Steady rest prior to removal from the fixture
Close up of weld.
The little dents are from peening.
Peening + high nickel content electrode + low heat input = good weld
I had the very good fortune to start working for my uncle Pete right after graduating from high school. It was just a little shop when I started working for him and he did just about any job that came along - lawnmower decks, trailer hitches, material handling equipment, repair work on the big ships that came into Chicago - you name it, Pete could weld it. "A Quality Shop Of Master Craftsmen" it used to say in the Yellow Pages and Pete made it quite clear that if I was going to work for him, I'd have to be a craftsman.
I worked for him that summer and a couple more times off and on and each time I went back, I had a better appreciation of what he was capable of. At first I thought every one did it Pete's way because that was the only way I knew. After gathering some valuable experience in a variety of other shops, I realized how good Pete was. Jobs that others would shy away from were the type of thing that was second nature to Pete. Fortunately I had the good sense to recognize this and started paying closer attention to what went on there.
The photos are the steady rest for my old South Bend lathe. It was made for a 14" lathe and mine is a 13". I've been meaning to find another one but after needing it for a job the other day, I said "screw it, I'll just cut it down". So I did. I started with a little bit of thinking, a little bit of measuring, a little fixturing, a little welding and just like that I've got a steady rest that I can actually use.
If old Pete hadn't have taken me under his wing forty years ago, I never would have been able to weld cast iron or anything else for that matter. And I never would have thought of tackling a job that has to be lined up as accurately as the steady rest needs to be. Pete's been gone for quite a while now and some place along the line the torch, no pun intended, was passed to me. One of these days, hopefully, it'll pass on to someone else.
Thanks Pete.
6 comments:
YOU KNOW, I THOUGHT ABOUT HIM TODAY, AS I DO ALMOST EVERYDAY, I IT DAWNED ON ME THAT HE'S BEEN DEAD OVER TWENTY YEARS. BOY I STILL MISS HIM. I NEVER LEARNED TO WELD WELL, BUT I LEARNED TO ALWAYS TRY TO DO THE JOB RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.
TVI
Hard to forget that guy, that's for sure. Bigger than life, he was.
"It ain't a boat." My favorite Uncle Pete quote.
thanks for the memories like my brother tvi i think ofpete every day i remember the shop floor and not being able to sweep up cause pete and bob and the rest of the gang drawing out their plans to whatever they were building on the shop floor they sure were talented from design and build to repair that bunch could do it all coffee break was like a combined history engineering and life in general class some day we should sit down and write a book about that place cuzzin ricky
You hope you can pass it on? Hello, I'm right here!
Surly, you're certainly a craftsman of the old school type, but I was thinking weld shop. No slight intended.
Post a Comment