Builds 1977 FJ40 Rebuild – Focus on Custom Stainless Tub (2 Viewers)

[psmbfuer]

Wow. Awesome. Just started reading thru. Having the right tools is key.

Thanks Tommy and welcome to the thread. As you said, the right tools certainly help, and a baseline set is mandatory for a given job. And for a home shop, we are in very good shape, but I have always been of the mindset to be creative with the tools that you have, and of course to judiciously grow that set as new jobs come along. I'm not much for borrowing, but renting also has a place in all of this, as does farming out certain work when needed, for example, sandblasting.

With the automotive and the household projects, my rough rule of thumb is that I allow myself to buy new tools / equipment that cost roughly 20% of what the job might have cost if I had hired it out to a professional - and if a new tool is not required, I save the ~20%, accumulating for larger / more expensive goodies.
And if you do this for 35+ years, you can wind up with a very good baseline - same process as saving for retirement - start early and be consistent.

There is always the next tool, and I still want to buy a bona fide tube bender, for example, but have generally found ways around needing it, and I simply don't have the space for anything else - unless I put up a pole barn

 

[psmbfuer]

@psmbfuer everytime I see your welding photos I want to drag out my welder and melt some metal.. these are such great fabrication talents. Fortunately my flap discs can make up what my fine detail welding can’t.

Here s a quick question…. My Millermatic 211 has .023, .030 and .035. What might you suggest is a happy medium for under 3/16 and then over 1/4 steel? The .023 seems to bunch up in the cabinet and not feed as easily into the hose. Being stiffer, the other go thru easily but, I think I’m am missing out using the .023 for finer gauge

Sorry that I missed this @knuckle47, and I'm with you and often use grinding as the finer side of certain welds.

Regarding wire size use, I have a chart on the inside of my machine, and also use the "Miller Weld Setting Calculator" Android App, if I'm unsure, but here are some general guidelines:

• Under 18, I would likely change to .023
• 18 to 3/16", .030.
• 1/4 and up, .035, but you can get away with .030 here as well.
• I'm also on the lazy side when it comes to changing wire, so I'm a bit flexible around the edge conditions when doing a quick / small job that I can make due with the loaded wire.

And you likely already know this, but if you are experiencing nesting problems with .023, you might be forgetting to lower the tension on the wire feed roller. There are several ways that people recommend to do this, but I like taking off the gloves and holding the wire exiting the gun between my index finger and thump, then pinch slowly as I feed the wire, until the wire stops. When the wire has stopped, it should be slipping back at the roller - if you have the tension too tight, the roller will force the wire to bend and start a the nest.