WELDING ROD STORAGE Regardless of the material, after some time, humidity takes its toll, and many rods end up being trashed. Especially susceptible are aluminum, magnesium, and chrome moly. I keep my rods in hermetically sealed homemade tubes of plastic plumbing...
THAT SMELL Many shops are now using CNC machining centers, with coolant tanks/sumps. With time, the coolant will grow a foul-smelling bacterium, especially during the warmer summer months. The cure for foul-smelling is "Coolant Deodorizing Tablets", available from...
TWICE THE SCALE I adapted this rod weighing setup after seeing my friend doing something very similar. If the point of contact with the scale is not the dead center of the bore on each end of the rod, you will not get accurate readings. I turned some mandrels on the...
GUIDE SAVER To avoid cracking the guide when ball broaching liners I made collars that slip fit over the guide. I've used large valve guides, aluminum, and steel round stock to make them. The time invested is quickly offset by not needing to replace cracked guides....
GRINDING THE RAILS When grinding the thin steel oil rails on a ring grinder, lay it on a used cast iron second ring and grind them both together. This reduces the chance of the rail biting or fluttering and damaging it. If you’re careful, you can grind the two for...
ADDED HONE TANK FILTRATION Lay used air filter rolls under your engine block, or other parts being honed, to collect as much grit as possible. It saves you time and money by extending the life of the oil filter on your machine. We triple up the layers directly under...