Slanted Soffits

John, glad to see you're back from "Incommunicadoville" - now, if you can just stop "cheating" by "knowing where the rocks are" :)

knightfly wrote:

Got gas torches and a 250 amp AC-DC arc, only use the gas for heating/bending/brazing anymore. Too much heat, too much distortion. Arc is bad enough for trying to get angles to stay where you put them after welding. Keep drooling over a Miller 251 wire machine, and TIG would definitely be nice (use it at work occasionally) So many toys, so little time... :cry: Steve

Too much heat? Buy yourself a jeweler's oxy/acl torch. I actually use mine more than the big torch these days, especially with aluminum. I can actually braze an aluminum can to another can (top to bottom) with minimum distortion, with that torch. The whole torch is like, 6". It makes for a very small heat spot and because of the size, you have tremendous control. My other torch is good for bigger jobs, but you're right, its easy to burn holes. Just takes practice, and lots of it. Remember when you soldered your first wire how it looked? :-D And BTW, with two $7 fittings, you can run the jeweler's torch off the big bottles.

"Remember when you soldered your first wire how it looked?" - No, actually that was just BEFORE I invented dirt :cry: but I know what you mean - the micro torch sounds fun - bet my size 5 tanks would last a while using that... Yeah, practice is definitely the key to ANYTHING that requires any kind of coordination - I built a keyboard stand out of thin-wall rectangular tubing a guy gave me several years ago, and by the time I finished I could weld 16 gauge steel with stick and not make holes. I need to keep in practice more though, each time I start a project I end up re-learning half of it again. gonna find out before too long, got a design started for a new desk with tilt-out racks all of 1" square tube... Steve

you mean - the micro torch sounds fun - bet my size 5 tanks would last a while using that...

I can run the smaller torch about 50% longer than the larger torch, and its just as hot. Very easy to control. I bought it for brazing aluminum, because the larger "normal" torch was giving me grief because I have limited dexterity these days.

again. gonna find out before too long, got a design started for a new desk with tilt-out racks all of 1" square tube... Steve

We should swap console designs :) I'm not that far away from that myself.

Progress continues, even though it was 45 degrees outside. Brrrrr. I didn't dare wear a coat until it got cooler as the sun was setting, simply because I already set one on fire :(

last three pictures.

I haven't made the bracketry to attach the left-side monitor cage to the wall and ceiling, as I discovered my angles are off just a hair, but thats okay, a 3" long x 1" square tube will fix this, and I can begin to make the mounts. The key is to make mounts that do not translate vibrations, and I found the best thing for this type of weirdo monitor cage - engine mounts :) I tortured the local auto store looking at many different mounts - I want to find small mounts of course, that aren't too homely, yet have a decent rubber pad on them. I'll be back there tomorrow to torture them some more. Rubber good :) Anyway, here is what the cage would look like in place. Ignore all the 2x4's and such, they are just there so I can clamp the cage at the right height and shift it around a little bit without trying to angle it correctly, while balancing it on my shoulder.

So, no one thought monitor cages are cool, huh? :) Anyway, I've done a lot of thinking, measuring, and templating (wasted about 3 lbs of oaktag) and I think soffitting will be just be darn near impossible, and not provide me enough benefit, considering the shape of the space and the lack of soffit surface underneath, so I'm going to finish off the cages, paint them to match what the moulding will be, and call it a day. Or three :) I bought two fire extinquishers today so I can weld indoors, difficult to weld in 33 degree temps when the winds are blowing sideways.