Glenn

I guess the tick season is starting early this year. Found the first one today. Little bitty fellow less than 1/16 inch in diameter. Put it on a piece of tape and then folded the tape over and sealed it close. He is not going anywhere for a long while.

It is surprising how far spudderballs can travel. Yards and meters, not just feet. Spudderballs and sparks can be hot enough to ignite many things flammable, sawdust, dust bunnies, oil rags, and etc. They are hot enough to put holes in plastic containers and sometimes break glass. Good idea on the bucket of water being handy.

If you must wear a mask to protect your mouth, sew a button on your head cover to attach the ear pieces of the mask. It will save the wear and tear on your ears from extended use.

As of today, March 24, 2020, the Internet Archive will suspend waitlists for the 1.4 million (and growing) books in our lending library by creating a National Emergency Library to serve the nation’s displaced learners. This suspension will run through June 30, 2020, or the end of the US national emergency, whichever is later. https://blog.archive.org/2020/03/24/announcing-a-national-emergency-library-to-provide-digitized-books-to-students-and-the-public/

The torches themselves come in different sizes depending on the size work being done. Ox/Ac may require different size and style tips for what you do and the thickness of the metal your working with. They should be able to be switched out with the torch head you purchase. For small stuff look into a Henrob torch. A site search will turn up the discussion on that torch.

Did you happen to look at Gas Forge Refractories and Supplies

“Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow.” Thornton Wilder via Thomas Powers

Heat it back up when it goes from low orange to high red. It only takes a small amount of time to recover the temperature lost at the anvil that way. Otherwise you have to recover from dull red, or where ever you decide, to the low orange to high red level, and then on up to forging temp. Different metals and different alloys have a different temperature they like to work in.

Or your welding thick stuff and have to gang two or more engine driven welders together to get enough electric to run the welding electrode. Some electrodes are measured in FEET long.

Different welders have their own personalities and prefer slightly different settings. I have charts as to each rods polarity and settings posted on the welder, then covered with clear tape. Still use the division trick to get close and adjust as needed for each job. Finally started writing the information and taping it to each box of rods also.

A starting place for welding rod amp settings is the diameter of the rod in decimals. That is to take 1/8 inch rod and divide the 1 by 8 and get 0.125 or 125 amps. 3/32 would be 0.090 or 90 amps etc. Then adjust as needed for a hotter or cooler arc.

Took a bit of inventory and pulled out the 5 gallon plastic buckets. Those in usable shape got the handles reworked with air hose or garden hose and wrapped in electrical tape. Now they no longer hurt your hands when you carry them. The remainder of the buckets had 5 inches cut off the bottom to make pan type containers. They come in handy for small parts, or cleaning what ever will fit in the pan. The left overs from the bucket went to the trash.

Then work on improving your skill level. Take one small part and work on that until you are comfortable. Then move on to another small part. Run practice welds on a flat surface until you can see and control the puddle. Then butt two pieces together. Melt a little metal from the left side, melt a little metal from the right side, mix in the puddle and add enough rod to fill the V. It is a dance for sure. Always clean off any flux, grind out any holes, and wire brush the piece before you continue to run that weld, or run another weld. Porosity in a weld is not a good thing.

You can use a water bottle with a hole in the cap or a condiment bottle of water to selectively cool parts of the project.

Make a shield to deflect the dragon's breath away from the stock being heated. A 45 degree angle will move the dragon breath up and out of the way as it exits the forge. When you weld, fill the V with weld. Full penetration is preferred whether for thin tin sheet metal or for heavy metal plate. This means adjusting the amps, rods, and system for each project. The amount of heat and welding rod added will vary with each project. Preheating sometimes makes a large difference in the weld lays down.