Went in to the part time job to finish up a little job.

I machined out some adapters to weld onto a cast aluminum filter housing, so that I could then weld on some 2" SCH40 pipe fittings with Victaulic grooves cut in them. The filter housing uses 2.5" pipe thread, which of course is not what we use or what we have handy. The boss wanted to use a different filter, in a different location, and we had some used ones on the shelf, so this was the solution. This is for one of our batch trucks that the helicopters land on.

I had a bunch of the Victaulic fittings machined out already and I was using the only piece of scrap aluminum round bar I had, other wise I would have machined it out in one piece.
The Victaulic clamps fit into the grooves that are cut, or rolled, into the pipe and squeeze down on a rubber seal. It is a strong leak-proof connection that is quick and easy to disassemble, and will allow for some flex if the tolerances are a little loose, although I tend to cut them a little tight.

My welds aren't quite as pretty as Jakes but I am surprised at how well they turned out on the cast housing. It was pretty pitted and there was no telling just what kind of crap was impregnated in the metal. Usually the impurities float to the top and I'll grind it down to clean metal and weld it again, but it was acceptable this time.

I didn't take any pictures of the lathe work, but I'll throw in a few of the shop and the trailer. This batch truck is our tractor/trailer, all the rest are straight trucks. I did shoot a little video, but there wasn't much to see. I need to make an adapter to hold my phone in a mag-base.

Damn ya'll people who can weld!

Some closeup pics of the victaulic clamps.

Ooops. I loaded these pictures backwards.

Here's a few pic of my little machine shop area.
It's air conditioned, so I find a lot of machine projects during summer! LOL.

Damn! That's some serious machinery right there!
I love it! I don't know what's half of that stuff sitting in there ......

Hey Mike... have I told you lately...

how much I hate you?

But... naturally...

I mean that in the nicest possible way

Nice shop man

however... I still find your welding skills

quite sickening \

Neither do I!
I just fake it 'til I make it.

Good job Mike.

The trick to welding aluminum castings.
First I machine down the casting, weld it back up to over dimension.
Machine it back to dimension, if there are no holes or inclusions I then weld my fixture to the cast part.
Also a preheat is suggested to stop dimension change while welding.

LOL. Thanks Muz.
It's definitely a skill that has to be exercised, and since I don't weld every day I usually have to practice on some scrap to get my meager skills back in the groove..
When I see the pictures posted by the pros on welding forums, I could cry.

Thanks for the tip Jake.
This thing should have been boiled, baked, preheated, vacuum-packed, etc.
There's no telling what kind of chemical fumes I was inhaling!
For being old and pitted, it actually welded pretty good compared to some castings I have done.

Nice job Mike!
Nice looking shop too!!!!!

Dang I spent 1/2 the day looking for a #29 drill bit, don't have one....I hate not having the proper tools,

Mike.....Nice work and I envy your talent knowing how to run those machines I dont even know what they do.

Stan,

We've all seen your work.
If you decided to learn, you would probably put us all to shame in short order.
So STAY AWAY!!! LOL.

I just wish I had known, or learned, about machine tools when I was younger.
I still have a lot to learn. If I won the lottery I would go to work at a machine shop for free just to learn how the pros do it!

Fortunately the information is out there. I have several YouTube channels I subscribe to where the pros share their tips and tricks freely.

Mike.....I am building a stairway for a machinist. My eyes glaze over listening to him describing what he does. No way I could compete with you or the other machinists here. I just found a niche that I could make a good living at with much less skills than you guys have.