New tools you've bought recently?

[SenorNoob]

I've heard nothing but good things from the Yes Welder brand.

 

[Blmpkn]

Getting ready to try welding aluminum. Couldn't afford the spool gun from Miller. Hopefully, this one from Yes Welder will do OK for hobby use.
View attachment 128042

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[pjtoledo]

Getting ready to try welding aluminum. Couldn't afford the spool gun from Miller. Hopefully, this one from Yes Welder will do OK for hobby use.
View attachment 128042

watcha gonna do with the rail bottom plate?

 

[Curious Hound]

watcha gonna do with the rail bottom plate?

That's an anvil. Good solid surface to beat things on. I also have a 20" length of very light duty rail for the same purpose.

 

[Curious Hound]

And, to make it easier to store the argon bottle and spool gun stuff, I made a cart. I had an old pressure washer that didn't work. So, I confiscated itscart and started modifying it. 1 day and some other scraps of steel later and voila! An argon/spool gun cart has appeared. I put the Honda engine and pressure washer pump out at the end of my driveway yesterday. When I got home from dinner and trivia last night it was miraculously gone. I didn't even put a "free" sign on it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

And, to make it easier to store the argon bottle and spool gun stuff, I made a cart. I had an old pressure washer that didn't work. So, I confiscated itscart and started modifying it. 1 day and some other scraps of steel later and voila! An argon/spool gun cart has appeared. I put the Honda engine and pressure washer pump out at the end of my driveway yesterday. When I got home from dinner and trivia last night it was miraculously gone. I didn't even put a "free" sign on it.

View attachment 128128
View attachment 128129
View attachment 128130

Nice, sometimes I wish my welding rig wasn't so dang big/busy/obnoxious but everything is in one spot, both bottles, plasma, welder and room for the spool gun and other consumables as well as a worktop/catchall on top... but then again I got the cart for $50 then reworked a few things so I can't complain... now I just need to get my 75/25 bottle filled so I can weld steel again...

Welding aluminum is a whole different thing, way faster than steel and more finicky but when it works it's great

 

[gaz]

VEVOR cable cutting/crimping set (off Amazon),

Made a new set of OFC multi strand 4g battery cables, so much better than doing it with a hammer .

The kit included:
• crimping tool good to 2/0 gauge
• wire cutter
• 95 piece copper fitting set
• 5 sizes of precut shrinkwrap
• little white cotton gloves
• instructions

A very worth while purchase, even if I never use it again!!

 

[Shran]

Speaking of welders I picked up this heavy bastard last night off FB marketplace for $100. Looked intact aside from the rusted off mufflers (which kind of scared me as I figured the engine might have got water in it, but it was stored inside, so I took the risk.) It is a Miller AEAD-200LE and I am not sure how old, late 70's is my guess.

The engine was stuck but just slightly and I got that freed up easily. I had it running on ether but it ran weird and I figured out that it had a stuck exhaust valve on one cylinder. Fortunately it takes like 5 minutes to get the head off and some back & forth with a dead blow got that freed up. I went through the carb, flushed out the gas tank and now it runs like a champ. I tested the generator part and it works fine but I didn't get to the welder part yet, of course the normal size lead ends that fit my Century stick welder don't fit this one so I will need adapters... and I also need to get the inside of it cleaned out and the slip rings polished. And mufflers... my god it is loud.

 

[SenorNoob]

Nice. What engine is on that? Almost looks like opposed twin Briggs design, but bigger?

 

[Shran]

It’s an Onan 2 cylinder, I think around 18HP.

 

[pjtoledo]

I actually bought it a week ago but it stayed in the Ranger until today.
the engine hoist was buried so I improvised with the ladder. only 350 lbs, didn't hurt anything that wasn't already hurting.
getting it into the basement was doable after I broke it down to 3 big pieces.

the wiffie will be home soon, gotta go

 

[gaz]

@pjtoledo
I'M souppa GREEN!!

 

[Uncle Gump]

I actually bought it a week ago but it stayed in the Ranger until today.
the engine hoist was buried so I improvised with the ladder. only 350 lbs, didn't hurt anything that wasn't already hurting.
getting it into the basement was doable after I broke it down to 3 big pieces.

the wiffie will be home soon, gotta go

View attachment 128609View attachment 128610View attachment 128611View attachment 128612

You ever think a loading dock into your basement would be a good investment?

 

[Shran]

I rigged up some temporary lead adapters for the welder and cleaned the slip rings so that I could run a few test welds before I spend any more money on it. Seemed to work really well, I am a little out of practice with stick welding but I burned several 6011, 6013 and 7018 rods on both AC and DC modes at various settings. Now that I know it works, I did an oil change, and new fuel filter, air filter and spark plugs. Mufflers should be here next week.

Any thoughts on washing out the inside of the generator? I will for sure pressure wash the engine... everything under the hood has a thick layer of dirt on it. Obviously I will blow it out with compressed air and get it dried as quick as possible... I imagine since it's meant to be used outdoors, some level of moisture won't hurt it?

 

[Curious Hound]

It should be able to handle being washed with warm soapy water. But drying it adequately could be a challenge. Depending how crusty it really is, I would probably just blow it out good with compressed air. Fit a small plastic tube on the end of your air gun and use that to get into all the nooks and crannies. It may help if you can attach a shop-vac to the opposite end to suck the dust out while you blowing it.

On the submarine, we cleaned out some 500kw DC generators monthly with compressed air that way. Only time they got washed was one time when we cleaned them thoroughly so they could be re-varnished. Interesting process. We did the job in the boat. Had to build an insulated cover to aid with baking the new varnish.