Mills

Congratulations, Sir.

Well I have been tracking my machine down on the net while trying to get near enough to the dealer to stop in. I do have a Miller 35 made in '78 with a 15' tweco gun, but what is a mini gun? and what is involved in cutting back the liner? I ask because the man behind the counter says, with a great deal of confidence, that I have a bad gun. OOOOoooooooKK! Why? cause it don't work (with perhaps an implication that if it was a Miller gun it would) OooooKK! how can that be diagnosed? Bring it in as well as the machine. MMMMmmm I did not hear an answer I don't believe. (little humour there guys,, very little) The upper drive roll shaft and bushings are pretty worn. They did not even give that acknowledgement. The drive rolls them selves SEEM to be ok but I'll buy new top eliminate them if necessary. I do think it is in the Gun about 1-2' from the end. So back to the previous questions, what alligator are in the water I am about to dive into? Oh yeah tensioning on the drivers would finally get it to feed but at the point of doing as Tgold said. Leaving an impression in the wire. Even at that it still didn't feed well.

A problem I have found with my newer tombstone vs the old one in the shop is that the leads are soldered in a very inacessible place inside rather than bloted on lugs. I was going to put 25' leads on mine like I had done for the shop. When I saw the machinations needed to do that I put on an extension cord and wheels.

Nifty Idea, Mr Smith.

Good stuff, thanks to all of you. I believe I'll need some new drive rollers as I switched one with another that was used as well and I am back to welding finally. But it is very finicky now about the lead having much arc in it. It is a combination of troubles it would appear. I am able to deal with it now after getting so much good advice.

Wonderful stuff. Definitely need a new tip or several I suppose. Yes I have installed a scotch brite pad with a clip for wiping. Cleaned the liner with kerosene and brake cleaner, have it running again. It takes some false starts to get it to weld, that may be a bad tip issue. Will be getting supplies and trying new parts. Thanks for the help. Will be posting some pics when I get this railing done.

I am always amazed at how fast and on point smiths are. I have a Tweco 16' lead. Liner placement, I will be reinstalling today and see what happens. Feed rollers: Yes, they are turning. I have cleaned them w scotch brite pad and scraped some gunk out of the groove with small screwdriver. I have retensioned the spring that holds them together. It feeds just fine till the last couple of feet then things start going south. End of the gun: Didn't realize the nozzle would ground the tip. I guess that explains the insulation it sits on. I definitely need to replace nozzle and insulator. And that MAY be the cause of at least part of the problem. Electrical: I have been through the whole gun when I got it, tracking down a short. Replace spade terminals and cleaned contacts, etc. I have used a Scotch Brite pad as a preroller wiper I may use a clothes pin to give it a little more bite. Good to see that it is a sound idea. I have run .045 wire through the liner to push out crud but it stops at various places like it is bulldozing more and more crud. That doesn't make sense to me. Is it possible that one roll of wire could build up that much in the liner? Yes it was a dirty roll from sitting, but after the top layer it was bright and shiny. It had been in the machine with the cover down so I discounted the top layer. One other thing I noticed is as I ran wire through back and forth checking roller action, etc. is that I could feel a roughness near the gun end. But back feeding the .045 wire though resulted in nothing that I could feel. I am about convinced in reviewing this that I have a liner problem and I should run some brake cleaner through it next. No compressed air, darn it. Another question, when do you replace the tip? I have seen this become egg shaped. I have ground it back some in trouble shooting to see if that had an effect.

I commend you for that. I am that way but got overwhelmed with 'stuff' when I got my garage. Now I have 'no, thank you' policy for ANYTHING that wants to come home with me. I'll be dug out in another couple of years. Be vigilant my friend, you can do it!

I have been building a railing for my parents place and it was coming along quite well til my mig hiccuped, a LOT. It is a '78 Miller with leads you switch between jacks like some old Forney stick welders I've seen. Can't seem to get the wire to feed. This was given to me with a spool of wire in it. It sat for quite a while before I got it and the wire was very dusty on the outside of it. It was almost full, though. I have used up the spool tonight. It has put down the entire roll till now without a hitch. I had replaced the liner when I got it and the tip seemed to be fairly new so I left it on. I have had this thing cranked up laying down a lot of bead for a couple of hours at a time the last 3 days. When I started having trouble I started diggin in deeper and deeper. Found a lot of gunk in the tip and in the part the tip screws into. A lot of build up in the end of the liner, as well. Decided to switch out the liner with the old one that I kept just in case but I bent it while hurrying as fast as I could. I now have the newest liner soaking in kerosene. Was told that was a good way to clean them. Any advice from those in the know?

Absolutely, this is the place. I like to hear family history and how it impacts current generations.

The Zn chromate I have seen was splotchy and grayish yellow, Cd plating is used most often in the oilfield and is a darker blackish yellow.

Not to fan the flames, BUT, the parts about water especially fuzzy memory , fatigue and joint pains are on the money. Been around that block a couple of times. Once I was so dehydated that I became completely soused on two cans of beer. My 1SG and Sr Drill found me asleep/passed out with trremendous muscle cramps and disoriented. Near Death? naw but in pitiful shape. Left alone, I would have been days recovering and not realized why I couldn't hold my likker. Been making a point of drinking water ever since. As well, I sometime have to go to restaurants and take pH samples after they get busted by the City for being out of Environmental Compliance. Most restaurants pH will be acidic. The reason is tomatoes and fruits. They are acidic and most all else is neutral. Dump enough tomato sauce down the drain and you get busted for too low pH. Cola's will get you busted as well but they are not as acidic as tomatoes. Food for thought?

I got rid of all powered wire wheels about 8 months ago. Flat wheel on small flat sheet and badly needed surgery was put off another 2 months whilst my belly healed. Wickers in the jeans, which get washed then transferred to the socks where I recover them in the wee morning hours as part of preparation for the day. I now use more chemicals, which has a different set of risks that I find more acceptable.

Sorry to hear that Bruce, may you recover well.

take a look here and see if that helps you any. Seems as if you are describing a cee 7/17 plug, if so it is likely then to be a 50 hz machine and would cook at 60hz Domestic AC power plugs and sockets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I can envision a device that you put over the forge. Fill with wood and route the smoke into the fire below it. I you have a sidedraft hood a chimney with a good draw then you should be able to vent the smoke outside. So whil;e you are forging in the open fire you could be making charcoal in the box above the fire. I would imagine that that would be a lot of work. Another thought, Build a drum sized stove that can be loaded with wood and charcoal is removed easily. In whatever fashion you choose. The top of this device can then have your firepot in it. use propane or natural gas as the primary heat for the charcoal, supplemented by the waste smoke from the charcoal production. I could then act as a stove in the winter either by heating with gas or burning wood in the retort, or be the forge. It may get a little toasty if you try to make charcoal and forge.

Bruce does something like that every year. 4 or 5 'lads' make an anchor or anvil strictly by hand.

:) Somewhere between Kinta and Wilburton, OK somebody found a really nice hat complete with a store bought hat press to keep it in good condition. That was the day that I reconsidered my 'if it blows out I don't need it anyway' view of moving. Learnt me a buncha stuff that first year of college. <:p

Got it, simple and succinct. 2 of the hats are in the original boxes but I did not think of mothballs or cedar chips nor taping them closed. A friend made the toilet seat you described gerald and that is where the third one is. All the eagles are still shiny (enough) and the straps need to be repolished. Will do. Thanks guys, I have never had a hat long enough to worry about storage and never paid more than 75. That was 30 years ago though when I had more money.

Ron Reil showed an idle circut for his forge. Should be on the Abana Site. he T'd off the main line through a needle valve and then T'd back into the main line. He had a ball valve that this circut went around. He would throw open the ball valve when he wanted to forge. when the ball valve was closed a small amount of gas went around through the needle valve and kept a small flame lit. I have found that if I shut off the propane and then get back to it while there is still red inside, the forge will generally relight. I also decided that I should just keep feeding stock into the forge so that something else is heating whilst I'm beating.

Whilst we are on the subject of Hats, What are some good long term storage tips? I have three round browns that I have noticed some tracks in. I would like to pass them on to my daughters as they have children, to remind them of their roots and to not get sucked into 'stupid'.

klickitat how about getting it as hard as it can be then drawing it to where you want it? You'll have to decide if oil, water or air is the best quenchant. I'd start with oil.

What is "burnt" motor oil?

What brand or model? Are you able to strike an arc with it where it is at? that tells a lot right there. If it is a lincoln AC225 (aka tombstone) or equivalent they last seemingly forever, if it has DC capability (and it works) I would snatch it up quickly. If you are refering to a wire feed machine (aka suitcase) it would depend more on the brand and the amp ratings. Some of those little ones will only cost 150 new, I'd pass in that case. Details are needed if you can get them.

Outstanding, Chris! Congratulations!