Matt's projects

[Fretters]

Oh it is!!! I have seen it done well...... And I have tried it.... But I cannot get it right myself so I stick to OA for brazing, and then only on smaller pieces. My attempts to Braze cast iron did not go well. My first electric rig was a a kit for use with a car battery and the carbon arc was one of the accessories. I ended up pitching the whole thing as almost useless.

But then again I also remember when the whole "art" of welding was a black art, and persistence has brought huge gains.

Sounds like I'm in for some fun then. Welding is one thing I can't do for toffee at the moment, so I'll also be attempting to finally master ARC at the same time as this carbon arc affair. I'll probably end up bald with the hair pulling by the time I've done.

Fretters: so brazing is the "dark arts". I've seen some magical brazing jobs that were more like miracles because the part was better than before it broke, but now you are talking another tune.

Not so much the brazing itself. It's the heat source which will the fun part in this venture. Brazing itself I'm fine with, but I've only ever used O/A as the heat source in the past.

This is a Youtube vid of someone doing carbon arc brazing, to give an idea of what the difference is.

good luck with whichever method you choose and i hope you have plans to build another shed out where the garden used to be to store all your ailing and broken cast iron items you'll now be able to bring home and then to bring back to life.

I already have another shed. It's emptying it which is the problem. It has a resident Gipsy in there at the moment.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

You'll be fine with it, I reckon 20 mins of play and you'll have forgotten it's not gas

 

[Fretters]

I hope so. Are gouging rods the same thing, or at least usable, for those twin rod holders?

 

[CwazyWabbit]

This page suggests they are different from gouging rods http://www.schutzcarbon.com/air_carbonproducts.html#tabs1-cab (click on the various tabs and you'll find the different rods) reading between the lines I'd say you might be able to use gouging rods but the proper rods would make for a more stable arc and an easier job.
When I played I used whatever electrodes the old fella had.

 

[Fretters]

Cheers. I'll have a look at that site. Looks like I may be in for some fun trying to find a source of those rods at a decent price then, if they're different. As they say though, half the fun is in the chase.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Machine Mart have them for 3.60 a pair btw https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/range/details/carbon-arc-rods

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: when you say you have a Gipsey is in your shed to us that means you have a homeless type person living in there. i'm guessing in your English it might be a tool?

good luck with the welding/brazing when you figure it out and find all the bits and pieces.

 

[Craptain]

Fretters: when you say you have a Gipsey is in your shed to us that means you have a homeless type person living in there. i'm guessing in your English it might be a tool?

good luck with the welding/brazing when you figure it out and find all the bits and pieces.

Drives, you haven't been paying attention. Gypsy is a vehicle. Or at least a variety of wheeled conveyance which elicits lots of cursing.

 

[drivesitfar]

Craptain: now that you mention it i do remember Fretters naming his little beast Gipsey, but i was thinking he might have somebody else staying in the shed to help him lift all that old iron he picks up.

 

[Fretters]

Drives, you haven't been paying attention. Gypsy is a vehicle. Or at least a variety of wheeled conveyance which elicits lots of cursing.

Aye, that's the one. She may be going to a new owner sometime over the next year or so, if things pan out. I've come to realise I'll likely never have the time nor welding abilities to sort her properly, so I've plumped for letting her go if I can find a new home for her. Having some spare shed space again will be a boon too.

This is the front end of the Austin Gipsy DIF. This is when I had to squeeze her down the side of the house to get her in that front shed she's currently occupying.

I know that looks like she's wedged, but she did just, and only just, make it through.

 

[Fretters]

Machine Mart have them for 3.60 a pair btw https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/range/details/carbon-arc-rods

Cheers. MM would have been the last place I'd expect to find something like that.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: i'm having the same issue with the truck i bought. it's a little bigger than your Gypsey, but finding a use for it more often than a couple times a year has me wanting to sell it. that and my wife won't let me park mine in front of our house.

I know how much you like your Gypsey, but i'm thinking you might like the space too.

cheers and here's my "little" truck in case you hadn't seen it yet and it has this Wells bandsaw under the tarp in the picture that i still need to unload.

 

[jakemac]

This is the front end of the Austin Gipsy DIF. This is when I had to squeeze her down the side of the house to get her in that front shed she's currently occupying.

I know that looks like she's wedged, but she did just, and only just, make it through.

That's like stuffing 10lbs of ham into a 5lbs bag.

I used to have to back a 16' trailer down a slot like that - at an angle. Glad those days are gone.

 

[drivesitfar]

Jake: did you also do it while going uphill, in a blizzard and barefoot too? sounds like the beginning of a good fish story.

Fretters: did you park it there for a reason if you were just trying to drive through and how easy is it to climb out the back of even a small SUV at our age. nice driving that is for certain.

 

[jakemac]

Jake: did you also do it while going uphill, in a blizzard and barefoot too? sounds like the beginning of a good fish story.

No, but I did run myself over pushing a car (Triumph) uphill in the rain. Twice !
Same hill both times.
That British car had issues.

All my family's fish stories start with "Well, I was having a few beers ............."
Come to think of it, that's how ALL my family's stories start.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

No, but I did run myself over pushing a car (Triumph) uphill in the rain. Twice !
....

Reminds me that I once ran myself over with the motorbike I was riding .....

 

[Fretters]

Fretters: did you park it there for a reason if you were just trying to drive through and how easy is it to climb out the back of even a small SUV at our age. nice driving that is for certain.

It was easy to get out of, as I'd removed the doors and everything to eek every ounce of width saving out of it. Even had to remove the rain channels/gutters from the roof to get it through.

That's like stuffing 10lbs of ham into a 5lbs bag.

 

[Fretters]

Reminds me that I once ran myself over with the motorbike I was riding .....

How on earth did you manage that?

 

[CwazyWabbit]

I was riding a motorcross bike around a berm and overshot the top, this led me to hit a large immovable object (rock) with the front wheel sending me over the bars. The bike then performed a somersault, landed on both wheels and rode straight across my chest. These things happen ....

 

[Fretters]

I know I shouldn't laugh but...

 

[CwazyWabbit]

It was a while back now, I'm used to the laughter

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: you still had to crawl out the back because if you took the doors off you still weren't getting out the sides.

CW: all in a good days fun if you ask me. how much did it hurt because i'm smiling thinking about the way it looked to the fans now. i bet you didn't even get a broken rib or did you?

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Wasn't too bad, I was a lot younger and wearing body armour, was just left with tyre tracks across my shirt.

 

[drivesitfar]

CW: now we can really laugh. i'm guessing you didn't win that race?

Jake: are the fish and lobsters really that big in Mass. and Maine where you and your relatives are and were telling your tales?

 

[CwazyWabbit]

It is fair to say that I didn't finish at the front [emoji14]

 

[Fretters]

It is fair to say that I didn't finish at the front [emoji14]

I bet everyone remembered you though.

 

[jakemac]

Jake: are the fish and lobsters really that big in Mass. and Maine where you and your relatives are and were telling your tales?

Yes, but my family doesn't eat salty fish or lobster. Those nasty beasties are Tourist fodder.
Moose are bigger and better eatin'.

 

[Fretters]

Yes, but my family doesn't eat salty fish or lobster. Those nasty beasties are Tourist fodder.
Moose are bigger and better eatin'.

How do you hook a moose though?

 

[jakemac]

How do you hook a moose though?

Veeeeeery carefully. They have a temper.

 

[drivesitfar]

Jake: does Moose taste like chicken??

 

[jakemac]

It tastes like something between Deer and Beef, but not as gamey as deer.
That would have to be one big-*** chicken !

 

[drivesitfar]

Jake: size has nothing to do with taste, but happy to hear you like moose's meat. i bet our friends across the pond don't have any moose and they'd probably get shot if they tried to shoot the Queen's deer.

cheers

 

[Fretters]

Finally got around to fettling this Oxford oil cooled unit. Nowt flash, just a scrub down and coated with Linseed oil for protection on the unit itself, and the trolley has been derusted and painted.

Before:

After:

 

[Fretters]

Thought it time to update this thread. I've been a bit remiss in updating it, so here are the last couple of bits I've done. First one is that Saracen vice. Before:

After:

This is the vice stand I picked up the other month. Before:

After:

Both were done with that graphite paste.

 

[bonneyman]

Nice work! That old welder looks just fine the way it looks now.
I don't think you need to go any further, IMHO.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: is that wax recipe still holding up on that old vice? even though there is a little chunk missing under the static's jaw that vise looks barely used. also that might be the cleanest cast i've seen.

have you used your old welder yet?

 

[Fretters]

Nice work! That old welder looks just fine the way it looks now.
I don't think you need to go any further, IMHO.

Cheers. Only other things I'm going to do with it now are just to put something in that trolley to seal/plug the gap between it and the welder, (I got hold of some old uPVC window seal which might serve that purpose well), to save crud accumulating in there, and possibly add a brass cable gland inplace of that rubber grommet, to properly clamp the cable. This is it now with the wheels refitted and a new cable:

Fretters: is that wax recipe still holding up on that old vice? even though there is a little chunk missing under the static's jaw that vise looks barely used. also that might be the cleanest cast i've seen.

It's holding up fine. With the amount of rain we've had lately, (we've probably only had one dry week within the last month or two), it seems to be coping with moist air okay. Finally decided where I'm going to mount it too. It's going to take the final spot on that little vice bench.

Had to profile the bench edge due to the shape of the casting. Just did that bit by eye with a little hand plane, file and sandpaper. just need to decide whether to try and use bolts on it or whether to go with coach screws. I'm thinking the latter, as clearance for bolts underneath will be tight.

have you used your old welder yet?

Not as yet.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fretters: are you planning on making copper sleeves for that vice before you mount it? any chance you can take a few pictures of the before, during and after process of making those copper sleeves? it's a great idea and i think you mentioned squeezing a ball bearing in one end while in the jaws of a vise or do tell??

 

[Fretters]

Aye, I'll likely be making some for this one. The front mounting holes are 3/4", so 1/2" bolts or so in there, (I don't believe I have anything suitable in larger diameters), are going to need them. I'll take some photo's of the making.

 

[Fretters]

Finally decided to make a start on the lathe which has been hogging my main bench for the last year or so. It's a Drummond admiralty M type. This one is going to be the first machine to experience the wax finish. Only done a couple of small pieces so far, but these are the before and after photo's. The bed is currently in the vat for derusting and depainting.

These are the main bits in as-received condition.

The raised patches you can see on that gear quadrant are remnants of the original paint. I've removed all later layers of paint, but decided to leave the remnants of the original factory black paint in place, rather than scraping it off.

This photo shows the difference between a bare casting, (on the left), and the colour once that wax is applied.