Looking through new windows #114 - Isarn, Thailand

[Conrado_Navarro]

Al
You are in heaven, here In Sonora Mexico temperatura Rises up to 54 centigrades

easily you can fry an egg in you car!!

[KenC]

36C is the "mild" temp we get all year round in this corner of the world. Unlike other parts of the world.

[domino11]

Ken,
We get that too sometimes, and sometimes with a negative sign in front.

[KenC]

HAhahahah! That's why you don't wear shorts all year round

[lonestaral]

Yes that's hot & yes that's cold.
I have seen it get to 45 C here in April.

Progress report.
Clamp strips cut & drilled.
Bracing struts for frame cut.
Rails pilot drilled.
Cross members drilled.

My hired welder is due tomorrow.

Problems.

There are a few problems trying to make things in this neck of the world.
1. Material availability. Have to make some compromises on sizes and thickness.
4mm for the profiles.

2. Local skills & expertise. You want to do what ? why ? We have brown !

3. Machinery & Equipment.
Lasers, only in the cinema.
Found a company with a cnc gas profiler.
The guy seemed pleased to get a real job, makes a change from washers and gussets.
Machine shop, can we put circlips in the wheels to stop the bearings falling out ?.

Could import items but the duty rates are imaginative.

Then there is the weather, monsoon at the moment, prone to thunderstorms and sudden gusts of wind, also power cuts.

Oh well, not to worry.
Keep on Mechmating.

[zumergido]

there is a machine history from 2010 in thailand. maybe can get some help. http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...?t=2657&page=3

didnt post the finish but looks better then mine..

[lonestaral]

Today's report.

My welding man came this morning.
Bracing struts now in place.
Foot plates drilled and welded.
Beam closure plates welded.

Could not get big leveling feet, only small available.
Made my own, 50 dia steel blanks, M12 bolts welded.
I have high density rubber foam to glue on the bottom of them.

Welds ground.
A couple of holes to drill in the morning they primer paint time.

There was a work crew from the local council cutting bushes in the road.
Took the opportunity to trim the coconut.
The cuttings in the road with the other stuff to be collected tomorrow.

[lonestaral]

Got some primer on today.

Also had a surprise !
I asked the wife to phone the profile cutting shop for the price.
He had already cut them.
First real job they had got.
Went to the top of he list.
The price was about what I expected.

An hour with the grinder got them looking better.
Will mark out the bend lines tomorrow then go to the shop that the profile company said had a bender.

[KenC]

Looking good!

[smreish]

I always love seeing pictureS from the Asia/Pacific....everyone is welding in Flip-flops and shorts!

[Robert M]

For me.....it's definitely the coconut tree....

[lonestaral]

Marked out the bend lines.
Put some primer on the unbent profiles.
A lot of rain today, vertical rain so I could work.
Horizontal rain means no work.

I had some silver paint hence "Hawkwind".(Silver Machine)

It is too hard on the eyes, have to decide on another colour and title.

Some things I could not understand on the drawings but I found the answers on the forum.
Other people have had the same problems.
My thanks for their questions and my thanks for the replies.
If you want more coconut photos, I have some.
Also shorts and flip flops.

[swatkins]

When I first was allowed to use a welder , age 12, I learned that protection from the arc was a good thing!

I was making my first go-cart and found that I could hold the piece firmly on the ground with my feet and hold the rod steady by bracing my arms on my legs and welding between my feet..

Of course I was wearing shorts and the sparks stung a little, but, Hey I was doing manly work!

The next morning I awoke to find the insides of both my legs had turned cherry red and hurt like hell... No more shorts for me!

[Mrayhursh]

I have a similar story. I bought a plasma cutter and a MIG welder. I went out and cut up a bunch of steel my friend dropped off. I several items to weld and when I got done I cleaned and took a shower. I came out of the shower and my wife started laughing. She pointed and my stomach. The rips and tears in my tee shirt had formed a smiley face . I went around for the next week with a smiley face and boy did it hurt.

[lonestaral]

The home made leveling feet fitted and worked well.
Rails on the base pilot drilled.
One broken 7 mm drill bit.

Plates bent today.
The guy was good.

Problem. The 51 degree bends.
The bent profile would clash with the machine.
I told him to guillotine along the bend line.
The cut off parts were welded back on.
I was worried that they would not fit.

I did a dry assembly when I got home.
Left side perfect, Right 2mm out of square, not too bad.

Started to assemble the grinding skate.
Problem.
Makita grinders are different.
Yes I saw the post about this and DXF file too late.
Cut off some bits and used a larger washer.

Problem.
The bearings I had were a different diameter.
Elongated the hole by 6mm, 10 minutes with a round file and a pint of water, problem solved.
Hope to grind the rails tomorrow.

[swatkins]

My wife would kill me and stuff me in a box, to be hauled off with all the metal material for my MechMate, IF I even thought about welding or working on a floor as nice as yours is.

[lonestaral]

I ground the rails today.
It went better than I expected.
I will post the details in the rail grinding experience thread.
The grinding was done in the carport just in case your wife is worried about the floor.

I primer painted the profiles that got bent yesterday.

Very happy with the days work.

[Mrayhursh]

One step closer to completion. I need a car port. My garage is full and it would be great not to be rained on. It rained Saturday so at 2:00 in the morning I went out and finished painting the legs to my table. Today is Sunday and it is raining like crazy. My pool is filled to the top and there is no chance of doing anything today. Later and again hope you continue to make good progress.

[KenC]

LOVE YOUR WORKBENCH!!!! IT EVEN HAS A SINK BUILT IN!!!

Loving it!

[lonestaral]

Got a carport but would love a pool.
The carport is no good if the rain is horizontal.
Workbench with a sink, should patent that.

Busy day.
Set up the tubes for drilling, clamped rack and rails together.
Went to the machine shop and collected some parts.
They look good.
Wanted the V wheels, but a few more days yet.

Opened out the pilot drilled holes.
I clapped a length of angle to the drill table wit some 3" clamps.
Clamped the box section to the angle with a 4" clamp.
Lined up the pilot hole with the pilot drill.
Change drill to 12mm and opened out the hole.
Repeat the process for the rails.

Tapped and fitted the clamping strips, Temporary for now.
Tapped the bed rails.

Countersunk some holes in the profile plates

Will do some work tomorrow to prepare for some welding on Wednesday.

[parrulho]

good work. you will finish it in no time.

[lonestaral]

Had a busy day but not a lot to show for it.
Bought more mechanical fasteners this morning.

Prepared some parts for welding tomorrow.

Cut the X & Y Axis rails to length.
Was going to mark out some rack for drilling but I misplaced my glasses.
Found then by the bathroom sink after 30 minutes of searching.

Ah !, the joys of failing eyesight and a failing memory.

Hope for a better day tomorrow.

Finished in no time, finished sometime

[lonestaral]

Greetings Mechmate fans.

It is time for the next installment of "The Shorted Welder".

I got the gantry ends welded up, also
spider plate, tower carrier and some rack.

Re tapped the threads in the spider after welding.

Now for the big problem, the gantry frame.

I do not have a large workbench so I used the main frame.
I had leveled the frame previously.
I set one end of box section level with the face of the bed up against a M8 stud at both ends.
Clamped the sections to the frame.
Positioned the second section level with the bed face using the gantry
end weldments for spacing.
Checked the measurements and level and clamped the sections to the bed.

Check level and measurements again.

I had no long clamps so I used 2 nuts welded together and 2 1Meter lengths of M8 threaded rod,
Joined the rods together.

Put the threaded rods into the tubes and through the slots in the end pieces.

Tighten up carefully.
Check level and measurements again.

Mark the weld position and sequence with a permanent marker.
All set for a visit of "The Shorted Welder" tomorrow.

[hevertg]

very good friend

[darren salyer]

Cool.

[lonestaral]

Cheers guys.

I got the gantry frame welded today.
Followed the sequence of welding.
Everything was OK until the second turn over.
One corner had lifted about 2mm.

I agonized about trying to correct this.

I decided to continue as there was further welds to do.

Clamped it down firmly and finished the welds.
Gave the frame 5 minutes to cool,
Released the clamps.
It was OK, it sat on all four corners.
A happy man indeed.

My compliments Gerald on a good procedure.

As for tomorrow, what colour will it be ?
I will let the wife decide on that one.

[lonestaral]

The air turned blue.
The world turned blue.
Mechmate blue.

My wife liked the colour, so blue it was.

[swatkins]

Looking good !

[KenC]

No more heavy lifting after this.

[lonestaral]

Yes, no more heavy lifting for me, But !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I picked up the gantry frame this morning and thought this is heavy.
Same thought with the tower carrier.
A lot of mass and inertia there.

I looked at my NEMA 23 motors with their 6mm shafts.
No way !

Got a price for NEMA 34 825oz, just waiting to see what the shipping and import will add.

Machine shop say middle to end of next week for the wheels.
Got a price for good bearings.

Some work done on the rack and rails.
Used the pilot drilled rack as a jig.
Pilot one end, put pin in the hole, turn around and drill the other end.