helping out a buddy.

[doc henderson]

my friend Dallas called and asked if I could help him weld up a cart for his welder.  He showed up with a little buzz box and 2 sticks of angle iron.  This was not my idea, but the old buzz box I had, had two wheels on the back and a swivel caster on the front.  we took some measurements and went to TSC and got two 10 inch wheels with half inch holes and an axle and caps for the ends.  we got a 2 inch swivel caster.  after that was done, we fabed a handle out of 5/8th sucker rod, and then some hooks with 1/4 inch rod.  with all the rain, he has been organizing his shop.



 

the wheels



 

 



 

handle painted, and wire leads on hooks.  he is the buddy the went ERCC (eastern redcedar crazy!)



 

 

 

 

[Texas Ranger]

There are friends, and there are good friends. You are one of the latter.  Good job.

[olcowhand]

Great Job, Doc!
Since my "unofficial" Retirement Jan 8th, I've been doing a great deal of Welding/ Brazing. I recently completed a fab of a small trailer to haul my Lincoln Ranger 8000 Welder/ Generator, and it tries to follow my everywhere.....
And remember: when one helps a friend in need, he is a friend "in deed"- indeed...
Steve

[doc henderson]

well would love to see a pic of your trailer OCH.  Dallas and I are always competing to repay the other back.  If others have projects they did to help out a friend or neighbor, feel free to add it to this post.  We all have our talents and tools.  It feels good to get more use from our tools and make a project faster and more polished when it is done.  we get to try new techniques and hone our skills.  

[scsmith42]

Well done Doc! Simple and effective.

[Ljohnsaw]

I did nearly the exact thing with my Lincoln.  For the handle, I used the top "handle" from an above ground swimming pool ladder.  A piece of 1¼" or so galvi tube in a nearly-180° bend.  Nice and tall so you don't have to bend over to drag it around.  I used a fixed caster in the front.

[doc henderson]

I told him to get a leash to attach to the welder and a belt loop and it could follow him all over the shop.  it rolls nice and stable up right.  over gravel you can lean it back like a two wheel cart on the 10 inch tires.  they must be made to do this, but did not find a wheel and axle kit at TSC.

[mike_belben]

I was guilt/pity tripped into building this total piece of crap boxed shed from a million tuna can gauge pieces for wifes single mom friend.  It took 2 days just to get it assembled. Quite difficult alone with 5 hyper kids going insane.











It was so flimsy i knew it would need bracing inside or someone would just yank a wall open at any midpoint seam. Shes broke, gave me $40 and these 2x3s came out to $38!  I had to provide the screws and bread rack panelling for shelves. 
















That sucked up a lot of gas money and every sunny day in an otherwise stormy week where all i got done was dishes and laundry on "spring break" [since covid they hardly even go to school anymore] while my own shed project waits and waits and waits.

[doc henderson]

hope it comes back to you ten fold Mike!  If the kids get along, maybe she can watch kids so you can get your stuff done someday.  

[thecfarm]

Should try putting a swing set together with 2 grandkids watching and the Grandmother all ready told the grandkids it won't take long to be together.  :  About 4-6 hours later, it's up and going.

[doc henderson]

kids can play in the box.  probably on the slide as it lays on the ground.  in the summer it is the pool.  kids have goggles on and it is a 3 day set up and fill.

[Old Greenhorn]

Nice job Mike, no matter the cost to you (within reason) those things always work in your favor. If nothing else, when the frustration fades, you can at least say, 'yeah, I'm glad she's happy with it'.
 Doc I have a lincoln that looks exactly like your buddy's. My Dad did the exact same mod on it 25 years ago using the wheels off of Scotts fertilizer spreader. Works like a charm still. I should add the hooks for the cables, I have a 50' lead for the power and 25' of welding cable. Thats a lot of cable management.

[Old Greenhorn]

Should try putting a swing set together with 2 grandkids watching and the Grandmother all ready told the grandkids it won't take long to be together.  :  About 4-6 hours later, it's up and going.

And this (at least in my case) is why Dad's and Grandpa's are often referred to as 'grumpy'. :D ;D

[mike_belben]

Well.. There was a period where i was quite aggravated.  It started as "help" build a shed but turned into build a shed while the ladies go to dinner and watch her kids and mine.  Then at the end of day 1 its hurry back and finish tomorrow please because i really really want...

Then its hurry up and get the shelves done.  I had to lay down the law about how prime sunny weather to me is like a saturday night to you and im either charging you $100 a day or youre owing me 3 weekend overnights of babysitting so my wife and i can actually have some time together once every few years.  


The girl is a decent person, just was raised by a space cadet mother who doesnt know how to behave.. It was obvious once i met mom and had a few chats with her without my wife getting in the middle.  Theyre just quirky and a little self centered.. Or may not conscious of others.  Had to be reminded your shed isnt my problem, ive got my own. Now we have a clear understanding and were cool.  She appreciates it and my wife is happy that the two of us get along, as there was some issues there.

[doc henderson]

some people you help and they are falling all over themselves to repay the favor.  some cannot and some will not.  Maybe there is a reason she is a single mom.  sounds mean, but it takes two to tango.  as a pediatrician I deal with it all the time.  most are amazing, but a few use it to there advantage.  we have a lesbian couple we are friends with (in my wife's running group).  My wife was always offering to let me do the jobs they could'nt (although they said they could).  My wife finally figured out when they called, they needed help with something.  OK hate me if you want.  I said not all moms are angels AND I used the word lesbian.  
I like helping people especially those who cannot help themselves.  I will not even start on family.   :D :D :D

[barbender]

Doc I'm not sure how to respond to that last post, so I won't 🤷🏽‍♂️🤪😂

[doc henderson]

prob. best if only one of us gets sent to the woodshed.  I try to tell it like I see it at least, not sure if that is every one else's reality.

[doc henderson]

ok back on track.  my friend Dr john Fan had young kids racing along his street and the 16 y/o who took his parents car, no license, and this is his third accident, lost control and hit his mailbox.  John and his son are involved in our troop. John was raised in China in re-education camps and never remembers not being hungry.  



 



new temp mailbox with ERC post.  he will apply spar and numbers.  it is our old mailbox.




 

 

 

 

[Ljohnsaw]

The road up to my street is a fairly steep hill and an S curve.  The bottom of the S is short and a big sweeping top before it goes back to the left and crests the hill.  Maybe 1/10 mile long.

Anyhow, halfway up the hill on the left side, someone racing up went wide and knocked over a mailbox (wood pole).  Had a temp box for maybe a year.  Built a  nice brick one like your friends.  Probably took a month to build.  About a month after completion, got wiped out.  I guess they got a settlement from the drive and a new river rock one was built by a contractor (I presume as it went up pretty fast).  Couple months go by, wiped out again.  Now they just have a box on a wood pole stuck in a cement block sitting next to the busted up one.

[mike_belben]

my mailbox is a treated pole in a 5 gallon bucket full of firewood and rainwater.  it has never fallen over, even when two barns were blown to pieces.. and is easy to move which has been required a few times to get get big rigs in the gate.  plus its sufficiently redneck and a good directional landmark.  look for the stupid mailbox in a bucket.

[firefighter ontheside]

One of the young guys at the firehouse is finishing his basement.  Me and the other guys at the house have been helping him along with advice, but he's pretty good with construction as it is.  Recently he was getting ready to rebuild the stairs to the basement.  He had bought a yellow pine premade stair tread that had bullnose and all.  I don't remember what the price was, but it was not cheap.  I told him he was going to have to rip it down to 10" and that since it was yellow pine why didn't he just buy some 2x10s and plane them and then route a bullnose.  He said he would do that.  I brought one of my planers to work the next week so he could plane his boards.  I suggested that he plane each piece on both sides and keep going until he got all treads to have a good side.  I think he ended  up with about 1 3/8" treads.  The following week he was going to do the bullnose and had brought a borrowed router and the 3/4" roundover bit he had bought.  He discovered the router had 1/4" shank and the bit was 1/2" which was not surprising for such a large bit.  He was bummed that he would not be able to get the treads done that day, so I suggested that he come to my house after work the next morning and use my router table to get it done.  He showed up about 9 and I put his bit in the router and showed him how to use it.  I watched him do a few to make sure he would be safe and then left him alone.  After he was done he said he had no use for the bit, so he gave me the bit.  The next time at work he showed me the stairs and he had done a very nice job staining and installing them.

[Al_Smith]

Mail boxes ,hmm .Seems to be great sport for country bumkin crowd to take target practice on with beverage bottles ,rocks and baseball bats .On top of that snow plows get their share of them too .I had a spare box set in a 5 gallon bucket full of stone for about 2 months because the ground was frozen and I could not drill a new hole .
The welder  ,Lincoln "tombstone " good machines .The older ones ,copper wound didn't even need a cooling fan ..I've got an antique Lincoln in my shop ,circa 1940 that has a movable core no fan .In my garage at the house a Marquette multi tap my dad had .No fan, might have came over on the Mayflower .Oldies but goodies just like me

[doc henderson]

teaching the woodworking merit badge at scouts last evening.



 

please note the use of safety equipment for teaching purposes including my original pair of Carhart suspenders.  Dr. John Fan was in attendance and took the pic.  @Skeans1 .  my wife is not a fan of me in suspenders, so I wear them most everyday, especially doing flooring and other jobs bending up and down.  

[Tacotodd]

Dang doc, I was just thinking to myself and I said "Self, that's only the 2nd thread that you've seen doc in without his beard that you've grown accustomed to seeing in his avatar, so you're going to have to mention it to him when the time is right." Well, this seems as good a time as any. 

Sorry about the derailment folks, it was bothering me. Boy, do I feel better. 

[doc henderson]

my threads tend to plow a wide girth.   yes I kept the avatar pic, but normally have a beard mid October to at least Jan.  and if camping in the winter, til latter Feb.

[Nebraska]

Doc, I just saw this welder modification and I am going to borrow it for my older version of the same welder if you don't mind. You lots of "good works" there btw.

[doc henderson]

you bet.  it was not my idea, but installed on an old buzz box that was given to me.  it appears they are made to do that.  tractor supply 2 inch front swivel caster with a 3/8th inch bolt.  back wheels with 1/2 inch axle and hole size, with 10 inch wheels.  got the axle caps in the same hardware isle.  handle out of sucker rod.  go for it!

[Nebraska]

Mine had little wheels maybe from a maybe a small kids wagon either way they were way too light the little tires came off and the axle bowed as well.  I took them off.  It would be nice sometimes  if it was more  mobile. 

[doc henderson]

take some measurements and figure the difference from the front with a caster vs the radius of a wheel on an axle.  take a tape measure to the store.  lol

[thecfarm]

Would a 2 wheeler, dolly do it too?

[doc henderson]

that is a good idea.  you would have to tip it, and this can follow being pulled by the leads, (prob. not the best idea).

[Al_Smith]

Much could be said about the Lincoln "tombstones " .The really old ones were a multi tap ,no selector switch .Followed  by the copper wound with a  switch  and then later aluminum  wound .If I'm not mistaken one variation had a rectifier and thus the option of DC but at a reduced heat range . Lincoln must have made millions of them .

[Magicman]

My "Cabin" Lincoln "tombstone" is permanently ratchet strapped to a two wheel dolly.  I attached a tool tray on the back to hold stuff like c-clamps, chipping hammer, wire brush, etc.  A screwtop welding rod canister is zip tied to an upright.  ;D

[barbender]

I've burned a lot of rod with those tombstones. They'll lay a better quality bead than me🤷🏽‍♂️

[mike_belben]

Aluminum is a cheaper copper replacement that seems to have come about as a consequence of wartime shortage or atleast diversion of copper.  The issue is a thermal one.  Copper is more stable tham aluminum so as the machine runs on and on a copper wound unit will have a more consistent arc from first strike to last than an aluminum one. 


Aluminum wound welders need tweaking to stay steady as they get hot and cool.  So say the pipeliners.. And hence the fabled SA-200's fame.  Its copper wound and is a direct DC generator.. Not an AC rectifier.  Really its a huge starter motor with an AC exciter piggybacked on the shaft to generate the field. 

[Remle]

ok back on track.  my friend Dr john Fan had young kids racing along his street and the 16 y/o who took his parents car, no license, and this is his third accident, lost control and hit his mailbox.  John and his son are involved in our troop. John was raised in China in re-education camps and never remembers not being hungry.  



 



new temp mailbox with ERC post.  he will apply spar and numbers.  it is our old mailbox.




 

 

 

Doc
I struggled with this since I read your post as to whether I should even comment on it or not. And my conscience has finally won out, so here goes. I presume you gave him the wooden post, great job !! Not only have you presented a nice gift, you have also brought up a very good point. I don't know the laws in other states, but in NYS it is illegal to put a DFO ( Deadly Fixed Object ) in the highway for a very good reason, your pictures explain it very good. Imagine if, instead of falling in front of the vehicle what the results would have been if the separated portion of the concrete structure had slid up the hood of the vehicle in to the car, serious injury or even the death of the driver/passengers if their were any. Please encourage him to keep the wooden post and get rid of the DFO.. While it's natural to want to protect one's property, is it worth the gamble of taking some one's life because of an error in judgment.. I think not.. now I'm not down playing the drivers actions, but I sure would not want anyone to die because I may have to fix my mail box.

[doc henderson]

your insight and comments are taken in the spirit intended.  I agree.  not sure about the law, but in this subdivision with lots of nice homes, they are majority masonry mailboxes.  this is a residential street.  So it appears that what ever ordinance allows this.  they are at a stand still waiting on insurance.  but the mailbox is about half built up.  good advice, and I am trying to help them as they are Chinese and do not fully comprehend building stuff, and insurance ect.  the mason has built many of the homes and mailboxes in this area, so hopefully he is aware.  glad no one died.  I remember some folks after several issues with people hitting mailboxes (intentionally) they reinforced them to do damage to the cars.  I had a friend who had people run up in the front yard at night and spin tires, ruin lawn.  so his dad mad a board with nails sticking up and painted it green.  they did find the car a block away and figured out who was doing it.  Thanks for the concern @Remle 

[farmfromkansas]

My house is along a state highway, and used to have my mail box hit often.  At first was considering putting a large diameter pipe, filled with concrete to mount my box on, then talked to a deputy, and he said that putting something tough along the highway would cause me to have huge liability, if someone hit it and it killed or injured them.  So put a pivot on a pipe mounted about 3 feet off the road, so if someone hit the box it just spun around a ways.  Worked pretty well, but finally saw where folks were mounting their mail boxes about 10' off the road, and the highway dept would widen the pavement there so the mail man as well as the patron could pull off the lane of traffic to use the mail box.  Asked the local highway man, and he said no.  So talked my neighbor into setting the mail boxes off the road anyway.  Just carried a few buckets of gravel to fill the ruts from pulling up to the mail box.  Neighbor moved away, but both mail boxes are still in the same place, and it is safer for us and the mail man.

[Ianab]

but both mail boxes are still in the same place, and it is safer for us and the mail man.

On the local mail runs, if the driver can't get completely off the road when they stop at the box, you aren't getting any mail. Many have them mounted in the driveway, which means pulling in and backing out, but at least it's clear of the traffic. Others have various pull in bays.  On the quieter back roads it's not so critical, as long as it's in a safe place to stop. 

[samandothers]

I must add a mail box on a 1.5 lane gravel road that has a bank on the side of the of the road where the mail box would be located.  I had considered adding dirt and gravel across the road so the mail person could pull off the road to place the mail in the box.  Not sure that is a good idea as it would almost appear as if the mailbox was sitting in the middle of the road or wide place in the road. 

[Don P]

I'd stop in at the local PO and ask them what they would like. On our roads the ROW is a good bit wider than the road, they might ask the DOT guys to have a little grader incident to make it work better.

[Tacotodd]

I'd stop in at the local PO and ask them what they would like. On our roads the ROW is a good bit wider than the road, they might ask the DOT guys to have a little grader incident to make it work better.

Don't do this as any thing that might have to go through any sort of "committee", just wait until you see the road crew out and offer them "something"  ;) to help make it expedited. Otherwise it's going to be a week from never  :( and that's a bad way to go no matter what, because nobody wins & everyone loses, well, almost everyone. I'll not get into further for knowing that it'll become political.

[doc henderson]

insurance is finally settled.  got some money for my retired friend that helped clean up and dispose of the old brick chunk.   I think his wife knows what she want and should be completed soon.  nearly every house on their street and in the subdivision, has a masonry mailbox.