At Home In The Woods

[PAGUY]

and grease all fittings on the tractor and mower deck (pulleys). Check if the steering has a fitting as my Gravely does and it really makes a difference in the steering. I spray chain lube on my springs to prevent rust.

 

[Obed]

I used my Dremel with a lawnmower sharpening attachment to sharpen (sort of) my lawnmower blades. The Dremel is really undersized for the task. The blades did end up kind-of sharp with some spots obviously still needing attention. Some guys have mentioned sharpening the blades with their angle grinders. I wonder how well that works?

 

[Obed]

Welder and Accessories Arrive!

 

[Obed]

I would be interested in a bench grinder for sharpening the mower blades, etc. Is there anything in particular I should look for when buying?

 

[Obed]

From your description of the state that the pulley and arm was in I think you found your problem. I too would replace the spring and put the old one in the spare parts bin for an emergency.

clemsonfor,
I ordered the spring and bought a belt. The spring was $7. Yikes!
Obed

 

[ENG18LT]

Welder and Accessories Arrive!

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Yeah Baby! Get some scrap and start to play, I mean practice. :thumbsup: If there is one piece of advice to offer it would be make sure you have bare metal, get it to shinny metal first, even if it is new stock. Your welds will be much nicer.

I would be interested in a bench grinder for sharpening the mower blades, etc. Is there anything in particular I should look for when buying?

I have had better luck putting the blade in a vise and then using a 4" grinder.

Good luck.

 

[Bilko]

Also my rule of thumb when I weld in a garage. I stay 30 min after I am done welding to make sure I didn't start a fire some were.

 

[dstig1]

Grinders are good for the rough stuff, but a file is a lot easier to control for getting the edge more even. I use both as needed. I sometimes go in between my bench grinder, angle grinder and die grinder depending on what will fit best.

For bench grinder, you will find most in 6" or 8" size. Bigger is better in general (larger diameter wheel makes a less dished grind - flatter). A lot of times the wheels that come with them are the hard gray ones (silicon carbide?) that are really made for rough grinding, not sharpening. You can buy better wheels if you are picky about that. Lots of woodworking and metalworking shops will have better wheels for sharpening cutting tools.

 

[Obed]

Wait a minute Dave! Didn't you guys just talk me into buying a welder? (Not that I needed much convincing!) My wife says you guys just want some entertainment watching what we all know will be my feeble attempts at welding. She might be onto something.
Obed

That's why you don't post the bad stuff. Post your first decent weld then a pic of you destroying the metal to see if it holds!!

Well, I posted our house build, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I don't think it will hurt my pride any more to post my welding attempts.

Trust me as attentive to detail as you are, you will be welding in less than a few hours after you watch some vids.

I picked up a welding book the from the library. The book was written in 1979 which seems pretty old to me. I don't know how much has changed in the welding field since then. The book has a chapter on Mig welding. There was barely a paragraph on flux core welding. I'm guessing that much of what is written about Mig welding will apply to flux core (with the exception of the gas part).
Obed

 

[Obed]

Yeah Baby! Get some scrap and start to play, I mean practice. :thumbsup: If there is one piece of advice to offer it would be make sure you have bare metal, get it to shinny metal first, even if it is new stock. Your welds will be much nicer.

Lee,
Yes, I need to find a place to get some scrap metal. I'm not sure where to look.
Obed