Sunday, June 30, 2013

6011 vs. 6013

When welding at home with a small AC welder you are limited to a smaller selection of electrodes than with a DC welder.  The two common electrodes for AC use are 6011 and 6013. 

E6011 has deep penetration and requires oscillation when welding it and therefore more skill.  I've had good experiences welding it at school, but when using it with my welder it just seems like it isn't powerful enough to weld easily.  The maximum amperage on my welder is 100, but it hooks up to a 115v outlet so it may not give enough volts to maintain a proper arc.  The arc is much more aggressive than that of 6013 and the difference is noticeable.  The flux coating on 6011 has cellulose and potassium.  I think it smells good, but I may be the exception.  6011 is very similar to the DC-only 6010, but the slag coating looks more shiny like a snail trail.

E6013 has shallow penetration and is easy to weld, it doesn't require oscillation, just drag it.  It has a soft arc and looks prettier.  It is likely good for sheet metal.  See picture below:
6011 vs 6013
For me, I'm going to be using 6013 because It works better and strikes easier.

I was going to make a video demonstrating the differences, but it looked like crap and would bring shame to Steve Bleile.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Quick Hydroponic Cucumber update

It has been awhile since I have last posted, but I wanted to share how my cucumbers have done since the "great flood". The lemon cucumber plants have actually recovered and are growing better than ever now. There are numerous female flowers opening up across all the plants. I am excited to see that they are able to recover. I'm not going to fill the reservoir again, so they'll be going until the water runs dry.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Building a Machine Table

I'm really excited for my new machine snow cone maker that's coming, but I needed a table for it because the thing is heavy as heck.  It also needed wheels for portability.

The top and bottom are made of 1" square tubing with .200" plate welded on it and the supporting members are 2" square tubing.  The thing was MIG welded together, and castors welded to the bottom.  Here is a step by step account:

First cutting the pieces of square tubing with the abrasive saw. Then deburring them with the Apex disk sander.

ACE 55 VF Tomato


I only bought one full sized tomato seed variety last year and it happened to be this one. This plant gets big. Be sure to stake it or cage it. I tried growing it using the Kratky method. The fruit did not grow that large for me, so I neglected to post a photo of it. I may try growing it again in soil next year.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Spring comes to an end -- Spring Garden Weekly Update 9

This update will be the last one of the so-called titled "spring" updates. I will be resuming updates once my final exams are done under the title of "summer" weekly updates. Since most of everything is grown, I will mostly focus on weekly harvesting and other major changes to the garden.

UPSTAIRS

Left side balcony garden
Right side balcony garden












Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Troubleshooting the hydroponic system (Kratky method)

As good and as cheap as it was to construct my Kratky method hydroponic setup, it has not been without its problems. My first planting run of it was merely experimental for me to learn and test the system limitations and I have discovered several.

Kratky Garden

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Self sufficiency and recycling are evil

When you grow your own food, the amount of unnecessary work done to grow, transport and store food in a store is reduced.  It would be great if we all could grow our own food.  Not only is it more efficient, it reduces waste and increases the quality of freshness as well as giving you control over what goes into the soil.  The same concept goes for building things.  Even though with mass production, the amount of time spent to build one part is reduced, you still have to transport it, store it, and pay for it.  Scrap Attack prides itself on building stuff out of used materials to help the environment and prevent the world from looking like Idiocracy in the future.  The "evil" part is this; self sufficiency doesn't create jobs.  This is the problem with modern economics, it thinks it is the only thing that exists (C.R.E.A.M.)  So if self sufficiency is bad for the economy, then to hell with the economy.

The same logic in the 70's hindered America's ability to compete in the global economy because they were scared this new fancy automated CNC stuff would eliminate jobs.  I see no problem, I would rather work less than more, but the problem is getting paid for it. 

Watch this, I will use modern economics to make graffiti a good thing:  it creates jobs and supports local hardware stores (provided they pay for the paint).  The same excuses have been used to justify war.  War is the most profitable industry.  The point is, when you die it won't make a difference how much money you have, you are still going to die.  Therefore the natural ways of life are still more powerful than money, so we should consider giving the environment a little more respect, because after all, without it we wouldn't exist.