Behold my Feet and Drink Your Bathwater!

I hoped to do some work on the lathe today, but I ended up welding.

I started getting the garage ready so I would have some empty horizontal space and not go crazy from clutter, and while I was looking for a spot for my 13″ face plate, I realized I could make a hanger and stick it on the wall.

I can’t even guess what kind of steel and/or lead and melamine and plutonium is in the Chinese 1/2″ dowel I bought from Home Depot, but it has been unbelievably handy. I use pieces of it all the time. Today I sawed one off to use as a prong on the hanger.

I took another piece of scrap and cut it down for a standard (I guess you could call it), and I welded the two parts together, using a makeshift rig that would make Rube Goldberg hang his head in shame. I have a lot of welding magnets, but small parts are hard to deal with. I ended up making the first tack weld while holding the prong at the correct angle with a ballpoint pen. After that, I was home free.

I welded pretty nicely. It doesn’t look bad enough to justify a grinding job.

Once the lathe is in its final position, I’ll run a screw through the hanger and put it on the wall. For now the face plate sits on the floor under the lathe. Oh well.

I tried cutting my huge lump of 1018 steel in pieces today. I thought I would see how fast my dry cut saw did the job. After maybe fifteen minutes, I quit. This saw is great for many things, but you don’t want to cut a 4″ square steel bar with it. I got a third of the way through. I would have made it, but I don’t want to spend an hour on every cut and wear out the blade in the process.

I should go and have it done at a machine shop. HOWEVER, there’s a good used Jet band saw for sale near me. I am told a smaller band saw would do the job in maybe 15 minutes, so this one should be at least as fast. If I can get it for $125, it’s a great deal. The floor space is an issue, however.

I love welding because it’s so forgiving. Getting the angles exactly right is just a matter of using magnets, and sometimes you can even add metal to replace material your stupidity has destroyed. And if your welds aren’t perfect, just make them bigger. Eventually you’ll have something strong enough to work.

I got George Moneo all excited today by letting him know that a man with a lathe can make pointy things to use as feet on snob audio equipment. These things don’t really improve the sound; that would go against everything high-end audio stands for. But audio nerds think they do, so they sell.

He showed me a site that sells brass ones. I can make them a little cheaper, but not much. However…this is the fun part…I told George that what he really needed was cast iron, because it’s known for its inability to transmit vibration well. That would put him one up on the other addicts, and that’s really what it’s all about.

Where would you get a cast iron rod? Beats me. I understand it’s not much fun to machine.