Friday I sat down to finish up the last of the bars on the June list so that I could focus on forks and stems this next week. Spent an hour cleaning/dusting the shop, wiping down the surfaces, and prepping for some Ti welding. Got the material triple cleaned, dropped my hood and went to strike my arc and FZZZZZZZ. WTF? Reposition and try again...FZZZZZ, nothing more than a weak wandering arc with no love. Ohh, this is not good.
Long story short, I spent the weekend totally taking apart my machine, cleaning every connection, plug, and wire, making a few desparate calls to friends for solutions and/or equipment to borrow, and finally put out a plea for help on the Miller welding forum. I've traced it down to a melted filament in the torch line...I hope. Cause? Well, the filaments that feed the tig torch are like micro-hairs surrounded by a outer sheath of water to keep them cool. During my total break down of my machine, I found that my coolant filter was encased in algae and was restricting the flow. A bit too much heat is all it takes to ruin a weekend of work. Tomorrow morning I'll confirm it with the local weld shop and spend the 350 bucks to get back in business.
So anyways, say a little prayer that I'm up and running Monday so y'all don't have to wait any longer than you already have.
Hitting the rewind buttom a bit, here was Friday morning's project; Doug's Salsa redeux.
Doug had a bit of an "accident", leaving a hole in his top tube adjacent to his head tube. I closed the hole, made a custom gusset plate and welded it in a few months back. I got to re-finishing the frame Thursday and Friday. Behold, his "new" El Mariachi 29er frame in a milky white with blood red decals.
His matching fork and stem complete the kit. Looks pretty clean, should be killer once built.Spring has been pretty wet here of late and I've been trying to get out a few rides a week. Here's a good visual of why I like full length cable housing...
The grimy/sticky mud abounds on the trail and will eat up your cables if left bare and exposed.
The grimy/sticky mud abounds on the trail and will eat up your cables if left bare and exposed.Been feeling pretty good lately and tomorrow night, I'll show ya what I've been using to avoid the big ol BONK. In fact, let's do a little contest. Giving stuff away always makes me feel better.
See y'all tomorrow,
rody
4 comments:
Can imagine you like full length cable housing, espesc. combined with a Rohloff hub :-) Good to see you find some time every now and than to get your bike dirty!
Better watch out, the IMBA/CAMBA guys are going to be mad about you riding on a muddy trail ;)
You know it Roy, rock on!
Michael, proper trail etiquete is to ride straight through the puddles, not around. Just trying to do my part :)
You gonna bring that lanky bod to the open house and race on Saturday? You can get some mud of your own!
cheers,
rody
I may stop by, but probably not hit the race. Sister is up from TN this weekend with her kids so I have to visit with them a bit. Maybe I can drag Karen along if I head out there.
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