Just a comment for those who "have a buddy with a welder": (this may not apply to everyone) but every now and then offer to pick up the tab on the next bottle of gas or spool of wire. ($30'ish) If anything when you show up at your welder friends house, bring along a few grinding disks or fresh pair of welding gloves. ($1.25-$10) And of course the six pack or case of :beer: helps too. Just remember fabing equipment runs on "consumable parts and accessories" and not only "thanks". Oh and those 5-8' "Scraps" of metal actually are worth something if someone is willing to hang onto them!

Had some guys drop by the house needing some parts stuck together before hitting the trails. After two hours of my Saturday AM welding on my back and they tossed out the "thanks got'a get going" as I cleaned up and put another new 4.5" disk on the grinder. I don't think I will be so willing to help them out next time.

Thanks for listing to my rant... :shaking:

I could not agree more! They think he has a welder, a torch, a grinder, a bender, etc. You can just do a little welding here, a little welding there. The next thing you know your argon bottle is almost empty, the torches have no gas, now I got no shit to work on your own krap with. They do not understand it is not cheap
to keep all this equipment in operating order. Remember
THIS IS NOT A CHARITY!!!!:mad3:

Originally posted by ROCK HUGGER
IRemember
THIS IS NOT A CHARITY!!!!:mad3:

Some buddy :flipoff2:

Next time just let him use your buzz box and some 6011 rod. If he can't weld on his own shiat, then he ought to pay someone who can.

amen helocat

arndog

Don't get me started...

I used to have this "friend" who called me once to give him a hand for a "few minutes" to get a stuck pin out of a snow plow on his dad's truck. I was really busy working on a project and it was raining so I told him that it was not a good time. He persisted, so I agreed to help him out for a "few minutes".

He shows up late, we get started and after 30 minutes with a rose bud tip and sledge hammer that pin is not going anywhere. I tell him that is all the time I have and that I have to get back to work. The little fawker gets attitude about it!

IT hit me like a ton of bricks: The guy's dad is rich as fawk and owned a chain of veteranarian clinics and the guy I was helping was some just pathetic rich kid. Why the hell was I wasteing my time helping out someone that would never help me?

Now that same kid has a "Land Cruiser Fabrication Business" and I really doubt that he'd help anyone out for free. I also highly doubt that if I ever went to one of his rich daddy's animal hospitals that his "daddy" would treat my dog for free because I helped his son fix his "drive once a year, top of the line, new plow truck" that he keeps on his 500 acre farm...

Moral of the story, some people don't need your help.

The other moral of the story is that once you get a welder, plasma cutter, torch, engine crane, tranmission jack, etc you suddenly have a lot of friends.

On the trail, it's your duty to help the people that you are wheeling with but it is not your duty to make sure that their shit gets there. I would do all that I could to fix someone truck on the trail and I work on my buddies trucks more than I work on my own so please don't think that I am a TOTAL asshole. I just think that it's really silly that people think the stuff is free. It cost a LOT of money.

-Stumbaugh

I feel your pain brothers...........some people will leech you to death if you let them.

This reminds me of a license plate frame one of the guys at work has.

" 'Thanks alot' Doesn't put gas in my boat":D

hey john, i wonder who your talking about :)

how's the garage coming? now you'll really have people coming over to ask you for help.

dave

Hey Dave,

Yea, you know who I am talking about. :rolleyes: Rymes with Fag...

Garage is almost done. I Just need to put the siding on and run some power out to it.

How do you like those tires?

As far as the garage goes, I've told the guys that I hang out with that if they did not show up to help build the garage that their shit was not going to roll in there.

Bill showed up yesterday and helped me install the garage door...

Later,

Stumbaugh

Originally posted by Stumbaugh

As far as the garage goes, I've told the guys that I hang out with that if they did not show up to help build the garage that their shit was not going to roll in there.

Bill showed up yesterday and helped me install the garage door...

Later,

Stumbaugh

That is the only way to do it! Help with it or forget it. Good for Bill, he was always a good man. (Have no idea who he is but he is helping out so that makes him good in my book!) I just ordered my JD4 tubing bender yesterday, and after laying out $2100+ I have evoked the pay to use it rule! The way I see it those who want to use it can contribute $100. Heck if I get any good with the thing I may just say no to all and bill an hourly rate to do it for them!

Originally posted by helocat


That is the only way to do it! Help with it or forget it. Good for Bill, he was always a good man. (Have no idea who he is but he is helping out so that makes him good in my book!) I just ordered my JD4 tubing bender yesterday, and after laying out $2100+ I have evoked the pay to use it rule! The way I see it those who want to use it can contribute $100. Heck if I get any good with the thing I may just say no to all and bill an hourly rate to do it for them!

LOL! Actually makes sense as I would like to buy some additional dies for mine (I have 1", 1.5" and 2") and might as well have folks chip in to use it... so I can build up a "die fund" for some additional dies.

Hmmm... might ask a neighbor to "store it" while I am building the new shop (there will be a few months until the shop is built, otherwise it goes into storage).

Tom :usa:

Originally posted by roundrocktom


LOL! Actually makes sense as I would like to buy some additional dies for mine (I have 1", 1.5" and 2") and might as well have folks chip in to use it... so I can build up a "die fund" for some additional dies.

Tom :usa:

Tom, I know I am getting off my original thread, but do you find the 1" die used much? I ordered the 2" and 1.5" with the unit. I almost got the 1" and probably will in the end. I just wish I could bend 2.5 Muffler pipe, then I would be set!:bounce: :bounce:

Originally posted by helocat


Tom, I know I am getting off my original thread, but do you find the 1" die used much? I ordered the 2" and 1.5" with the unit. I almost got the 1" and probably will in the end. I just wish I could bend 2.5 Muffler pipe, then I would be set!:bounce: :bounce:

The 1" is for go-karts! & roof racks. :)

Got a metal lathe? You can make a die out of aluminum or MDF! Yes, glued up mdf. Not saying the die will last more than a few bends, but if you need something for a few bends... The aluminum die is for 3" pipe for an air intake. Wasn't pretty, but functional.

Guy Lautard has a series of books called "Bedside Reader" on machine & metal work. Fun collection of tips, hints, stories. In one he explained how to use a spread sheet to calculate cutting a large concave or convex radius. I have a dial indicator on the carriage slide. So it is just a series of cuts, slide the carriage,
cut, ect... end result is a curved surface.

Tom :usa:

what most guys fail to see is your time that you spend assisting them. I don't let too many people use my stuff without my being there....so my day is shot assisting. these guys like to press their luck and try to come by every other weekend...........negative ghostrider, the pattern is full!

Originally posted by roundrocktom


The 1" is for go-karts! & roof racks. :)

Got a metal lathe? You can make a die out of aluminum or MDF! Yes, glued up mdf. Not saying the die will last more than a few bends, but if you need something for a few bends... The aluminum die is for 3" pipe for an air intake. Wasn't pretty, but functional.

Guy Lautard has a series of books called "Bedside Reader" on machine & metal work. Fun collection of tips, hints, stories. In one he explained how to use a spread sheet to calculate cutting a large concave or convex radius. I have a dial indicator on the carriage slide. So it is just a series of cuts, slide the carriage,
cut, ect... end result is a curved surface.

Tom :usa:

Thanks for the tips! Yes I do have a 13x40 lathe, however when I had it shiped from So-Cal the trucking company F'ed it up by droping it in Sacramento. I took almost a year to get their insurance to pay for it. Should have bought a new one with the $$ insted I put it into a my V8 conv. on my rig. I am sure you know how that goes. I just need to have a new Gib ground for the cross slide then I am back in business with the lathe. (- a tail stock it was toast, its a chucker now) I will have to get that 1" die I want to make a go-cart cruiser for my 18mth old. (He he he he he) I will look into the books!

Thanks! :beer: to you!

Originally posted by Macgyver
what most guys fail to see is your time that you spend assisting them. I don't let too many people use my stuff without my being there....so my day is shot assisting. these guys like to press their luck and try to come by every other weekend...........negative ghostrider, the pattern is full!

Copy that McGyver! Loaning tools is the kiss of death for them. If they come back they are broken or covered in the wrong substance. I think I will put a tips bucket on my welding table, then tap it when the stop by...with "Put out or get out" on the side of it.

I'm pretty lucky....my good buddy (Golds workout partner too) does rollcages and custom work, and is a professional welder to boot. He's helped me with a ton of projects, my house and his.

We tend to trade favors...I helped him side part of his new house, helped with the cleaning inside when the carpet layers opted to tell him they were arriving the next day, and still pop over plenty to help lift/move stuff he can't handle on his own. At the same time, he's done the same for me.

He and his girlfriend sent my wife/I a nice thankyou when they spent the weekend in our motorhome a couple weeks ago after their tow rig junked a motor. We borrow each others stuff all the time....

Yet, when it comes time for "real" projects, I'm smart enuf to pay him for the real work, like the bending/layout of my spare carrier and battery drop tray.

By the same token, I know people who abuse priveledges....good friend of mine's Dad asked to borrow my car trailer for a weekend....ended up 4 weeks later, I had to call 3 times to get it back, and then chase down another $100 in straps, etc that partly never came back. Still out a $50 puller from that one. needless to say, he's off the list. That, plus replacing a busted taillight and a straightening a bent fender.

I respect others people shit, and return it in better condition than it's given to me....hell, I borrowed a flare kit from the local AutoZone and made a new part for it before returning it!

Originally posted by woody

I respect others people shit, and return it in better condition than it's given to me....hell, I borrowed a flare kit from the local AutoZone and made a new part for it before returning it!

By far you are a rare one! I wish more pepole had the same respect for other peopoles stuff!

Woody,

That pretty much the same way that my friends and I do things. Some things you just do for one another, professional services you pay for but you get a good deal. One of my best friends is a professional welder and fabricator, he won't lay a finger on a project for me. Instead, he comes over and shows me how to do it. To me, that's about as good as it gets. He kicks back and teaches me what I would have a hard time learning on my own through trial and error (if I would ever figure it out).

Some people just kind of know how this works and there are cool about it. Another one of my good friends owns a tow company, body shop and transmission shop. He always wants me weld something or take care of fixing something, but then he is always there for me if I need a hand...it's never a "you owe me one" kind of deal, just a hookup when and where it can be done.


-Stumbaugh

geez guys... if i was lucky enough to have a good friend as a
expert welder or bender... i would make sure to treat em right
and repay them for helpin me out... sorry you all dont get the
same kind of respect...

I think the term KARMA could be applied to this thread.


Gotta give to receive in my book!

If you want to macxhine some bending dies from something other than steel, look into the Ciba Tool Express amterial at www.vantico.com.

This shit is awesome!
If you want to try some, let me know.

Off thread
I know.

Originally posted by rugburn
I think the term KARMA could be applied to this thread.


Gotta give to receive in my book!


oh hell, i in line for a lot of receiving then!!!! and :beer: :D :flipoff2:

I was heading over to Gunracer's house to look at buying a parts pig last month and when I got to his house we noticed that both of the axles on my trailer were about to fall out.

The monkey shit mounts had broken and I was minutes from disaster.

Mike jumped in and helped me out big time. He spent 4 hours of his weekend welding my triler back better than normal.

In the process we used one of his buddies shops for the welder.

I left money for materials used for the guy in the shop....gave him money for something he wanted to sell me that I did not need, just because he wanted to sell it.

When I got to the look at the Pig is was beyond Fucked, but since Mike had been so generous with his time, I gave him the $ he wanted plus some due to the fact that he helped me out.

I DEFINATELY respect those with the toys and skills I don't have and since I do, i get to come play another day :D

:beer: to Mike Shannon a.k.a. Gunracer1

All I can say is a big 10-4 to that! I seem to be in that boat every damn weekend! Out of welding supplies and no money! Oh well, no big hurry to fix my own junk!

Jeff

I have to agree with everyone's thoughts here. There's a couple of guys down the road that always need something welded or want to borrow a tool. Now when I finally have time to work on my own krap my drive roller for my mig is worn out and the only rod i have left is 6011. Maybe they will come on down and i can let them weld with my 6011 rod. Bet they'll bring some materials or at least a cold drink next time they show up.:D

After spending the last month working on several freinds rigs, I finally have time to work on mine(took this week of to work on it).
I was out welding on my new tire carrier I am building and the wire stopped comming out of my mig. I thought that the tip was dirty or something but NO I am out of wire:mad3: that was a new spool not that long ago. I had not hardly used any on my own junk. Now that I have a chance to work on my I need to go buy a new roll of wire, and my argon is almost empty, it was full before the "freinds" projects.
OH I had to fill my acetlene bottle last week to.
I don't mind helping my freinds out, I am not trying to make any money off them, I just cant afford to build there project, HELL
I cant afford to build mine. A little reimburment for supply's would be nice:smokin:

Years ago I had an independant motor cycle repair shop.There were days and nights when I had nothing to do but talk to pseudo-"friends" who would stop by to mooch something. They would clean their air filter and yes; used my solvents They would need to just "top off" thier oil. Adjust a chain using my tools stands and my chemicals. "Do you think I should replace this spark plug?" Do you have a spart plug? What about a wrench? When we would load up and head to thepublic land to do some fire roading and trail/pipeline riding I would be asked? Do you think I should adjust this chain? My brakes are not working correctly! My bike won't crank! I have some loose spokes. Well you get the idea. Most riders are gone down the trail having a good time and I am stuck at the loading area. Then I got smart. When I arrived ; me and the 'good guys" would unload and haul butt. On the way backwe would meet the losers on the side of the trail and leavem looking. At the shop when these guys would come by for freebies I would grab a shop ticket and say"What name will this bin" I lost some and made some money on some. The ones I lost I did not miss. The "good guys " always got the use of the shop and tools: Because they were "FRIENDS"

We say thanks to our welding friends with Home Depot gift cards. That way they can buy more tools for use to use :p
All you guys that spend a day helping someone out that could have been spent with your rig deserve a pat on the back. Even if your friends buy you something as a thanks.

Originally posted by muleshoe

I still do things for them---why I don't know!!!!

I have the same problem! :bounce2::bounce::shaking: :bounce: :bounce2:

Thanks for all the great input on this one.