The Machinist

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Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Finding an old Bridgeport mill or Clausing Lathe that runs and in decent shape gets harder every year. You might find one and learn more about restoring and fixing one than actual machining. Or the other way around.
 
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latheboy

Trakanon Raider
808
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I would have got a bigger machine if I had the space, I don't.
I'm also against getting an old second hand machine as borzak said, I don't have the time to be rebuilding something so I can use it.
I don't use YouTube but I'm sure there are some good channels on there for machining and stuff. Look into a short night course at tafe or whatever its called where you are.
Always wear your safety glasses
Never touch spinning bits
Never leave a key in the chuck
Keep long hair tied up
Never wear gloves on a large or mill
Basic stuff, but it has to be said.
I've been scalped from long hair, it fucking hurts. I've cut a finger off in a table saw, didn't hurt as much as the hair day. Steel in my eye, even had glasses on.. The piece of swarf hit my cheek and bounced up to the inside of my glasses and back into my eye.. Yeah that hurt. Get glasses that are a nice fit to you face, lots of brands and models to choose from.
 
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Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
11,333
5,322
latheboy latheboy considering buying a tig for the house -- need to be able to weld fittings to ~14ga stainless sheet/tanks primarily. Any recommendations on a beginner's rig? Ok to buy used? The LE31MP seems like a good choice for covering a lot of ground.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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When I was looking at them a while back the one I settled on was the Lincoln Square Wave Tig 200 but it's a little more expensive than what you were looking at but you can't do too badly buying a lincoln or a miller. I didn't wind up buying it though. I already have a stick and mig welder and I can't really justify the cost for the rare occaision that I would need to weld aluminum.

Do you know how to weld? Whether you do or not, check out the YouTube channel weldingtipsandtricks

The guy is an amazing welder and has videos about every conceivable type of weld you might need to make and also reviews of lots of welders.
 

Donblargo

Potato del Grande
156
177
When I was looking at them a while back the one I settled on was the Lincoln Square Wave Tig 200 but it's a little more expensive than what you were looking at but you can't do too badly buying a lincoln or a miller. I didn't wind up buying it though. I already have a stick and mig welder and I can't really justify the cost for the rare occaision that I would need to weld aluminum.

Do you know how to weld? Whether you do or not, check out the YouTube channel weldingtipsandtricks

The guy is an amazing welder and has videos about every conceivable type of weld you might need to make and also reviews of lots of welders.

Literally learned more from watching him and weld.com than I did from most of my instructors at welding school.
 
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latheboy

Trakanon Raider
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P Picasso3 .. I have this one at home.
https://swswelding.com.au/
Its an Australian brand so might be had to get or impossible, where you are.
All the tigs at work are 3 phase big bangers. Use the specs of the link and find something like that, I don't know what you can get over there sorry.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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This shit tempts me so much. $1850


00G0G_Xctmxt8vn4_1200x900.jpg
 
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latheboy

Trakanon Raider
808
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Check it out first though and ask to use it. See if the bed moves by hand in each direction to find the worn out spots
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,366
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I have a hard time spending that much money on something I know nothing about and I'm not sure what I would use it for, but that's the cheapest I've seen one for in a long time. It's 400 miles away from me also or I would at least go take a look at it.
 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Gonna skip on trying to learn welding, another hobbyist volunteered to fix the 2 inch crack i needed fixed and made a god awful fucked up mess. Had a nice Miller tig as well. Lesson learned.
 
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Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Find someone who knows about machinery and make a road trip. 400 miles is not that far and I assume in MT you're not driving 55mph to get there.
 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Before and after. The top half of the penetration had a hairline crack along it. The fitting was an elbow so he was having a hard time getting to it and drawing an arc. Once he got one part going he kept building on it trying to get it smooth. It was still leaking with the 8lb softball weld so the bright area is where i silver soldered which looks like shit as well but holds water.

received_445507129401020.jpeg


20191006_193102.jpg
 
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Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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31,635
>399 < 401

Easily doable in a day out there and back.

Doooo eeet. Machining has seemed like it's picked up popularity lately with guys picking up Bridgeports and Clausens if they can and some adding DROs and such to them. Seems like a lot more interest than 20 years ago. Or maybe just the number of machines gets fewer and fewer every year.
 

Donblargo

Potato del Grande
156
177
Before and after. The top half of the penetration had a hairline crack along it. The fitting was an elbow so he was having a hard time getting to it and drawing an arc. Once he got one part going he kept building on it trying to get it smooth. It was still leaking with the 8lb softball weld so the bright area is where i silver soldered which looks like shit as well but holds water.

View attachment 225695

View attachment 225696
Yikes. That should have been a pretty easy fix.
 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
11,333
5,322
That's what I thought. I was gonna take it to a shop, now i bet a shop will have a much harder time fixing it.