Subject: Wilton vises

From: [email-masked] (Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans)
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 93 20:05:43 CST

In looking for a vise, I came across a used--
apparantly quite old, but little used--4" Wilton
vise that looks a lot sturdier and better made
than many new vises.  Anybody know anything about
these...in particular if the asking price of $50
is reasonable?
 
..Richard

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From: [email-masked] (Eisele)
Date: 14 Dec 1993 05:49:40 -0500

Howard Anders ([email-masked]) wrote:
: I am told by a person I know, that next to TIG or MIG welding, the next "best"
: thing for welding Al is oxy-hydrogen. i.e. replacing the acetylene bottle
: & reg in your oxy-acet set with a cylinder of hydrogen and appropriate reg.
: I'm told the hoses, torch, and tips can all stay the same.
: Anyone had any experience with this & can enlighten me further??
: (Reason being, I can't afford a TIG welder at $3,000+ but maybe I could
: afford a H2 cylinder & reg at a few 100's of $) Any comments welcome.
: p.s. I only want to do "casual" weld of Al, but would like to get a
: reasonably good quality job.

I haven't actually done any oxy-hydrogen welding, but I expect that the
limitation on what you can weld is whether or not the hot water-vapor
produced will react with your weld metal.  Water vapor should react with
molten aluminum, where CO2 will not.  Unless there is some other factor
that I don't know about, I'd suggest that if a metal can't be electroplated
from aqueous solution, then you won't be able to get a good weld with
oxy-hydrogen (which would mean that you could barely weld steel with one,
and nothing more reactive like aluminum or magnesium)  Another thing that
might be a problem is hydrogen embrittlement in the steel.  This probably
explains why oxy-acetylene is more popular for welding (lowest hydrogen
content of any high-energy gaseous fuel that I know of).  Any body else
ever try this, or know for sure from other sources?

-- 
Tim Eisele  	Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering  
Michigan Tech. University   [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (f.w.kerfoot..iii)
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1993 13:34:27 GMT

>From article <[email-masked]>, by [email-masked] (Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans):

Wilton is a supplier of high quality vises. A new 4" Wilton is, I believe,
in the several hundred dollar range, so a good condition used 4" Wilton
suonds reasonable. Look at the condition of the jaws, as well as the general
condition of the vise. The jaws tend to get beat up. Replacement jaws
are available, but a pair are in the $50 range.

Frank Kerfoot
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Basse)
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1993 22:12:29 GMT

> ever try this, or know for sure from other sources?

Every year at the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) annual Convention
at Oshkosh Wisconsin there is an oxy-hydrogen Aluminum welding educational 
workshop.  It deals mainly with welding sheet aluminum using aluminum wire as
filler rods and a borax based flux.  It appears to work fairly well.  They
recommend wearing neodymium glass spectacles when welding to filter the bright
yellow from the flame caused by the borax flux.  The EAA should be able to help
with any references you may want.  They can be contacted in Oshkosh Wis.  And
by the way, they use basically unmodified oxy-acetylene rigs with the acetylene
regulator replaced by a  H2 regulator and bottle.  If I remember correctly, I
think they also require a tip approximately two sizes larger then for equivalent
oxy-acetylene welding.  The oxy-hydrogen flame is almost colorless (until it
hits the borax) and requires a somewhat special procedure to adjust the torch
which if I remember correctly involves holding the flame on a firebrick and 
adjusting for a properly shaped hot spot on the brick.  The EAA should have 
printed materials which fill in the details on this.  Hope this helps.
Hank

--
Hank Basse      | IBM internal: basse@basse
512 838-1442    | [email-masked]
Only my opinion.| [email-masked]