What did you do in your garage today..?

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sburns said:
That is version 2, or the deluxe upgraded model.
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Removing the top plate and leaving the uprights in place would be convenient if you want to grab the whole thing and take it into the hotel with you without fumbling with unstrapping the bag, but might not be worth the effort.

Personally, I'd probably just glue the top plate in place as previously suggested. It already looks really good. A simpler tool-free sorta-quick-detach method would be to just replace the 4 bolts in the uprights with hand knob bolts, although they are ridiculously expensive for what they are.
 
Ash said:
method would be to just replace the 4 bolts in the uprights with hand knob bolts, although they are ridiculously expensive for what they are.
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Or weld a large washer to the end of the bolt. Easy to finger tight and then anything screwdriver like can be used to tighten them further.
 
I slammed the rear end of my Wing with short struts to the point where I had to cut the kickstand.
I cut and tacked it together 3 times before I had it short enough.
There should be a program for figuring out how much to remove. I got lucky and only had to cut/weld once when I lowered the killer. But my buddy ended up on repeat a few times after lowering his.
 
timtune said:
There should be a program for figuring out how much to remove. I got lucky and only had to cut/weld once when I lowered the killer. But my buddy ended up on repeat a few times after lowering his.
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It's just a geometry problem. Figure it out may be almost as much work as trial and error adjustments. I'd need to draw it to make sure I got it right but as a first cut measure length of kickstand before modification and height of frame where kickstand attaches (while leaned to appropriate angle) before and after modification. New kickstand length is probably Old length/old height*new height. Now, this would give you less stability as reach is less. In reality, you probably want a stronger kickstand at a flatter angle to maintain stability. It may actually be longer than the original.
 
Since welders have come up a couple of times in the context of the luggage rack topics, would this microscopic 120V stick welder be a suitable starting point for moving beyond bolt-together fabrication methods? I don't have 240v in the garage, hence the 120v. Storage space is a primary concern, and that thing is literally the size of a lunchbox, doesn't require gas cylinders, and can live on a shelf.

This would just for light stuff like the aforementioned luggage racks, little brackets on the trailer, tacking nuts onto things, etc. Not for welding kickstands. Pretty welds are not a requirement. A very long time ago I took a weekend MIG welding course at a community college for fun, but otherwise this would be complete novice stuff.
 
Ash said:
Since welders have come up a couple of times in the context of the luggage rack topics, would this microscopic 120V stick welder be a suitable starting point for moving beyond bolt-together fabrication methods? I don't have 240v in the garage, hence the 120v. Storage space is a primary concern, and that thing is literally the size of a lunchbox, doesn't require gas cylinders, and can live on a shelf.

This would just for light stuff like the aforementioned luggage racks, little brackets on the trailer, tacking nuts onto things, etc. Not for welding kickstands. Pretty welds are not a requirement. A very long time ago I took a weekend MIG welding course at a community college for fun, but otherwise this would be complete novice stuff.
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Some.of the welding groups on Facebook aren't entirely snobby. Search and you can find Harbour freight and Amazon welders that are cheap and recommended by people that know their stuff.
 
GreyGhost said:
Some.of the welding groups on Facebook aren't entirely snobby. Search and you can find Harbour freight and Amazon welders that are cheap and recommended by people that know their stuff.
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Hmm. I'll have to think about that, as it would require joining Facebook. GTAM fills all of my social media needs - there's nothing quite like a regional motorcycle forum to get your home renovation tips, tax advice, and welding guidance.
 
Welder advice: No matter what you buy, you regret not buying a bigger/better one.
... that means there are always lots of great deals on used welders
... and if you plan on welding motorcycle stuff, get a TIG
... and not to a welder snob, but buy name brand, that way when the thing breaks down you can get parts... and new welders gots more bells and whistles than new cars. I learned on a welder with 3 settings: amperage, on, off. My current TIG looks like a jet cockpit
 
bitzz said:
Welder advice: No matter what you buy, you regret not buying a bigger/better one.
... that means there are always lots of great deals on used welders
... and if you plan on welding motorcycle stuff, get a TIG
... and not to a welder snob, but buy name brand, that way when the thing breaks down you can get parts... and new welders gots more bells and whistles than new cars. I learned on a welder with 3 settings: amperage, on, off. My current TIG looks like a jet cockpit
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Maybe. With modern inverter welders, let's be honest, very few will ever be repaired. Cost of parts is so high that even if they are technically available, most will go straight to the dump if they let the smoke out. He's looking at a <$200 welder. If it dies, he'll buy another one. If he buys a $1000 Miller and it dies, he won't be excited to buy an $800 board to get it going again.

Simple welder is easier for the new person to pick up. Some of the tig jet cockpit setups are a blessing for a master but a curse for a new welder as there are so many ways to screw up the arc and make it difficult to weld. Some welders have started making things easier for new people by letting you enter parameters like material/thickness/direction/etc and the welder software sets things up close to something that may work (theoretically). I have no idea if that setup was done by a programmer or a welder though nor which models have it.
 
I'm pretty sure I've seen that mini welder on sale for $90 before, and would consider it a disposable learning tool. The accessories like helmet, gloves and clamps will probably add up to be more than the welder itself.
 
Ash said:
Since welders have come up a couple of times in the context of the luggage rack topics, would this microscopic 120V stick welder be a suitable starting point for moving beyond bolt-together fabrication methods? I don't have 240v in the garage, hence the 120v. Storage space is a primary concern, and that thing is literally the size of a lunchbox, doesn't require gas cylinders, and can live on a shelf.

This would just for light stuff like the aforementioned luggage racks, little brackets on the trailer, tacking nuts onto things, etc. Not for welding kickstands. Pretty welds are not a requirement. A very long time ago I took a weekend MIG welding course at a community college for fun, but otherwise this would be complete novice stuff.
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You don't need 240V My cheap 120v wire feed welder is AWESOME for most of the stuff I do. It's about the size of a small cooler or microwave. Lives under the bench on wheels. So handy. Unlike stick you are always starting close to the work.
Bells and whistles? On/off w/ 4 power settings and a wire feed rate knob. It has provision for a gas bottle/mig but I just find fluxcore wire does everthing I ask of it.
 
timtune said:
You don't need 240V My cheap 120v wire feed welder is AWESOME for most of the stuff I do. It's about the size of a small cooler or microwave. Lives under the bench on wheels. So handy. Unlike stick you are always starting close to the work.
Bells and whistles? On/off w/ 4 power settings and a wire feed rate knob. It has provision for a gas bottle/mig but I just find fluxcore wire does everthing I ask of it.
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Does yours use a regular 15A plug? I've only got 15A circuits in the garage to work with, and I wasn't clear if the larger units require a 20A circuit (eg: the cheapo PowerFist fluxcore machine has a max amperage draw of 23A. Even the mini stick machine has a max draw of 20A, but has a 15A plug on it).

edit: the manuals for both of these say they require a 20A circuit, despite the 15A plug on the little one.

Is a flux core machine easier to use or significantly better at some things than stick? Skill-wise, I'm guessing the main difference is just figuring out the wire feed rate?
 
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Ash said:
Does yours use a regular 15A plug? I've only got 15A circuits in the garage to work with, and I wasn't clear if the larger units require a 20A circuit (eg: the cheapo PowerFist fluxcore machine has a max amperage draw of 23A. Even the mini stick machine has a max draw of 20A, but has a 15A plug on it).

Is a flux core machine easier to use or significantly better at some things than stick? Skill-wise, I'm guessing the main difference is just figuring out the wire feed rate?
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Mine kicks the 15a breaker all the time when turned hot enough to weld nicely.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
 
Ash said:
Does yours use a regular 15A plug? I've only got 15A circuits in the garage to work with, and I wasn't clear if the larger units require a 20A circuit (eg: the cheapo PowerFist fluxcore machine has a max amperage draw of 23A. Even the mini stick machine has a max draw of 20A, but has a 15A plug on it).

edit: the manuals for both of these say they require a 20A circuit, despite the 15A plug on the little one.

Is a flux core machine easier to use or significantly better at some things than stick? Skill-wise, I'm guessing the main difference is just figuring out the wire feed rate?
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It depends what you are welding. Welder only draws max amps at max setting. If you keep it to 75% or less, 15A should work. Manuals will say 20 amp circuit needed as people will turn the dial to max and then complain about breaker popping.
 
Ash said:
Since welders have come up a couple of times in the context of the luggage rack topics, would this microscopic 120V stick welder be a suitable starting point for moving beyond bolt-together fabrication methods? I don't have 240v in the garage, hence the 120v. Storage space is a primary concern, and that thing is literally the size of a lunchbox, doesn't require gas cylinders, and can live on a shelf.

This would just for light stuff like the aforementioned luggage racks, little brackets on the trailer, tacking nuts onto things, etc. Not for welding kickstands. Pretty welds are not a requirement. A very long time ago I took a weekend MIG welding course at a community college for fun, but otherwise this would be complete novice stuff.
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He’ll I may look into one of those. I bought a welder before from a GTAMer but got overwhelmed and sold it for what I paid for it.

Need a small hobby welder that won’t be missed if broken / damaged and I can play around with.

Have all the other accessories (helmet / shield / etc) so just need a small, cheap, hobby welder.
 
Ash said:
Does yours use a regular 15A plug? I've only got 15A circuits in the garage to work with, and I wasn't clear if the larger units require a 20A circuit (eg: the cheapo PowerFist fluxcore machine has a max amperage draw of 23A. Even the mini stick machine has a max draw of 20A, but has a 15A plug on it).

edit: the manuals for both of these say they require a 20A circuit, despite the 15A plug on the little one.

Is a flux core machine easier to use or significantly better at some things than stick? Skill-wise, I'm guessing the main difference is just figuring out the wire feed rate?
Click to expand...
Yes it works good on a 15a circuit. Power settings 123 show a 15a and setting 4 shows 20a. Setting 4 works fine on the 15.
Unlike stick you can make contact, drop the lid, and then pull the trigger. Stick is a bit hit and miss as you have to start away from the work. Feed rate is easy to dial in.
 
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