welding for beginers??

General
21

Trevor,

You can always type in Microsoft Word. Then spell check it there.
Finally copy and paste it into a thread.

In regards to welding. I have thought about learning how to cut the tubing and then piece it together to the point at which it can be welded. You’re not welding it, but you get the feeling of building it. You are essentially doing a lot of the work. I think it gives one the feeling of creating one’s own frame. It really can give one the feeling of accomplishment.

Learn about a jig and cutting tubing and how to clamp it all together. Put your efforts there. This is where designing can come in. This is all part of you. It’s really quite exciting. It sure is easier to learn the afore mentioned areas than buying welding equipment and dabbling in it. IMHO

Even finding a welder that can work on bike tubing without mucking it up will take a lot of time and energy.

That’s my two cents.

Work the maze.

22

Re: Re: welding for beginers??

Now you’ve got me worried! I use ‘doofer’ occasionally, and I’m a Scot living in Edinburgh. Have I been using some terrible word without knowing it? Maybe the Scots you worked with were from Glasgow, they use some strange words over there. Or maybe they were from Aberdeen, if so the word is bound to have something to do with sheep:D

And as this thread seems to be getting rather off topic… free-mount, Profile hub, Miyata, UPD. There, that’s increased the relevant word count for this thread.

Have fun!

Graeme

23

Re: welding for beginers??

> Terribly sorry about the spelling. I gave up on spelling many years
> ago. I have passed maybe 2 spelling tests in my lifetime and not for
> lack of trying. It is simply not something i can do, so i don’t try
> anymore. I could of course use spellcheck, but that takes to much time.

Interesting you should say that. I’m an amazing speller - won spelling
bees, aced every spelling test, like that. I still spellcheck every post,
and I catch typos almost every day. If you use Outlook Express, go to
Tools/Spelling and check a few boxes to make spellcheck automatic and
faster.

> When I’m typing, i simply do not realize when I spell something wrong.

Sometimes I do, rather less often I don’t.

> And i can proofread, but, same thing, i wont/don’t pick up on anything.

When I proofread, I don’t catch everything.

> i could probably handle capitalizing some of my words when needed, but
> i prefer to save the caps for when i need to punch out a sentence or
> word without starting a whole new paragraph. that’s just the way i type.

There are an abundance of caps, you needn’t save them.

24

Yup, pretty much, I believe. The Japanese writing system(s) {actually an amalgam of 3 different types of characters, one group numbering in the low thousands, the other 2 groups each containing 48 characters with diacritical marks… PLUS the Roman alphabet at times} just doesn’t lend itself to misspelling very well. You either write or type it correctly, or you aren’t understood. I never said that Japanese people spell English correctly all the time, just that they want to. By the way, the literacy rate in this country (Japan) is close to 98%, and nearly all Japanese high school students must pass some form of written English test to graduate. One of the things that struck me when I first came to this country was that homeless people don’t just collect newspapers for insulation and recycling… they READ them. Japanese people are not the only ones who study and become proficient at English; they are the ones who I have first-hand knowledge of, and that’s why I used them as an example. Thanks to their ability with English, you don’t have to learn how to read Japanese in order to operate your Walkman, VCR, camera, or computer.

Look, I’m not saying that spelling English isn’t tough… it is ! Often as not, there are no rules (other than standard practice… and prior to the 19th century or so, not even that), and nearly no logic to our spelling system. Cross the Atlantic, and the same language is “spelled/spelt” in a different way. “color” becomes “colour”, “center” becomes “centre”, “gray” is “grey”, and depending on whether you’re from Ireland or Scotland, or the US or Canada, it’s “whiskey” or “whisky”. The spelling of English alone is a major hurdle for people who study it as a second language.

Yes, you’re right, Graeme. Sorry! I kinda got carried away pontificating there…, but maybe “welding”, “home-made frames and hubs”, and “false economy” are more relevant for this thread, eh?

25

I’ve just had my custom handle re-welded by a friend of mine. He used to gas weld all the time but hasn’t for about a year since he started with a mig. His mig was broke when he first welded it so he used gas and he tried to do a smooth job but after a hard UPD the weld broke. He is very experienced at welding and knows what he’s doing but can still get it wrong, why, well maybe I should of mentioned what a UPD on tarmac can do to a uni handle :open_mouth:

His new weld is big and strong but doesn’t look as good as the first so I’ll just cover it, it’s the strength that counts here. I could of welded it myself but haven’t done any for about 8 years and I feel it’s something you need to do frequently to do it well. Of course training is very important too.

If anyone needs some welding doing ask a welder and don’t forget to tell them what it will be used for.

If you want to be a welder go do a course it’s not too difficult but if it’s a stressed joint don’t expect to be able to do those strait away. As I said I could weld, probably still can, but I wouldn’t trust myself with anything other than something that was ornamental without a lot of practice, hence why I asked my mate :slight_smile:

Gary :astonished:

26

RE: welding for beginers??

This is scary…

> i took metal work class 5 times i think,

Not sure how many times he took the class…

> i could never get a real nice weld, like someother people have.

But he didn’t give up.

> and with the kinda welders that use the electricity, i forget
> what thier called, Archwelders??

Can’t remember the name of the equipment…

> if you Archweld? that you dont get teh metal to hot, it can
> get very hot, and then beld sorta,

Hot metal can bend!

> and of course the welding rods, i believe that there is
> different rods for different jobs,

Not sure about the rods either.

And with all that, Brokenframe strongly reinforces my point. Welding takes
practice. You either need to do a bunch of practice to develop the skills,
or should let an expert do the welds for your unicycles. If those welds are
on tubing, or attaching pieces of tubing together, try to find someone with
experience in bike frames for best results.

And if a guy named Brokenframe offers to weld something for you? Just say no
thanks.

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com <http://www.unicycling.com>

“This unicycle is made all from lightweight materials. But it uses a lot of
them.” – Cliff Cordy, describing the very heavy new prototype unicycle he
brought on the Downieville Downhill

27

RE: welding for beginers??

> > Sloppiness of any sort is not an art.
>
> I take it from this that you are not a big fan of artists
> such as Emin and Lucas then? Sloppiness is half of the
> point of their art.

What about Jackson Pollock? Yuck. I for one don’t consider myself an art
expert, even after attending a bunch of art school. But those guys are doing
“planned” sloppiness, and not suggesting that it’s an accurate portrait of a
person, for example.

> (Incidentally, dyslexia is considered a disability in some
> parts of the world - criticizing poor spelling can be
> construed as prejudice against the disabled. Tread carefully!)

Dyslexia is indeed a disability. But it is not an excuse. If you are
dyslexic and are trying to put out accurate spelling, we’ll be able to tell
that you used your spell checker! No spell checker in your email software?
Time for some better software. There’s plenty of free ones out there. I
can’t recommend what I use, Outlook, as I recently heard it accurately
described as a petrie dish for viruses.

My other comment about dyslexia is that it is too often used as a label.
Kids in school, once associated with such a label, run the risk of falling
into the trap of not trying to overcome their issues. Though dyslexia is a
blanket term for many sorts of disorder, which people can have in many
degrees of severity, the label boils it down to only one, evil, word.

Everybody can learn to spell, if they want. For some it comes much easier
than others. I think the people here who complain about spelling are only
referring to those that aren’t trying, and not to those who are doing the
best they can.

JF

28

*Graeme quote:

Originally posted by Gardner
I used to use ‘doofer’ sometimes, until
I started working with some scots.

Now you’ve got me worried! I use ‘doofer’ occasionally, and I’m a Scot living in Edinburgh. Have I been using some terrible word without knowing it? Maybe the Scots you worked with were from Glasgow, they use some strange words over there. Or maybe they were from Aberdeen, if so the word is bound to have something to do with sheep

And as this thread seems to be getting rather off topic… free-mount, Profile hub, Miyata, UPD. There, that’s increased the relevant word count for this thread.

Have fun!

Graeme* LOL, yes you scots are funny.

well since this has changed to a spelling thread, ill say that it took me a very long tim to read and write. i still cant spell most of the easy words that people find not hard at all to spell, iive always been in the second spelling group, usualy the green colored sheets, ONCE i made it to the yellow! oh how i was so happpy, but that was for aweek in grade 7, then i went back to the green, never to the yellow then to the blue. im just a bad speller, i spell by how it sounds when i say it… i think also if you can easly understand what somone is trying to say, then it should be ok,

*thisistrev Terribly sorry about the spelling. I gave up on spelling many years ago. I have passed maybe 2 spelling tests in my lifetime and not for lack of trying. It is simply not something i can do, so i dont try anymore. I could of course use spellcheck, but that takes to much time. When I’m typing, i simply do not realize when I spell something wrong. And i can proofread, but, same thing, i wont/dont pick up on anything. i could problebly handle capitalizing some of my words when needed, but i prefer to save the caps for when i need to punch out a sentence or word without starting a whole new paragarph. thats just the way i type. Just curious, do japaneze students spell everything correctly in their native language in there casual e mails? *

Just, do what you can. keep on trying, you dont need to spell perfectly! i dont.

29

Re: welding for beginers??

sendhair <sendhair.6iiln@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

> I suggest that rather than defend poor spelling on the basis of some
> kind of political correctness, you might champion proper spelling on the
> grounds that it would make it that much easier for dyslexics and
> non-native speakers of English to read these forums.

PC? I’m afraid you have the wrong end of the stick. Approximately
half of my family are dyslexic and I thought (seemingly incorrectly)
that you were having a pop.

> Since dyslexics have inherent difficulties processing language, don’t
> you think sticking to standards of spelling is more charitable and
> helpful than worrying about the feelings of people who won’t use their
> spell-checkers?

Won’t or can’t? Many systems have no (or no effective) spellchecking
abilities in their news clients. Again I speak from experience here -
I accessed this newsgroup for about 4 years from a variety of
workstation and mainframe platforms which had no spellchecking
ability. Don’t assume that everyone uses Windows based PCs.

> My reference to sloppiness not being an art was pertaining to mechanical
> products, performance (athletic as well as artistic), and communication.
> The point is: It takes no skill to be sloppy. It might be argued that
> Emin and Lucas are making the same point. If you are going to mix the
> cult of self-loathing with the right to spell badly, fine. Please
> yourself.

Newsgroups have always been a forum for informal communications.
Messages almost certainly involve hasty responses, colloquialism,
regionalism, idiom, linguistic puns and spelling misteaks :-).
Insisting on perfect spelling would remove half of this “life”
which I would not welcome.

Paul

Paul Selwood
paul@vimes.u-net.com http://www.vimes.u-net.com

30

Re: welding for beginers??

sendhair <sendhair.6iiln@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

> I suggest that rather than defend poor spelling on the basis of some
> kind of political correctness, you might champion proper spelling on the
> grounds that it would make it that much easier for dyslexics and
> non-native speakers of English to read these forums.

PC? I’m afraid you have the wrong end of the stick. Approximately
half of my family are dyslexic and I thought (seemingly incorrectly)
that you were having a pop.

> Since dyslexics have inherent difficulties processing language, don’t
> you think sticking to standards of spelling is more charitable and
> helpful than worrying about the feelings of people who won’t use their
> spell-checkers?

Won’t or can’t? Many systems have no (or no effective) spellchecking
abilities in their news clients. Again I speak from experience here -
I accessed this newsgroup for about 4 years from a variety of
workstation and mainframe platforms which had no spellchecking
ability. Don’t assume that everyone uses Windows based PCs.

> My reference to sloppiness not being an art was pertaining to mechanical
> products, performance (athletic as well as artistic), and communication.
> The point is: It takes no skill to be sloppy. It might be argued that
> Emin and Lucas are making the same point. If you are going to mix the
> cult of self-loathing with the right to spell badly, fine. Please
> yourself.

Newsgroups have always been a forum for informal communications.
Messages almost certainly involve hasty responses, colloquialism,
regionalism, idiom, linguistic puns and spelling misteaks :-).
Insisting on perfect spelling would remove half of this “life”
which I would not welcome.

Paul

Paul Selwood
paul@vimes.u-net.com http://www.vimes.u-net.com

31

Re: welding for beginers??

John Foss <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote:

> Everybody can learn to spell, if they want.

Tell that to my father who has been trying hard on this topic
for the past 60 years or so. Even spellcheckers don’t help
when your initial attempts are too far from the accepted
spelling, and dictionarys don’t help if you aren’t sure of
the initial letter.

Paul

Paul Selwood
paul@vimes.u-net.com http://www.vimes.u-net.com

32

(heavy sigh)

Apparently, along with not being able to spell, some people can’t read their own language, either.

I never criticized people who can’t spell correctly.

I questioned the attitude which defends carelessness out of laziness or convenience.

A quick glance through any of these threads will reveal that the majority of spelling errors here are not due to dyslexia, and that disorder had nothing to do with my posts until Paul Selwood added another wrinkle to the defence of misspelling.

Yes, PC. It must be hard to carry such a big chip on one’s shoulder.

All I was suggesting was some Spelling Correctness on the part of the capable.

Now, I give up. Since it is deemed insensitive to make use of a common ability when others exist without that ability, I stand aside to clear the way for the Guardian Angels of Mediocrity.

  By extension, I'm now recommending that everyone mumble when they speak...


...and double-post for the benefit of people lacking short-term memory.
33

Re: welding for beginers??

On Thu, 20 Jun 2002 10:01:28 -0700, John Foss <john_foss@asinet.com>
wrote:

>Everybody can learn to spell, if they want. For some it comes much easier
>than others.
Almost like unicycling, it is doable to learn but not without effort.

Klaas Bil

34

Re: welding for beginers??

On Thu, 20 Jun 2002 09:51:23 -0700, John Foss <john_foss@asinet.com>
wrote:

>And with all that, Brokenframe strongly reinforces my point. Welding takes
>practice.
What’s in a name :slight_smile:

Klaas Bil

35

Re: welding for beginers??

In a message dated 6/20/02 12:46:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
john_foss@asinet.com writes:

> And with all that, Brokenframe strongly reinforces my point. Welding takes
> practice. You either need to do a bunch of practice to develop the skills,
> or should let an expert do the welds for your unicycles. If those welds are
> on tubing, or attaching pieces of tubing together, try to find someone with
> experience in bike frames for best results.
>
> And if a guy named Brokenframe offers to weld something for you? Just say
> no
> thanks.
>

My take on the matter…I learned how to ride a unicycle, I diddnt sit back
and let other people have all the fun for me. Why would I take welding
differently? But I still dont have any idea how much this type of thing
costs!?

36

Brazing takes a lot of practice. I would leave that to a pro. Your local college or high school may have a welding course. Maybe take a course and have the instructor help you with the finicky stuff.

37

Re: welding for beginers??

In article <Graeme.6jkka@timelimit.unicyclist.com>,
Graeme <Graeme.6jkka@timelimit.unicyclist.com> writes:
>
> Now you’ve got me worried! I use ‘doofer’ occasionally, and I’m a Scot
> living in Edinburgh. Have I been using some terrible word without
> knowing it?

The Glaswegians I was working with insisted that “doofer” was
an exact synonym for “condom”.

On-topic, but irrelevant:

I got a flat tire two days ago due to a sliver of glass. Since I
had to take the tire off anyway, I decided to try out a (slightly)
wider, but much knobier tire. After the balding road tire, this
mountain-bike job sure feels weird on the pavement. I haven’t
tried it on trails yet though, as the ground is still too wet
after a solid week of rain last week.

I was hoping to find a crossover-bike tire that had some grip
to it, but still would run smoothly on pavement - and have a
round cross-section. I had to settle for a pretty knobby
MTB tire. I think it will take some getting used to.

============================================================
Gardner Buchanan <gbuchana@rogers.com>
Ottawa, ON FreeBSD: Where you want to go. Today.