Welcome Tim. Welding aside, the design of the bumper should have the recovery points secured to the chassis rails by suitable bolts and then go through the bumper. Nothing 1/4" welded to 3/16 without being secured to the chassis as well will handle the forces of a vehicle recovery without faili...

Bruce, I'm a home hobby welder albeit in another country. The only fires I have had has been caused by flux core mig and my own slackness/stupidity in not clearing a suitable area before I started. I now have a new process and about 4 fire extinguishers in my shed. Vehicles get moved out of my shed ...

My first welder was a CIG trans arc 140 stick welder, I had that for over 20 years.
Used it for hobby work, building work benches and shelves, general repairs and even welded up a few cracks in an ex's motorcycle frame.
Sold it to a mate when I bought an AC/DC tig that also did stick.

Well they say a picture tells a thousand words, seems they're right.
Great side by side comparison.

Great result from a first attempt.
My only comment would be put wheels on it, I have found wheels very handy on my band saw.
Nice table.
Cheers

And its a polite statement.
Unlike what most welders will call it.

I have a cheapish Chinese plasma cutter, my son wouldn't part with a kidney for me to afford a hypertherm over here. Its adequate for home jobs, seems to trash an electrode or jet every job. The most important thing for any plasma cutter is DRY air. I have a reg and filter on the compressor, a water...

What Coleman said.
Without pics its heresay
Sounds like a nice score BTW.

I now know why my level of paranoid feelings have gone off the chart, you're all bloody well watching me stuff up. You've mentioned it ALL. Main issue is that my welding is marginal at best and then I may not need to weld anything for weeks or months. Back to step one every time for the first couple...

Kym, where did you get the suspect tungstens from?
I got some in from weld river that seem OK, I only go through them because I keep dipping into the weld pool

Nice work Kym, its useful and you learned something and it helps out someone.
Don't get much better than that.

Its definitely available in oz, but its around $170 for 700ml.
Its almost single malt scotch like in its smoothness.
Apart from Bookers, I haven't heard of the rest of your favourites, probably not brought into this country, which is strange as we seem to like a drink or 3

Thanks Coleman, I'll chase that up.
I'm near Ipswich, west of Brisbane.
Cheers

Nice job on the stand, you'll learns lot. Get a face mask, yeah chicks supposedly like scars but not if you look like the understudy for Frankenstein after reassembly, stops you eating high speed grit while grinding as well. The battery powered Milwaukee portabands have only just made an appearance ...

Just considering all options and bang for buck. LWS have these cheap and replacement filters cheap. They say they encourage purchase with every plasma they sell. Since take-up they have noticed dramatic reduction in plasma consumable sales. Also they sell very few replacement filters. Apparently th...

That pressure you feel on the end of your nose is the verticle learning curve you've just hit. Man are you going to learn a lot on this one. And probably a few new words :D Remove all dirt /grease/paint back to clean bare metal where you want to weld, keep the earth close to the weld (also on clean ...

Its a bit like oxy cutting only better. Cut quality really does lie in 3 things, the operators abilities and dry air of the correct pressure, condition of the cutting tip. It takes a bit of practice to get your angle and cutting speed right, once you've nailed that, easy.. A jig will give you repeat...

Ah memories. Now fix it overhead so you can learn to weld while hot slag gets past your mask/cap/collar, rolls down your stomach, burns through your under wear, singes your pubic hair and rolls down your leg into your sock. Brings a tear to the eye, don't it. :mrgreen: You, Sir, need a belt. lol I,...

Did it have property of Noah written on it anywhere?
Looks like it came out of the ark, they definately don't make them like that anymore.
Nice find.
Can't help with the coolant, but I'm interested as well as something similar is on my Xmas list.
Cheers

Ah memories.
Now fix it overhead so you can learn to weld while hot slag gets past your mask/cap/collar, rolls down your stomach, burns through your under wear, singes your pubic hair and rolls down your leg into your sock.
Brings a tear to the eye, don't it.

Love a challenge eh?

Keep us posted if it comes back, or not.
Cheers

I learned a lesson here. So did I thanks for posting. Bear in mind the way this would have been used, drive into clay, then apply full bending force to lever out the chunk of clay, rinse and repeat. You were on a hiding to nothing from the start. First question I always got from the aircraft welder...

Coleman, I have this one http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/B003 I have found it very good, much more accurate than the abrasive chop saw. I have found the starret blades so much better than the hardened dick cheese OEM one that came with it. I do find however that the starrets throw teeth, apparently...

Do a search on zylene msds and become educated.
Will work on any other substances you want to know about as well.
Your body, you only got 1, look after it.
Cheers

I've never used a plasma cutter. Harbor Freight (HF) has a 40 amp plasma cutter on sale this month (Aug 2016) for $399. RF start. Advertised as cutting 5/8" - 3/4". WIll this cutter blow holes/hack up 10-18 gauge, or will it cut thin metal cleanly? Also - if you own or have experience wit...