Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on December 11, 2009 at 5:25am

A reliably flat surface that will not catch fire is very useful. I have an old cast steel bandsaw table that has been the center of my fabrication for a while. It is pretty large, and very heavy so perhaps not the most convenient, but very useful.
At Bubbly we also have a very large granite surface plate, definitely overkill for a home builder, but pretty damn cool.

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on December 11, 2009 at 10:28am

I use a cement basement floor and a a concrete sidewalk. Both have proven to be fairly fire resistant. Unfortunately neither is very flat and thus not useful as a reference for alignment - which I learned the hard/stupid way...

I now use a cheap dial gauge level with a weighted pendulum that lets me compare angles with about 1 degree of accuracy. Good enough for many of my tasks but far from ideal.

I've toyed with the idea of building a hopefully light, stiff, flat and square work frame/table from steel tubing. Ideally I'd be able to attach clamps anywhere along any of the tubes. I'd want to find clamps that I really like first though before investing the effort in buildng the work frame.

Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on December 21, 2009 at 5:13pm

I'm using a TIG torch. Probably a bit cheaper for operation than an oxy/acetylene setup, but a lot more upfront cost. My main reason to choose the TIG was the flexibility to work with lots of different metals. The worst downside of it is I can't use my magnetic clamps with the tig. Tried once, big mistake.

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on December 22, 2009 at 7:16am

I have a victor torch that I use for most everything. It has a relativley small tip, not sure of the size. Older torches and regulator can be rebuilt, so if it's a deal it might be a good idea. Just take them in to be checked and rebuilt, not sure of the expense of that. A new hose might not be a bad idea.
When I started out I just got a starter kit, think it was Harris. It had all the bits and bobs to get me going. I have since found a different torch I prefer more.

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on December 28, 2009 at 5:39am

I still use the regulators and hose from the kit. I use the original torch when I need to put out a bit more heat.
A sturdy work bench, a sturdy bench vise, a variety of good files. (by good I mean a little spendy of American or European extraction.) And a good hacksaw. For what it's worth I get a lot more mileage out of the files and saw than my angle grinder. Oh yea, a whole bunch of eighty grit emery cloth.
Then there is the good silver, brass, and flux. The same stuff sold by Henry James. Stay away from the garden variety brass brazing rod, unless you need to fix tractors.

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on December 29, 2009 at 6:48am

The first link is exactly what I got. The nice thing about the second one is it looks to come with a couple of different size torch tips. The Harris only has one welding/brazing tip which did work for pretty much all my purposes.

Permalink Reply by Michael Catano on December 29, 2009 at 11:20am

Not sure what your budget is, but I can't say enough nice things about my smith no. 2. It's oldey-timey (WWII-era i think?), but works like a charm. The modern version is the smith AW1A, which is about $100 for the handle and $20-30 per tip. I paid around $50 for my Smith no 2 on ebay with about 10 tips.

I'd suggest buying your regulators new. I bought used ones and wound up having to get them rebuilt, which cost about as much as a brand new set. They're crucial and not really worth cheaping out on.

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on December 29, 2009 at 4:27pm

Michael does have a nice torch. among other things. . . .

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on January 7, 2010 at 3:26am

I don't think they do. the supressor are a good idea, but not necessary. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think that any of us have them. Just practice good torch safety, and store the tanks well.

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on January 17, 2010 at 6:51am

Have you used a torch before? If you want you can come by for a quick demo on setting the stuff up, and the kind of flame you want, etc. . .

Permalink Reply by olloyd1 on February 5, 2010 at 4:51am

I'll be at the winter swap if you wanna have a chat and make arrangements

Kyle Goodmaster said:

olloyd1 said:

Have you used a torch before? If you want you can come by for a quick demo on setting the stuff up, and the kind of flame you want, etc. . .

no i have not yet. i'd love to come by sometime. i can bring my torch and maybe show me how to run it? i got the general idea behind it, since i'm not a moran, but it'd be nice for any personal touches.

edit: picked up another frame to use. lugged raleigh w/ 502 tubing? it has a dimpled downtube but everything else looks like its in good shape.