[/attachment] A cracked Olds intake manifold that I repaired.

So let me understand this. You don't know what kind of welder to buy, but you think you can do a better job of welding than a professional welder. These are signs hanging from height above peoples' heads? Buy the cheapest machine you can find, use the savings for additional liability ins.

I'm planning to attend 1 day for sure, 2 days if I can swing that. I am from the Chicago area. My shop is 5 miles south of O'Hare.

In 1 of Tom Lipton's books there is a whole chapter on flame straightening. You may also find it on youtubve.

You can observe a lot just by watching-Yogi Berra

If you don't have time to it right the first time, where do you find time to do it over.
It's always easy if you ain't the guy doing it.
Some is good, more is better, too much is just right.

I love thoriated. When I took tig welding class back 1988ish, we used green for alum and red for steel. My welder is 1960's era tranny machine that hates pure. While welding alum I can watch the tungsten burn up into the cup. I switched to thor and never had any more problems. After watching Jody's ...

I just saw (no pun intended)a Jet cold saw at MSC for $999. Perhaps that is an option.
It was in their current sale flyer.

I liked this video. Actually I have like all the vids. Great work. I especially like the talk of pricing. Many people are great at what we do, but fall short when it comes to running a business and knowing what to charge. Doing side work is far different that running a legit biz. I have run my own a...

I too would like to see some review of this machine. IIRC someone here had been selected by Lincoln to evaluate this machine in his shop. I saw this machine in action last Dec. at the PRI show. There was a fellow in the Lincoln booth doing demos by building intake manifolds. He works for a company t...

Can I tig weld tungsten? A guy that balances crankshafts wants me to weld the "heavy metal" into the crank. Also known as "Mallory metal" The slug is pressed into the cheek of the counterweight. The slug is not in the radius of the counterweight to where rotational forces would a...

Found this little gem at the used book store. Looks like it was the classroom text book for Hobart welding school. There is no copywrite date in it, but from some dates that appear in the text it seems to be from the late 40's or early 50's. There was also a machinery's handbook from 1952 but I thou...

Lately most of my welding is removing broken bolts or taps. Welding is also one of the easiest ways to remove valve seats from a cylinder head. I must say that I would not have attempted the bolts before viewing Jody's video, and the tap would have been sent to the EDM shop. Although, I have been re...

I too have the HTP and use 25' torch and have no problems. I am surprised at how quiet this thing is. I highy recommend

Here is my first attempt at pop cans. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I blew a couple holes but managed to fill them. The hardest part was holding the can in place. Used 1/16 red electrode, not pointed, just cracked off to a fresh, clean area.

I have done 2 of these manifolds now. The first turned out very nice. The second one, not as nice. The customer was happy. The owner was happy. Me, not so much. I skip around alot so as not to overheat and warp or crack things. I dont like that appearance. All the stops & starts. I would like to...

This all worked out ok. Took less than 1/2 hour. Got a fair price. The manifold is new, so almost no cleaning needed. Could have even done it faster, but I was affraid to run 1 continious bead. Had to start and stop and skip around. If I could have run 1 or 2 beads all the way around, this could hav...

I'd like to see a discussion on pricing. How do guys figure your charges. A guy brought this manifold to me. The plenum is cut open. He did that to port the inside. Now it needs to be closed up. The material is cast aluminum and its aboit 3/16 thick. Roughly 30 inches around. Claims he can get it do...

The first question to ask with any failuer is "why?". I don't remember ever seeing this head crack on top. Only in the chambers and across the deck. Cracking across the top is generally 2 reasons. 1 the head was overheated and warped, putting the top into a tension or stretching condition....

I know this is a welding forum, but, sometimes there are better methods. Have you looked at Lock-N-Stitch? I use this method to repair cracked cast iron heads.http://www.locknstitch.com/

Some pics would be helpful. Welding on a cast block may not be your best solution. Lock-n-stitch may be a better option.

Well my issue was gas. Swapped out for a different cylinder and all is fine

I'm having some issues myself. I'm doing what I always have and my welds are looking like crap. I got the job done, but it was one miserable day of welding. I've changed electrodes, changed cups, changed flow rate, and even changed electrode diameter. The weld beads are coming out kind of dull grey,...

When I took welding class many years ago we used pure for alum & 2% thoriated for steel. We also balled the end for alum. As I started welding on preheated castings I found that pure sucked. It would just burn right up into the cup. I tried using 2% and it was hugely better. Back then, I saw a g...

I have some experience with these heads. Do you have the straight head or the integral manifold type? I would suggest the you have the head magnafluxed. There may be more cracks, especially if it is the integral type. 1 of the problems with weldind a cast head is that they get so hard that you reall...