Building a better world - Cam's Journal

[Sclass]

Hey I was just thinking about this same stuff the last few weeks. I need to tap into a junction box for my 220v dryer line so I can run a 220v AC TIG machine without an extension cord to my laundry room. The AC machines have really become accessible.

Aluminum TIG definitely has side gig opportunities for car people. A lot car parts are aluminum. During my Mercedes restoration projects I’ve been finding the castings are actually high grade aluminum that can be welded. There are a ton of parts on the car that have some kind of moving steel pin in an aluminum casting that is just loose and worn out - door latch parts, sunroof latches, trunk locks, hood latches etc.. The parts are no longer available and the ones in the junkyard are worn out and cracked. The business model I’ve taken up with the electronics stuff is go to junkyard, buy up broken parts, repair at home, sell online. I think there are even more opportunities in restoring aluminum castings.

Just an example of the day. The obvious business we think of when we snag a welder is repair/fabrication shop. I’m thinking there are a ton of junk items out there where we can dab on some metal, resurface, then sell. Like a rebuilding core exchange service for some high priced or unobtainable part or a tiny broken part that is only available as a larger assembly. The opportunities are all over the place. This has the advantage of being the same part over and over again which allows us to build efficiency through experience and tooling.

There are so many industrial machines out there that break. All you need is a few parts that people are paying too much for new.

[Cam]

That's an idea that never occurred to me Sclass, thank you! I'm already well-known at the scrapyard so it'd be easy to go in and start finding stuff. The one downside in my town is that the scrapyard got bought out last year and they no longer sell to small customers (which is BS if you ask me). But when I talked to the old owner's son about it when I was there this week dropping off copper, he said some swapping might be an option. He said I need to talk to the guys in charge about it as he doesn't have the authority to make a decision like that. I'm pumped that an avenue for cheap metal might be opening back up to me.

And yes the AC aluminum part is what I am very pumped for. I've been asked several times now if I can weld aluminum and the answer was always no. Technically I can stick weld it, but wow is it ever a **** show There is so much flux on the the rod that burns up when welding that I can't even distinguish the weld pool. Definitely a last resort thing! Now I'll be able to repair cracks in my dad's small aluminum boats. My city is quite close to a big fishing lake, so the boating market here is pretty large. Lots of aluminum there too. Oh and bike frames!! That's something I won't do for someone else until I'm much more experienced, but for myself? Hell yeah!

I'll have to see about the city dump and grabbing stuff to practice on from there...not sure what the rules are. I'll definitely have my eye out though for stuff on the side of the road that I can toss in the back of my car.

Thank you for the junk idea I appreciate it. The fabrication series on youtube has a video about how he has people mail parts in to him for repair, effectively opening his market up to be the entire country. Your idea is sort of the opposite but also quite similar - instead of having people ship stuff to you, you find stuff and fix it then ship it to whoever wants it. Man this is exciting! I really love metalworking, and the fact that I can actually start earning money from it is exciting

[Cam]

Well my friends I have had another twist in my path.

I thought all was well at my electrical job. I was loving the variety of work, being on my feet all day, and it was a great team I was working with. I hadn't received any negative feedback aside from the occasional "get going!" or "hurry up" that I chalked up to my boss being impatient (which he is).

So I was blindsided when I was given my two weeks notice this Monday. "We just don't have space for you" I was told. When I pushed for more detail, he told me I "just wasn't a good fit for the business". I wasn't picking up stuff as fast as they would have liked. He told me they had been discussing it for weeks, and they had given me lots of chances.

The issue for me was that I had no clue that I was running out of chances. There was no "hey Cam we need to talk" where they could have told me their concerns.

I genuinely thought they loved me there. So much so, that a month and a half in to the job, I withdrew my spot in the CDA program I was going to attend this fall. In hindsight, a bad idea. But I didn't want to hold a spot that I wasn't going to use.

On Monday I just worked the rest of the day, then came home and talked about it with my family. They thought it was a bit silly that there was no heads-up, just "sorry you're done".

The next day, I asked to chat with the boss and he said sure. I just said that next time he's firing someone, to consider giving them a heads-up. I told him that I was scrambling now to see if a college would still take me for this fall. I told him I'd only be working that day then that'd be it, because I needed to start looking for other work and getting in contact with colleges I was accepted to for OTA and CDA programs. I can tell he genuinely felt bad. He even offered to call the colleges for me.

When I worked at the welding shop, both of the shop bosses brought me in to the office to chat a couple months in. "Cam you're a great guy and we can see you're trying. All the guys in the shop love working with you. But you need to pick up the pace and learn to work more efficiently." or something along those lines. It was a stressful chat for me, but afterwards I did improve because I knew about their concerns so I did my best to improve e.g. keeping tools in one place, never going empty handed somewhere.

Now it's Friday, and things are a little more settled. I lost my spot in the CDA program unfortunately but understandably. However, I called another college yesterday and found out they still have a spot for me in the occupational therapist assistant/physiotherapist assistant program! It's a two year program instead of 1, but otherwise things are quite similar. The job market for occupational therapist assistants is expected to grow 25% from 2021-2031, in contrast to 5% for the rest of the job market. The growth for speech is 21%. So both fields are exploding in demand. The pay is similar. Ranges from a low of $21 an hour up to ~$40 an hour.



In the long term I think this will be better for me. In the trades, I felt a near constant tension from the contrast between my personality and the work I was doing. In the trades good, efficient work is key. Jobs need to get done to pay the bills. On the other hand, my greatest strengths are my patience and empathy. I can work fast and efficiently, but it's a learning process for me to be able to do it.

When I work in the helping professions, I can just be exactly who I am. I am still adored by the program for adults with disabilities I worked at a few years ago. When I took over as the support worker for the guy with severe autism a few months ago, I was told everyone was shocked with how quickly he grew comfortable with me and opened up. It was only my second day with him that he got up during karaoke and sang and said "chooooooocolate" repeatedly (he has a sweet tooth), getting the whole room laughing with some of us in tears. That was a first for him and I could tell he absolutely loved it.

I can safely say I gave it the old college try with the trades. Welding will remain a beloved hobby of mine. My basic knowledge of electrical will let me do my own electrical work. In fact I just learned yesterday how to wire a switch loop when putting in a new bathroom fan. But I think they will remain a hobby/side gig and not much more.

This sudden firing sucked, but I think ultimately it's going to put me on a path much better suited to my personality and strengths.

Oh, also. I got my TIG welder set up. Wowza I forgot how much I loved the process. So clean, so quiet. On Wednesday this week I stopped at my old trade school and caught up with the prof. Then I asked if I could raid his scrap bin and he said absolutely. Then I stopped at the welding shop and did the same thing. I offered to pay cash at both places, but both said just take it. Such sweetie pies. So now I have a pile of steel, stainless steel, and aluminum that I'm going to slice up into coupons and practice all sorts of welds with. Most likely just fusion ripples at first, then flat beads. Then butt welds, lap welds, open corners, and finally fillet welds.Yeehaw!

[Western Red Cedar]

I just wanted to chime in and say that I'm really impressed with the temperament and perspective you display here considering the challenges and uncertainty you've faced. Sometimes it is hard to see the purpose of things like job losses and transitions while they are occurring, but it often makes sense in hindsight. I've found that every work environment I've experienced, from bussing tables to ESL teacher to lab researcher, has taught me something that I'm able to apply to my personal or professional life down the road.

OTA and PTA positions will be in high demand as the baby boomers continue to age. Those are solid career choices for someone who likes to work with people. Just make sure you actually want to pursue that - and that you aren't feeling pressured to pick something quickly as a result of the job loss.

Best of luck!

[Smashter]

Plus 1 to what WRC said. Awesome poise!

I'm curious though, do you have any idea what they meant when they say they were "giving you chances"? It could be good to introspect on that. It sounds like a big disconnect if they said they were giving you warnings but you weren't interpreting it that way. I've never been in a situation where I thought people loved me but they actually thought I was doing a poor job. I honestly can't imagine it! People are usually easier to read than that.

I'm not implying you missed any obvious signs. But if you did it would be useful to have an idea of what they were so you can keep an eye out for similar behavior from colleagues at future jobs.

I hope the college path goes splendidly for you.

[Cam]

Thank you folks @WRC don't worry about this being sudden. When I went to university for psychology I explored both speech pathology and occupational therapy as career options for quite a while. Both options seemed great to me - they both offer plenty of meaning in their work, they involve helping people directly, and in addition they both paid well. The issue was I completely glossed over the option of being either a CDA or OTA. I was totally focused on the Master's programs to become a fully-fledged occupational therapist or speech language pathologist. When I saw just how competitive the Master's programs were, I basically just gave up. I remember one you needed at minimum a 93% average in your 4th year to even be considered a candidate! I got an 82 average which wasn't bad at all, but no where near that bar. This was the point where I'd started to explore the trades as an option too.

As for trying the fields out? OT I haven't tried directly, but I've done plenty of work similar to it and have enjoyed it. My work at the program for adults with disabilities taught me a lot how certain adaptations can make someone's life so much easier and more enjoyable, no matter their situation. Something as simple as ear muffs for someone with severe autism. I also volunteered at my local hospital for about a year as part of the hospital elder life program. It's a program designed mainly to prevent delirium, but it also involves maintaining the patient's mental and physical health. I'd do range of motion exercises with folks, play cards with them, have them tell me stories from their youth, etc. I loved it.

Fast forward to late 2022. I was working at the welding shop and wondering if the trades actually were for me or not. I started looking online at the people professions again (as I call them). Recreation therapy, music therapy, OT, speech therapy, etc. I felt like I was back in university! Just like in university I settled on either speech or OT. Both fields paid well, offered fulfilling work, and the job market for each was growing rapidly. But this time I was looking at the assistant positions instead. You know what I learned while shadowing the CDA in my school board? The full fledged speech pathologists rarely actually run therapy sessions. Most of their work is in diagnosis, creating treatment plans and record keeping It's similar in occupational therapy. The OTA actually does the fun part - running the sessions! I'm sure the option is there as a fully fledged OT or SLP to run sessions, but it seems the majority of their time spent at the job is not doing that.

@Smashter I really wish I did. The only hints about needing to improve were hearing, "hurry up" or "you're still doing that" once in a while. And the boss is an impatient man. He's nice and all and does good work, but patience is NOT one of his virtues They both knew I wasn't getting much warning. My boss actually said in our last chat that he would focus on giving more feedback in the future. This was after I told him about the time crunch he put me in with the colleges. It was nice, but also a little weird because he's been in the business 25+ years now.

My dad and I were talking about it yesterday. In my town, it can be very challenging to get started in electrical. So employers definitely have the upper hand over apprentices. If they fire an apprentice, another application will be coming in soon. The guy that I was with is one of the most loved businesses in town, and he has work up to his eyeballs. Because of that, plenty of folks starting out want to work there if they can. Just having that many options means you can treat your current workers as disposable if things don't work out. He had told stories of firing without warning in the past, but it was for understandable stuff. Guys showing up to their first shift high, or 3 and half hours late, etc. So I never expected it for me, with my showing up on time regularly and always being ready to go with a positive attitude and whatnot.

While there, I knew I wasn't the best apprentice ever. I'm not mechanically inclined. I can learn that sort of stuff, but not near as fast as I can learn book stuff. But I thought with my other positive traits I mentioned that I was well above the base line for making it past the 3 month probation.

I'm still a bit confused by it honestly. All the other jobs I've had it was extremely clear to me when I wasn't performing as expected. This job? Not so much. I can only put it in terms of a metaphor with dating. You're chatting with someone, and it starts great. Then you slowly realize, "oh no, this is not going to work". But instead of stating your concerns to the person, you just let the issue fester. Then one day after giving them many chances to change (without them realizing it) you decide to cut them off, and that's when you tell them about the red flags you were seeing. That's about the only way I can think to explain it. It isn't a very grown up way to do things, no. But when you have plenty of people knocking at your door to get in it doesn't really matter.

It's disappointing regardless, but now I think I'm on a better path. It looks like I might have a summer job lined up helping to run my local bike repair program! It takes donated bikes from the community, then volunteer mechanics fix them up, then the bikes are redistributed to those in need in my community. I've been a volunteer mechanic there for a couple years now, and the guy who held the position previously is supply teaching now so he can't do it. If I get the job I'll be helping with the organization and redistribution of bikes, along with recruiting of more volunteers. Talk about community-oriented work!

And thank you for the well-wishes I'm excited to go back to school honestly. Especially away from home. Independence here I come

[Sclass]

Hey Cam that sucks.

Though painful, it might be worth it to more deeply understand what went wrong here and feed it back into future improvements to yourself.

Not sure what is really going on here. You or them? But if it’s you, you would be wise to mentally double back and understand what exactly happened. Letting somebody go is a serious thing especially when it’s a nice person you feel bad about hurting. Like the boss’s visible pain of rejecting you must have been easier than the pain of keeping you around. Before running off to the next adventure it may be good to understand exactly what happened.

The fact you are somewhat confused and don’t have a good grasp on the precipitation of events is a bad sign. Maybe you’re not picking up on the signals fast enough? On a positive note this kind of thing can be fixed with some introspection and adaptation.

Even if you don’t want to be a licensed electrician there may be some wrinkles in you that need to be ironed out to make a better future you.

[Cam]

Hey Sclass thank you for the feedback. My confusion doesn't come from why I was let go. When I asked him directly, he gave two reasons. The first is that there isn't enough space for all the apprentices. Me included, there would be 3 apprentices working and 3 journeyman/master electricians. The boss was one of them. He said that he wanted to start running the office side of things and didn't want to be on the tools as much, so he said it wouldn't be fair to only have 2 journeymen with 3 apprentices. I don't know if this was a recent decision or not. Maybe he hired me then realized he was getting too old to be on the tools anymore? The second reason was that it wasn't a good fit. He said I wasn't picking up terms and tasks as quickly as he would have liked. He said I'd be better off in a different profession. I understood and appreciated his honesty.

The part that was frustrating and confusing to me is I only heard those two reasons after he had told me he was letting me go. Contrast this with the welding business where we had a chat about my slowness. The only other cue I can think of was the other journeyman not being overly chatty with me. I know it sounds small, but it's all I've got. I'd try to strike up conversations with him, but they often fell flat. I chalked it up to us not having much in common outside of work, which was fine. But now I think he didn't want to really get to know me too well, because he was thinking I wouldn't last at the business. I remember when I was moving a box for a light and it took me far longer than it should have. I apologized when we finished up and the journeyman said "it's all good buddy practice makes perfect" or something along those lines. That might have been one of the chances I was given, but I didn't realize it was one at the time.

When another guy started about a month after me, he seemed to develop a much better rapport with both guys. I think that was because there was so much common interests: both the new guy and journeyman were really into video games, they both smoked weed, they both loved hockey and would chat about NHL draft picks etc. I observed carefully too, to see if he was picking up stuff quicker than I was. When it was just him and me working on a task we worked at about the same pace and screwed up a similar number of times. He may have been picking up on stuff faster than I was though, and I just didn't realize.

I know it wasn't a good idea to withdraw from the speech program, and I won't be doing something similar to that again. But I've never struggled with reading social cues, even subtle ones. That's why this came as such a shock to me (no pun intended).

[grundomatic]

In the long term I think this will be better for me.

Though I don't know you well, from everything you have said I think you are right about this. I also applaud your maturity in dealing with the situation. Neither of these things relieves the current sting of it all, however, and so for the pain you are currently feeling, I am sorry. I look forward to hearing about all the even-better-than-electrician-apprentice things you find in the future.

[Cam]

@grundomatic Thank you! Everyone I've spoken to about it thinks working with people will be a better fit for me.

And Sclass, I appreciate your honesty. I think what I can learn from this is to not take the absence of negative feedback as positive feedback. I also need to learn to ask for feedback so I have a good understanding of how I'm doing, no matter what job I end up at. My mistake was assuming that I'd be given a chat, or a heads-up if things weren't working out. I know had I asked them how I was doing, they would have been honest with me. But I never even thought to. That is something I'll be sure to do at my next job.

And a quick money update - my net worth surpassed 52K this month! Yahoo

[Sclass]

Hey Cam I wasn’t there so I have no idea what exactly was going on. There are all kinds of things that could have gone wrong. Even though his business is going well now your boss may not have a good outlook for the coming year.

I used to do this thing in exit interviews where I’d ask my manager if they had any constructive criticism for me. I’d tell them to not hold back and be honest because if it would improve me I was willing to take it. I’d say “I might feel bad for ten seconds but if it’s true I’d actually be grateful for having a guide to improve myself.”

The boss would start out wary. None would have anticipated the opportunity. They’d try to ease into it. Then they’d lose control and unleash years of frustration before they could stop. I heard some doozies and I strained to maintain calm as they went off on me. I think they regretted it because they could just have easily said “Thank you Sclass - goodbye.” A few looked guilty and worried after they went too far. In Silicon Valley bosses and old reports often meet again under very different circumstances.

True or not true what they told me was their negative perception of me. And their perception does matter despite the exact circumstances around it all. It helped me change my behavior whether it was a core change or superficial camouflage to improve spontaneous judgements.

Feedback loops are really important for adaptive systems. It’s an amazing engineering philosophy that can be extended to personal improvement.

[Cam]

Hey Cam I wasn’t there so I have no idea what exactly was going on. There are all kinds of things that could have gone wrong. Even though his business is going well now your boss may not have a good outlook for the coming year.

I used to do this thing in exit interviews where I’d ask my manager if they had any constructive criticism for me. I’d tell them to not hold back and be honest because if it would improve me I was willing to take it. I’d say “I might feel bad for ten seconds but if it’s true I’d actually be grateful for having a guide to improve myself.”

The boss would start out wary. None would have anticipated the opportunity. They’d try to ease into it. Then they’d lose control and unleash years of frustration before they could stop. I heard some doozies and I strained to maintain calm as they went off on me. I think they regretted it because they could just have easily said “Thank you Sclass - goodbye.” A few looked guilty and worried after they went too far. In Silicon Valley bosses and old reports often meet again under very different circumstances.

True or not true what they told me was their negative perception of me. And their perception does matter despite the exact circumstances around it all. It helped me change my behavior whether it was a core change or superficial camouflage to improve spontaneous judgements.

Feedback loops are really important for adaptive systems. It’s an amazing engineering philosophy that can be extended to personal improvement.

I can only imagine what you've heard. Quite honestly that'd be a great YouTube skit. Start out with constructive criticism from the boss then slowly transition to more absurd issues (eye brows too fluffy, voice is nasally, I know you slept with my wife don't lie to me etc.)

But that is solid advice and I'll take heed of it. It's hard on the ego when I'm told my flaws, but you're right in that it is a gold mine if I view it not as an insult, but as areas to focus on when trying to grow and improve.

[Cam]

Things have been put on pause around here. The OTA program I was going to attend this fall actually isn't accredited, so it wouldn't be worth going there for two years only to struggle to find a job. When I look at the job postings, a lot of them require a degree from a 'recognized' or 'accredited' college.

Now if I had to look back on it, I was rushing into that because I was just trying not to feel shitty about being fired. I'll be better off re-applying next year to speech programs, and ota programs from accredited colleges. But until then? Probably just play some PS3 and chill.

Just kidding. Right now I'm working as program coordinator for a volunteer bike repair program. Bikes are donated, then volunteer mechanics tune them up, then they're redistributed to those in need in the community. It's a great program, and I've been volunteering there for 3 or 4 years now. Now I'm working there! 20 hours a week until the end of August at $18 an hour. Me and the director of the program are going to also start a youth mentorship program too. Basically pairing up high school students with experienced mechanics to learn about repair. We've already contacted a few places around Canada and the US who are doing something similar to learn from them.

For all my extra time, things are wide open right now. I'm still doing basketball at the outdoor court regularly. I can actually consistently make layups now! I also met a new girl at the bar of all places last weekend. We're going to get frozen yogurt and to see the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie tonight. She's sweet, hilarious and very pretty!

In the rest of my spare time I've been gardening and welding.

There's my subcompact truck loaded up from a recent plant sale. My mom might have gone a bit wild. We got it all planted though, and our garden looks beautiful. It expands a bit every year and I love it. Last year my sister and I put together a hugelkultur-ish bed together and I've got some squash seeds and a cucumber planted in it now.

And welding? I'm messing with the TIG welder and I think I'm in love. Especially AC for aluminum, it's mesmerizing to me honestly. And with folks like Pacific Arc TIG, The Fabrication Series, Welding Tips and Tricks and Weld.com on Youtube learning is easier than ever. Here are some arc starts and fusion ripples. All the aluminum is 1/8" or 3mm thick.


For non welders, that means I'm not adding filler rod to the puddle, just melting the base material. I think it's also called autogenous welding?

Trying some beads with filler. Can you figure out where I contaminated my tungsten?

And here is some 1/16" stainless. Aren't the colours so pretty?? The stainless is very challenging as the thin stuff overheats easily. Notice how gray the bead is. I believe that means the steel got so hot it was actually disturbing the shielding gas coverage. I learned from Pacific Arc's youtube channel that a dull gold or brass colour is what to aim for with stainless. I'll get there.

In terms of making money welding, I keep telling myself that I should put up an ad on kijiji (Canada's craigslist for those who don't know) saying I can weld, especially now that I can handle mild steel, aluminum and stainless. I see about 4 welders in my city and surrounding area, but they all have 10+ years of experience. I think if I'm actually gonna get any business it'll be through being cheaper than them and doing the small jobs they don't want to do. I've already done a few repairs for my friend's dad on dining room chairs where the factory welds broke. I've fixed up my close friend's lawnmower handle. They're small jobs, but it's useful experience! I just gotta get over my nervousness and post an ad. I'm know enough to not do any jobs with critical welds. Basically stuff on trailers, or stuff where if the weld fails someone could get injured or killed. But cracked lawnmower decks, or a broken tine on a rake? Sure! I'm also exploring fabrication too. I see welded table legs on Etsy are quite popular. And they are not hard to make, even for me. For example take a look at these: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/2551663 ... ch_click=1

All I need for those is 2x2 square tubing, some 1/4" plate, and a tap to tap holes for the self leveling feet. I'd have to do the math on material and labour cost to see how much I'd actually make on them, but it would be a great potential starter project.

As for this fall? I'm not really sure yet. I think a Workaway trip could be good for me https://www.workaway.info/
Probably somewhere within Ontario or Quebec. For me it's a fantastic way to travel because room and board is either free or very low cost, and I learn useful skills and meet great people at the same time. Or start working full time somewhere in town. I've gotten a lot of offers when people have found out I'm done at the electrical place. It's up in the air right now.

And as for finances, my net worth is sitting just under 52K now.

Long story short, life is good. I'm recovering well from the job loss and I think I'm on a good, if uncertain, path.

[jacob]

Would it be worthwhile to make gardening tools/tool heads? I struggle to find the tools for actually working the soil cf. just moving wood chips around in a flower bed without having to pay $50-100 which I find ridiculously overpriced, but perhaps that is what it costs. What is the actual cost to make the head for a grub hoe, a Dutch hoe, or a level head rake?

BTW, since you do both welding and bicycle repair, surely this is for you: https://www.atomiczombie.com/ (he has two books with plans/ideas)

[Cam]

All I can say with my experience is it depends. Take for example this rake from Lee Valley: https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/ga ... item=PG455

If you look up close in the photo you can see that the head of the rake was tig welded to the neck (not sure what else to call it). Other than that I don't see any welds. If I had to guess, the head was plasma cut or machined, but I'm learning towards plasma. Lee Valley charges $86 for it.

Now if little old me were to make that, it'd take a lot more work. This is because I don't have a plasma table or gun. I'd either have to a) cut the head out of a plate with my grinder, b) use some plate as the top of the head and weld the tines on separately, or c) have a shop in town plasma cut the parts for me. Because I haven't actually purchased fresh stainless steel before, I'm not sure what it would cost. One moment let's do a simulation with online metals.com. https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/sta ... .1875%2522
Look at the top result here: 3/16" thick stainless steel. A 12"x12" square of it is $52.70. After some rough math I figured out I could get 9 head tops out of one square. The heads would cost $7.50 in material each. The tines could be made from 3/8" bar sliced into 2.5" portions. Then some round bar to attach the head to the tube where the handle goes in. I can't bend round bar like that with my setup, at least not gracefully, so I'd need to cut and weld to make it 90 degrees to the head.

Sooo looking at round bar, a 12" piece of 5/16" stainless is $3.25. Let's guesstimate that I'd use 6" for the neck. That's $1.63. And for the tubing, let's do 1 1/4" O.D. stuff. That's $11.27 per foot, and divide it in half because I could get two handle attachments out of that.

Material total: $5.64 for tubing + $7.50 for head + $2.44 for tines + $1.63 = $17.21
That's at cost mind you without a markup.
With a 50% markup = $25.81

Then comes labour...this is the tough part to estimate.
Measure and cut tines: 10 minutes
Measure and cut heads: 20 minutes
Measure and cut attachment tubes: 4 minutes
Measure and cut neck: 8 minutes

Deburring cuts: 15 minutes
Layout and fitting head: 20 minutes
Welding head: 15 minutes

Layout and fitting neck: 5 minutes
Welding necks: 8 minutes

So 105 minutes of labour total, or 1.75 hours. I usually charge $25 an hour for at home work, so 1.75 x $25 is $43.75.

Labour + materials = $69.56

Soo a grand total of $69.56 is what we get. Not actually too far off from Lee Valley's total! Phew. Hope that helps you out! Now I'm all curious about what it'd cost to get the heads plasma cut out of plate at one of the shops in town. But that requires a call and my dog is staring at me as she hasn't had a walk yet, so that can wait.

*Edit* I am now investigating the cost of getting the heads laser cut on sendcutsend.com. Just put together a rough image and got a quote - if I buy 10 that's $25 each. That removes all labour for fitting and welding the head, only leaving cutting fitting and welding the neck and tube. My rough ultra fast math is giving me $48 total for all labour and materials....you're really getting my gears turning here Jacob!

As for the atomic zombie site: whoa!!! I think I might just have to buy some his plans or books. That is right up my alley. I've always thought about putting together bad ass bikes but have had no idea how to lay them out properly. Thank you!

[Sclass]

Nice welding Cam. Your are definitely a pro.

What AC welder did you pick? They’re really getting inexpensive now. It’s very tempting to pick one up for aluminum repairs.

I have a really good hoe that was a forging. It is massive and is mounted on a really heavy handle. I’ll photograph it next time I’m at my garden. The thing is like a horizontal axe. You probably can hollow a dugout boat with it. Of course my body is the limit. I tried loosening some dirt in my gutter and I felt like I was going to die. When you see people using hand hoes in the third world they move slowly and sing. It’s a lot of work swinging that thing.

[Cam]

Nice welding Cam. Your are definitely a pro.

What AC welder did you pick? They’re really getting inexpensive now. It’s very tempting to pick one up for aluminum repairs.

I have a really good hoe that was a forging. It is massive and is mounted on a really heavy handle. I’ll photograph it next time I’m at my garden. The thing is like a horizontal axe. You probably can hollow a dugout boat with it. Of course my body is the limit. I tried loosening some dirt in my gutter and I felt like I was going to die. When you see people using hand hoes in the third world they move slowly and sing. It’s a lot of work swinging that thing.

Aww thanks Sclass I've only just got the basics down, but I'm having a ton of fun with it! And I ended up going with the Primeweld TIG225X. In my basic use of it I've loved it. Comes with a foot pedal, a CK worldwide air cooled torch (damn) and - this is really why I got it - one of the best if not the best customer service experience in North America! If you read reviews of the machine, it's really quite astonishing. The Fabrication Series made a detailed review of it, as did a number of smaller welding Youtube channels. I've heard repeatedly that it's one of the best sub $1000 (in USD) welders out there.

https://primeweld.com/products/tig-225x ... tig-welder

As for the tools, yes a lot are forged or pressed, at least when I look in hardware store aisles. The only thing close to what Jacob is looking for is at this Etsy store, but gee louise it's expensive! https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/MandeluGar ... t-shopname

But even at those prices they sell! I think if I can manage to make stainless versions of some of those heads for less I could have a real winner on my hands.

[jacob]

The etsy store is very pretty but likely meant for decoration. Doesn't make sense to have a tool head that's significantly softer than rock. There's a reason why copper weapons weren't a thing until bronze was invented/discovered. There are a few "artisanal"/handmade garden tool makers around, but the prices are comparable (~$100+).

The rake head (Chinese?) I listed in the garden log was $15 and is still holding up well. I guess it doesn't make economic sense to DIY unless you can weld it yourself out of scrap metal.

My grub hoe is https://www.amazon.com/Seymour-2E-G60-G ... B00004RADW using a DIY handle made out of a 2x4. It wouldn't be completely out of place although possibly illegal in Battle of The Nations. Angry peasants showing up with selective garden tools is no joke. IIRC it's cold forged.

[Sclass]

Ahhh the TIG225x is sweet. Nice combo of features for a great price. Looks attractive for cast aluminum car part restoration. The weld aluminum quality is impressive in the Youtube videos.

Your stack of dimes looks nice. You can sell those welds.

[Cam]

Thank you for the confidence boost Sclass! I just did some mild steel tig a couple days ago and I'm starting to get pretty consistent

I watched some AtomicZombie's youtube videos and wow I love that man. Dude is living the DREAM! Living on a big rural property and doing what he loves with his time. You can just see how much he's enjoying himself. My bike repair job is the perfect job for scooping up some old frames to slice up and use later, and I think I might just go grab a couple today!