I do most of my grinding waist high on a work bench. I could show you a fine collection of hooded sweatshirts all burned out across the belly. Remind me how much a leather apron costs. I’m sure it’s less than one sweatshirt.
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I have several with the front pocket in pretty rough shape from grinding and wire wheels snagging into them, but was working with some 16’ sticks of pipe so I couldn’t get them up on the welding table
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What do you do when life hands you a 6 foot long dipstick tube??
Make up a 7 foot long sucker tube:
The first version would only take out ~1 quart/ 1 liter. It hangs up on the filter top edge.
The second version with thinner pvc tubing, and with angles cut ends; does wiggle down past the filter edge. I can get 2-3 quarts out in a session. Ha! Finally figured out that the flat dipstick having a molded plastic round spear-end was to be a guide past the filter housing.
Tubing is ACE Hardware water supply lines and rubber stoppers step drilled as air tight connectors.
Regards
Steve Unruh
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If this isn’t a Captain Obvious tool for Woodgas people then I better mention it.
It’s called a Turbo Blue, and I get them at the dollar store for $3 a piece.
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Here is a good method my friend, who is a welder, taught me for making pipes round, if they are not. For instance if you roll a piece of flat metal and weld it together. If you use an anvil that is only a little smaller than the inside of your pipe you can make it almost perfectly round.
Rindert
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There is a second tip in that picture, it is a short handle persuasion stick is handy for tight spots
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This might be the perfect trick for an air cylinder I have. It has a slight dent in it, which makes the piston sticky.
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I don’t have a nickel metal hydride charger for these replacement batteries. So I am using a 150 watt boost converter. Using a 12vdc SLA battery to power the converter. Then I charge the batteries in 1/2 volt increments. I keep feeling the converter and the battery for overheating. It’s slow, but I don’t need the tools the batteries power yet either, so its working.
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Must be nice to be smart.
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Cody - I’ve heard chicken wire is not great for reinforcing castings. The wire is thin and the weaving pattern lets it stretch a good amount in any one direction. Those are poor qualities for a reinforcing mesh.
Welded wire hardware cloth doesn’t stretch in the squared off directions and is more resistant to stretch in the worst 45 degrees off angle case. The individual wires tend to be of heavier gauge as well making them stronger and resistant to stretching.
Consider the position of the mesh in the casting. You want it where the cracks would show up and that is where the load forces are pulling the casting apart (tensile) rather than pressing it together (compression). As an example - for a cast beam supported on each end… the mesh hugs the bottom edge to reinforce the tensile strength in that spot where it would otherwise be the weakest.
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Since @tcholton717 posted a mention of using a carbon rod from a battery for spot welding with a stick welder. I was poking around, seeing if someone tried to get a puddle with a carbon rod and a mig welder. But I ran into this, which is how to convert your mig into a tig. Someone else might find this useful or at least interesting. 
TFS: HOW to convert your MIG into a TIG Welder - YouTube
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Ordered the four stroke chain saw today.
I will test it a while on gasoline and report what I find and then try and convert it to propane. Scheduled to be here in a week. Amazon prime ain’t what it used to be.
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Thanks for sharing this Don.
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Hey!!? What is the best brand of wire wheel for use with a 4 1/2" side grinder? Which ones don’t shed their wire?
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Ditto, I’m tired of pulling wires out of my stomach and thighs.
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They all will shed wire slowly, but i like Milwaukee and Kimball the best personally they seem to hold on the longest. The dewalt ones are ok but the wire slowly bends and deforms and you loose some of its ability’s, but that happens with the wire cup not a wire wheel
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I use Dewalt. Just because they are brand name and I was at Lowes and picked a couple up. HF are fun if you enjoy picking wire out of your skin. Unlike their flux core wire, they do get some impressive penetration when the come flying off.
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I’ve never known this trick until now. Did you?
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@7.50 the secret is revealed!
No Andy, I didn’t know that, but I sure will be sticking the corner of my shirt tail on the drill press next time.
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