Frivolous At Heart

The spool gun is discontinued and in order to weld aluminum, you would need to purchase another spool gun for another Lincoln machine and buy the proper modules to run it. I said the hell with it and mated mine with the Lincoln K2532-1 Magnum 100SG Spool Gun designed for the Lincoln 140-180.

Works well might I add. I need to buy a new four pin female adapter so I can rid myself of the wire splices. I wonder what part # that is! My welder is ancient yet works sooooo damn smooth I’m loving it! I will not spend 1500USD on a damn spool gun that I’ll rarely use occasionally. The Gun is rated up to 180amps and I run it at 100% duty cycle at those numbers all day without problems.

I’m in the process of making a panel saw for my personal use. I hate having to drive down to my buddies place to cut some ply. The drive to and fro waste a lot of valuable time. I need to get this project done within a week before school starts back up again! I don’t want to buy one because it’s either too expensive or either too expensive.

I just started noticing that the steel stock I purchased months ago, aren’t actually all straight. Some bend a little at the end- wonder if I can bend them back? I had 24′ of 1.25X1.25″ tube that was straight and I used it to create my frame. More to come!

UPDATE 05/03/08

I drew out my dimensions for my sliding bracket(SB). The SB is 16″x16″x.25″ aluminum plate.

I had to rough cut it and I tried to leave 1/8 edge so I can go over it with my router. That is the first time I’ve ever used a router on aluminum and I made a few miscalculations here and there but it came out great!

I came back with my router and routed the edges to make it look symmetrical and purdy.

I have mounted the saw I’m going to use for my panel saw as a mock up. Doesn’t it look great? I love how it’s coming out! the SB looks great!

UPDATE: 05/07/08

I finally was able to take a photo of the frame. Here is the frame=) I hope the bottom piece is flush. If it isn’t, I’ll have to buy 3″x.5″x10′ to square it up. I hate to grind the welds!

This is the pulley that will help counter-balance the saw.

These are my wheels to move it around. I still have not made the support brackets for the frame; thus, it leans on whatever is behind it.

UPDATE: 05/08/08

I installed the wheels today and they work great!

I had to add more bracing in the back- O the wonders of designing and making your own projects are that you find so many defects that you must overcome! I’m adding horizontal bracing in the back for more support and to make the surface more plumb and even. I have never thought of this until I actually came across it. Now there’s something new to add to my pool of knowledge.

UPDATE: 05/17/08

I took a 2″x4″x10′ and ran it in a planer to take it down to 1.25″x4″x10′. Time consuming and lots of saw dust to collect and clean up.

Once that was done, It was then mated to the panel saw frame.

I finally installed the slider face plate.

Committed.

“I love thee without rhyme nor with reason
I love thee without memory or feign acceptance
I love thee without remorse nor treason.
I love thee blindly for cause and perception.”

I love thee whether thee loves me or not. I love thee in merry times and the difficult hour. I choose to love thee because it is the human expression of joy and humility. I mutter those three overly used words without question nor without levy.

Yup. That’s a promise. Smooth sailing from now on. Wish I had a photo every single day like before. I never need a thank you nor acknowledgment but apparently some people do which is fine because I can give that. I’m usually the “understood” guy when it comes to thank yous and acknowledgments. Pretty straight and humble.

I know a lot of people whom complain, “Why I did that and this and not even a thank you out of them. How ungrateful”. Never understood that concept. Than again, I’m pretty strange so I look at things a lot differently than others. I need no closure. It’s understood.

Ever had to carry lumber or pipes 12 foot long? I had to today. The max length I have ever carried was around 10ft. Even at that length, I thought it was quite long. Today I went down to the metal shop and they had on sale 1.25″ square tubing and I had to pick some up. I’m a cheap shopper and invest in the long run and usually purchase metal that are outside vs the ones inside which are twice as much. Metal inside are rust free and come at a premium price but makes no difference for what I do anywho.

The ones outside are pretty much rust free if you come and get it in time. They sell quite quickly so you must be avid about your metal deals and not have a mind set on what you want- just work with what you have (at a discounted price =)). I usually like to stock up on metal material because I never know when the next time I’ll need it. This time I did. I wanted an extender to tie down and support my material as I transport to-and-fro. I have tailored it to my exact needs thus it was a solid piece welded to an already existing hitch drawbar (towbar).

The next time when I go purchase wood or metal goods, I’ll use my homemade HDE (I’m renaming that stupid name (Extend-A-Truck)). It will now be known as the Hitch Drawbar Extender.

This is my drawbar that I don’t use as often as I should. I sacrificed it for the betterment of ME=) I had to cut the drawbar and the angle that resulted from the cut was perfect (seemed like it was meant to be).

Yes, I hung off of it like a little monekey while testing it. The tongue weight (TW) for my hitch is around 500lbs but I would imagine having the HDE would decrease my TW capacity;however, I don’t think I’ll ever exceed the capacity to make any minor issues major.

Yes, that is one 12ft square tubing in the back for testing an photo purposes.

The whole project cost me less than 6dollars in material + sweat vs buying one for $100+. Granted the ones you buy are universal fittment but mine is just tailored for towards my vehicle. Works well enough for me that I don’t really care for an aftermarket HDE. I’ll buy another drawbar the next time I need it.

Time is relevant. Infinite is not a numeral and yet it is time multiplied to infinity. I could picture myself forever being in a place without time. Time would warp around us, you and I. Utter bliss, you and I. Forever.

I had my office customized with bookshelves and the such and it should be done within the hours (the installation that is). I got a new computer desk with printer caddy and the works! Matches the wood floors and I’m loving it! Can’t wait to have it finished!

I think I know why I get the skin torn on my (_|_). When I work my abs, I wear rough cotton shorts! All that rubbing on skin that is delicate isn’t cutting it at all. When I wear softer material than cotton, it doesn’t rip my (_|_) at all. Lesson learned- no cotton on bare bottoms!

Man, I’m tired. I hung some curtains on for my windows at home today and it about drained me of all my energy. No more energy to do anything else other than sleep. Sleeping doesn’t require any energy at all (at least in my case). I’m going to do one chapter of micro and call it a night. I have so much work ahead of me I need to get on the ball before I fall behind. Next exam is coming and I need an “A”.

I cleaned my fish tank filter good today but I think I really need to remove all the substrate (rock) from the bottom and toss it out for something else. It’s looking like crap and I rather have some other substrate other than white pebbles. I think I’ll do this tomorrow but for now, a chapter of micro! My office needs a good cleaning too!

Perhaps it is so but on how I was raised and what culture has instilled within me, if someone invites you out to dinner, they are paying for the meal and you are there just as company. Then awhile later, when you have time, you invite them for company and you pick up the tab. It is reciprocal harmony and should be taken seriously if you are among friends.

Now with that stated. My friends went to a birthday party and the birthday girls invited them to dine out at a nice restaurant. The company was in good spirit and the tab was drilled higher with the guys ordering rounds after rounds of spirits. Nothing wrong with that. At the end, some guy said to some extent, “I’m a pharmacist but it doesn’t mean I have to pick up the tab so lets split the bill in ten parts”. Wow, what kind of uncouth a comment is to be said to a crowd of friends? I’m sure he makes more money than everyone else but to use that as an excuse to exclude him from picking up the tab is ridiculous and a slap in the face. Where’s the face value in this coin? Who expected him to pick up the tab? Can’t he just say “hey, lets exclude the girls tonight and us guys will pick up the tab”. Simply and to the point.

To my recollection it was the party of the birthday girls’ and they invited everyone to accompany them in good spirit: they should have picked up the tab. Gender does not influence the outcome of this event. I’ve been to a few of these parties and I say it’s pretty damn pathetic. To all the parties where I’ve (we) thrown a party for a friend, we all paid together and excluded the friend who’s party we threw for. That’s natural for group tribute because the party was thrown for the occasion of someone else but to have the group pay for themselves- excluding the birthday girls, is poor etiquette.

I myself, have never once paid for my birthday- ever (only when Duyen takes me out do I take the tab even though she insists) when my boyfriends take me out. I don’t ever ask to be taken out, they just naturally want to spoil me. I naturally want to spoil them on their birthday too. It’s not etiquette btwn us that we take each other out, we just want to do a nice outing for a special occasion with no strings attached. That’s how it should be.

I recently acquired a 14″ Ryobi Chop Saw and have loved it ever since. I was thinking of purchasing a bandsaw and or coldsaw (yeah right!) but combined with the Bullet metal cutting blade, it cuts faster and less grimy than abrasive disks which makes for a cleaner environment around the shop. I’m sure you know how dusty abrasive disks can be because it poses a health issue when ingested via inhalation. The fine granite particles that can be lodged in our lungs and cause all sorts of bad things are from the by products of the abrasive disks.

I don’t think I’ll be getting a bandsaw anytime soon. This chop saw takes up very little room but it’s quite cumbersome to carry so I’m going to make a stand for it once I have time. Might give it better mitering capability but first I have to tinker on how to approach this. The only thing I worry about is the number of cuts I can make before the blade dulls. After all, it’s only carbide and it will dull. I want to make a video of a kick ass cut but I’ll have to do that later so TBA on this one!