hole about 10mm dia along 20mm thk ali plate 200mm through?

I have stolen the casters off of a couple of mine for other projects.

You are right I considered it, but went with other priorities including learning a lot of building skills first to get the ourbuilding in order. Machine tools would have gone through a winter with everything very damp. Did alright with my mineral processing experiments during "the land of perpetual darkness" with a month January into February where someone commented in the pub that they never went out for that month.

No machine tool yet - but thanks for the suggestion...

Best wishes all.

Would be useful for sawing-up weld samples. thanks

Hello again and thanks for responses. I found my original idea non-viable after doing some heat calculations. The change of design meant yes surface water-cooling channels in "clamped-on blocks" with gaskets - suggested here and rightly so - would be the way to go. Changes the ali. I need to order. Thanks for the input and suggestions. Rich S

Would be useful for sawing-up weld samples. thanks

------------------------

I use mine for rough and finish carpentry and even cutting firewood, with a

6/10 TPI blade, and EMT electrical conduit with a 24 or 32 TPI blade. It was perfect for cutting smooth and square ends in 6" landscaping timbers for a retaining wall. It cut all the steel for my sawmill, overhead gantry and tractor bucket loader.

Its hardest task was shortening a W10x30 steel beam for a house restoration, that took separate cuts from both sides. It had no trouble with the 4" square x 1/4" supporting columns.

You might find a lot of construction experience in this group, though American house building practice evolved away from British due to our plentiful pine timber and weather extremes. Masonry or steel are standard for commercial buildings but not houses. It's generally concrete block or brick above ground, poured concrete below, cut stone is rare. Interior wall covering is almost always sheetrock, which is plaster sandwiched between cardboard.

haven't seen much of the stucco exterior that became common in postwar Germany, or their Rolladen window shutters. There's much variation here, including log cabins, round yurts and geodesic domes. At a crowded party in a yurt I asked my dog to go sit in a corner, and she walked all around it looking for one.

areas that get snow the lowest beam-supported floor may be slightly raised a foot or three above ground level atop a concrete basement with small windows for lighting along the upper edge. I think that's why ground and first floor are the same here.

? ? My sister's husband restored their ~1790 farmhouse and added a barn using traditional timber framing. I've used it for firewood storage sheds with simpler exposed metal fasteners and less custom joinery with hand tools. I can make panel doors for cabinets from smaller and lighter stock and replaced or rebuilt the deteriorating exterior deck, doors and windows on this house.

This is the borrowed tool that enabled me to cover all the exterior door and window trim with white aluminum flashing after replacing it with pressure treated wood.

? Our electrical standards are different. The supply is 240 volt 60 Hz, center-tapped at the utility transformer to give two 120 legs or "phases" for wall outlets and small appliances. Each circuit breaker or fuse supplies a linear string of outlets on typically 12 gauge (3.3 mm^2) pairs with a separate safety ground, no ring mains like you have. Ceiling lights are on different breakers from the wall outlets so one tripped breaker leaves a light source available. Higher powered equipment like stoves and water heaters take 240V. I used the 240V 30A circuit that had powered an electric fireplace heater for my 60 gallon air compressor.

When tracing outlet circuit breakers a vacuum cleaner on the floor makes a low pitched sound that carries better than voice or music.

Hello again and thanks for responses. I found my original idea non-viable after doing some heat calculations. The change of design meant yes surface water-cooling channels in "clamped-on blocks" with gaskets - suggested here and rightly so - would be the way to go. Changes the ali. I need to order. Thanks for the input and suggestions. Rich S

-----------------------------

I helped build an industrial test stand that rapidly temperature cycled automotive ignition modules on copper plate heatsinks with copper tubing hard soldered (95/5) to the back. The copper was bent into U channels for stiffness to keep the contact surface flat.

The circulating fluid was Therminol that tolerates a much wider temperature range than water, which the system would have alternately frozen and turned into high pressure steam.

Strip heaters are available if you want to start at a controlled elevated temperature. ?

The circulating fluid was Therminol that tolerates a much wider temperature range than water, which the system would have alternately frozen and turned into high pressure steam.

---------------------------- The fluid may have been UCON from Dow. Both were mentioned.

Easy alternatives are car (ethylene glycol) and RV (propylene glycol) which have higher boiling points. Both are flammable and car antifreeze is toxic. Junkyard car parts could circulate and cool them.

? Another to look into is silicone brake fluid though it's not ideal either.

I was wondering how the system would react to water entering only after the metal became hot, if the sudden shrinkage might permanently warp the flat contact surface. That might also affect the plumbing, a valve on the outlet would cause steam to blast back through the inlet or pump.

Thanks for these valuable hints.

Good point. I'd get the water at room temperature circulating before welding, and add ice to the reservoir after the first weld runs.

Good point. I'd get the water at room temperature circulating before welding, and add ice to the reservoir after the first weld runs.

------------------------------------

Did you design the cooling plate?

I don't know a good way to cut channels in aluminum without machine tools other than a woodworking circular saw. Before I bought the milling machine I found out the hard way that a drill press wasn't meant for lateral pressure on the cutting tool. The old slow manual way was with a narrow "cape" chisel. It could connect rows of closely spaced blind holes. Allowing the holes to overlap is asking for trouble.

I struggled to shape metal with manual and woodworking tools for a long time before buying the machine tools that made those tasks so much easier. Sometimes I still need the blacksmithing anvil, leg vise, chisels and files when the job is too big or awkward for my machines.

My 36# anvil is more useful than one might expect. I just used it to reform copper ring terminals on welding cable to a larger size with a tapered punch. This works well to crimp on new ones:

? It hasn't shown the problems mentioned in some reviews. The dies are marked only in AWG sizes. Different sizes may be needed for bare vs insulated terminals or thick or thin walled ones. The crimp is neater if the insulation has been slid back first. I used that supplier's hammer crimper attached to the anvil for larger welding cable.

Since I don't have the proper very expensive tools for larger sized wire and terminals I solder the wire end with only enough to cover and connect it and not wick all the way through and create a stress concentration for bending or vibration failure. The wire is usually fine stranded welding or silicone insulated, which stands the heat better than nylon or PVC.

? I pull test after crimping, use a micro-Ohmmeter to measure resistance and a thermal camera to find hot spots at full load that need correction. Crimping without the recommended tool and sometimes with an old one or supposed alternative has still been somewhat sketchy. Car audio CCA wire and circuit breakers failed my testing.

**** Carbide wood cutting tools work on aluminum. They tend to be a little fast, and tend to chip weld, but a core box, and a router will work. either with a guide fence or in a router table. Nearly any cutting oil improves the results. WD40 and tap magic are commonly suggested, but I've come to like dark cutting oil on relatively fast aluminum milling jobs done manually.

Before I bought the milling > machine I found out the hard way that a drill press wasn't meant for lateral pressure on the cutting tool.

**** Yeah, I had a cross slide vise and was experimenting with that about the time I joined this group. It seems clever, but it just doesn't work.

The old slow manual way was with a > narrow "cape" chisel. It could connect rows of closely spaced blind holes. Allowing the holes to overlap is asking for trouble. >

**** That is very brute force and slow, but that doesn't mean it won't work. Skilled craftsmen cut steel molds with a hammer and a chisel at one point.

**** Except for mild steel and aluminum wood tools are generally beyond most common fabrication metals. You might bring up my earlier comment about hammer and chisel, but a chisel has been a metal working tool for a long time, and there are multiple established metal working processes for using a chisel.

Sometimes I still need the blacksmithing anvil, leg vise, > chisels and files when the job is too big or awkward for my machines. >

**** Ah, there you go. LOL.

**** I know you don't like videos because you believe what they teach/show could often be summarized in a few sentences, but I follow a variety of craft and trade video channels online. There are decent (by today's standards, not the masters of yore) blacksmiths who have produced videos showing its possible to use an anvil as light as a sledge hammer head half buried in the dirt for useful work. I have two anvils mounted on assembled wood bases now, but for a long time I used a piece of 1 inch armor plate for most of my anvil type work. I still have it. I absolutely believe you can use a 36# anvil to do some useful work.

I just used it to > reform copper ring terminals on welding cable to a larger size with a tapered punch.

**** And now you are a jeweler. I've had rings resized. Maybe nicer tools, but the same basic techniques.

This works well to crimp on new ones: >

?

**** I don't recall if this was one of them, but Will Prouse (A solar and lithium battery reviewer on YouTube) recently did high resistance testing on various connectors and crimpers from the cheapest hammer crimpers to the most expensive hydraulic crimpers, and found one or two of the cheap hydraulics like that produced some of the best quality results.

**** In Will's video the hammer crimper was okay, but far from among the best. I have a hammer crimper, and a hydraulic crimper, and a compound leverage crimper (I use the last one for wire rope sleeves).

**** I have never been able to get enough heat into it for soldering large cables and lugs except with a torch.

**** Probably not applicable to large gage wire, but I remember my dad saying the Air Force sent him to soldering school. This very issue is one of the things they covered. How to make solder connections without creating break points. Its also why I am pretty sure that marine wiring always uses a connector and never solder. Of course the corrosion that gets into everything is worse than a broken wire, but far be it from me to argue with a bureaucrat.

tools other than a woodworking circular saw.

**** Carbide wood cutting tools work on aluminum. They tend to be a little fast, and tend to chip weld, but a core box, and a router will work. either with a guide fence or in a router table. Nearly any cutting oil improves the results. WD40 and tap magic are commonly suggested, but I've come to like dark cutting oil on relatively fast aluminum milling jobs done manually.

WWWWW

Before I bought the milling

lateral pressure on the cutting tool.

**** Yeah, I had a cross slide vise and was experimenting with that about the time I joined this group. It seems clever, but it just doesn't work.

The old slow manual way was with a

holes. Allowing the holes to overlap is asking for trouble.

**** That is very brute force and slow, but that doesn't mean it won't work. Skilled craftsmen cut steel molds with a hammer and a chisel at one point.

long time before buying the machine tools that made those tasks so much easier.

**** Except for mild steel and aluminum wood tools are generally beyond most common fabrication metals. You might bring up my earlier comment about hammer and chisel, but a chisel has been a metal working tool for a long time, and there are multiple established metal working processes for using a chisel.

Sometimes I still need the blacksmithing anvil, leg vise,

**** Ah, there you go. LOL. **** I know you don't like videos because you believe what they teach/show could often be summarized in a few sentences, but I follow a variety of craft and trade video channels online. There are decent (by today's standards, not the masters of yore) blacksmiths who have produced videos showing its possible to use an anvil as light as a sledge hammer head half buried in the dirt for useful work. I have two anvils mounted on assembled wood bases now, but for a long time I used a piece of 1 inch armor plate for most of my anvil type work. I still have it. I absolutely believe you can use a 36# anvil to do some useful work.

WWWWW

I just used it to

**** And now you are a jeweler. I've had rings resized. Maybe nicer tools, but the same basic techniques.

This works well to crimp on new ones:

**** I don't recall if this was one of them, but Will Prouse (A solar and lithium battery reviewer on YouTube) recently did high resistance testing on various connectors and crimpers from the cheapest hammer crimpers to the most expensive hydraulic crimpers, and found one or two of the cheap hydraulics like that produced some of the best quality results. **** In Will's video the hammer crimper was okay, but far from among the best. I have a hammer crimper, and a hydraulic crimper, and a compound leverage crimper (I use the last one for wire rope sleeves).

JWWWWW I followed his advice to buy Litime before the tax credit ended but haven't checked since. I found an Iwiss compound hex crimper awkward and uncertain. With the hydraulic tool one hand can close the jaws to snug contact while the other controls the wire and terminal.

My main objection to videos is the large amount of my limited cellular data allotment they consume for the little hard info they disclose. I think content should be dense enough that you have to skip back and watch again sometimes, as in a textbook, or I do with the weather forecast which I record.

I should average no more than 300~350MB per day and a brief Amazon search or graphics-heavy news item can consume 100. A spreadsheet I wrote tells me where I should be each morning.

I'd use copper crimp sleeves on steel wire if the stores carried them, but they have only aluminum. Copper tubing didn't seem like an acceptably strong substitute though I used it for the chimney brush cable which stays outdoors.

wire and terminals I solder the wire end with only enough to cover and connect it and not wick all the way through

**** I have never been able to get enough heat into it for soldering large cables and lugs except with a torch.

JWWWWW My home iron is an 80W adjustable Hakko that can handle 8 AWG, barely. I use a propane torch for 6 and larger, mainly for Andersons with solder cups. Fine 63/37 solder from flea markets allows better control of the amount in the joint. Pulling it through folded paper removes the oxide.

The wire is usually fine stranded welding or silicone insulated, which stands the heat better than nylon or PVC.

**** Probably not applicable to large gage wire, but I remember my dad saying the Air Force sent him to soldering school. This very issue is one of the things they covered. How to make solder connections without creating break points. Its also why I am pretty sure that marine wiring always uses a connector and never solder. Of course the corrosion that gets into everything is worse than a broken wire, but far be it from me to argue with a bureaucrat.

JWWWWW I had NSA (No Such Agency) soldering training, because I trained to repair their crypto machines. The goal was to make the repair indistinguishable from the original assembly. Like at the rifle range, after instruction the sergeant watched me practice and moved on without advice to the next guy.

Only four of us graduated, all with technical degrees. After the Vietnam draft ended the Army couldn't recruit the necessary skill level and degraded the course from component replacement to board swapping.

In industry the proper ratchet crimper was always supplied and I didn't need to solder afterwards. The crimpers I found at flea markets were either worn and needed shimming to pass drill bit shank qualification, or an aftermarket imitation sold cheap because it wasn't quite right. I beat on and test them until they work, as determined by measuring and dissecting a sample.

The fine stranded wire I use is larger than solid, 7 or 19 strand and may need a larger sized or wedged open crimp barrel. Wedging open with a punch allows fine stranded 10 AWG to fit a round 45A Anderson pin. 8 AWG requires a U crimp pin. A screwdriver blade can force silicone insulation into a PP45 housing but I have to trim back other insulation.

Machinery was always wired with stranded MTW-rated (Machine Tool Wire) wire and crimp terminals, never solid Romex. Solid wire was allowed only for short jumpers on circuit boards. The reason given were that stranded better survived vibration and later modification, for which we left a 'service loop' sufficient for 3 replacement crimps. Machines that didn't vibrate still had to survive the truck trip from NH to Detroit.

The cabling to door panel controls ran vertically along the hinge for most of its height, so the wires would twist rather than bend. The control logic was relays on the back panel since microprocessors had only just been introduced. Relay logic was easy for me after the complexity of crypto.

You are right I considered it, but went with other priorities including learning a lot of building skills first to get the ourbuilding in order. Machine tools would have gone through a winter with everything very damp. Did alright with my mineral processing experiments during "the land of perpetual darkness" with a month January into February where someone commented in the pub that they never went out for that month.

No machine tool yet - but thanks for the suggestion...

Best wishes all.

--------------------------------------- This is what a very skilled old time machinist could do with a drill press and lathe:

Hello there Jim, Bob, everyone

For sealed-system water-cooling, I thought of this:

_ ---------------- | |XXXXXXXXXXXX | |XXXXXXXXXXXX ---------------- - w a |aluminium->

t e r

I thought of welding on a sheet-metal extension - sort of "[" shaped through which water flows.

I am about to go out and try some welding. I am completely changing plans.

I have got several plates of ali. and will rotate them around. One run per pass by where I am welding.

Only if I were to get good results, "sealed-system" water-cooling would be looked-to...

It turns out to look like "the devil's own job" to get a sample large enough, ie. a multi-run weld volume - which has the properties of single-run (fillet?) weld on a large extent&mass of ali. plate (like welding-up a boat/ship).

It's the heat buildup issue...

Reg

Hello there Jim, Bob, everyone

For sealed-system water-cooling, I thought of this:

_

---------------- | |XXXXXXXXXXXX | |XXXXXXXXXXXX

---------------- - w a |aluminium->

t e r

I thought of welding on a sheet-metal extension - sort of "[" shaped through which water flows.

I am about to go out and try some welding. I am completely changing plans.

I have got several plates of ali. and will rotate them around. One run per pass by where I am welding.

Only if I were to get good results, "sealed-system" water-cooling would be looked-to...

It turns out to look like "the devil's own job" to get a sample large enough, ie. a multi-run weld volume - which has the properties of single-run (fillet?) weld on a large extent&mass of ali. plate (like welding-up a boat/ship).

It's the heat buildup issue...

Reg

---------------------------- I wonder if aluminium tubing attached with Zn+Al brazing rod would do.

I acquired a bundle of cutoffs of silicone heater hose which is much more flexible than reinforced rubber and would be good for connecting closely spaced straight tubing sections.

I have no idea exactly what you are doing, but I have heard of people wrapping wet rags around the gear case of an outboard lower to keep from cooking gear oil and shaft seals while doing skeg repairs. Because skeg repairs tend to be limited and far from the actual gear case I don't think pros do it that way. I think they just make the weld in very small sections to limit heat input. If they are close to the gear case they just dump the oil, and pull the seals. BUT, I have heard of it. They idea scares the living bejeeebers out of me for electrocution risk, but seeing as you have welded around water quite a lot you can better evaluate that risk than I could.

Sheet aluminium is difficult to bend accurately without a brake machine, and needs experience even with one. Purchased channel extrusions might give you less trouble.

I have the Central Machinery version of this, which is tricky to adjust and get good results from. The previous owner had given up on it.

?

0.062" 6061 pushes its limits, 0.050" 5052 works better.

I use an 8" bench shear, like big scissors, to cut large sheets down to the size it can take.