Honey Dipper Repair

 

Photo of the back of the "Honey Dipper" I worked on yesterday. The valves to the right and below the big clean-out are attached to flanges. The pipes/tubes that they are welded to had developed holes and major pitting about an inch away from the weld seam. I'm not sure why that happened but I've seen similar things in the past. The pipe on the bottom is about 1/4" thick every where except where the pitting occurred. It's not like the septic tank ickyness wore through the pipe. It's got something to do with a chemical reaction that occurs where the metal is welded. If I had a metallurgist on speed-dial I'd give them a call. As it is, it'll probably remain one of life's little mysteries.

The other little mystery associated with this job is why I took it to begin with. I put in a full day fixing the two pipes in the rear and another on the side. Hard to get the corrosion out of the pits, one of the pipes had been smeared with JB Weld or something similar and some of the repair seams had to be made almost 1-1/4" wide. Hard to get clean, hard to get my welding hood in a couple of spots and I had to battle the breeze when I was welding on the pipe on the side of the truck. I finally had to cut a piece of carboard and hang a tarp to keep the wind from blowing the argon away. 

I knew the job wasn't going to be easy, but I had no idea how bad it was until he showed up with the truck. It took me most of the day to get it finished, even without taking a lunch break. Of course we had to spend some time gas-assing a bit about things old guys always end up talking about. Pleasant day to be working though. First full day of actually practicing my craft in over a year. Don't know that I want to make a habit of it, however. 

I found out when our guy fights in the Gloves for the finals - July 22. If he wins there he'll be fighting in Tulsa in the national tourney in August. Jimmy said he can't make the nationals, so I might be making a trip to Oklahoma. I'd really like to see our guy make it to the nationals. Not because I need a vacation, even though I'd like get out once again, but because this guy has been around just about as long as the gym has been open and has worked real hard the last couple of years to up his game. Jimmy and I are both real proud of him.