2017 POTD Thread Archive

[dave_r_1]

Spent some time cleaning the mowers I use, as well as sharpening the blades, changing oil, cleaning air filters. I had let the air cleaner for the bagger motor for my Snapper (it hangs off the side of the mower, and just powers the fan for pulling cut grass from the deck and pushing it to the holding bags) get WAY too dirty, so the engine appeared to be sucking air past the edges of the rubber p.c.v. tube.

As well, fixed the shield for the mower deck belts, as it had to be jiggled/forced into place before I added the bagger setup, and now with the bagger setup, it wouldn't fit at all. It's both for a little bit more safety (not much, as I normally stop the mower blades whenever people are nearby, as the blades can throw small stones and other things quite a ways, even with all the guards on), as well as to keep dirt, grass and everything else out of the belts, as a fair amount of stuff comes out various openings in the bagger, as well as just drop down from the bags as they are removed to be emptied.

Trimmed both sides just over an inch (previously, the shield was 5-sided, now it's 7-sided, and now it can be installed/removed quite nicely.



I had some scrap 16 gauge sheetmetal to put over the ends at add a bit of rigidity to the shield, and I was please with how well the welding went, only got a few blowouts (as it's welding an edge to another edge), no noticeable warpage in the metal. All that's is for it to be painted.

 

[BGHansen]

I've had welds look just like this on a couple occassions. Once when I forgot to switch to AC and another time when I used stainless tig rod on aluminum.

Welder was on AC. Gonna do some practicing again today. Aluminum is definitely a little tougher than steel. I laid down about 4' of weld on 0.036" mild steel yesterday using 0.023" solid MIG wire as the feeder. Max current set to 36A, Argon at 10 CFM, 0.020" tungsten in the gun. The welds are ground after the fact for appearance, but looked very good. Did have a problem after lunch when I forgot to turn the gas on . . . Won't be quitting my day job anytime soon!

Bruce

 

[Rustrp]

Yes AC welder cracker box Lincoln 250 amp
Max .
I like to us 6011 in those seams and that tubing
Rounded corners . That 7018 wants to pin hole some time when I start over the top of the 6011 .
I guess I didn't clean it good.
I had to grind out pin holes several times

Welding 7018 is an AC/DC rod, with AC it's a pain (especially with the buzz box) and the preferred is DC. My first thought was why isn't he using 6010 as a good DC match up with the 7018, and then I thought it just might be what you had as a power source. Porosity could be from slag but AC is a pain and it's difficult to keep a good arc length without sticking the elecrtode so a longer arc length could be the source of the pin holes. 7018 isn't the rod that allows you to wash out and residual slag.

 

[RJSakowski]

Some twenty-five years ago I ran through a lot of 7018 rod welding up this trailer. The trailer was made from 3" channel and the open sides were covered with 3" plate and all seams were fully welded. I used 7018 for the root pass and 7014 for the finishing pass with all welds being ground smooth afterwards.

At the time, I found that there was a big difference between brands of 7018. One brand which I used would constantly stick if I wasn't super careful and another ran smoothly, very seldom sticking. I can't be sure but I believe the latter was Lincoln rod.

 

[f350ca]

Finally found the time to finish wiring the drill press. Had to run about 20 feet of conduit to get 220 V single phase over to the VFD. Bought it from Automation Direct. Great service from them. Had a couple of questions that their tech support answered before I ordered it. Yes you can switch the output on a VFD as long as the output is not energized. The motor is two speed, you can have the VFD on but the output off when switching between windings.
The manual was easy to follow, got all the parameters set first try with the exception of the jog speed. Have it wired to run off the stop/start buttons of the press, but also wired a foot pedal through the jog function. So it runs while the pedal is depressed. Default was 6 HZ but parameter 5:00 set it to 60.
The drill press runs great, slight gear hum as expected with a gear head machine, all the gears work and the two down feed speeds.

Greg

 

[Rustrp]

Welder was on AC. Gonna do some practicing again today. Aluminum is definitely a little tougher than steel. I laid down about 4' of weld on 0.036" mild steel yesterday using 0.023" solid MIG wire as the feeder. Max current set to 36A, Argon at 10 CFM, 0.020" tungsten in the gun. The welds are ground after the fact for appearance, but looked very good. Did have a problem after lunch when I forgot to turn the gas on . . . Won't be quitting my day job anytime soon!

Bruce

Aluminum can be fickle when shielding gas is concerned especially if there happend to be a cross draft. Check your torch leads to make sure nothing is kinked and just to make sure the gas isn't an issue push it to 20-25 cfh just to check. Another thing with TIG and shielding gas is we like the long torch leads so the longer the lead the more we lose at the nozzle. Aluminum will give you an ugly weld quicker than any other metal when shielding gas is lacking.

 

[Rustrp]

Finally found the time to finish wiring the drill press. Had to run about 20 feet of conduit to get 220 V single phase over to the VFD. Bought it from Automation Direct. Great service from them. Had a couple of questions that their tech support answered before I ordered it. Yes you can switch the output on a VFD as long as the output is not energized. The motor is two speed, you can have the VFD on but the output off when switching between windings.
The manual was easy to follow, got all the parameters set first try with the exception of the jog speed. Have it wired to run off the stop/start buttons of the press, but also wired a foot pedal through the jog function. So it runs while the pedal is depressed. Default was 6 HZ but parameter 5:00 set it to 60.
The drill press runs great, slight gear hum as expected with a gear head machine, all the gears work and the two down feed speeds.

Greg

Nothing but good falling all over you in this deal. Really nice unit. I've been checking your math and you keep blocking the numbers, so what's the 40-36 3/8 = 4 3/8? Modern math, common core?

 

[f350ca]

Thanks, oh thats my 5's, its like wring in code.
lol

 

[Alittlerusty]

Made a quick and dirty slitting saw arbor to hold a 3/16" x 3" saw

 

[BGHansen]

My Atlas MFB came with the attached light, but alas no plug on the end of the cord. Spliced in a length of cord by soldering the leads and covering the joints with shrink tubing. Put in a 100W LED bulb, nice to see again . . .

Bruce