTW, how bad is it having white smoke exiting my welder housing before the overheat protection kicks in - twice?

 

[Partner]

Thermal protection eventually stops working and castolin does a lot of strange things

 

[Partner]

While welding yesterday I tried utilizing two welding stick types (that I took randomly out of my rod supply).
Encountering a major difference in welding performance of the two I was curious and checked brand and intended purpose.
To my surprise both are Oerlikon, but one is "Fincord" and the other "Spezial".
Intended purpose is identical enough, recommended amperage is close enough as well.
With my welders 105Amp (nominal) I was on the very minimum of the recommended amperage.

View attachment 414770

The one pictured in my previous post is the rusty "Fincord".
It would instantly arc and hold the arc quite well at only 105Amp going through it.

View attachment 414771

The other rod was the "Spezial".
It would arc shortly and die.
I had to smack it onto the steel plate I was welding just to again get a short lived arc.
Upon inspecting the rod I noticed that the mantle wasn't melting fast enough to maintain the arc alive.
I am guessing that a 105Amp arc was not hot enough for this rods mantle to melt properly.

View attachment 414772

Quite interesting!

Many things affect the voltage and current drop, so a good welder does not look at the display, he just observes the arc and corrects the settings.