Other My small Anvil project

Yay!

I'm planning on doing a mig welding course early next year. It's about time I learnt, so I can re-do some of Vikki's brakets without needing several kilo's of bolts to hold them together.

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/

[edit] Good info on Mig here:

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

 

Holy $hit There's a big jump from watermelons to small cars!!!1111
Launching a car from a diy trebuchet would be epic I bet you're gonna pop another old car further down the backyard as a target

NICE /borat

 

Are they now? Should I be stocking up?

So do I understand this correctly, your wife has an expat-career and you get to fill your time with cool stuff?

 

We have been wanting to do a MIG or TIG course for a while, and I tried to convince my wife that I could read a book and be fine; but she insists that for a car chassis I will have proper instruction. women. Well, she does have a point about the front control arms, I probably shouldn't skimp on the knowledge there.

Watermelon, smart car.....same thing. Both get filled with vodka, set alight and sent downrange.

Not quite. I have 2 degrees and will be working on a third, an 11 year career as a Chef including opening 3 restaurants, cooking for the Dali Lama, Yo Yo Ma, and working under 2 James Beard Award winning chefs. I have a 6 year career as a freelance photographer, shooting through out the GCC and southern Africa for some of the largest PR firms representing global companies. Granted, both of those are pretty cool, but trust me, I have worked hard to be good at what I do. It's just my wife and I have different reward systems; hers pay better and are more traditional, mine are more creative and are more useful when the zombies start to pop up. It was a proud moment when my wife started working of a car company and began to get into motors. So she understands the need to build a Locost from scratch, because everything we learn there will be used for the '69 (well, 67-81, can't be that picky) Camaro rebuild. It was her idea that we both get ASE certified in engine repair. LOL......Yes, she drags me (plus the Dachshund of War™, TerrierX™, and Ms. Marie) around the world and lets me explore all sorts of cool stuff.

 

Jasper like just west of Birmingham? Yeah, we might be in the same neck soon.

 

Sorry if I sounded a bit....deprecative. I didn't mean to.
It all sounds very cool.
I didn't mean to smaller your own talents, nor do you need to justify them.
Following a successfull wife may be uncommon, but it's something I envy you for.

 

Yes, Jasper just west of Birmingham. Let me know what and where and I'll try to give you as much info as possible.

 

There are going to be a lot of car projects on here by the time we're done

 

It's the way to do it, IMO. Except when she almost gets you arrested by Syrian secret police, then it's not so great. But, time heals all scars.

 

You know you can't say stuff like that and not tell the entire story, right?

 

I'd start with oxy acetylene first and then do stick.. that's the way I learned in school

then go mig and tig- mig is so easy.. but I noticed a lot of guys who can mig weld totally suck at everything else.. and are inept to learn anything else after =] give them stick and you'll hear a lot of bitching.. give them oxy and the tank explodes

welding is not as easy as it looks either.. the difference between a good welder and a functional welder is pretty big.. I always find myself stopping to look at welds all the time- you can tell the mexican welders (they are usually the best) from your pink hat wearing cowboy

great welders make it look easy.. I'd say I'm right in between functional and great =] but seen the best.. my buddy going through the same classes I did and he's pretty good too.. just seen him do pipe with oxy and it was a little better than mine- he has good control of the puddle

 

It's not even a very good one. There are better ones. Like crossing over the King David Bridge from Jordan on Christmas day, 3 very hot Israeli border guards, a fire, and an old Palestinian lady with a massive LCD. Or the time my wife yelled at me for almost buying an M79 grenade launcher in a Lebanese bar. Or the $2 hand grenades in Yemen.

Yeah, it's been a good life.

 

Same here - I started with oxy welding and then moved onto mig/tig...it was a long time ago now (high school!) but I remember the trickiest being aluminium welding!

...anyway - good luck - it sounds like you are about to have a lot of fun! Safe travels!

PS. What did you make for the dali lama??

 

It was a 13 course vegetarian tasting menu. I'll have to see if I have it scanned somewhere.

 

That would be awesome if you could!

....curiousity killed the cat n' all that

Was this whilste you were living in SA - if you don't mind me asking?

 

No it was when we were living in Minneapolis, and I was working at La Belle Vie. It was before they moved when they were still out in Stillwater. There is a significant Tibetan population there, and both out dishwashers were Tibetan and very active in the community. When His Holiness was coming on a US tour, they asked if they could invite him to dinner and he accepted.

 

Any idea where in this neck of the woods you'll end up? I can warn you of anything or tell you some great places to go...

 

Well, I'm assuming that it well be announced today, and it's not like I'm under an NDA here.

We'll be in Atlanta, GA. Most likely the northern/northwestern suburbs. The 10 acres we want is "under contract" what ever that means, so I'm pushing go get out of the city a bit to increase the plot size. I don't want neighbors complaining to me about the hammering and the dogs need a bit of space (also I want to keep the public away from the cat for their safety). They have been spoiled by the compound we are in now, and having to shoe horn them into a McMansion built 2 feet away from the next house isn't fair. The other option is renting a commercial space, which I would prefer not to do.

Edit: So it's official, my wife is booked on a plane on Friday the 14th, she'll start on the 17th. The house should be packed the 18th or 19th, the animals will be shipped on the 20th on the same flight as I am. Not to shabby when you consider we found out on the 7th. It's been a little hectic. All forging operations are on hold until the 40ft shipping container arrives, which should take 4-6 weeks.

 

You were in Lebnon, Israel, Syria, Palestine and SA...
So when you say "Car Company" you mean the Car Industry of America?

Btw...I thought Israel won't let you into the country when you have a Syrian stamp in your passport? The motorcycle guys traveling from europe to africa have to meddle with multiple passports.

 

My wife works for GM, so it's a global company. This will be our first assignment with them in the US, and most likely after this we'll be off to the global office in Shanghai. But, yes, every one thinks one or the both of us works for that particular company.

Israel will let you in with any stamps, most arab (except Egypt and Jordan...and Bahrain I think) countries won't let you in if you have an Israeli stamp. In fact, Lebanon has a guy between passport control and customs whose only job is to look for Israeli stamps. To avoid this, you fly into Amman and take a taxi to the King David bridge. There they place a slip of paper in your passport, stamp the exit visa. Then you take the bus to the bridge, get out, walk across the center, get back on a bus to the boarder station where the Israelis stamp your entry on the slip. Then you take a taxi to Jerusalem. On the way out, reverse. The trick is not to piss anyone off, since they'll stamp your passport instead..then you are screwed because you have a stamp with no corresponding stamp from the other side.