Worked on welding up the rest of the steel bars for this month, so it was a repetitious day crouched over the weld table. Honestly, with the hectic emotional stuff going on the last week, it was nice to be in that quiet, focused place.
One thing that amazes me when doing a lot of welding is how the filler wire just seems to disappear; when I pull out a new piece of filler, it gleams of promise and excitement with it's 36" length. Soon, before you know it, there's just a stub in between your fingers...
I really enjoy the different processes for joining metal and the variety they offer. As an example, when fillet brazing, the whole joint needs to be brought up to temperature to allow for good penetration and even tapering of the edges of the puddle into the base material. A lot of heat radiates from the work, creating a "hot potato", hoping you don't accidentally sacrifice some skin to the piece if touched. In this example, the heat of the Tig puddle is so focused and small, I can have my dainty fingers a mere centimeter away with no acute result...a good layer of thick callous helps :) So, here's what I got done in the morning hours...the last bar is built inside the stem for Martin, who was excited to win it and disappointed that his Luv would not pass through the traditional split front. Kinda like a one piece bar stem combo, but at least this one can rotate ;)
The pups have not been getting out of the house much since the weather has turned cold, so I brought them to the shop with me today. Frankie was a good buddy, sleeping soundly beneath the weld table most the day.
Off to go do some powder, pics of Steve's rear end (the bike, not his) later this weekend.cheers,
rody
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