Hillbillysmith

Agreed. Harris.

Electricity will always produce an electromagnetic field but in the form of alternating current (AC) polarity, it's nearly negligible as opposed to direct current (DC). Magnets themselves have a unidirectional pole on them (one side north/one side south). With being a hobbyist welder running a buzz box (AC polarity machine) i would imagine you'd be safe but, then again, I'm not medical personnel. I have, however, witnessed a gentleman's pacemaker "defibrillate " him in the presence of enough florescent lights.... I agree to ask your specialist. -Hillbilly

Sounds like the pattern you had in mind will work just fine. I would just be sure to run the beads parallel with the travel of the sand and you should have it. You'll want an "abrasion specific" surfacing rod. I'm unsure of your location (as to what distributors you have in your area) but Airgas has a wonderful assortment. Best of luck, post pictures. -Hillbilly

Running pattern with hard surfacing is solely dependent upon the task you are wishing to accomplish (for example; the pattern on the blade of a front end loader bucket is going to be different than that of a roller at a steel mill)... I am uncertain of the propose behind the implement you want to surface..... If you elaborate on its intended purpose then I/we will be able to help you figure what pattern (if any required) would be best. -Hillbilly

I recommend hard facing write for your mig as i do not know of any surfacing rods that run acceptably on AC current. Lincoln makes a wonderful array of surfacing electrodes for different specific applications (ie; impact resistant, wear resistant, impact and wear resistant, etc). With most surfacing electrodes, you can only make 1-3 layers with as it start to crack out so be sure to build up any surface with standard wire and GRIND TO SHAPE FIRST.... I can't stress that enough. You do NOT want to be the guy grinding a hard surfacing layer, you'll be burning up grinding disks and dust masks fast as you can blink. When they call it "hard surfacing" they mean it, that stuff is no joke! Trust me, i learned the hard way and it only took once to remember that lesson...... All in all; prep first, and always follow manufacturers' spec on layering and polarity. -Hillbilly

Bigfootnampa: i appreciate the kind "101" version but metal finishing is nothing new to me, i have just never used diamond paste or these particular Mylar polishing sheets before.... Rich Hale: i am unable to kind that blueprint neither under the blueprint section nor through the search feature.... I am not looking for a 5 page dissertation on how to finish and polish something. I already know that and my attention to detail is good.... I just want to know two things; 1) do you use Mylar polishing sheets "wet" (water/WD40) or "dry"... 2) do you use diamond polishing paste on a microfiber cloth and polish by hand, or to you use it on a powered wheel (if so, what type of wheel).... That's it.... I'm not trying to get out of any research because i have looked for days. On the websites of the manufacturers, other forums talking about this have all been dead ends, even YouTub is dead on the issue.

I want to polish a piece of stainless to an absolute mirror finish roughly .1 micron... I found diamond polishing paste but unsure how you use it. Do you put it on a buffing/polishing wheel? Microfiber cloth and hand polish? Special machine?? I was also looking at Mylar polishing sheets that go down to .5 micron. I assume you use these to hand polish.... Do you use them like wet sandpaper?? Thanks. Hillbilly

When i did work on jet turbines, one of my tests was a 1/4" stainless tube .016" wall thickness. Needed 100% penetration, no more than one material thickness reenforcement on root of face side. All x-ray of course. :D The place i work now, all tig has push button control so you can control the amperage remotely which make thin stuff harder. If i used a foot pedal, it would have looked much better. -Hillbilly

Sorry, picture didn't attach right. Here.

Post pictures of cool little tricks of the trade.... Things that are typically difficult; soda pop cans, razor blades, micro welding, things like that... Here's mine:

With mine I'm not looking to accomplish any forging with, hence the term "TOOLING press". Mine is going to be meant for seating bearings, custom holding clamps if i need, punching indentations, etc. when i go for the heat n beat method, i like my 8lb flat-faced one hand sledge. Moves metal quite fast n easily when you strike. -Hillbilly

I am currently in the middle of building a tooling press, which i will be posting in the projects area, and am in need of an "air over hydraulic" cylinder for it. 20 ton. I found harbor freight has this same thing in the form of a bottle jack but i would like something with a longer stroke,something in a 12-16 inch range for the stroke. Any help?? Thanks all -Hillbilly

Model the hinges after a stall door in a public restroom... The hinge is a vertical pin (like a half-pin barrel style hinge) with a partial spiral (almost like an extremely course thread). When the stall doors are open, the weight of the door forces the spiral on the hinge to close the door.... You could make it have a flat spot on the bottom of the spiral where, when the gate is open, it sits on the flat and stays open. Then when you give the gate a shove (in the closing direction) it drops off the flat, and gravity forces the hinge to spiral the gate closed. Therefore, the spiral on the pin would have to clear 12 vertical (longitudinal) inches within a 90 degree rotation. Bare in mind, that the larger the diameter of the pin, the less of an actual angle the spiral will have In turn, the amount of force it would take to open the gate will be less and less as the diameter of the pin gets greater and greater.... -Hillbilly

My best guess would lean toward saying your issue isn't necessarily a crack but a delamination of the base material. Maybe you got a bad batch of flat/bar stock. Cheap Chinese-made steel will tend to delaminate. Its caused by a bad cold-rolling at the mill: it rolls the metal over itself and presses it together to where the naked eye can't see it through the mill scale..... Only other alternative explanation is you are forging to cold or its not mild steel. -Hillbilly

It's just something you'll have to eventually get a feel for.... In the words of the man who taught me how to estimate and bill fabrication/welding work: "you'll only loose your @$$ once....!!" -Hillbilly

I've never done BLACKSMITHING work for money, but i weld and fab things on the side. Here's my formula; Typical material cost+ 35% (If material costs me less then it's extra in my pocket, if it costs more then i use that price) Labor rate- $75-$100 per hour depending on the job at hand. Absolutely nothing less than $60/hr (typically if I'm brazing or soldering something stupid) consumables (filler wire, gasses, tips, etc.)+ 10% Then i total everything up and that's their bill. When i give an estimate, i figure up all my materials and consumables and figure how long the job is going to take but for every hour i figure for labor i multiply it by 1.5 to give myself a cushion. Now, ^ this^ is for items on a large(er) scale.... If i do small repair work, or if i just have to come in and lay down some weld, it's $3-$10/inch (depending on the task at hand, tolerances, and process). In addition, if I'm brazing or soldering as a repair, i consider my "consumables" (ie; solder, braze, flux) as my material and tack on the 35% -Hillbilly

I'd like to think that I possess a decent hand when crafting little table trinkets and such but an object with a beauty and detail of this magnitude is surely beyond my skill set.... This is truly magnificent and you should be more than proud of your accomplishment!! Just for my curiosity, what would such a thing cost a person if they wanted you to build one? -Hillbilly

Best of luck to you Pulsepushthepopulace!! Remember, non of us who weld (especially for a living) learned the skill over night. Never get discouraged, always try new things, and above all have fun! Be sure to be safe (sounds repetitive, i know) because when working with metal, its either sharp or hot if not both. Plus, electrical current isn't a joke....... Any other questions, curiosities, thoughts, or opinions, just ask. I'm sure i speak for everybody when i say we'll be more than glad to help with what we can. Post pix of your welds! :) -Hillbilly

4 hours to run a 2-1/2 xxx-heavy pipe?? Plenty of time, especially with a GTAW root....

Also, bearing in mind, the weld beads need to be very close to equal size seeing as i am dealing with a 750lb object spinning at over 3,000rpm with sharp blades inside. -Hillbilly

Bam Bam 1, you are right. I understand everything that you've explained perfectly clear. I, too, do this for a living.... Keep in mind that i am NOT the one who welded in the plates that came flying out. -Hillbilly

Get a Lincoln Electric AC/DC "Tombstone" welder. Absolutely, without a doubt, THE best bang for your buck. They've been around for a very long tine with no design changes so they're reliable and extremely easy to get replacement parts for if needed. Get some 3/32" E-6013 for ornate and sheet metal work, 3/32" & 1/8" E-7018 for all your structural applications that you want a smooth finish on, and 1/8" E-6010 for thick material and where you need high penetration. With proper know how and equipment, you then can covert to tig but it won't be an ideal tig setup due to the lack of fine tune adjustment on the machine. -Hillbilly

I have noticed that if you fill the pipe handle with sand and cap the end, it'll take the shock out of you're hands and such.... -Hillbilly

Beryllium is only in a hazardous zone when heated to a point of giving off dangerous gasses. I know a fee gentlemen who used to work in a beryllium plant. Lots of insider information.... You can't beat experience. Buy i understand what you're saying. -Hillbilly

In all reality, i should've known it was oxygen that reacted because as you simply stated its nothing more than an oxide layer. -Hillbilly