Larry Ellison's sports car and "billet" book

[HTRN]

A similar situation exists with Ti con rods - they tried them in Top Fuel, in an attempt to get a longer lifespan out of the connecting rods. The problem became that they didn't soak up any of the shockwave, and instead transmitted it right to the crank. Cranks they used to get 50 passes out of, now got less than 10.


HTRN

[Highspeed]

I learned welding in a custom bicycle shop.

One of my best friends used to compete on bicycles, road racing, and also built frames for himself and other racers.
He's in a different line of work nowadays and gave me his remaining stock of steel tubing. It's one of those steels which you have to braze rather than weld ( fine by me, I like brazing ), in order to keep it's strength. I'm not sure what it is exactly without walking down to the workshop and looking at the label, but it's basically a souped up version of Reynolds 531. I've had it kicking around for a couple of years and nearly turned it into suppressor cans at one point.

It's currently looking good for bracing the bodyshell of my stupid little French 'race car'

[workinwifdakids]

Y'all are going to kill me, but one of my lifetime dreams is to put together a brand-new looking VW Bus. This thread has my itch going to do just that.

[ButchS1066]

Y'all are going to kill me, but one of my lifetime dreams is to put together a brand-new looking VW Bus. This thread has my itch going to do just that.

Nothing wrong with that, Microbusses are cool. Always wanted one that'd had the middle 4 feet sectioned out of it, till I got to ride in one so modified.

short bus.jpg

[FelixEstrella]

I learned welding in a custom bicycle shop.

Which shop did you work at?

[Netpackrat]

I wouldn't even try to - building a buck and then using a "Polymer hammer in a rivet gun"(sorta handheld planishing hammer) to form it, and then iron out the last of it with a wheel would probably be the best way to go.

Kent demonstrated this technique briefly in the workshop today, pretty neat. I don't have space for a power hammer right now, but I do have a nice 3x rivet gun, so I'll be getting one of the flow forming kits and a shot bag before long. Spent $183 dollars today on welding eyewear; it was either good luck or shrewd planning to hold the workshops starting on the day the Alaska PFDs got direct deposited. All of the hammers, slappers, etc. that he brought up for the class have been getting people's names written on them in magic marker, so I don't think he's going to have much to take home. The wheel and the power hammer made a one way trip too.

I've been re-thinking my plan of building my own wheel, because after the demo today, it became clear that if it wasn't set up JUST right, results might not be so good. Doesn't mean I won't still do it, but at least if I do, I'll know what I am getting into before ordering parts.

Tomorrow is all on welding aluminum with oxy-acetylene. I've built some aluminum fuel tanks using TIG before, but my previous attempts with gas have been sub optimal. Kent gave a couple short demos yesterday and today after the forming classes (not all the same students all 3 days, so he was showing what is possible), and I'm looking forward to giving it another crack with good instruction, the right materials, and better eyewear than I had last time.

[Netpackrat]

The real reason more aircraft weren't made of titanium wasn't the cost (the Russians had basically unlimited amounts of the stuff in the 60s and 70s), it was that excepting the most extreme outliers of performance (highest heat and highest pressure differentials generally), aluminum performed better.

The subject of welding titanium came up, and Kent mentioned that the Russians weld it with gas. They developed a special flux that will allow you to weld titanium with oxy-acetylene, and he's tried unsuccessfully to get his hands on some. He said they are more than happy to sell you hardware, but they won't sell the technology.

[Jericho941]

Y'all are going to kill me, but one of my lifetime dreams is to put together a brand-new looking VW Bus. This thread has my itch going to do just that.

No abuse here. Hell, I just want a Schwimmwagen for less than a hundred grand. And, uh, the money for it.

[HTRN]

I wouldn't even try to - building a buck and then using a "Polymer hammer in a rivet gun"(sorta handheld planishing hammer) to form it, and then iron out the last of it with a wheel would probably be the best way to go.

Kent demonstrated this technique briefly in the workshop today, pretty neat.

Isn't it? I' saw video somewhere of a guy making cycle tank halves using this method.

I've been re-thinking my plan of building my own wheel, because after the demo today, it became clear that if it wasn't set up JUST right, results might not be so good. Doesn't mean I won't still do it, but at least if I do, I'll know what I am getting into before ordering parts.

Building an English Wheel isn't rocket science - just buy good wheels(there's a guy on IIRC, Metalmeet that sells them by the set at a reasonable price), and take a good look at how others are built. You may want to buy lindsays book on it. The key is rigidity, despite having that big effin throat.


HTRN

[Netpackrat]

If I build my own, I'm buying Kent's kit. I was totally impressed, and he is really picky about making English wheels run right. Left the last class today having only spent $290 on additional tools, but $150 of that was on one rectangular welding lens. The goggles to house them were $38, plus I bought some welding flux, a slapper, and a spoon. I still have most of a full cow hide, so I may try my hand at making my own shot bags, but it probably isn't worth the effort compared to buying them. I need to get some mallets too.