taking long straight cuts with oxyacetylene (Is there a trick to it?)

I've got "training wheels" that clamp on the cutting head. All copper, got them from Princess Auto during the brief time they were present in the U.S. I've seen similar gadgets in the welding supply for plasma heads, much higher price, though. Tip to work distance and angle are both adjustable. Also rigs up as a compass for circle cutting. Just get a chunk of wood or angle iron long enough for a fence, get the C-clamp visegrips out, line things up and have at it. Just have to have a steady hand to drag the thing at the right speed.

Stan

I once replaced the in-tank fuel pump in my truck by myself and in under an hour and never ran out of expletives...

Would Ferrite magnets be good for this? Aren't they very cheap indeed and difficult to demagnetise?

Rich Smith

Those two things are often mutually exclusive!

Neodymium is nominated in this case for one simple reason. I have several here readily available.

If i keep demagnetizing them the i'll change to ferrite and use the neodymiums and studfinders which is what i normally keep them handy for. But best to use available parts first

Brent

You want cheap but massively strong Neodynium magnets? Do you have any old (but not too old) computer disk drives? Are they any good? If not, strip them apart, and you will find a pair of flat Nd magnets inside the voice-coil head positioning system. (The heads are on the end of a long arm which pivots. The other end goes into a housing where there are the magnets. It will take a bit of force to get these apart, as they are held by the magnets themselves. Slip and you will get a nasty pinch.

You can release them from the metal plates (which are always the wrong shape) by applying heat to release the Loctite like adhesive, and sliding them free.

Enjoy, DoN.

Thanks Don

I've been suffering from a hugely long string of hard drive reliability that i would just as soon not change so i dont have any spare HDD magnets handy. I did not know however that heat would release the adhesive.

However there is an electronics scrapyard in town that i might need to visit if the Nd button magnets that i have wont cut the mustard

I have found huge differences in the magnets from HDD's. The really good ones that I've found have been from the large drives (physically large - about 4" high). They have multi platters (6 or 8, IIRC) and need to swing that many more arms. The magnets in the single platter drives have hardly been worth the effort.

YMMV, Bob

I don't think that's a kluge at all. That's a neat solution, once I figured out you meant a complete bearing with internal and external races and not just a ball. Thanks, Mike

My bad.... damn English language . It's really nice if the ball bearing actually rolls, too Ken.

Well YOU could try harder! ;-)

-snip-

Thanks for saying that. I've taken apart 3-4 regular drives & haven't been impressed with the magnets. Thought it was just the newer drives. Have to look for some big ones.

Jim

Gee. I replaced the sending unit in the gas tank on my '63 Pontiac Catalina convertible in about the same time, in spite of the fact that the dealer's mechanics insisted that the tank had to be drained and dropped, to reach the top of the tank. I used a stubby Xcelite socket driver, and manages to twist and turn both units, the old one out of the tank, and the new one in without a single expletive. Of course, they didn't believe me.