Modern Vespa

My temps never went above 285°F (sensor under the plug ) on ROM and I wasn't babying the yellow beast.

Think of CHT like a sink filling with water. The throttle's like a drain plug. The trick is to find that magic zone where its stable under load at WOT, and you're able to drain off more heat than you're building up at anything less than that.

What are you running in that yellow beauty? I want all the details

Makes since, plug area where flame starts is hottest, then cools towards the edges.

I'll pm ya.

Don't be coy. Share it for all the world to see!

Are those internal combustion/ignition temperatures and not the cylinder head temperatures?

360c, I think you would know about it (and the plastic shroud)

Scott is right to be interested. This is exactly what happens to CHT temperature (under the plug) when the jetting and cooling are in perfect balance. Not to hot, not too cold, like a fairy tale.

My TIG welding is improving - nothing like 300 welds in a day to sharpen your skills.
knocked to leaf's out today - in a marathon of cut and weld - the ended with a scooter ride to the pub.
Solid day for the sole.


stackin em up.

Weld of the day.

Went back and glanced at my piston top pic. caught something I missed before. you can see that the boost port central one is aimed right at the center of the piston. it is "washing" the piston top clear. thought it was interesting.

I need practice setting up/clamping welds as much as doing the work, I often think. I'm not sure I necessarily want 300 welds worth of practice, but I'm sure it improved your technique as well as your sunburn on any exposed skin.

Gates are looking great. SoCal is really going to be pleased!

hahaha.

one thing that I've gotten much better at - makes a big difference.
I move myself/or the work/ around so that I am drawing the weld toward me at eye level.
It changes everything.

1. I first set up and move my arm to see how it naturally moves without contortions. This is usually 45° to my body.
2. I use a low chair - so that I can lower my head right to weld level. Now I can see it so much better

Those two things allow my arm to track more naturally - giving control - and give me visibility of the weld puddle.

And like you noted - I don't want SoCal complaining about the quality

awesome job!...i had put in a set of driveway gates at my house...used mighty mule openers...dug a pit on one each side of the driveway and jacked some steel conduit under the driveway with a rental electric jackhammer to get the electric to the other side of the driveway for the opener arm

Stacking dimes! Wow!


On openers.. can't remember if you had sorted that already? We used a combo of solar and batteries on our gate opener. Worked a charm. Batteries would last about a year.

I don't know what changed for me, but the last few bits of welding I've done, I feel like they've gone much more smoothly than in the past.

I'm also getting much closer to the work now, but I feel like I can see what's going on with the puddle better than I could previously. I try to make sure the weld area is well-lit, too, so it's not just a blob in the dark while I'm working.

Also, I think I'm getting better at getting my settings correct, especially wire speed, which makes a huge difference with aluminum in the spool gun.

Close to the work with both your eyes and the welding gun = better.
Gas coverage improved.
More visible.

BN - I went with some fancy Italian ones. The instructions are spectacular. Right out of Polini's handbook - if malossi got ahold of it and Salvatore's the explanations.

Box comes with battery backup.
Charges - like a vape - and is there when/if the power fails.
Think they offered a solar panel plug in.
Maybe that will be on the future list.
Tks!

But when. U showed that video of the scoot running backwards (an all time favorite) I didn't see any gate?

You gotta a ranch down there your hiding from us?

I feel your pain...
literally.
laughed when I read this.
It is certainly a DIY crowd.

I got tired just reading it!

Careful with those "instructions" to avoid those gates swinging backwards. I divide my life as BF and AD. Before Flood and After Dough, (read: insurance settlement). The "ranch house" had the gate. It flooded in Hurricane Harvey. 2 feet of water in the casa and garage. Took out 2 Vespas. eeek.

ouch!
well - your next gates:

Well, you do great work Ned!
Yeah, I did that stainless guardrail with a spool gun. I was working with 3/8" thick plate and both 3/16" and 1/8" wall square tube. With those some of those thicknesses it would have been maxing out a TIG welder. My big ESAB welder's spool gun will easily weld 3/8" stainless. The only difficult part is that stainless distorts BIG TIME with heat. Waaaay more than steel or aluminum does. I discuss the MIG or TIG options with my buddy before I started welding his guardrails. I let him know that the MIG welds would look more rudimentary than the sanitary look of a TIG weld. But the MIG welding would be something like 10x faster. He also wanted his stainless guardrails powder coated black, and since powercoat can at times hide sins, we decided to choose MIG welds. It came out pretty nice and once powder coated it looked even nicer. I also welded up the same design stainless guardrail for my parents deck about 6 years ago. I borrowed a friend's Miller TIG welder to do the job. It was around 130~140'(!) long railing that I welded up! It took a crazy long time to do. It definitely tested my sanity. I think my affinity for welding handrails stemmed from my days of SK8ing handrails. I'm definitely not a professional, but every now and then a friend calls me up looking to have me fab up a railing for them.

And check out the view off the back of my parent's deck! They love their railing!

Wow.
Man - I am not the only one to tackle big projects...
Side note - SoCal had me in stitches with his hill back fill project - on our way to Rides of March... thanks for kind words. this is the house I grew up in. y'all have watched me fumble my way to knowledge. oh man - learned this the hard way. had to hack off some threaded tubes that were made from stainless after I welded on. NONE of the threads were aligned anymore! This makes sense - and its exactly where I started with my gates.
But I have had a break through with TIG - worth sharing.

I MIG'd the first gate. Fu'k it was ugly. The issue: my MIG welder is a little 110V unit - max settings just splattered and failed to penetrate.
Meant I had to grind every damn weld back to flat - and it took forever/messy.

So I bit the bullet and pulled out the TIG - with its 240V oomph - expecting it to go super slow.
And it did - at first.
But then I tried a new method - I had seen on YouTube.
I don't think it would work on thin metal as well as it has this 12 gauge & 3/16".
It's called "laywire" and I kind of felt like I was cheating.
Its so damn easy compared to tapping.
And I am fast - with a capital F - with no clean up or splatter to deal with after.

The but welds are flat.
The fillet welds have killer penetration.
The welds are shinny (not dull from overheat) and silver or straw color (= not oxidizing).

The method does take some refinement of settings and finesse.
Works best on thick materials - rather than thin.
Here is what I do:
1. Turn the amperage up. I want it hot - and its easy to move fast as there is no tapping - just pulling the torch along. You have to balance heat with speed.
2. Get a good puddle started first - before you start moving. you can tap one time with filler rod to help - but DONT start moving torch until there is a kick ass puddle formed. Be patient.
3. just put the tip of the filler rod in front of the puddle from an angle - it will melt and get pulled into the puddle as you move your torch. you never really have to move the rod. just "lay it" in front fo where you are going.

The trick is to watch the puddle - which I know generates a lot of eye rolls from anyone who has tried welding with MIG. TIG is different - I can see it clear as day. Every time I advance the torch (about 2 or 3mm), I watch the puddle and wait just a second - for it to sink into the metal and close the "keyhole" formed at its leading edge - then move my hand again forward another 2-3mm. Pic below. I likely did 50 of this ilk today - while welding on the edge pieces.


Got just a scoash hot in the middle section here - as my travel speed slowed a touch too much - but id take this every time. This weld is unmolested - no polish, no cleaning.

I've been impressed by the little bit of aluminum MIG I've done with my spool gun, and just with how easy it's been to get basic steel MIG going as well.

What I know is that I've started to notice welds when I'm out and about in the world and I see a LOT of really crappy welding, especially things like steel railings. So many cold welds. I think a lot of them are stick welding, but they still look like crap and can't be particularly strong.

so true.

It can be pretty common. I just assume that not very many people use an arc welder for welding railings nowadays...at least a small 110v arc welder. It can be very difficult to impossible to find a 110v outlet that can provide enough amps to get the welds hot enough. This past summer I finally decided to remove an amp drop "variable" from my little Lincoln SP 125 Plus MiG welder. The pigtail cord that comes with the welder is only 14awg! I replaced the original 10' cord with a 30' 10awg! No amp drop between the outlet and the welder anymore. Sure, there will be amp drops between the breaker box and the outlet, but I at least mitigated one of them.

oh man - what a smart hack.
noted.

Though I didn't do it, an even better hack would to be to chase down ALL of the 14 gauge wires inside the welder and replace them with something heavier. I still might do that. My electrician buddy has a fancy heavy duty ring terminal crimper (and fancy ring terminals), so if I can get him to bring it over to my place, then I could get even less amp drop from the wires. I think he's more than willing to help since I've done a few simple weld projects for him. So in essence, him helping me would help him!

well... that's just great. now I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend.
(I think we have the same Lincoln buzz box)

Great tip Whodats!! now...add another thing to my project list. I have the earlier '100' buzz box, but still just a fluxcore setup. Never did get that gas conversion...

Just keep in mind that swapping in heavier gauge wires might not do anything at all performance wise. If you're plugging your welder into a 110 outlet that has 14 gauge wires running 100' back to the breaker box, don't expect any sort of improvement. But if one of your circuits has 12 gauge wire going to an outlet, then I WOULD expect hotter welds.

Good clarification. One of the first major projects in my shop, after moving here 2 yrs ago; was to upgrade all the power circuits. New dedicated sub-panel just for the shop, new 12ga wiring for outlets, separate lighting circuits; and a dedicated 220v breaker for the big power stuff. My dad is a commercial electrician, and hooked it all up proper! I just have to do all the finish work, and pay for all that copper

Suppose I am overdue.
I have 3 or 4 crews working on the house on any given day, two full time jobs, and some gates I am fabricating...

Have had to flip the welding helmet up on more than one occasion to take a team's meeting.
One of these times - I will forget and have the video on.
Worse than Jeffrey Toobin?
🙂

Frames for both gates are complete and mounted.
I decided in the end to spray them - rather than opt for powder coat.
Glad: would have nicked and damaged the powder coat by now - with no means to touch up nicely.

Used metallic Rustoleum outa the can.
Matched my other weathered brass pretty nicely.
Think it's gonna fly nicely.

I'm fab'ing the pedestrian gate now.
Already ran the wiring and epoxied in the stainless all thread to bolt it on.
Ran conduit in the posts when I built them - but stuccoed over.
Talk about puckering - had to use claw of hammer to find them - with a guess as to where I put them...


bout as big as my saw can handle

gawd its good to have a mill

welded on some brackets for some fancy screw in self closing hydraulic concealed hinges.
Get er done!

Epoxied 1/2" stainless all thread about 9" back into the pilaster.

Fit the post to the pilaster. Holes in front are hinge receivers. holes on rt are for socket wrench. I will use rubber caps to close them off.

like it grew there. angled top to shed water. Will prime/paint/mount tomorrow.

Driveway gates themselves are up and awaiting wood

Very nice clean work as always. You have a huge bandsaw!

No kidding! You were about to get one of the "About X months elapsed between posts" banners in your thread!

Work looks great, as always. I'll confess that I probably would have forgotten about angling the top of the posts a little to prevent water accumulation. You're one step ahead, as always.

I get that all the time...
🙂

Funny side story.
Had these gates quoted about a decade ago.
By this company I've seen making really beautiful gates.
Steel frame internal construction like I am doing.
Was only $40K back then.

So last weekend - in parking lot of steel supplier - waiting for them to load me up.
In my rearview mirror I see that companies truck pull in.
(You text your space number and they fork lift your steel out to you when pre-ordered).
I could see he was waiting for his steel as well - so I went over and tapped on the window.

Hey - how's it goin?
Window down, yes?

I know ya'lls gates - really nice.
I'm building a few gates on my property.
Similar to your construction.
Have a question - wondering if you would educate me.
Should I glue, screw, or glue and screw my panels on?!

Guy is like - glue and screw.
Grab the gorilla glue from HD thats for wood to steel.

Me - ok - sure. Thanks!
Guy - how big is the gate?
Me - well - actually, its 5 gates all together.
Guy - chuckles - 5 gates? Got any pictures?

20 min later - after I showed him my method for epoxying in the studs to the wall, and the tig welds - guy looks at me and says (dead pan): Do you want a job?

Oh I laughed.
Made my day.
Off to build that pedestrian gate today.
Cheers boys!

This evening's gate porn:


Milled to within .5mm - just like I learned here

Like it grew there

Nicely played sir!

I'd bet a gate company would hire you.

It's always good to have a skill to fall back on. If I could afford a fancy gate like that, I'd hire you!

Your gate porn sure reminds me of Greece, but with better equipment. And you're doing good work with it on a well designed project. Concrete and steel perimeters there too, none of those flimsy 'temporary' wooden fences for them either!

Terry!
That's a nice compliment.
Goal was to make some authentic European style gates.
Funny - running joke in the house - somehow, even the hack work looks good in Europe on those homes with old bones.

More progress this weekend. Built the pedestrian gate.
It's a beast.
Have it in place and welded on the hinges.
Will need to get the posts adjusted to ensure proper closing tomorrow.
Just about time to go plaid, CLAD. have to put the wood on.

Bending the steel top took all my skinny derrière.
Finally got smart and welded what I could - getting some heat in it.
Then I took a mini sledge hammer and pounded the crap out of it until it seemed round.


little CAD work to create the curve shape for the top. I welded on 3/16 x 2.5" sides to create an I beam around the entire thing after this pic was shot.

Careful zoom in will show the detail around the top of the posts where the gate widens.

Schwanky brother CM!

I'm gonna use two of my favorite words to describe it.

That Bitchen gate is Trick!