Back in the Saddle

 

The weather warmed up a bit so I spent a little time in the shop over the weekend. When I went out there Saturday morning I noticed a coffee can of fittings had been knocked off the shelf, meaning once again a raccoon was in there. I caught one about two months ago, which was kind of a surprise. In the past, they always showed up late spring. Anyway, I set the trap Saturday and there was a raccoon in it on Sunday. I'll set the trap again today. I still can't figure out how they're getting in, however.

I had a little job I wanted to use my air-acetylene torch for but once again, I couldn't get the bottle turned on. I don't know what they use to tighten the valves at the plant when they refill them, but the last one I tried to open up, the stem broke when I tightened up the vise grips on it. Not wanting to do that again, I drilled a hole in a piece of flat stock and filed it square with a nice snug fit so I wouldn't round it off. It worked, but that valve was tight. 

Once upon a time, in a land far away, I made a couple of pieces that were the start of a boot scraper. They've been gathering dust with my smithing tools for quite a while, but if I'm ever going to get things organized around here, need to get rid of the half-finished projects - either finish them or scrap them. I know someone who could use this, so as soon as I get it welded and painted, down the road it goes.

However, while trying to tack the thing together with the TIG, I once again had trouble with the gas flow on the welder. I decided not to go any further until I finally figured out what the hell the problem is. Come to find out, there's a break in the hose allowing the gas to escape before it makes it to the torch. The power cable has a braided covering over the power cable which runs inside the gas hose. I found the spot where the hose had ruptured but it was hidden by the braided covering. Since it's close to the fitting that goes into the machine, I might be able to shorten the hose up and get it fixed. If not, I'll buy a new torch lead. I should have bought the longer one when I bought the machine anyway.