LandyManLuke

This is the info i was sent by Steve (WeldEquip) word file

The PortaMig or the Esab? Cheers for the offer of a Reg. Ultimately, it might come down to the choice of colour - Yellow (Esab), or Red (PortaMig). Also, which one would be easier to pimp? what colour neons would be suitable for either? Is it worth adding go-faster stripes?

There isn't a website for PortaMig, however MTA sell them under their own brand. WeldEquip on the mig-welding.co.uk forum does what seems to be a good deal on them. £549 inc Vat for 210A, 4m euro torch, regulator and delivery. I can send you his blurb for the portamig welders (there's 180A and a higher model too) when i get in, or you could go on the forum and ask for it. MTA page here I went and looked at a Esab origoMig C200 yesterday, but at £559 ex vat ex regulator it's quite a bit more expensive.

Can't you grab a helping hand? A mate and I have carried a salisbury axle and put it on a flatbed, not in a rush to do it again, but it wasn't too bad. Edit: sorry tony, posted at the same time.

Does make the use of winches on some challenge punches interesting though, once your winching at more than 45 degrees from the horizontal, you're lifting more than your're pulling!

Saving up for a portamig too, they look nice, plenty of people report back on them with good things to say.

I've thought about making a rig on an axle to use for moving boats about. For one-off use, you could build something stationary out of scaffold etc. the hassle of containing and using the pull/lift could make it quite complicated, you don't want to just pull the A - frame into your bonnet! as an aside, looks like using a pulling winch for lifting is a big no-no in terms of HSE, any grown-ups i've mentioned it to have started shaking their head quickly.

Mine was from Merlin Electronics, i think i picked it up at the boat show. The picture's a year or so old, it's quite a bit more crowded now. Luke

Solder on it's own is prone to fatigue, hence heatshrinking the joint, heatshrink provides mechanical strength, as well as keeping water out. Dry joints aren't really a major hazard, as long as you make sure the wire and solder are clean, the tip hot, etc. Also, there's no need to excessively fill the wire with solder, making it stuff over any length. it's not adding anything.

Tinned copper wire is better than plain copper, stops corrosion/verdigris, however it's expensive and (i've found) difficult to get hold off, Chandleries being the only source so far, and marine stuff is never cheap. Body earths IMHO are a problem waiting to happen, when i add wiring i run seperate earths for everything and use a bus bar to the battery. I hate loom tape, leaves everything horrible and sticky, which is a pain when you need to work on something. spiral wrap/split tube is much better. You can get heat-shrink crimp terminals, which are very nice. far superior to standard crimps terminals.

It's one cock-up after another. I started 'foruming' on LRO and used to spend a lot of time on there. especially when i first started, when i received a lot of really useful help. Now, I'm able to offer a bit of help in return, and try and do so when i can. I've also made quite a few friendships through meeting people from the forum. Since they started changing things (badly) i've tended to read more on here. Unless the new forum is heaps better, i'm not sure that i'll be arsed with it anymore. and yes, the Readers Forum is full of drivel and so much carp it's beyond belief!.

Sounds cool to me,

No-one, AFAIK, wants to pay to advertise. no-one, AFAIK, wants to 'associate' themselves with the forum. I never said I only visit because of a few traders, far from it. The content of this forum is the most diverse, most technical and most interesting of the forums i view. Who said anything about an 'elite'? I'm all for equality and fairness. Of course, the mod's and admin's considerable efforts are appreciated, by all, i'm sure.

There are plenty of people 'in the trade' on here, who offer advice, and also alert the forum community of new products etc. quite often there's healthy debate on such products, and why shouldn't there be. the names that come to mind offer discount, so it works both ways. I don't see how it can damage the forum, the tradesmen post of their own free will. Whether they're members or not doesn't affect any legal position of the forum with regards to libel/slander/whichever one it is, in fact a few companies have used the forum to respond to complaints in a way satisfactory for all. companys get free advertising, they offer discounts. they have no input (above that of a normal member) into the forum. I see no reason for them to be 'paymasters' or 'sponsors' I would have thought including traders, talking to them and agreeing on an amicable solution is better than just getting rid of them. I for one partly visit this forum because i know Mr Ashcroft, Si, David, Jim, chris (trigger wheels) etc post here. it seperates this forum from the many others. that's something to be proud of i would have thought, not shy away from.

Likewise, i find your input worthwhile and interesting David, i don't see it as a 'hard sell' infact a lot of you input IMHO is general and not aimed specifically at your products. I don't consider it 'spam' at all.

I'd echo Chris' comments, If customers see a roll cage, they're IMHO quite likely to think it may be relevant to the sort of driving you'll be doing. if that's the case, no problem, but if your tour is akin to greenlaning, the sight of a cage (and the reaction people might have to it) could be detrimental.

I've just sat the last of my exams for this session, so was taking some light relief from 'work' (well that's what we call it, doubtless you'll all disagree), I should be removing and stripping down my alternator to see what's causing it to have a paddy, but an impromptu Blue Peter session with loo roll and scissors seemed more fun, now where's my sticky-back plastic?....

I've just been and done it, that's the state of interesting things to do here.... As you can see, it's not perfect, but it's not past a bit of fettling with the grinder.

the two straight cuts are an approximation, have a practice with a couple of bog rolls and you'll work it out, in fact i might go and do it to help you out.

The first time i went to Kirton, I parked the 90 up in the carpark and left it there. Spent the first couple of hours riding around with other people, getting to see the site and learn about it, then the guy driving the disco i was in blew his front diff, so i spent the afternoon stripping the axle down with him so he could drive home in 2wd. ho hum, been back a few more times since then

I'm planning to use camping mats in the back of my 90. I'm going to glue the foam to 6mm ply and fix that, rather than spread glue about. Just got to work out how to do the curve of the roof. A foam/ply/carpet sandwich might work for you, and prevent getting glue everywhere?

spoken to Designa Chassis? Edit: bugger, sorry Ian, you beat me to it whilst i was finding the web site address!

An observation, many people are uploading very large picture files, ~400 to 800Kb, for general internet viewing/posting. Resized images (< 100kB) take up a lot less bandwidth, whilst still being perfectly viewable. Does the forum software have the ability to resize images at upload? Just my 2p. Glad the forum is back up and running so quickly.

slightly different, stand-alone, downloadable version here

have you got the program for making notch templates?