New tools you've bought recently?

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If you do a lot of heating and cutting, look into propane tips, and hose certified for propane, for your cutting torch. A lot cheaper than acetylene.

 

[Curious Hound]

If you do a lot of heating and cutting, look into propane tips, and hose certified for propane, for your cutting torch. A lot cheaper than acetylene.

Thank you. I've heard of using propane with the oxygen. But haven't looked into it yet. That will come later.

 

[MISWFL]

Swift was looking for the hammer he dropped going the other way…

See what I found today?

Two finders in a white semi?

 

[sgtsandman]

In preparation for the transmission replacement on the Escape, I ordered one of these.

And a thread chaser set.

And in preparation for the timing cover leak on the 2019, this. Because of the non-indexed crank pulley on the 2.3 engines.

 

[SenorNoob]

...non-indexed crank pulley...

I'm pretty sure that's in the running for the dumbest things ever said. Right up there with, Wa Chiss!

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm pretty sure that's in the running for the dumbest things ever said. Right up there with, Wa Chiss!

Yep, apparently, that's been a thing with the 2.3 for a while. It's a press on fit with the pully bolt and is timed with a specail tool off the crank sensor and the notches in the back of the pulley. Stupid design.

 

[ryan]

Finally used that vevor welder and the new mask that I got with it.

Got everything out of the box, set up was very easy. Came with a little spool of flux core, which is what I ended up using because the hose connections for the tank were lame, and I couldnt connect my CO2 tank to it.

I've barely used my Miller 100A welder, and never welded before that, so my thoughts are as of a total noob when it comes to welding. My baseline welds are BAD, so assume these thoughts are coming from someone who has no idea what they're doing, but is looking for seat time

The mask is nice, much nicer than my older cheapo mask. Large field of view, fits my classes better. I'm still not happy with how I have it adjusted yet - having trouble seeing where I am on the piece, so I'm drifting a bit. For a cheap mask, the response is quick and after welding for a few hours on Sunday my eyes weren't burn at all, which is really nice

I ran it to the 220 circuit in the laundry room with an extension cord into the garage, about 25 feet in total. I ran everything with their MIG pulse settings, though I felt like wire feed is a little faster than my newborn baby welding brain can process. For the price, I like it a lot more than the 100amp 110v Miller I was trying to use. I had an adapter come yesterday so I can use my CO2 tank to give that a whirl and see how it looks doing regular MIG instead of flux core.

I think someone who knows what they're doing but is looking for something versatile and cheap would like it. I'm happy to learn on something that burns in a little better and will stay with me a little longer I think. We'll see how long it lasts, but for $230 I'm very happy

 

[Curious Hound]

Wire feed should be adjustable. But it's related to material and voltage. So you have to dial it in for that and deal with it. Practice. I just saw this video a couple days ago and thought he did a good job with his explanations.

 

[Shran]

Ryan your weld looks better than mine...

I broke one of the feet off my brake lathe (cast iron, fell off the dolly I had it on, a bummer but it happens.) I had these Nickel rods on hand and decided to try them. Wow what a weird process... I tried running these like any other normal stick rod where you weave and melt the edges together, these just form a big ball in one spot on horizontal surfaces. Vertical just gets hot and falls apart. If you try the dab & pull out method, it's even worse, it just blasts crap everywhere and you end up with a hole.

I just happened to figure it out though. You have to keep your arc way longer than normal (maybe 1/4" long?) and let the rod hover over the spot you want filled in. The filler just kinda shoots out into a nice puddle. It's very strange to watch it and oddly it worked better on AC than on DC... about 70 amps worked great. The end results look like complete booger shit but it hasn't cracked. I did do a pre-heat with a torch and just let it air cool, I can't get anything on the back side so I didn't want it to cool unevenly.

The fumes from these are BAD, it's about like welding galvanized and you get the same white soot on stuff. Also if you grind it, wear a dust mask, and definitely wear a dust mask for wire wheeling off the slag...these are real nasty, way more so than your normal stick electrodes.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

See what I found today?

Two finders in a white semi?

Slow White Incapable Freightliner Truck

 

[ryan]

Wire feed should be adjustable. But it's related to material and voltage. So you have to dial it in for that and deal with it. Practice. I just saw this video a couple days ago and thought he did a good job with his explanations.

There's two modes on this machine - one is manual where you can adjust and the other does the feed for you. I was running it in that pulse mode to get a feel for it, and we'll see? The one thing I don't like about the welder is that the documentation with it is pretty so so. The lincoln's suggested settings for materials/thickness/wire size are much more helpful. Looking forward to getting it more dialed in, and it was great to just sit in the garage and spend most of the afternoon welding