Skyjerk no more

[mistermikev]

One word for you.

Nope

you son of a mother. so... something else for a tele then? control plate (hehe).

 

[valvetoneman]

If i had loads of money and space I'd build anything i wanted, I'd love to build a car and restore classic cars and learn welding and fabrication

 

[Skyjerk]

you son of a mother. so... something else for a tele then? control plate (hehe).

Yes. A gigantic, all-powerful hammer like Mjolnir that can be used to smash all Tele’s into splinters!

 

[valvetoneman]

Nope, not leaving. Sorry ;-)

Just changing, although I can’t actually change my nickname.

The last couple years have seen many tumultuous changes in my personal life, and one result is that I decided I had to get rid of some old things and bring in some new things.

2018 was a good year for skydiving and after making about 20 awesome jumps last year, bringing my total to 401, I decided to hang up my gear and call it a day. Well, sell my gear actually.

Took the proceeds, added some more on top, and have outfitted myself to do some blacksmithing. Forge, anvil, bench grinder, heat treat kiln, and various other smithing necessities. One thing I learned here in LC is that I just love making stuff. LOVE it! Making stuff kept me sane the last couple years. Without it I’d be gone. Or drunk. Same thing for me.

I love making stuff so much that I don’t wanna limit myself to guitars, or even to wood.

It’ll be interesting to see where I might be able to cross over and make some metal parts for guitars. Most likely decorative, but maybe functional as well. Time will tell.

Anyway, ordered up all my “stuff” this week and will be receiving it here and there over the next few weeks. I have a bass build I need to wrap before I dive in, but soon.

Anyway, I guess I’m Earthjerk now. Same ol jerk, new hobby ;-)

I forgot to say that where my workshop is some guys in the next unit make ww2 replica German tanks, they're bloody cool when they come out and get loaded on the low loader, wouldn't mind playing with that stuff, it's interesting, I've sat on the top of one whilst giving steering directions, that was fun

 

[mistermikev]

Yes. A gigantic, all-powerful hammer like Mjolnir that can be used to smash all Tele’s into splinters!

seriously cracked me up without even knowing what a 'Mjolnir' is... going to look that up - thanks for the laugh!

 

[Neffco]

Get some 7018. That 6010 should be used on pipe. 7018 is a lot stronger, especially for tacking.

 

[fumblefinger]

Er.....huh?

I've been told that the skydiving accidents tend to center around certain numbers of jumps made. I know 100 was one, but there are others. The 400 stuck in my mind (what's left of it) as another marker.

 

[Ripthorn]

I am looking for on-line smithing communities. Ive found many, but none yet that make me want to stay.

MLP sets a really high bar

I'm learing welding too. I just bought an affordable stick welder and a box of 6010 electrodes. No money left for classes so I'm going to have to mess some shit up for a while. I mostly plan to use it (at first) to weld handles onto things for forging, or welding different steels together for making damascus

I have found that a lot of the good hand crafting communities are actually Facebook groups and not forums. My brother carves traditional spoons and bowls and all the big names use Facebook.

 

[DarrellV]

Saw this in 'new posts' just before I signed off last night... You scared me!

Glad to see you aren't leaving!

I'm also a big fan of creating stuff and working with different materials. I was lucky to have done foundry (casting molten metal) and forge work in school and learned to weld at a job I had back in the day.

I also enjoy machining and metal fab as much as woodworking.

Spent some time in the past building and designing pro audio loudspeakers and crossovers too. That was fun!

Add to that electro mechanical, electronics and hydraulic experience and if I had a real workshop, I could be dangerous!

But what fun!!!!!

Stay busy!

Stay healthy upstairs and down!

I can't think of a better diversion and use of time myself, than to create something, or restore something.. Nothing like it.

Mine is old machines like mechanical clocks and old Aladdin oil lamps, Norlin guitars and stuff like that!

 

[Skyjerk]

Get some 7018. That 6010 should be used on pipe. 7018 is a lot stronger, especially for tacking.

I read somewhere that 6010 is easier for newbs to learn on...

 

[Skyjerk]

I've been told that the skydiving accidents tend to center around certain numbers of jumps made. I know 100 was one, but there are others. The 400 stuck in my mind (what's left of it) as another marker.

There’s no truth to what you heard. There is no specific number where you are more at risk.

Risk factors in skydiving are different for everyone, depending on how anal they are about their own safety, the quality of their equipment and the care they take maintaining it, how frequently they participate in the sport, and which particular discipline in skydiving they participate in (RW, FF, CRW, wing suits, etc). Some are riskier than others.

Contrary to what you might think, people that jump more often are statistically safer. Being current in your skills is a big factor in mitigating risk.

Jump numbers have no bearing on that, and there is no correlation between particular numbers and fatal accidents.

If you still associate with the source of that news, you can let them know they are incorrect

FTR, 401 jumps would not be considered a particularly large number of jumps. Most of the people I jump with have considerably more.

 

[Neffco]

I read somewhere that 6010 is easier for newbs to learn on...

For tacking stuff flat on a table the 7018 will be easy. It’s when you start welding up hill or upside down it gets more difficult. Out of position (6010 can run downhill) may be slightly less challenging. It’s all about machine set up. A mig with solid wire is probably more up your alley for what you want to do. Clean and easier to learn. If you’re welding outside, stick is where it’s at. Inside a shop, mig is king.

Of course there’s always accept-ions to the rule. But hobby welders do well with a squirt gun.

 

[Skyjerk]

For tacking stuff flat on a table the 7018 will be easy. It’s when you start welding up hill or upside down it gets more difficult. Out of position (6010 can run downhill) may be slightly less challenging. It’s all about machine set up. A mig with solid wire is probably more up your alley for what you want to do. Clean and easier to learn. If you’re welding outside, stick is where it’s at. Inside a shop, mig is king.

Of course there’s always accept-ions to the rule. But hobby welders do well with a squirt gun.

Yeah, mig is where I’d prefer to be, but for starting out the buy-in for a decent stick machine is less than getting set up for mig. I’ll get there eventually, but I have a fixed budget out of which I need to get a lot of stuff. The bulk of my funds went to the forge, anvil, 2x72 belt grinder, and heat treat oven. Everything else I get will gonna be “budget” buys that will hopefully get upgraded at a later date...

 

[Neffco]

Yeah, mig is where I’d prefer to be, but for starting out the buy-in for a decent stick machine is less than getting set up for mig. I’ll get there eventually, but I have a fixed budget out of which I need to get a lot of stuff. The bulk of my funds went to the forge, anvil, 2x72 belt grinder, and heat treat oven. Everything else I get will gonna be “budget” buys that will hopefully get upgraded at a later date...

What’s your welder budget. Might be able to steer you in the right direction. Lots of great multi process welders these days. Inverter technology is awesome.

 

[Skyjerk]

What’s your welder budget. Might be able to steer you in the right direction. Lots of great multi process welders these days. Inverter technology is awesome.

Well, the budget is already spent for the moment. Bought the stick machine last week.

If you can point me to something affordable I might be looking to upgrade in 6 months to. a year. Can always hand down the stick machine to my son

 

[Skyjerk]

Chris, as you well know, I'm a fan of metal working in conjunction with woodworking.

You should recognize one of these then. 3 speed, 2 hp belt grinder.

This particular piece of new gear will probably have the most crossover capability. It’s not assembled yet, of course. I have yet to mount the motor and everything. There’s a 10” contact wheel sitting at the side there that’s interchangeable with the platen.
I also have a very adjustable work rest that’s interchangeable with the fixed work rest on it in the pic.

This might be the best built, most solid piece of equipment I’ve ever had. It’s not assembled yet, but just the base section without the motor attached weighs 150lbs. It’s all solid steel plates @ 1/2 and 3/4 inches machined to really tight tolerances.

Imma gonna be a grinding fool

 

[Skyjerk]

Got this assembled today.

This is not a “consumer” grade tool, so while it’s excruciatingly well made, they provide no docs on how to wire up the motor. They provide no wiring at all, no switch, no documentation, no nothing. They just assume if you buy this that you already know all that stuff I guess .

Anyway, I didn’t, but Im good at figuring shit out, so I figured it out.

For a stand I used a couple 6x6x8 pressure treated ties I had left over from building a retaining wall. I cut four pieces at 35” each, and lagged them together with a bunch of 3/8” x 8” lag screws, so I created a solid pillar of wood 11x11x35. Used an 18x18 piece of 3/4” plywood screwed to the top and the bottom and bolted the base plate for the grinder to the top.

I wired in a light switch (20 amp!) to turn it on and off and screwed it to the side.

The whole thing weighs about 250 lbs and is the most stable tool in the shop. It’s a 2 HP motor and even going strait to high the thing doesn’t wiggle even a little

It’ll get a lot of guitar/woodworking use in addition to metal work

 

[charisjapan]

Chris,

Feeling some serious envy over here. I've been messing with some kit knives (no smithing for me, sadly), and using my cheapo 4" belt sander ... a ridiculously poor substitute for a proper monster like that!

Sigh.

Enjoy, Grindjerk!

 

[Skyjerk]

Chris,

Feeling some serious envy over here. I've been messing with some kit knives (no smithing for me, sadly), and using my cheapo 4" belt sander ... a ridiculously poor substitute for a proper monster like that!

Sigh.

Enjoy, Grindjerk!

Yeah this guy is a serious machine.

Prediction: all the knives in my house are going to suddenly be really sharp by tonite

It’ll have to be enough for now. The anvil, forge, and heat treat kiln are all built-to-order items with 6-8 week delivery times :-(

Don’t beat yourself up, though. From what I saw those kit knives look like quality blades...

 

[Dilver]

There’s no truth to what you heard. There is no specific number where you are more at risk.

Risk factors in skydiving are different for everyone, depending on how anal they are about their own safety, the quality of their equipment and the care they take maintaining it, how frequently they participate in the sport, and which particular discipline in skydiving they participate in (RW, FF, CRW, wing suits, etc). Some are riskier than others.

Contrary to what you might think, people that jump more often are statistically safer. Being current in your skills is a big factor in mitigating risk.

Jump numbers have no bearing on that, and there is no correlation between particular numbers and fatal accidents.

If you still associate with the source of that news, you can let them know they are incorrect

FTR, 401 jumps would not be considered a particularly large number of jumps. Most of the people I jump with have considerably more.

Sounds a lot like SCUBA diving. I gave it up when my kids were born. I do miss it, but at least now that they’re older we can snorkel together. Good luck with the ironwork. I have to believe that the occasional skin burns are part of the experience? Ouch.