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Marfa Low Crown

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Everything posted by Marfa Low Crown

  1. Dating sites when the all-clear has been sounded..... or so I'm hoping anyways
  2. Next day & a little more familiarity with the 'new-to-me' machine... feeling better about the amperage setting and horizontal 6011 is getting a little less choppy. Still could use a touch more uniformity and better bead overlay but I haven't done this one in a while and at the end of the day just stacking beads is great practice. Also going back and forth with vertical up 7018 stringers on some 2" by 3/8" thick angle iron. I'd like to tighten this one up with some more uniformity but this is also a harder weld. 5th pass vertical with 5 stringers. I'll probably break out the leathers and practice overhead next week.🤢 Also... a downside to the Miller Thunderbolt XL... it ships with some pretty short and dinky leads. So far that's the only knock I've got on the machine. Alright... I'm not going to keep posting practice pictures or turn this into a diary... just bored AF and welding my way through the pandemic. Stay safe & sparky
  3. I'm guessing I've gained 5-7 alcohol related pounds since this quarantine business got rolling. There really is nothing better to do than drink in the late afternoons. Yes, there are better things to do but don't tell me that.
  4. Flu situation has me bored off my ass and holed up along with most of the rest of the country. One way I've been passing the time is going to the shop several hours a day and practicing welds I haven't done in a while or stacking beads. For about a week I did vertical up stringers (3G) with 7018 and yesterday I started stacking horizontal (2F) with 6011. ... I have access to a Miller Thunderbolt XL now and it's my first time using one, so while I was practicing yesterday I was also getting the feel of the machine. I'm not real familiar with these but it's a fine little machine. Performance-wise this is on par with the Lincoln 225 AC/DC tombstone buzz box or the Harbor Freight Vulcan Commander 225. The Thunderbolt has a snappy and reliable arc but from the looks of it they've changed their entry level stick welder and this is a discontinued design. Having used the three machines mentioned for stick welding I would rate the Lincoln slightly ahead of the Miller and the Vulcan last. If you see a Thunderbolt in good working condition for around $400-$500 I'd grab it. Anybody else welding their way through the pandemic?
  5. Nothing so far. This is every bit as bad as I remember. Living in a very small town combined with a major pandemic probably isn't helping.... Started off with Tinder but it hasn't been the oasis of tramps with low self esteem I was hoping for. Over 10 years ago when I last tried this online crap I don't remember having to screen for trannies....man, there sure are a lot of them out there now and they're better looking than most of the women. 🤣 I'm also working POF. There are more women on there but progress is slow. I've had a couple big uns' tug the line and although I'd almost fuck dirt at this point , apparently I still have some remnants of standards. That won't last. Meanwhile, the profiles all start looking the same : "No games. Are there any real guys out there? My ( 2, 3, 6, 156 kids) are the most important thing to me. NOT looking to hook up. NO FWB. It's so hard to write about myself. Just ask. No fakes. Friends first. My pictures are 10 years old & I 'm 30lbs heavier now but imma let you figure that out. I'm a diva and I don't need a man. Fuck you. Pay me.". I'll try to have better news soon...
  6. Army buddy sent this 🤣
  7. Bro, do you even fat chick? 🤘
  8. All right I’m going hoggin on Tinder, not a whole Lotta options where I am but... a couple of DD or better Eaters on the radar, fuck yeah I’m totally down. I don’t need Clemson for the first game of the season... perfectly content to schedule some DII & just pick up some W’s.
  9. I have lingo questions. untuckit? She has a dick? Smoke show super gash.... she has an enormous vagina or The notion of her having a vagina is a smoke show? fuck I am so confused.
  10. Not having sex for several months hasn’t turned me gay. Yet.
  11. Alright so..... I've used this thread as a platform to complain about NOT getting laid but with the collection of glorious f'n bastards on teh surl maybe I can get steered in the direction TO getting laid. I'm 45. I don't know where the time went either. I realized today that I have not actually dated in about 13-14 years. I went from one long term relationship to the next with women whom I met through mutual friends. When I was in my early 30's my range was absolutely golden ; I could date down into the 20's and as high as the mid 40's. Nowadays I'm putting the cap on the early 50's and probably low 30's so I've probably lost some ground. Back then I was working farm and ranch and being isolated, had to go the online route. I got laid off of eHarmony, Match, and Plenty of Fish with just a little effort and met some great gals. Also, I set a good policy that when living in a small town I didn't hunt on the reservation unless I meet a unicorn (which never happened). If / when shit goes south, you can't get away from an ex in a small town. Recent events have me moving to a very small town once again and I intend to keep that same policy although I realize that my small pool just got even smaller. I'm thinking I'll probably stick with the mate selection criteria I used back in my 30's assuming it'll still work.. mainly stuff like... does she have low self esteem, daddy issues, or dating for the first time in years after a divorce... and does she have a nice big butt. That tended to work out pretty well the last time. Meanwhile what didn't work the last time was being completely honest. I knew these gals were looking for a life mate but with my crippling self esteem issues, substance abuse, traumatic stress disorders, and the fact that I've never had a relationship last longer than 4 years... it means I knew they were never going to get what they wanted. Meanwhile I was just hoping they were a complete tramp in the sack until they finally figured out I was a waste of time, got angry with me, and pulled the plug. Which is how they just about all ended. The honest truth is I don't want to do that to a woman again and dash her hopes, so I'd rather just be able to come out and let them know that while I'm far from husband material and generally a fucking train wreck, I'm funny and fun to be with as we're flying off the mountain. I don't want to have to mislead or omit to get laid.. it's not fair to the woman. Alright, so.... what am I looking at here? Tinder? That wasn't around the last time and I understand that's geared towards hooking up? Is that for the younger crowd? Plenty of fish was pleasantly trashy but also annoying. Do people still use that? I presume Match is still full of women with 2 kids or a ticking clock looking for a husband? As damaged goods with a few working parts left, where does one go?
  12. Watch till the end 🤣 Hmm... it had captioning that made it even funnier "Get the fuck away!" "F'n kangaroos" but I don't know what happened to them
  13. Joke needs more bicycle horns and lemon cookies
  14. In the heat of it in a pleading moan... ”Hurrrrrry....before daddy comes home & catches me in your room.”. She was crazy. I mean batshit crazy. Damn I miss her sometimes though.
  15. Nice. Definitely spent some time doing that. What gauge is that square tubing? So... I thought I'd give the thread a little bump and post a first impression review of the engine welder I recently bought. Like most things in life there was what I wanted vs. what I could afford and of utmost importance in this decision was reliability of the machine. There were 200+ amp engine welders that were available in my price range but I would have had no money left for repairs if something went wrong. I didn't know how these machines had been treated, some of them had a high or even unknown number of hours, and although I wanted that kind of power and flexibility it was just too much of a gamble potentially buying someone else's problem. I went for the safe play and bought a nearly new Hobart Champion 145 that's still under warranty. New, the machine is around $1600 with the leads sold separately. After you add those and tax you're pushing $2000 but I was able to get mine for $1500 with better leads than Hobart offers for this model. Owner was a nice guy who owns a fence / gate company and he bought it as a back up when his Bobcat 225 went down. He ran a little more than one tank of gas through it which means roughly 10 hours of operation and then parked it. I thanked him for breaking it in and I feel very good about the purchase. The online reviews for it are spot on. The negatives are minor and I will start with them. Cons It has no idle and runs full throttle the whole time, there's no hour meter on it (you just have to estimate by gas usage), and you can't run tools off the 120/240 and weld with it at the same time. I also noticed that when it's on an uneven surface the machine will shake enough to move the throttle arm slightly which causes the motor to 'gallop' a bit. I didn't notice any difference in welding performance when it did this and the cure seems to be to push the throttle arm all the way to full max. Lastly, I brought some 1/16th electrodes to see how it performed on the lowest amperage setting (40) and the results weren't great. This machine wants to run hot ; it's mentioned in the reviews and I'll talk about that in a second. I didn't try 5/32 rods but my guess is it will burn 6010 and 6011 fine in what would be about the middle range for them. Some people claim you can weld 5/32 7018 with it but I wouldn't think this machine has enough ass to run them effectively and that's been the been the general consensus I've read from those who've tried it. A final negative (which is really kind of positive in a way) is that you're going to have to really learn the machine and eyeball it on your amperage. There's no precisely finding say... 93 amps on this dial which only gives you a few amperage anchor points which I think are 40, 100, 120, and 140. It takes some real tinkering to find the sweet spot you're looking for and the motor is loud enough that you lose one of your senses, hearing, and can't listen for that perfect sizzle to help you know when you're there. Heat and puddle performance is what will let you know when you're in the Goldilocks zone. You have to kind of weld by the seat of your pants with the Champion 145 but I view that as a positive because having to diagnose your way to the perfect set up for the rod / situation you're in will make you a better welder. Once I get this dialed in I plan to make a card / overlay I can put over the amperage dial that has my preferred settings bookmarked for specific rods or welding positions. Pros For what it is, an entry level engine welder, this machine is worth the money. As mentioned this welder wants to run hot and don't be surprised if you're getting similar performance on an electrode that you'd run 10% (or more) cooler on a different machine. You can fly with cellulose rods, 6010 is no problem, with the only caveat being you've got to keep a very tight arc length with these electrodes or you'll break and lose it. 7018 is more forgiving. I'm not going to lie, I miss the arc force / fine current type settings you see on more premium machines but this thing is a 500cc motorbike, not a 1000 cruiser with leather seats and a stereo. The arc is stable and reliable enough and apart from some arc blow here and there it has never sputtered on me. The duty cycle is respectable and running 1/8th rods, which is what the vast majority of owners will probably do with this, it's going to be pretty hard to overheat the machine. The fuel efficiency is really pretty impressive and you can weld hours and hours on a single tank of gas. As the other reviews say, it really does fire up in one pull start and there's no reason to ever take the machine off of the Run setting. Cut your gas off on the back to stop the machine and turn gas knob back on and pull the cord when you're ready to use it. It's that easy. If you're going to let it sit definitely put some fuel stabilizer in it. Mine hadn't been used in a couple of months and came with 3/4 tank of gas still in it. I definitely noticed a difference when I ran through that and refilled it with fresh gas. Pretty much treat it like any riding mower I guess. It comes with wheels and handles to push it around but you have to raise it up pretty high when you're wheelbarrowing it around or the tendency is to hit your shins. It rolls around easily enough for something that weighs 200lbs but in an ideal world you'd rather not move it much if you don't have to. All said, Hobart got it right on this machine and it's exactly what it's supposed to be for the market niche it fills. You're not gonna see one of these on a pipeline job but this machine has farm and ranch covered all day long and can handle light/medium professional use as well. Cattle guards, pens, fence braces, light to medium mobile repair or fabrication, there's no reason at all to pay more than double for a Bobcat or Ranger 225 unless you need the abilities of those kinds of machines. For myself, I'll upgrade to a larger machine down the road but I'm going to let this pay the way for it.
  16. #rules Life balance. I’m shart thread royalty & one of the biggest losers on this one. Fuck it, most exciting thing to happen in months anyways.
  17. I'm just happy to be here. You gotta play them one game at a time. I just want to help the ball club and the good Lord willing things will work out.
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