Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium

[bolensboneyard]

It must be that being around so much genius I am inspired. I love you guys. I think I have it or am getting close. it's a combination of thoughts after looking at and reading all then trying to assemble something in my brain that has had a migraine all day but here it is. Take a piece of your tubing the length that you feel is best suited for your general needs and curve it to attain the desired attitude to meet your arc in the puddle or just bend the end of the tubing. I agree with Andy the wire needs to meet the arc close but not too close to be sucked up into the tungsten. Now here's the fun part. Cut a slot the size of the wire or slightly larger the entire length of the tubing to a place you want the wire to stop. Locate the tube slot on the tubing as mounted to the side that you have your thumb or finger on (which ever is more convenient) Bend the last inch or so of the wire before putting it in the tube and leave the bent portion sticking out of the slot. Configure the bend and the length sticking out so you can hold the torch and push the wire easily with your hand. The resistance within the tube should not be so stiff that you cannot overcome it with this method. Sorry, this will limit the length of your feed to that of your reach. Better yet, Take a length of threaded rod with the fastest thread speed that you can find and get a nut to match, or make a round one with a knurled or serrated edge. This rod will obviously have to be of a small diameter to keep it light. Weld a boss off of the slot/channel about far enough to reach and drill a hole in it to fit the threaded rod loosely. Do not thread it. Drill just a little over the outside dia of the thread. The rod will run parallel with the slot and wire. Drill a hole also in the end of the threaded rod the size of the weld wire. When you load your wire take the bend and push it through the small hole in the end of the threaded rod. While pushing the wire through the tube, following the slot, feed the threaded rod into the hole drilled in the boss to the side of the tube. Place the "drive nut" on the end of the rod. As you thumb the drive nut it will feed the rod, and pull the wire, down the slot and into the curved conduit feed. It will stop whenever you want it to; loaded for the next pass. Bobby

 

[Bob Heine]

Interesting stuff! But I'm dense. I see the last picture with the sleeve and screw tapped into it. Are you planning on moving the filler metal with the tip of the screw as you put pressure on the screw and slide it down?

If so, filing grooves in the tip may give you enough "grab" to move the wire. I like Bobby's idea of a serrated wheel, but you only would need one wheel to roll and push the wire.

I thought you were going to try to push the wire with your bare finger. I really think that would work if you had a heat shield below your push groove.

Unfortunately there will be a lot of friction between the wire and the tube and you are trying to overcome that with a small tip on the screw so it is slipping. Hence if it has some serrations or points on it to dig in with it may work.

An off the wall idea: if you bent your filler wire into maybe a 3" radius circle and clamped it to a 3" long arm which pivots about 2.9" from the tip of the tungsten, and you have a friction joint at the pivot point, you could use your thumb or a fickle finger to feed maybe two inches of filler metal before you had to stop and move the clamp back up the arc or install a new arc of filler metal. If you use lots of water mud can look almost clear.

And if you're trying to tap in the end of the heavy tube you need to look up what size hole you are supposed to have to use your tap and then measure the tube. If it's too big you have options: fill it with brass then drill it out and tap, heat it and forge it down to a smaller size around a mandrel the size you want, or look for a metric tap which might be a better fit, or weld a nut the size you want to the end of the tube. If you're trying to tap a hole in the side you've already done it so this is old news, but I like working on problems whether they exist or not.

You also might want to make a holder for your torch where your four fingertips have full control of the torch leaving your thumb free to manipulate the wire, kind of like brass knuckles to put your fingers through to give you more torch control with fingers only since the palm is so connected to the thumb movements.

Just one more thought.

If you like the circular filler metal on a little arm, if it is spring loaded to retract you would have very good control to dip the filler in the pool then pull it back just by letting the spring retract it.

The center of the pivot actually brings the filler metal into the puddle at an angle like with old fashioned two handed TIG, typically the tungsten and filler metal can be about 90 degrees to each other. But you could adjust that angle by where you place the pivot point with respect to the centerline of the tungsten.

I guess I need to draw this out.

Bob Heine's head explodes.

 

[bolensboneyard]

Bob sorry it took me so long to write the above post. Bobby

 

[Bob Heine]

OK, here's a sketch. Obviously the filler metal needs to be bent around a mandrel to get it very circular, not like I've drawn.

Andy, thanks for that. I scooped up most of the brain matter and pushed it back where I think it belongs. I have to post up my most recent activity that incorporates one of your earlier ideas.

It must be that being around so much genius I am inspired. I love you guys. I think I have it or am getting close. it's a combination of thoughts after looking at and reading all then trying to assemble something in my brain that has had a migraine all day but here it is. Take a piece of your tubing the length that you feel is best suited for your general needs and curve it to attain the desired attitude to meet your arc in the puddle or just bend the end of the tubing. I agree with Andy the wire needs to meet the arc close but not too close to be sucked up into the tungsten. Now here's the fun part. Cut a slot the size of the wire or slightly larger the entire length of the tubing to a place you want the wire to stop. Locate the tube slot on the tubing as mounted to the side that you have your thumb or finger on (which ever is more convenient) Bend the last inch or so of the wire before putting it in the tube and leave the bent portion sticking out of the slot. Configure the bend and the length sticking out so you can hold the torch and push the wire easily with your hand. The resistance within the tube should not be so stiff that you cannot overcome it with this method. Sorry, this will limit the length of your feed to that of your reach. Better yet, Take a length of threaded rod with the fastest thread speed that you can find and get a nut to match, or make a round one with a knurled or serrated edge. This rod will obviously have to be of a small diameter to keep it light. Weld a boss off of the slot/channel about far enough to reach and drill a hole in it to fit the threaded rod loosely. Do not thread it. Drill just a little over the outside dia of the thread. The rod will run parallel with the slot and wire. Drill a hole also in the end of the threaded rod the size of the weld wire. When you load your wire take the bend and push it through the small hole in the end of the threaded rod. While pushing the wire through the tube, following the slot, feed the threaded rod into the hole drilled in the boss to the side of the tube. Place the "drive nut" on the end of the rod. As you thumb the drive nut it will feed the rod, and pull the wire, down the slot and into the curved conduit feed. It will stop whenever you want it to; loaded for the next pass. Bobby

Bobby, I like being around genius but it's obviously not contagious. My wife fears the stubborn I caught as a child is Stage 4 but I keep telling her I'm fine (I'm under the delusion I won that one). I'm going to post up some pictures and possibly my first video to show my latest changes.

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob sorry it took me so long to write the above post. Bobby

Bobby, no apology needed. Take your time and type, heal, type, heal. I'm sorry it's going to take me so long to absorb and understand your post.

 

[Bob Heine]

More than 20 years ago I broke a jeweler's file. I knew exactly where it was so I put the thing in the garage vise so I could grind a dent in it. I have a set of diamond bits and surprise, surprise it worked.

I also know I snapped that file so it should be easy to break off another piece. Another surprise -- it took one hammer tap once it was in the vise.

I had to re-file the end of that 6-32 screw so it better matched the dent.

This is by no means an elegant piece of work but the file piece sorta fits and the rod slides with minimum pressure.

 

[Guster]

Nice idea for a simplistic/cheap one hand TIG accessory. I also like the idea of the knurled drive wheel to feed the wire... like the scroll wheel on a mouse. Either using your thumb or your middle finger depending on how you prefer to hold your TIG torch. The little wheel can easily be spring loaded to support different filler gauges too.

But here is a little side thought action... Not hard to modify a Euro torch connector and liner so you can use the MIG wire drive to feed you TIG torch without energising the wire. Relocate the MIG torch switch to your TIG torch and making a new torch bracket to locate the MIG liner with a new heatproof tip in the right position to feed the weld puddle.

Hardest part will be matching the wire speed if it goes slow enough. Could probably buy a cheap standalone MIG wire feed or modify a wire feed MIG torch for this purpose and bypass all the timers and relays to get more analogue function. But conceptually run the TIG torch with the foot pedal and the wire drive with the finger switch.

Hope Google lets you see the same results as I do - loads of pictures for bracket options: https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=w...q6nQAhVGbxQKHVj7B4oQ_AUICCgB&biw=1920&bih=911

 

[oldironfarmer]

Nice idea for a simplistic/cheap one hand TIG accessory. I also like the idea of the knurled drive wheel to feed the wire... like the scroll wheel on a mouse. Either using your thumb or your middle finger depending on how you prefer to hold your TIG torch. The little wheel can easily be spring loaded to support different filler gauges too.

But here is a little side thought action... Not hard to modify a Euro torch connector and liner so you can use the MIG wire drive to feed you TIG torch without energising the wire. Relocate the MIG torch switch to your TIG torch and making a new torch bracket to locate the MIG liner with a new heatproof tip in the right position to feed the weld puddle.

Hardest part will be matching the wire speed if it goes slow enough. Could probably buy a cheap standalone MIG wire feed or modify a wire feed MIG torch for this purpose and bypass all the timers and relays to get more analogue function. But conceptually run the TIG torch with the foot pedal and the wire drive with the finger switch.

Hope Google lets you see the same results as I do - loads of pictures for bracket options: https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=w...q6nQAhVGbxQKHVj7B4oQ_AUICCgB&biw=1920&bih=911

Good idea! Wire feed speed should not be an issue, all you want to do is bump it to get a little wire. As long as the wire burns back out of the puddle lots of methods may work. I have to dip the wire then pull it back while I manipulate the torch. That led to the funky curved wire on a spring loaded lever so you can dip it and pull it back. I'll be interested to see how he makes something work. And I'm convinced he will make it work.

 

[Craptain]

Bob Heine's head explodes.

Let me add to that. I am having ideas for motor driven a la mig but with a foot pedal like a sewing machine to control stop go stop start etc.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[Bob Heine]

Hopefully this video of the Fickle Finger of TIG in operation will work. I give you FFTIG 0.1A (prototype - not ready to burn my finger).

 

[oldironfarmer]

Video looks real good.

Do you think it will work with one finger? It sure seemed to work smoothly.

I'm also liking Bobby's idea of a slot down one side of a tube and use a short filler with a 90 degree bend for a handle that could be pushed with one finger.

And I'm enthused enough I'm going to have to build an arm with a semicircular piece of filler.

Keep up the good work, I like seeing things developed!

 

[Bob Heine]

Nice idea for a simplistic/cheap one hand TIG accessory. I also like the idea of the knurled drive wheel to feed the wire... like the scroll wheel on a mouse. Either using your thumb or your middle finger depending on how you prefer to hold your TIG torch. The little wheel can easily be spring loaded to support different filler gauges too.

But here is a little side thought action... Not hard to modify a Euro torch connector and liner so you can use the MIG wire drive to feed you TIG torch without energising the wire. Relocate the MIG torch switch to your TIG torch and making a new torch bracket to locate the MIG liner with a new heatproof tip in the right position to feed the weld puddle.

Hardest part will be matching the wire speed if it goes slow enough. Could probably buy a cheap standalone MIG wire feed or modify a wire feed MIG torch for this purpose and bypass all the timers and relays to get more analogue function. But conceptually run the TIG torch with the foot pedal and the wire drive with the finger switch.

Hope Google lets you see the same results as I do - loads of pictures for bracket options: https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=w...q6nQAhVGbxQKHVj7B4oQ_AUICCgB&biw=1920&bih=911

Guster, good to see you post. I took the liberty to describe the situation as I saw it from this side of the world on Andy's (oldironfarmer) thread. I'll post it here as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guster was online today and I believe he's OK. He lives in Auckland, which is on New Zealand's North Island. The earthquake epicenter was near Kaikoura on the South Island -- about 900 kilometers south of him. The road to Kaikoura is cut off but the death toll was 2 the last I heard. This is the main road to Kaikoura today:

My wife and I visited Kaikoura to go whale watching with four friends. Our Maori guide was allowed to take us much closer to the teenage Sperm whales than his European counterparts. The indigenous Maori, like the Inuit of North America have special freedoms when it comes to whales. The 1,400 residents have some spectacular scenery in their back yard. Those mountains rise right out of the ocean:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, down to business. I also like the idea of the knurled wheel. I'm thinking of the wheels on a butane lighter rather than a mouse. I have a slightly damaged lighter in my hoard and I looked at it but it may be beyond my skills (I have rodent-level skills, able to gnaw through stuff but not very precisely) and luck. Everything in this project came from little piles of "valuable junk" in my garage and shop.

Your Google search did show up and it is mind boggling. One or two looked vaguely like what I was thinking but a bunch of them looked much better and a few appeared to be within my gnawing skills.

 

[Bob Heine]

Good idea! Wire feed speed should not be an issue, all you want to do is bump it to get a little wire. As long as the wire burns back out of the puddle lots of methods may work. I have to dip the wire then pull it back while I manipulate the torch. That led to the funky curved wire on a spring loaded lever so you can dip it and pull it back. I'll be interested to see how he makes something work. And I'm convinced he will make it work.

Andy, thank you so much for the continued interest in my little distraction. I'm actually getting excited because over the years my dexterity has surprised even me. Most times I fail to recognize that what I'm doing appears difficult to others. I think it's like broom making in a way -- what appears difficult or impossible is overwhelming until you see someone else do it OR having a little patience and a lot of stubborn ("Robert does not work well with others." Ms. Frasca, 1954).

 

[Bob Heine]

Let me add to that. I am having ideas for motor driven a la mig but with a foot pedal like a sewing machine to control stop go stop start etc.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Craptain, the dexterity of my right hand seems to have come at the cost of coordination with the rest of my body. Must practice my sewing. Must practice my walking and chewing gum. Must practice breathing then swallowing.....

 

[Bob Heine]

Video looks real good.

Do you think it will work with one finger? It sure seemed to work smoothly.

I'm also liking Bobby's idea of a slot down one side of a tube and use a short filler with a 90 degree bend for a handle that could be pushed with one finger.

And I'm enthused enough I'm going to have to build an arm with a semicircular piece of filler.

Keep up the good work, I like seeing things developed!

Andy, I am in shock. It worked so much better than I expected. I didn't think to do a trial run before shooting the video so my hand was in an awkward position over the vise. Holding it like a pencil worked well and pushing on the screw with my index finger worked like a charm. By charm I mean it moved the rod smoothly with very little effort. A better piece of file and some shaping of the sleeve might make it even better.

I am going to leave it alone for a day or two. My mind needs time to recover from the success. If I proceed too quickly, my next thought will screw the whole thing up.

I like Bobby's idea for a slotted tube as well. None of my gnawing tools make those kinds of cuts so I may have to keep that in the back of my mind.

 

[bolensboneyard]

Bob Be careful when you get to playing with some of those butane lighters around hot stuff. I saw a man get killed by one when I was an aircraft mechanic apprentice. A hot spark from a grinding wheel jumped into his shirt pocket (where his lighter was) it went off like a grenade and I will leave the rest to your imagination. The lighters they make now are hopefully safer but I know we all HATE to throw stuff away and you may just dig one out of some corner to mess with. Sorry not trying to be your dad (I'm too young anyway) but I like to look out for others (my wife doesn't always think it is an endearing quality either) Bobby

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob Be careful when you get to playing with some of those butane lighters around hot stuff. I saw a man get killed by one when I was an aircraft mechanic apprentice. A hot spark from a grinding wheel jumped into his shirt pocket (where his lighter was) it went off like a grenade and I will leave the rest to your imagination. The lighters they make now are hopefully safer but I know we all HATE to throw stuff away and you may just dig one out of some corner to mess with. Sorry not trying to be your dad (I'm too young anyway) but I like to look out for others (my wife doesn't always think it is an endearing quality either) Bobby

Bobby, thanks for the reminder. Your wife MIGHT be right regarding your safety tips with other people. In my case it is more than welcome because I am the poster child for near-Darwin Award incidents.

I have a couple of lighters for shrink tube heating. The knurled wheel comment reminded me that the butane lighters have knurled wheels that might work. I also remembered that one of the lighters was missing its wind shield.

In this view you can see that the wheel is pretty close to the size needed. When I cut the excess thick wall tubing off FFOTIG 0.1A, it may actually be long enough for a FFOTIG 0.2A prototype.

 

[Guster]

Guster, good to see you post. I took the liberty to describe the situation as I saw it from this side of the world on Andy's (oldironfarmer) thread. I'll post it here as well.
...

Now, down to business. I also like the idea of the knurled wheel. I'm thinking of the wheels on a butane lighter rather than a mouse. I have a slightly damaged lighter in my hoard and I looked at it but it may be beyond my skills (I have rodent-level skills, able to gnaw through stuff but not very precisely) and luck. Everything in this project came from little piles of "valuable junk" in my garage and shop.

Your Google search did show up and it is mind boggling. One or two looked vaguely like what I was thinking but a bunch of them looked much better and a few appeared to be within my gnawing skills.

The mess has been complicated by weather. Heavy torrential rain and 140kph winds caused further slips and severe flooding due to slips impeding the flow in some rivers. As a result Wellington was cut off as well. They have since found some buildings in the CBD with enough structural damage to be closed off until it can be decided if they can be fixed or need to be collapsed. Kaikoura is still cut off though. I don’t know how much you know about NZ history and its stance on nuclear powered/nuclear capable ships in our waters. Anyway it is the first time in decades we’ve allowed US Navy ships in our waters to assist our Navy with the evacuation of Kaikoura. First to get all the tourists out safely and then to provide further assistance in terms of food, water and temporary shelter. In the meantime the aftershocks continue with magnitude +5 quakes every few hours causing new slips and damage. Then there is always the possibility of another large aftershock which leaves everyone on edge.

On the plus side the people in Kaikoura are eating well. The sea floor in the harbour has been raised over a meter in places, exposing reefs full of abalone(paua), mussel and crayfish at super lowtides caused by the super-moon. When you take a step back and look at it, it appears to be a very unusual culmination of events.


Back to the task at hand:
Didn’t think a mousewheel would work either though the hand action of feeding the wire would be very similar to operating a mouse wheel. The knurled wheel of a butane lighter is a great repurpose. Nice and compact too. I was also thinking knurled drive wheel from a MIG welder or from a lathe knurling tool. They make hand knurlers that work similar to small pipe cutters and would work well to make a custom knurled wheel without the need for a lathe.

No critique here. It’s a great project and we are just excited to see you run with it and help where we can. Your ‘gnawing’ skills are still better than some guys I know who actually own lathes and mills(own compared to generally use) and yours is backed with some solid creativity. Nothing wrong with ‘piles of valuable junk’ either. There may be a scale of it where it could be considered an issue. Yours appear to be a lot more organised and inconspicuous compared to mine. I definitely don’t have issues with my ‘useful piles of valuable junk’.

 

[oldironfarmer]

No concern over Bob becoming a hoarder so long as his loving wife is providing much needed management skills.

 

[Bob Heine]

Guster, I don't mean to offend any of the countless wonderful people on this planet but in my travels across it I found New Zealand to have collected more than its fair share of them. Bad things happen to good people is sadly true in this case.

I had to search for newspaper stories (I still get a parchment delivered every day) about the disaster. Looks like CNN has some coverage but my paper is oblivious to it and I don't watch TV news of any kind (unless a family member is on). The Christchurch earthquake almost six years ago was also barely covered.

I saw the pictures of hillsides slipping down into the rivers, creating dams that will probably collapse and cause catastrophic floods. I saw the collapsed houses and leaning glass building. Today I see there are winds with gale force winds on the same island. Residents of Florida and California might have a better grasp of what's happening. If you are a Floridian who has hunkered down during a hurricane and the ground under you starts shaking, that's what's going on. If you are a Californian who has run into the street to escape from your trembling house during an earthquake and there's a hurricane outside, that's what's going on.

"The" 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Kaikoura has been accompanied by 1,200+ aftershocks. Just Google "New Zealand earthquake 2016" if you care to see what's going on.

In a special homage to Andy and other beef cattle lovers, there's a heartwarming video of three stranded cows that should warm your heart. The cows were rescued 24 hours after the stranding by their owner. It's a video buried in this story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37970775

As I said at the top of this post, Kiwis (New Zealanders) are a wonderful people and Guster proved it with this:

"On the plus side the people in Kaikoura are eating well. The sea floor in the harbour has been raised over a meter in places, exposing reefs full of abalone(paua), mussel and crayfish at super lowtides caused by the super-moon. When you take a step back and look at it, it appears to be a very unusual culmination of events."

When hurricane Matthew was bearing down on us, every network channel cancelled their regular programming and provided 24/7 coverage of the storm. The governor of Florida told us to run for our lives five or six times a day (OK, it was more like '"EVACUATE, EVACUATE, EVACUATE"). In the midst of their crisis, New Zealand news posts this:

Cricket test set to go ahead in Christchurch

I will reply to the "it's all about Bob" portion of your post in due time but I'll just say I haven't taken anything anyone has posted as criticism. Far from it, it's encouragement and it is all helpful. I'm too stubborn to let a train pass unmolested so please forgive me if I don't adopt a suggestion right away.

 

[Bob Heine]

No concern over Bob becoming a hoarder so long as his loving wife is providing much needed management skills.

Andy, we have negotiated a cease-fire at the 26th parallel. She keeps her priceless jean, sweater, blouse, shoe, tchotchke and linen collections at their current levels and I keep my worthless **** at it's current level. She tossed one extra vehicle in the negotiations so I expect a quid pro quo is coming.

 

[bolensboneyard]

Having spent time in New Zealand also, and gotten to know some of its people intimately, I would have to say that they are wonderful people. You would think that with all the noise the media makes about one world for the purpose of political manipulation of the populace they would have more to say about these tragic events as they unfold. I have been through Hurricane Hugo and many others and was in San Francisco when the Bay bridge collapsed a month later in the big earthquake. My heart goes out to them.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy, we have negotiated a cease-fire at the 26th parallel. She keeps her priceless jean, sweater, blouse, shoe, tchotchke and linen collections at their current levels and I keep my worthless **** at it's current level. She tossed one extra vehicle in the negotiations so I expect a quid pro quo is coming.

Did you mean the 38th parallel by chance? Just a typo? And your territory is on the north side?

 

[Craptain]

Did you mean the 38th parallel by chance? Just a typo? And your territory is on the north side?

I am thinking that where Bob lives it would be more likely 26th or 27th parallel.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[Bob Heine]

Having spent time in New Zealand also, and gotten to know some of its people intimately, I would have to say that they are wonderful people. You would think that with all the noise the media makes about one world for the purpose of political manipulation of the populace they would have more to say about these tragic events as they unfold. I have been through Hurricane Hugo and many others and was in San Francisco when the Bay bridge collapsed a month later in the big earthquake. My heart goes out to them.

Bobby, I think it's human nature to focus on ourselves and everything else is through that lens. News of disasters that reach the US focus on how many Americans were affected. The Bali terrorist attacks in 2002 were barely covered in the US, even though one of the bombs went off at the American consulate. Had the 88 Australians killed been Americans, I guarantee we would have had wall-to-wall coverage.

Living in Australia I was surprised at how much information about other countries was shared in the news (excluding weather and national sports). I felt like I was as well informed about US events by the Australian news as I was by the local news broadcasts in the US (which focus on local events and mention other parts of the US).

Bobby, we may be separated by less than 6 degrees. My wife and I moved to Australia, flying from Palm Beach to Houston on October 14, 1989 but the flight was delayed and we missed the flight to San Francisco. Instead we flew to LA, onward to Honolulu and next day to Sydney. We landed in Sydney to the news of the earthquake and Bay bridge collapse.

I do get little twitches from the news. In addition to the Kaikoura link, I stayed in two hotels in Mumbai (Bombay), India in July 1996. The first was the the Oberoi Trident but because it was $600 a night I only stayed for the first three nights before traveling on to other cities in India. Upon my return two weeks later, I stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, also in Mumbai. In 2008 those were the two hotels attacked by Pakistani terrorists.

Somebody should pay me to stay home.....

 

[oldironfarmer]

The 38th parallel was the original separation between the Koreas. I was thinking Bob and his DW might be the philosophical equivalents of those two countries.

 

[Bob Heine]

Did you mean the 38th parallel by chance? Just a typo? And your territory is on the north side?

I am thinking that where Bob lives it would be more likely 26th or 27th parallel.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Andy and Craptain, I see you are geography buffs. We're not wannabe Koreans and we indeed live near the 26th parallel. That said, our demilitarized zone is a 2x6 steel stud wall running north/south.

She controls the master suite (east) side of the DMZ, including two linen closets, two clothes closets, a laundry room, bathroom, five dressers, a king size bed, loveseat, chair and 70-inch TV.

I control the garage (west) side of the DMZ and the contents are top secret.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy and Craptain, I see you are geography buffs. We're not wannabe Koreans and we indeed live near the 26th parallel. That said, our demilitarized zone is a 2x6 steel stud wall running north/south.

She controls the master suite (east) side of the DMZ, including two linen closets, two clothes closets, a laundry room, bathroom, five dressers, a king size bed, loveseat, chair and 70-inch TV.

I control the garage (west) side of the DMZ and the contents are top secret.

Yep, proved my point, 38th and you are on the north. The analogy seems complete. She's got all the goodies and you're keeping secrets. sorry

 

[dlcwent]

Bob, your thread moves very fast at times. I miss a coupe of days and it takes me an hour of reading to catch up. Just wanted you to know that I'm always here reading and ingesting all the ideas and comments that you and your followers make. I don't have much to add at times so I just come and go quietly. But I'm always watching.......

 

[walt111]

I to read your thread daily and look forward to it. A Sometimes I have to really stop and figure out what was said and what it means. Maybe I am not the brightest star in the sky but my light still tinkles.
walt

 

[metalhead140]

As per the guys above... Though I'm not sure about my light tinkling...!

 

[jbmatth]

Bob,
I really like your design for the single handed TIG setup, and even more impressed you handled it single-offhandedly. LOL In all seriousness your resourcefulness is very impressive and after catching up on everything that you've been up to over the past month of being "gone" it sinks in that much more. Excited to see what you can make happen with that TIG setup.
JB

 

[oldironfarmer]

As per the guys above... Though I'm not sure about my light tinkling...!

(light tinkling is called BPH)

 

[BBChevro]

Bob, your thread moves very fast at times. I miss a coupe of days and it takes me an hour of reading to catch up. Just wanted you to know that I'm always here reading and ingesting all the ideas and comments that you and your followers make. I don't have much to add at times so I just come and go quietly. But I'm always watching.......

What he said ^^^^^

Thanks Dan, that saved some precious time.



Great work on the one-handed TIG prototypes Bob

 

[Bob Heine]

Yep, proved my point, 38th and you are on the north. The analogy seems complete. She's got all the goodies and you're keeping secrets. sorry

Andy, I need to get a sillier haircut....

Bob, your thread moves very fast at times. I miss a coupe of days and it takes me an hour of reading to catch up. Just wanted you to know that I'm always here reading and ingesting all the ideas and comments that you and your followers make. I don't have much to add at times so I just come and go quietly. But I'm always watching.......

Dan, I hope I've helped by disappearing for a few days. Yes, I definitely feel your presence, especially when I'm out in the garage.

I to read your thread daily and look forward to it. A Sometimes I have to really stop and figure out what was said and what it means. Maybe I am not the brightest star in the sky but my light still tinkles.
walt

Walt, first of all thank you for posting. I too have long pauses to think about some posts, re-read them and pause some more. I bet you have a set of skills I'd envy -- reading and writing technical manuals for 30 helped me with this part of life but there are many things I would love to do well that I do poorly. Oh, and if you're feeling inadequate stay away from Thomas Payne's Restored 1930's Auto Shop, Jack Olsen's The 12-Gauge Garage, and Don Long's building my BIG PARTY garage threads for a start. In fact, I have a 350+ list of threads I subscribe to that you should also avoid. They certainly make me feel inadequate but there are just too many great ideas in them for me to un-subscribe.

Bob,
I really like your design for the single handed TIG setup, and even more impressed you handled it single-offhandedly. LOL In all seriousness your resourcefulness is very impressive and after catching up on everything that you've been up to over the past month of being "gone" it sinks in that much more. Excited to see what you can make happen with that TIG setup.
JB

Thanks JB. I've actually been doing a few things, including an upgrade to the FFOTIG. I actually rolled the cars out of the garage and set up the MIG to do some stainless welding -- need to do that more often. I thought working with stainless would keep me from getting rusty but nooooo.

As per the guys above... Though I'm not sure about my light tinkling...!

(light tinkling is called BPH)

OK, now you've done it. Andrew and Andy, I was not upset when you guys yawned because even though it is catching, I don't have to leave the room to yawn in response but you guys talking about tinkling in front of this old man has me leaving the room and forgetting my train of thought. My urologist says I don't have BPH but you guys are proving him wrong.

What he said ^^^^^

Thanks Dan, that saved some precious time.

Great work on the one-handed TIG prototypes Bob

Thanks Mark! I do glance at the view count to be sure someone else is checking in and I am surprised and humbled every time.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Andy, I need to get a sillier haircut....

I'm trying to stop, I really am, but you reminded me of one of my favorite true experiences:

Had a long layover on Southwest Airlines flight and they let us get off the plane, just required we get back on 15 minutes before new passengers were to board. Remember Southwest does not assign seats to passengers. As I walked back up to the gate there was a late middle-aged gate keeper lady who asked for my name (name is OK because they will get things settled if two people try to get back on with the same name) so I told her my name and row and seat number. She was quick to shift gears and told me that seat was already taken! So I asked what she had available, maybe a center seat between two largish people for my personal discomfort. She flipped open her clip board as if looking at seat assignments and offered "let's see, we have seat 19B, 19A is a Sumo wrestler and on the aisle we have a very large German lady who looks like she is carrying a North Korean dictator under each arm..."

 

[Bob Heine]

When I was putting the brakes back together on the PT Cruiser I discovered the reason I snapped a wheel stud. Putting the caliper bracket back on, I used my 1/2" Harbor Freight click type torque wrench. Shop manual called for 75 ft lbs so I dialed that in. I started tightening and it wouldn't click. I don't torque stuff often enough to 'feel' the right torque but I know what 100 ft lbs feels like and this felt like I was getting close to that. I grabbed the Harbor Freight digital torque adapter and sure enough, I had torqued the bolt to 85 ft lbs. I disassembled the torque wrench and found nothing obviously wrong. Looks like my big click style torque wrench is going to be a 17-inch ratchet handle from now on.

 

[Bob Heine]

So I asked what she had available, maybe a center seat between two largish people for my personal discomfort. She flipped open her clip board as if looking at seat assignments and offered "let's see, we have seat 19B, 19A is a Sumo wrestler and on the aisle we have a very large German lady who looks like she is carrying a North Korean dictator under each arm..."

Andy, it's too bad we can't give them a tip for that. By any chance, did she have a sign? As in "Here's your sign."

 

[HCNDM]

Andy, it's too bad we can't give them a tip for that. By any chance, did she have a sign? As in "Here's your sign."

Thank you bob for reminding me to print a couple of those signs and hand them out at the office (new batch of interns).

I really enjoy Bill Engval's sense of humor!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bob Heine]

I was trying to clean up my garage and got frustrated.

I have a lot of foam buffing pads and I didn't have a good place to store them. That's not true, I have a great place to store them but it's full of 'Stuff 2.0.' The first house we bought in 1966 came with a tall free-standing knotty pine cabinet that I stripped, stained and varnished to match the built-in cabinets I had re-finished the same way. When we moved, my wife insisted that cabinet come with us. It ended up in the garage, filled with Stuff 1.0. We moved to our current house and of course the cabinet came with us. I found a place in the garage between the doors where it kinda fit. It was pretty crummy looking so I gave it a couple of coats of white latex. Ta da!

'Stuff 2.0' included five electric buffers purchased over the past 45 years. All of them work but none of them works well. The best among them have two speeds with the slowest speed being 1,300 rpm. They shouldn't be called buffers because they are really swirlies. They put different size swirls in the paint. I have kept them because I have difficulty throwing away things that still work. I haven't thrown these swirlies out because I could sell them at a yard/garage sale. In the past 55 years we have had one garage sale that recouped about $12 for an 8 hour "See if we have anything worth coming back at night for" festival.

Say goodby to my little friends....

The cabinet now has some free space even with the foam pads added.

I am content with the cabinet but lust after the brother of Scott's cabinet over on The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46).