And what did we buy today?

With aluminum, you can braze, stick, TIG, or use a spool gun with a MIG welder.
I plan to try the brazing option first, as I have the Alumite brazing rods from Harbor freight. The stick option is probably the gnarliest, judging from the Youtube videos I've seen, but it does get the job done. Most people would probably opt for the spool gun.

I also recall seeing a video where aluminum wire was used in a standard MIG setup, though there can be issues with the softness of the wire and potential contamination if steel wire has been used in the gun previously.
 
I’ve tig welded it b4 but don’t own a tig welder myself. I have a project to do in aluminum and do have a ac/dc stick welder. Can’t really afford a tig machine at the moment and paying the shop to do it would cost as much or more than buying a tig rig.

Was just curious about actually stick welding with it.....I’ll check out the YT, thx.
 
Wallet squeaked open for a 3 piece pliers set from Cdn Tire. Payed a little more for the premium chrome-vanadium steel, as I am so tired of pliers and cutters getting nicked and bent on a job.
Yesterday was Costco wine day, 2 boxes of Cab, 2 bottles of Prosecco, and 1 bottle of Bordeaux Superieure to try for first time.
More beer to come as Guiness is at rock bottom $19/case this week.
Through the plethora of liquor store flyers this week (a little concerning frankly) I see no mention of my beloved Molson Export and Fireside beers; I fear they probably failed their marketing trial runs and are now toast.
 
With aluminum, you can braze, stick, TIG, or use a spool gun with a MIG welder.

I also recall seeing a video where aluminum wire was used in a standard MIG setup, though there can be issues with the softness of the wire and potential contamination if steel wire has been used in the gun previously.

From my Bicycling days - I had heard from reliable sources that:
IF you have access to the proper equipment, TIG welding it with the proper wire-feed setup (gotta' KNOW what specific alloy you're working with...) is supposed to be one of the ways to get the cleanest and nice-looking welds on Aluminum (Klein used it on their framesets and Blackburn used it on their rack accessories - all of which were really nice)
 
Sounds like a good case for water/methanol injection.
Have you used the 4 electrode plugs?
I was watching a dyno video of a 165hp, supercharged Vrod yesterday, sounded really nice!

Always amazes me that in "Cream City" (HOME-Base for HD), you almost NEVER see a V-Rod around here. It seems like all of the "Harley Guys" are only into the old-school type models.

Worked with a kid that had a pretty highly-modded Mitsubishi EVO-Ten. That one made CRAY-ZEE power if you filled it up with E-85 and hit a switch to put the "tune" into a specific mode.
 
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On trips of a few hundred miles, The Volvo XC-90 gets a mileage boost/economic benefit slightly greater than the cost of upgrading to a higher octane mix, the Ford Expedition gets no such benefit -- both are great when you get those awful icey roads through the hills of PA's version of I-80.

The Volvo is mostly driven by wifey and she requires new brakes so frequently the cost far outweighs any benefit from higher octane!

Our 2020 Subie is our 3rd Turbocharged vehicle. It does not REQUIRE High-Octane gasoline. NO mention of this anywhere within the Owner's Manual or on the Fuel Filler door. (Probably a relatively "mild-boost" setup with a nice short run from the Air-Air Intercooler to the Intake.) Although once the break-in period passes, I'll have to do some experiments on mileage with a fresh full tank of each and do some reading on-line. (It uses the same Engine as the Ascent, and those have been around for about a year.)

Our other car is a 2016 VW Golf TSi "SportWagon". Again, a relatively mild turbo setup. THAT one does seem to notice and do better with higher octane gas.

Previous car that I miss was a 2004 Volvo S60-R for a brief moment in time when Pre-Gheely Volvo turned their Engineers loose on a relatively "Serious" Sport-Sedan. That one had a high-pressure Turbo Inline 5-banger and several other "halo"-level goodies and REQUIRED 87 Octane or Better (Ran noticeably smoother when I got out of the SE Wisconsin Zone and could get 89 with NO alcohol in it...)
 
Chris, hit a couple of 32" monitors! I use them as my vision is not what it used to be.

I like to run one on the right vertical for PDFs and the main monitor horizontal.
 

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That's a pretty neat idea.

I'm going to put schematics on the top monitor and the PCB on the lower one. I hate switching views all the time. Right now I'm running Firefox on the lower screen and Thunderbird on the top one. It's pretty weird man!

Now that I mention it, I should check on updates to Thunderbird.

I dropped my 20" monitor while changing these out. There's no going back now.

-Chris

Edit: I was being cautious when I mounted the stands not knowing how much droop there might be. Looks like there is about 3.5cm to lose. Make that 3cm so they don't touch that often.

Using these mounts was pretty difficult. Thank goodness these 24" monitors were light.
 

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Some Akai sw-30 jet stream speakers for the desk (been looking for a pair at a decent price for some time) and some Richard Allan CG8T drivers for ... I'm not sure what but a summer project ... Probably open baffle. Hoping to pick up both this weekend (same seller on TradeMe). He had also listed some lovely AR18s and vintage SEAS drivers, both of which went just a little beyond what I was willing (able?) to pay.

Also picked up a cute little valve radio, looks rough around the edges and not tested but the valves glow apparently, it usually doesn't take much to get these going, but I'll probably just make a Bluetooth speaker instead and try to sell or gift it since it looks so cool. $1.50 plus shipping. Screenshot_20191214_003413.jpg Screenshot_20191214_003444.jpg Screenshot_20191214_003507.jpg
 
32" monitors! I use them as my vision is not what it used to be.

In the past 5 years I have gone from a 24 inch monitor to a 43 inch 4K TV for my main monitor. This took three iterations (and two mprescription changes in my glasses) so my secondary monitor is now the 27 inch LG display that was the primary and the 24 is now the only display on a lonely computer that sees little attention. The 43 inch Walmart TV was actually cheaper ($229) than the 27 inch LG computer monitor was 5 years ago at Sams Club ($249). The 43 inch 4K TV is far easier for me to read when it's full of open windows, than the "little" 27 is. I got the 4K TV 4 black Fridays ago. I looked around a bit this year and it seems that small screen (under 50 inch) 4K TV's have vanished from the market.

PCB layouts get layout on the big screen, schematic on small.
 
A brand-new headshell for an AR-XA turntable I purchased for a modest sum several weeks ago. The original wasn't compatible with an Ortofon 2m Blue cartridge without some serious mutilation, which I wasn't about to do.

Sounds a whole heck of a lot better than ye olde Realistic R47EB cartridge that came with the deck originally - even on that old goofy-looking tonearm (is it me, or does that thing look like something Elmer Fudd would've designed?)...


Be vewwy qwiet... we're pwaying wecords... :rolleyes:
 

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Be aware of the H2O pump being inside the engine of all Ford transverse V6's

Don't know if this was intended for me since I just bought a Ford, but my van has a 2.5L 4 cylinder Duratec engine. The water pump is external and the cams are driven by a chain.....these things are important to me. I googled the engine design right from the used car dealer's office.

I used to race 4 cylinder turbo Dodges in the 80's and I replaced the timing belt every two years. Still managed to break one when I hit second gear while aiming for 4th. Fortunately the timing belt and front motor mount were the only casualties. The old Dodge 2.2L motor was not an interference design, so no broken / bent valves.
 
A brand-new headshell for an AR-XA turntable I purchased for a modest sum several weeks ago. The original wasn't compatible with an Ortofon 2m Blue cartridge without some serious mutilation, which I wasn't about to do.

Sounds a whole heck of a lot better than ye olde Realistic R47EB cartridge that came with the deck originally - even on that old goofy-looking tonearm (is it me, or does that thing look like something Elmer Fudd would've designed?)...

Be vewwy qwiet... we're pwaying wecords... :rolleyes:

It’s “typical” Old-School AR - kinda fugly, but EFFECTIVE. If it’s set-up properly, the sound will more than make-up for the looks...