Yeah baby yeah!! Dang good ta see ya again Neutron!!
I snipped the photo off the interwebs because it was easier than taking a picture of my own baby.
I just realized this avie has black finish, my head stock and neck are in fact natural finished mahogany!
I'm gonna have to change it now!
Mines a 04, but I put genuine 1957 PAF 14k humbuckers on it. It is identical to the famous 57' Koa wood
explorer, but weighs a lot more. My 14 yr old son plays it more than I do these days.
Sorry about that. I get excited about good guitars.
I know why you're in such a good mood! You love macaroni! That's why...
I hope you're feeling better today Trissa? I'm so grateful to you for more than you will ever know my friend!
So enjoy your macaroni and hopefully soon I'll do the 'undie" dance with you soon... well, not in the same place but, you know what I mean :>)~ Kisses to YOU SWEETIE!
Ha ha maybe we'll do the udie dance together! I'm planning a long road trip soon, mid November. If I show up in your town I've veered way off course but I know how to enjoy the moment.
You were the inspiration for the header of this post ;)
Its probably some copyright, jurisdictional, youtube snafu...I cant get some videos to load, even though the entire eastern seaboard can. I've tinkered with national settings to get a few more here and there.
Ever miss the smell of striking an arc first thing on a cold morning?
i have mixed feelings about that because for 40+ years I was involved in one way or another with welding on a daily basis and it was my life. I don't practice the actual physical aspect of welding any longer due to the various health issues I currently have. So breathing that would probably make me very sick and yet in one way I certainly do miss that smell because I knew that I could look forward to being busy, and would get paid for what I could do at the end of the week. those days were very good to me financially even when I was drinking and even more so when I stopped both drinking and drugging along with dumping the cigarettes too.
Nowadays I still make some decent money on the side by consulting which believe it or not is not only lucrative but also in demand because or all the mechanics retiring and not enough true experts out there any longer. So I'm always turning down offers to go here or there because I cannot travel without making sure certain accommodations are in place before I arrive which is mainly enough liquid Oxygen, a power chair and pure distilled water along with an oxygen concentrator and an adjustable hospital bed there waiting for me to have during my stay wherever that may be. And I will not go to certain countries because of the live vaccines required which i cannot take because of my immune system being intentionally compromised. So if I travel, it's mainly in North America.
It's nice to travel every once in a while but I couldn't do it constantly. Most of the work comes to me via e-mail & Google drive which can be used to send me video's of the job site or factory and is very helpful in visualizing better what they try to describe in writing or phone calls alone.
I can guide them on codes and standards via online also which does involve the majority of my consulting work where I mainly audit submitted and/or existing paper work which mainly consist or some form or another of welding records which can describe the elements of a properly filled out Welding Procedure Specification and the Performance Qualification Record or Welding Production Qualification Record, Inspection Reports, etc. I also make recommendations on what the clients need to use and how to go about developing WPS's, PQR's, WPQR's and inspection reports, take offs & estimates.
Sometimes I perform Metallographic and Corrosion investigations, or even Forensic Failure analysis for some engineers with my own mini-lab at home, or using the University of Pittsburgh's Materials Sciences Department scanning electron microscope to analyze welded samples of a wide variety of different metals along with the detailed metallurgical reports supporting my findings. And every once in a while I'll talk someone through troubleshooting and diagnosing problems they may be experiencing with certain welding machines that are no longer covered by their warranties. Over the phone or on skype which is better because I can describe to then what to do with hand gestures and quick sketches to help them look for something inside of the power source better than trying to explain it over the phone or with text alone. So I keep myself busy enough to help pay the co-payments and credit card debt when there's a lot of work which finally seems to be picking up again somewhat. We'll see what happens in 2015.
Well, I talked enough about what I do to keep me busy and how I don't really miss the smell of an arc being struck by a Shielded Metal Arc Welding electrode otherwise known as SMAW or stick welding which is a non-standard term. But thanks for asking Lev. ;>)~
Ha! thats my point...it's still in the bone, and comes out in your reply!!!:).
Ok, so coffee and arc smoke with it's peculiar ionized air smell on a cold morning was over romanticizing a bit.
I'm no metallurgist, but got my ticket from the Dept. of Energy and Rocky Flats bomb arsenal in Boulder CO.
(they made plutonium triggers for nukes) I certified on 6-G pipe welding as a part of of the apprenticeship program there. In 79' the rig for plasma cutting a grainless cut through 18" thick stainless plate was truly awe inspiring. Being in the same room when the switch got flipped....crap your pants priceless!
My career morphed into commercial plumbing when I realized I would have to keep moving to earn the kind of money amoco and others were promising at the time.
Tent cities and pipelines outside of "twig" Montana...no thank you.
The math they made me learn for pipefitting still makes me cry when I think about it.
Anyway, I had remembered a few of your posts...like drinking a case of beer before work and other tradesman antics involving welding and metal...thought I'd stir it up. It's funny. I knew it would pour out of you...it does me too. I havent worked with my hands for several years now. I miss it. Ha! but I dont miss it!
If I were healthier, I'd still be at it. Stick welding? Shoot that was called your whip or lead, when I was doing it. Tuning your rig by sound is a lost art form, it's that fanned out stack of dimes that every welder is after, slag or no slag, gas or no gas, ANSI or non standard.
Well Lev, I always knew that there was something in your posts hinting that you were into something to do with metals. So you're a pipefitter eh? All of the trig involved and then those offsets to boot yeah, been there done that too my friend although 18 " thick stainless is more than what I'm used to. Man o man that must've been one heck of a torch to cut that thick and the amperage coming out of that power sourceI I wonder what type of gas mix they used for that thick of cut? Probably Argon/Oxy-Hydrogen or Helium/Oxy-Hydrogen mix to get the penetration needed in order to get deep enough to start the kerf.
They probably preheated the steel first to get it hot enough for easier penetration with the cutting gas. The thickest I ever worked on and it wasn't stainless was some 8" and 12" Q&T steel that was incredibly strong in tensile strength and I'm talking about more than +200,000 lbs psi. These components were used in a variety of nuke power plants.
Yeah I was probably no longer a road whore when those tent cities in ND and Montana sprang up and where the so-called big money was at. I was offered many times a management position in both of those Bakken fields but I turned them down right quick as soon as I knew where they wanted me to work out of. Yep, those sites are like the wild west of yesteryear and I wanted no part of that but, I did hear from some fellow worker friends that they made out pretty good. I would counter with: "Yeah but, how much does a meal cost over there and if you want to get an apartment to live out of while you're there? Because I wasn't going to be living in no tent city - that's for sure!
You know now that you mention the stack of dimes look... Those types of welds are cosmetically nice and for some applications it is astethically pleasing but, if the joints are to be subject to cyclical or dynamic loads as opposed to static loads. those stack of dimes end up becoming detrimental to the overall tensile strength of the metal and can cause stress concentrations known as "stress risers" that ultimately can lead to fatigue cracking prematurely, and in some cases . Stress corrosion cracking also.
So just because the weld looks great doesn't mean it is a great weld strength and fatigue wise which is why more and more folks involved with critical welds are discouraging the stack of dimes weld and are emphasizing the use of stringer beads instead. Even weaving is to be limited in width because of the fact that the more one weaves, the more heat input goes into the metal and soon enough while welding, the too much heat input has gone into the metal which causes the mechanical and metallurgical properties to change and not for the better because there's loss in ductility, strength, increasing hardness to the point that the metal becomes brittle after it has cooled down to room temps.
So the emphasis on controlling the amount of heat input is the number one priority in welding any metal and more so with alloys that are non-heat treatable where you cannot correct the whacked out properties of an assembly that has been welded with too much heat input and can have it's mechanical and metallurgical properties restored somewhat by post weld heat treating. You can't do that with every metal alloy composition whether it be ferrous or non-ferrous. Anywho, I have rambled enough that I forgot t eat dinner so I'll end this post here by saying to you that I'm glad to be back and I'm grateful for your friendship. And I'm virus free! Hey Neut, Trissa!
yepper doodle. I guess a stack o dimes literally would have to be considered too hot because of the "undercut" of each new dime. Nonetheless, 6-G pipe cert. is no cake walk....
A continuous series of beads, consisting of root pass, two fillet beads and a figure eight weave. Each bead done in all positions due to the clever way the 12" section of 6" dia. pipe has to be mounted. @45 degrees, you were forced to move the section up or down on a vertical jig to complete the weld, but that is the only way your pipe could move once mounted. Overall length sections 2" wide are cut from each of the positions and bent backwards over a 2" steel ball 72 hrs later.
This all starts with having to torch cut & bevel your own section of pipe. Snag grinder was only allowed to finish your bevel cuts. Yeah, I'm still proud.
I was never privy to working on the big technical stuff. The plasma cutter was a one time only "demonstration" to get all us wannabe's hot and bothered about the apprenticeship. It worked!!
I've been extremely close to bolt lighting on peaks and I have been close to jets powering up before takeoff. A combination of the two inside a large spa room is as close as I can describe that plasma arc.
He would also add up all the cosmetics while emptying bathroom sink cabinets, like a store clerk.
The average dollar amount was astounding....cheap entertainment for plumbers.
I'm in a good mood too.
I snipped the photo off the interwebs because it was easier than taking a picture of my own baby.
I just realized this avie has black finish, my head stock and neck are in fact natural finished mahogany!
I'm gonna have to change it now!
Mines a 04, but I put genuine 1957 PAF 14k humbuckers on it. It is identical to the famous 57' Koa wood
explorer, but weighs a lot more. My 14 yr old son plays it more than I do these days.
Sorry about that. I get excited about good guitars.
I hope you're feeling better today Trissa? I'm so grateful to you for more than you will ever know my friend!
So enjoy your macaroni and hopefully soon I'll do the 'undie" dance with you soon... well, not in the same place but, you know what I mean :>)~ Kisses to YOU SWEETIE!
You were the inspiration for the header of this post ;)
Nope, I just checked...video still loads.
Its probably some copyright, jurisdictional, youtube snafu...I cant get some videos to load, even though the entire eastern seaboard can. I've tinkered with national settings to get a few more here and there.
Ever miss the smell of striking an arc first thing on a cold morning?
Nowadays I still make some decent money on the side by consulting which believe it or not is not only lucrative but also in demand because or all the mechanics retiring and not enough true experts out there any longer. So I'm always turning down offers to go here or there because I cannot travel without making sure certain accommodations are in place before I arrive which is mainly enough liquid Oxygen, a power chair and pure distilled water along with an oxygen concentrator and an adjustable hospital bed there waiting for me to have during my stay wherever that may be. And I will not go to certain countries because of the live vaccines required which i cannot take because of my immune system being intentionally compromised. So if I travel, it's mainly in North America.
It's nice to travel every once in a while but I couldn't do it constantly. Most of the work comes to me via e-mail & Google drive which can be used to send me video's of the job site or factory and is very helpful in visualizing better what they try to describe in writing or phone calls alone.
I can guide them on codes and standards via online also which does involve the majority of my consulting work where I mainly audit submitted and/or existing paper work which mainly consist or some form or another of welding records which can describe the elements of a properly filled out Welding Procedure Specification and the Performance Qualification Record or Welding Production Qualification Record, Inspection Reports, etc. I also make recommendations on what the clients need to use and how to go about developing WPS's, PQR's, WPQR's and inspection reports, take offs & estimates.
Sometimes I perform Metallographic and Corrosion investigations, or even Forensic Failure analysis for some engineers with my own mini-lab at home, or using the University of Pittsburgh's Materials Sciences Department scanning electron microscope to analyze welded samples of a wide variety of different metals along with the detailed metallurgical reports supporting my findings. And every once in a while I'll talk someone through troubleshooting and diagnosing problems they may be experiencing with certain welding machines that are no longer covered by their warranties. Over the phone or on skype which is better because I can describe to then what to do with hand gestures and quick sketches to help them look for something inside of the power source better than trying to explain it over the phone or with text alone. So I keep myself busy enough to help pay the co-payments and credit card debt when there's a lot of work which finally seems to be picking up again somewhat. We'll see what happens in 2015.
Well, I talked enough about what I do to keep me busy and how I don't really miss the smell of an arc being struck by a Shielded Metal Arc Welding electrode otherwise known as SMAW or stick welding which is a non-standard term. But thanks for asking Lev. ;>)~
Ok, so coffee and arc smoke with it's peculiar ionized air smell on a cold morning was over romanticizing a bit.
I'm no metallurgist, but got my ticket from the Dept. of Energy and Rocky Flats bomb arsenal in Boulder CO.
(they made plutonium triggers for nukes) I certified on 6-G pipe welding as a part of of the apprenticeship program there. In 79' the rig for plasma cutting a grainless cut through 18" thick stainless plate was truly awe inspiring. Being in the same room when the switch got flipped....crap your pants priceless!
My career morphed into commercial plumbing when I realized I would have to keep moving to earn the kind of money amoco and others were promising at the time.
Tent cities and pipelines outside of "twig" Montana...no thank you.
The math they made me learn for pipefitting still makes me cry when I think about it.
Anyway, I had remembered a few of your posts...like drinking a case of beer before work and other tradesman antics involving welding and metal...thought I'd stir it up. It's funny. I knew it would pour out of you...it does me too. I havent worked with my hands for several years now. I miss it. Ha! but I dont miss it!
If I were healthier, I'd still be at it. Stick welding? Shoot that was called your whip or lead, when I was doing it. Tuning your rig by sound is a lost art form, it's that fanned out stack of dimes that every welder is after, slag or no slag, gas or no gas, ANSI or non standard.
Take care hankerman...glad yer back!
They probably preheated the steel first to get it hot enough for easier penetration with the cutting gas. The thickest I ever worked on and it wasn't stainless was some 8" and 12" Q&T steel that was incredibly strong in tensile strength and I'm talking about more than +200,000 lbs psi. These components were used in a variety of nuke power plants.
Yeah I was probably no longer a road whore when those tent cities in ND and Montana sprang up and where the so-called big money was at. I was offered many times a management position in both of those Bakken fields but I turned them down right quick as soon as I knew where they wanted me to work out of. Yep, those sites are like the wild west of yesteryear and I wanted no part of that but, I did hear from some fellow worker friends that they made out pretty good. I would counter with: "Yeah but, how much does a meal cost over there and if you want to get an apartment to live out of while you're there? Because I wasn't going to be living in no tent city - that's for sure!
You know now that you mention the stack of dimes look... Those types of welds are cosmetically nice and for some applications it is astethically pleasing but, if the joints are to be subject to cyclical or dynamic loads as opposed to static loads. those stack of dimes end up becoming detrimental to the overall tensile strength of the metal and can cause stress concentrations known as "stress risers" that ultimately can lead to fatigue cracking prematurely, and in some cases . Stress corrosion cracking also.
So just because the weld looks great doesn't mean it is a great weld strength and fatigue wise which is why more and more folks involved with critical welds are discouraging the stack of dimes weld and are emphasizing the use of stringer beads instead. Even weaving is to be limited in width because of the fact that the more one weaves, the more heat input goes into the metal and soon enough while welding, the too much heat input has gone into the metal which causes the mechanical and metallurgical properties to change and not for the better because there's loss in ductility, strength, increasing hardness to the point that the metal becomes brittle after it has cooled down to room temps.
So the emphasis on controlling the amount of heat input is the number one priority in welding any metal and more so with alloys that are non-heat treatable where you cannot correct the whacked out properties of an assembly that has been welded with too much heat input and can have it's mechanical and metallurgical properties restored somewhat by post weld heat treating. You can't do that with every metal alloy composition whether it be ferrous or non-ferrous. Anywho, I have rambled enough that I forgot t eat dinner so I'll end this post here by saying to you that I'm glad to be back and I'm grateful for your friendship. And I'm virus free! Hey Neut, Trissa!
A continuous series of beads, consisting of root pass, two fillet beads and a figure eight weave. Each bead done in all positions due to the clever way the 12" section of 6" dia. pipe has to be mounted. @45 degrees, you were forced to move the section up or down on a vertical jig to complete the weld, but that is the only way your pipe could move once mounted. Overall length sections 2" wide are cut from each of the positions and bent backwards over a 2" steel ball 72 hrs later.
This all starts with having to torch cut & bevel your own section of pipe. Snag grinder was only allowed to finish your bevel cuts. Yeah, I'm still proud.
I was never privy to working on the big technical stuff. The plasma cutter was a one time only "demonstration" to get all us wannabe's hot and bothered about the apprenticeship. It worked!!
I've been extremely close to bolt lighting on peaks and I have been close to jets powering up before takeoff. A combination of the two inside a large spa room is as close as I can describe that plasma arc.