Good advices for a newbie (threading tools lathe)

[C-Bag]

Wow! When you say heavy duty you mean it! If there was a nuclear strike in Italy that box would survive!

Before mig welders got so cheap here there was a device called the "metal stitcher" that you replaced the work lead of your arc welder with. I never used one, but the idea was it automatically moved the rod in and out making it so you could weld thin sheet metal. They used to carry it as Eastwood but it looks like it went away. My little Lincoln 175T mig welds thin stuff really well. But if it gets really thin I oxy-acetylene weld it.

I think I would have gone the sheet metal route for that case. Even though I don't have a metal brake. I do have a small plasma cutter and I've come up with a trick for making boxes with it. I draw it all out on the sheet and instead of cutting the whole crease I leave breaks in the cuts 1" long and space them along the crease lines. Then I can bend the box by hand. There are of course the gaps where the plasma cuts are, but if it's a place where I'm worried about aesthetics I put aluminum angle over the cuts. Makes for a classy looking box. With places like Harbor Freight and Eastwood selling these inexpensive mig's and plasma cutters now for around $400 and they are getting great reviews they are more affordable than ever.

[PJs]

I agree that is a beefy build and could definitely survive a drop from a plane. Most of the chassis' I've built have been from aluminum sheet. You can create a makeshift break from angle iron or even hardwood. As Peabody and the way-back machine remembers the 18x24 chassis I built for the HV power supply, I did with a wooden makeshift break from pallet oak. Took some time and finesse to work the 1/8" AL to 90º but got there, and easy to adjust size for the final bend.

Your miters and fit up looked great Stefano, but welding is another story for me with out any mig/tig/arc. Have been eyeing a small mig but need to save and justify it for the stuff I do. I probably would have brazed it. Plenty strong enough and easy cleanup for this project.

Nice Tip C-Bag on the Metal Stitcher! I have heard of those but thought they were large machines for HVAC or other sheetmetal work. Did find an article on it...very cool! Personally I love angle Aluminum, its really versatile, pretty straight and reasonably strong, and use it a lot.

[C-Bag]

I hope I'm not hyjacking or belaboring the point, but I was trying to think of a pic of my trick for the plasma cutter and the only piece I have in the garage is the cover I made for the front of my mill/drill. I put a digital readout on the z axis and needed to replace the old plastic cover so I plasma cut this. I hope it will demonstrate what I was trying to describe. I first came up with this when I was having to make chain guards for belt drives in the packing houses I worked in. None of them had breaks either so this is how I got around it. It is that black cover and look close at the edge of the cover where the cut is, and the 1" "breaks" in the cut.

[rendoman]

thanks for advice! it seems a very useful tool for lathe! i see something similar on this forum, right? I was thinking to build something easier, maybe only a bearing pusher to use with tailstock.
You're right! the frame is really powerful maybe too much for the normal use, but I like strong!
Interesting welding pistol! I never see one, i read about a solenoid that runs like a sewing machine, if i have understood it controls the current and at the same time provide a little movement for not drilling plates right?

i would like buying in future a good tig for aluminum, I was reading about "german" (for sure chinese with Toshiba mosfet)

http://www.stahlwerk-schweissgeraete...-plasma-s.html

good power, puls, high freq, ac\dc, the problem is know if the welder is good for alu or not, spec are really good, but in practice? it will weld good?

Update of today, i make some more drill, and the tiny horn for plasma! 58mm, ergal i suppose, it do flakes not chip, a bit more bright than the last aluminum. I try my best to polish, but with 10mm of throat is really hard to enter... same old problem
I pressed a cloth with force this time, polished enough i think!

[rendoman]

very nice done on milling! thanks for the pics, my eng isn't so good and of the last post i understood not every points. with this pics it's clear now that you cut this lines and leave short full metal parts for bending better!
... i think one of the next thing to think is how to model the faraday gage... got no idea for now

[C-Bag]

Yes, sorry Stefano, I realized even English speakers probably didn't have any idea what I was talking about. Pix are better.

[rendoman]

Hi boys!
pyrex is terrible!
I hate this glass! If anyone knows how to model and to cut is welcome!
the "big" tube is a 12mm dia, 1mm thick, inside a small ugly 4mm with 0.8mm. For my actual knowledge it's impossibile to cut, when hot it melts,but not liquefy. I tried rich acetylene, normal and full oxidising flame, but no great results. I tried also to keep a 6mm rod as "filler metal" , it sticks, but the chambers broke in 2

At ending I made a "chamber", ugly as hell, a bad work! i tried keep on lathe the 2 parts to weld, when i free the tailstock for rotating the chuck and levelling the filler, the glass melted and keep off axis the tungsten rod ...
Grinding machine makes flakes of glass and do disaster. sand paper give some better results , but nothing of good at all...

I have to think a better way to make a nice and replicable part. I have also doubts about the effectiveness of the thin glass chamber, can be good for ozone, but imho as horn chamber is completely unuseful...
I'm thinking if it possible to liquefy the glass into a mold, with aluminum or brass, or even iron can be easy to do a good shape... the problem is how to melt... this bastard pyrex glass melt at high temperature...

the good thing of today: I cooked "cassoeula" an historical recipe of north of italy with savoy cabbage and pork! I need some good single malt for digest

[C-Bag]

I have to say Stefano, you should have your own reality show! I never know what you are going to do next! First in the shop doing machining then some adventures in the kitchen!

Do you don't have any glass blowers close to you? There are some around here but glass of any kind is not something I've worked with. And I would think Pyrex is not something that's easy to work with. You and PJs lost me when you ventured off into heavy electronics and plasma tweeters. I can't wait to see the further adventures though!

[rendoman]

many thanks!
this project really needs a wide range of different skills, for sure more then I have now!
I havn't glass blower or furnace-forge, i had a small only propane tank with short blower for tar and tin, but without oxigen I think it's not possible to reach temperature of 1500°C, working temp should be 820°C.
I'm thinking to make an internal template on lathe, maybe in aluminum or brass (or iron) and then drip melted glass over the 2 joined tube to give greater thickness ...

the good new is that after the polishing of the tube smal panel, i can try to weld circuit!

[PJs]

I agree you need lots of different skills for these projects and maybe a reality show is in order! Another approach you might try with the pyrex is to use the setup you did but instead of trying to liquefy the glass, get it to yellow and crimp it to the tungsten electrode with maybe a modified pair of old pliers? You'll need a crimp diameter about a 1/2mm larger than the rod. It should seal to the tungsten and might not create a "leakage" issue??

As I remember cutting pyrex tube is done by scoring the glass with a diamond then tapping it to break it off. Looking forward to the next episode! Thanks, ~PJ