The Phoenix Project..........From the ashes of disaster, new hope rises!!!!

[Runs With Scissors]

EDIT: After posting this, I realized I put it in the wrong section, sorry!

After the unmitigated disaster of the outrigger guard project I still had a few hours left before the kids showed up for dinner.

So I decide to take on a "light duty, guaranteed success" project to even out the "success to defeat" ratio.

During the "outrigger campaign" I noticed that my solvent tank had/has become an "odds and ends table", and that I was using it to store the fingers of the press brake on (amongst other things, but that's a different story altogether)

So since I have all this scrap metal I'm gonna upgrade the press a little, and it will give me a little TIG practice too.

I start with this.

I take it apart and use the 2 C- channels that I have from cutting that rectangular tube apart, for the shorter fingers

Then find some other scraps to cobble a wider box for the one long finger.

The plan is to weld the boxes to the frame so that they are out of the way, but still easily accessible.


This part here looks like a good canidate for the "long box" if I slice that bottom part off and center it up 180 degrees from where it is at currently.

To the Plasma Cutter Batman!!!!!

One thing that I have noticed is that I have become pretty OK with fee-handing the PC on short cuts, but longer cuts I still need a guide.

Then I "nip off" the other corner to "even it up"

And here is the "front" of my new storage box.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

the "front" of the box is not long enough to span the length of the rear, but the rear length will just barely fit the long finger.

I would prefer to have a little 'wiggle room' so I bend up 2 "box extenders"

Here are the parts ready for the "weld shop"

Damn....looking at these pics makes me realize how much I need to clean the shop and my tool box!!!! LOL

 

[Runs With Scissors]

So now its just "fun time" with the TIG machine.

There is no way in hell these "boxes' need this much welding, but I decide to weld every corner that I can, just for the practice.

Its a little tight, but a little tweaking of the torch handle and its fits

Here is my first weld. I can't figure out why its looking like "hammered dog sh!t'

I mean it's a little tight on the inside of this box, but not too bad...what the.......

Oh yea......You forgot to turn on the gas dumbass!!!!!!

After turning on the gas, it went well, but I must have forgotten to take a pic.

On to the "little finger" boxes

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I decide that I want enough room vertically to easily put the fingers "in and out", but I'm running out of real-estate quickly.

So "outward expansion is the decision.

so I weld the "little boxes" together and put a "side strap" on them.

The next pics are the series of different techniques (i.e vertical up and down....) and combinations of left handed and right handed. the last pics are my feeble attempt at vertical up.

Wow....looking at these pics makes me realize how much practice I really need....

 

[Runs With Scissors]

OK fella's as embarrassing as it is, after years of sharpening my tungsten by hand, I finally realize that chucking it up in my drill is way, way, way easier and faster.....especially since I went to the small, water cooled torch.

Man I can't believe it took me this long to realize this.....

Well attaching them went very smooth, and it was time to practice some "vertical up" with the MIG machine.

Not too, too bad.

It's kind of hard because there is not much to weld, so there is not much time to make "setting changes" on short runs like this, so it becomes a "hope and pray" thing.

And here they are.

after a little rattle can orange

 

[Yooper]

Thumbs up on your project! Vertical up with tig is just not easy! Kudos for trying because you are right, it’s all about practice, practice, practice.

 

[GeoHorn]

Enjoyable thread. Thanks.

But can you help me understand why you need so many “bits” (whatever you call those things you’re storing in the new boxes)? I can see what you‘re doing with them…. pressing/shaping metal in the press…. but what I don’t understand is why a longer/wider one isn’t useful for short/narrow items to be bent.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Enjoyable thread. Thanks.

But can you help me understand why you need so many “bits” (whatever you call those things you’re storing in the new boxes)? I can see what you‘re doing with them…. pressing/shaping metal in the press…. but what I don’t understand is why a longer/wider one isn’t useful for short/narrow items to be bent.

Thanks, glad you liked it.


Its for bending boxes and pans, and other odd shaped things.

As a matter of fact, back when I was an A@P mechanic, that's exactly what I /we called the brake, a "box and pan brake" but SWAG calls it a "finger brake" very similar concept.

One long "tooth" will not do any good when you turn the piece 90 degrees.

sort of like in this pic, I needed only the one 10 incher. If I had only one long tooth it would have messed up the left hand part of this piece.

The same concept would apply if you were bending up a "3 inch square pan"; You would need a 3 inch wide tooth when you turned the piece 90 degrees.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Enjoyable thread. Thanks.

But can you help me understand why you need so many “bits” (whatever you call those things you’re storing in the new boxes)? I can see what you‘re doing with them…. pressing/shaping metal in the press…. but what I don’t understand is why a longer/wider one isn’t useful for short/narrow items to be bent.

SWAG does make one with one long tooth too, but for the few extra dollars, the additional "box and pan" capability is well worth it IMHO.

 

[Showmedata]

Ahhh, the ol' T-without-the-IG welding. BTDT, though more often as M-without-the-IG.

I don't think I even have a tungsten that big! I *do* spend an awful lot of time grinding tungstens, though, as I'm still very early on the TIG learning journey. Enough that I built a dedicated tungsten sharpener from a cheapo HF angle grinder an equally cheapo diamond-grit disc.

Since we're talking about fun with TIG, have you seen this?

I bought a small batch of that rod and it's great. I used it to put a hard edge on my kindling splitter, now it's just waiting for me to find more uses.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Ahhh, the ol' T-without-the-IG welding. BTDT, though more often as M-without-the-IG.

I don't think I even have a tungsten that big! I *do* spend an awful lot of time grinding tungstens, though, as I'm still very early on the TIG learning journey. Enough that I built a dedicated tungsten sharpener from a cheapo HF angle grinder an equally cheapo diamond-grit disc.

Since we're talking about fun with TIG, have you seen this?

I bought a small batch of that rod and it's great. I used it to put a hard edge on my kindling splitter, now it's just waiting for me to find more uses.

Thanks for posting that.

Pretty cool stuff. I'm going to pick up a little to keep it around.

In regard to sharpening tungsten, Many Moons ago, when I asked my welding instructor if I should make/buy a sharpener; He walked me over to the grinder, hand ground a stick in front of me, and then proceeded to lay down one of the nicest beads I had ever seen.

Then said "Save your money for more tig rod and just keep practicing"

So I have been "hand sharpening" ever since.

He also did not fancy auto darkening helmets. He had one of those flip down jobs with the real small window. Said something about the small window helps you see better for whatever reason.

I dunno, I like my auto darkener (except when I get flashed)

 

[Showmedata]

Thanks for posting that.

Pretty cool stuff. I'm going to pick up a little to keep it around.

In regard to sharpening tungsten, Many Moons ago, when I asked my welding instructor if I should make/buy a sharpener; He walked me over the grinder, hand ground a stick in front of me, and then proceeded to lay down one of the nicest beads I had ever seen.

Then said "Save your money for more tig rod and just keep practicing"

So I have been "hand sharpening" ever since.

He also did not fancy auto darkening helmets. He had one of those flip down jobs with the real small window. Said something about the small window helps you see better for whatever reason.

I dunno, I like my auto darkener (except when I get flashed)

Interesting. I took a TIG 101 course at General Air (best $50 I've ever spent) and the instructor there was pretty strong on the whole "don't contaminate your tungsten with iron filings" practices. I have all of $25 into my home-built sharpening rig, I couldn't bring myself to buy an off-the-shelf unit for $100 or more.

I'm also not giving up my auto-darkening helmet(s). Maybe that guy's just a little too skeptical of all technology advancements.