Yup. But going forward, how do you even know what you’re buying? You can’t see through your computer screen and really know how thick a piece of metal actually is, or anything like that. You used to go to a store and actually look at what you were going to get before you paid. And yeah we paid a lot more back then, I get that. It’s not that simple anymore. My thing anymore is used and surplus stores, ‘new old stock’, stuff like that.
Of course some stuff you can buy online. I recently bought four 1/8"x8" black nipples online from a ‘big box’ store. I got exactly what I expected. I guess its just hard to even make a cheezy version of a black nipple, and I figured that. Everything has gotten more complicated.
But it’s complicated for the sellers too. And you can pick up some really great deals out there, if you know what you are doing. Wheelin and dealin was never my thing, but I can do it if I have to.
Rindert
Apparently you can use a tig torch to do heat shrinking of metal to get warps out.
You don’t always unless you pay attention to the details in the descriptions. Then sometimes you find another retailer with a better description. Like typically, any cheap crap from china has poor descriptions on amazon, but Ebay or sometimes even aliexpress will have better descriptions. For more expensive stuff you have to read reviews or watch videos, and glean out certain facts, knowing that some of the reviews are placed there by the retailer. A lot of times the chinese stuff is rebadged with a different sticker. Then you see the similar stuff at HF… Google is your friend.
But it is still sometimes a crapshoot.
The worst is like looking up stuff that you don’t know the name of like the OEM-T connector. And I still couldn’t find them on digikey or mouser, which is surprising to me…
My floor jack finally went poof… I need a new seal kit, and well of course the thing is like 30 years old, and they no longer sell the seal kit… But I ran into this neat little site, that tells you how to measure a bunch of dimensions.
Edit: Apparently, they sell the seal kit but it is backordered for 3 weeks from their supplier in China. I asked them what seal sizes they had, so I could order from Parker, and he said ‘here is the owners manual’. The parts store used to fix them for 60 bucks plus the 15 dollars plus the seal kit. Now it is 15 plus 15 in shipping. I thought this was going to be like drop it off and pick it back up type of job…
have you ever looked at surpluscenter. com. They sometimes have great deals, I use them for hydraulic components.
kent
My Sears 1 1/2 ton floor jack’s pumping system died (leaking) about 5 years ago at the grand old age of about 50.
I couldn’t get parts either. But I ended up making a new piston whose dimensions fit the O rings and the plunger thingy that I could buy.
That is kind of why I posted how to measure the dimensions links and bottle jacks aren’t that much different, but I am not sure you can get them apart anymore. Parker makes all sorts of seals and stuff. I am going to measure all the rings and seals when I get the new kit, because this is just beyond stupid. I don’t want to take it apart and measure now, because I can see this potentially getting put in a box waiting for two weeks that turns into waiting until spring.
I just saw this video about rust removal. has anyone else seen it?
If it is real, he is pretty thorough, and makes a lot of sense. The comment that caught my attention said “… i submerged a cast aluminium water pump with metal bolts entirely seized and full of corrosion, after the treatment it spun freely, removed all corrosion and all bolts were removed with ease. …” (he also mentioned testing with an ultrasonic cleaner on other stuff, so he may have been using it for this as well.) I have a couple of steel hangers someone put in a cast piece of aluminum, and i can’t get them out… so maybe this will work…
The recipe:
- Per 1L of H2O
1: 100grams Citric Acid.
2: 40grams Sodium Carbonate == 63Grams Sodium Bicarbonate == 30grams Sodium Hydroxide.
After reaction has completed, add final ingredient.
3: Arbitrary amount of liquid dish soap.
Interesting video. I’ll give his method a try. After I burned up the stuff in my shop fire, but the time I get some of the salvageable stuff out of the debris a lot of it was rusted. I went through a lot of Evaporust trying to salvage what I could. For more surface types of rust I always liked phosphoric acid brushed on. When the surface turns chalky white the rust is gone. Now for bigger stuff I use washing soda and electrolysis, but this method is similar without having to mess with a power supply and anodes.
I have used straight white vinegar for soaking red rusty threads on galv fittings and leave them soaking for 2 or 3 days come out looking like new , but you must oil them straight away or they start rusting all over again . try it and be amazed at how the simple natural things work
Dave
I have used saved pickle juice and will sometimes add 75% vinegar to it if there is a large amount of rust. Like if I want to remove the mill scale from a big piece of steel. 5% molasses in water is a cheaper way to do it.
Rindert
One way to store steel rods and bars in the hobby metal shop:
Here I show a few of my storage methods for bars, rods, tubes, etc,. but then I focus on one way that has worked out well for me.
A welding gap spanning trick.
S.U.
I was reading about Giorgio’s welding, and had a hard time stopping. Dave, how did the desulphating go, if I may ask?
Thanks!
Hi Kent , i tried a couple more methods and i got some improvement but not much, the inverter welding way was a no go it didn’t do much to help , but i didn’t go mad so maybe that’s why maybe it needs longer to do any good , i was worried that over gassing would cause a explosion
The Veriac way is a better choice ,that is more regulated and you choose the voltage and current you are putting into the cells , i did 3 at a time and kept them going for 2 days at a time till the hydrometer was showing a better SG , but i did not manage to get them real good , so maybe my cells were past the point or maybe i should have tipped them out and cleaned up the insides first , iwill never know as i have moved onto cheaper LIFEPO4 cells these days .
Dave
I’m way behind on my dow reading but I noticed about the burn . If it’s an open wound burn honey can help a lot I plantain is probably the best I know of for unexposed burns .
Dave, thanks for the update. I know what you mean. We bought a bunch of LiFePO4 batteries also; the price has come down a lot, and I really like the light weight.
Anyone used or have a laser welder? I am seeing 3 in 1 and 4 in 1 laser welders. They say cleaning, cutting and welding, and the 4th option is welding aluminum from like 400-1000 on aliexpress. are these going to be the new ‘hot’ thing, or do they have serious drawbacks?
Sean I think the 400 dollar variants are just one of the components of a laser welder. Everywhere I’m looking I check the drop down menu and the actual welder is averaging 4000 USD.
Oh you are right! That stinks. I hate it when they do that epecially when I get fooled. 
They looked kind of nice to have though. But I have to wait for the knockoffs of the chinese knockoffs
I am curious to hear what the real users of these batteries have to say about these advices. BruceJ. Dave in Australia. DavidB. Others.
Regards
Steve Unruh