Firewood processor build thread

kiotiken · Nov 23, 2014

MNBobcat said:
You're doing an awesome job. Enjoying following the build.

I can't tell for sure from the the photo, but it looks like the splitter blades might not be angled. You may have some problems with the wood wedging in the splitter blades if the blades are squared rather than angled. They should be angled so that the opening between two blades is narrower at the cutting edge and then get's wider at the exit point on the opposite side.

Thanks. Well, when I went to pick up the piece from the welding shop, the shop foreman said his machinist told him the same thing. I'm adding it to the list of wait and see!

kiotiken · Nov 23, 2014

OK, I need help. I'm now welding everything together and I'm having issues. I've been battling porosity issues. I've checked the gas and was running at about 25 cfh(?) so I bumped it up to about 30. I keep the nozzle fairly clean and my stick out should be pretty constant at 1/2". I'm not sure what's going on, it seems to come and go.

My big issue right now is my wire refuses to feed, the drive wheel isn't able to push/pull the wire. It seemed to get worse gradually. At first, I increased the tension on the wire clamp and that seemed to work. I made sure the hose was as straight as possible and I've loosened off the lock nut holding the wire spool to the point that it actually fell off while I was welding! (not nice by the way). Now, I'm not able to weld at all, wire speed is way to low. My only thought that I haven't tried is the tip needs to be replaced, I've never replaced one for that reason, but I've tried everything else. Ideas?

aczlan · Nov 23, 2014

Clean the tip and make sure that the feed isnt getting kinked (kinks or sharp bends can cause the wire to jam in the liner).

Aaron Z

CDN Farm Boy · Nov 24, 2014

I've experienced some of the same problems as you are with the welder. Try changing the tip, its easy enough to do. I had one spool that 1/2 way into it, it hadn't been wound properly at the factory and was all criss-crossed resulting in kinking right on the spool itself. Ended up tossing it in the trash as I'd had it for too long to bother trying to return it. Possibly the liner is worn enough that it needs replacing but I haven't got a clue how to tell or how long one should last to begin with. The drive wheels also wear over time -- at least I'm guessing so since they sell replacements.

What's your definition of gradually?
What welder is it?
How old/how much use?
Have you changed spools and still experiencing the problem?

kiotiken · Nov 24, 2014

CDN Farm Boy said:
I've experienced some of the same problems as you are with the welder. Try changing the tip, its easy enough to do. I had one spool that 1/2 way into it, it hadn't been wound properly at the factory and was all criss-crossed resulting in kinking right on the spool itself. Ended up tossing it in the trash as I'd had it for too long to bother trying to return it. Possibly the liner is worn enough that it needs replacing but I haven't got a clue how to tell or how long one should last to begin with. The drive wheels also wear over time -- at least I'm guessing so since they sell replacements.

What's your definition of gradually?
What welder is it?
How old/how much use?
Have you changed spools and still experiencing the problem?

aczlan, CDN, I'll replace the tip tonight and see if that could be causing the issue. I've never had that problem and never really thought about a tip stopping the wire from feeding properly.

What's your definition of gradually? What I mean by gradually is I had a few issues Saturday afternoon, but keeping the hose a little straighter was all it took. Sunday night when I went back out, I welded for 20 minutes or so and it started again. I increased the tension on the wire clamp and welded for another 10 minutes, then more tension, straight hose a little more welding... after a little longer, I lost the battle.

What welder is it? It is a Millermatic 180 with auto set. I've been using 2lbs spools of .30 wire because that's what you need for the auto set (2 # or 10/12.5# spools work, but .23 or .30 only). Auto set is OK, but I generally turn it off if I'm doing more welding and set it manually, I generally like the results better when I tweak it myself. So I went and bought a 12.5 lbs spool of .35 wire to do all the finish welding. My .30 tips were branded Lincoln Electric, the .35 tips are branded Hobart but say Hobart/Miller. There's a lot more thread on the tips, but they seem to screw in to the gun far enough, although, it takes some force (I'm sure I'm not cross threading). Both the 2 lbs .30 wire and 12.5 lbs .35 wire are branded Lincoln Electric.

How old/how much use? The Welder is about 8 years old. Before this project, I'd only gone through 2 bottles of gas if that gives you a sense of how much it's used, not a whole lot.

Have you changed spools and still experiencing the problem? I currently only have the 12.5 spool of .35 wire. I would have tried changing it if I had something else to try. I'll try a new tip tonight and if that's not it, I'll buy a 2 lbs spool of .35 with some Lincoln tips and give that a shot.

muddstopper · Nov 24, 2014

I have had similar problems with my miller 175. You can try removing the liner and giving it a good cleaning and that might help. If the wire is old and maybe a little rusty, it will gumb up a liner pretty quick. Changing the tip will probably help. One other thing you can do is get some of the wire lubricant spray it on a rag and use a clothespin to hold it around the wire before it goes in the feed roll. If the machine is 8 years old and hasnt had a liner change, it most likey is experiencing some rust issues of its own, cleaning and lubricating will help, but I got tired of it and just changed the liner. All feeding problems went away.

kiotiken · Nov 24, 2014

muddstopper said:
I have had similar problems with my miller 175. You can try removing the liner and giving it a good cleaning and that might help. If the wire is old and maybe a little rusty, it will gumb up a liner pretty quick. Changing the tip will probably help. One other thing you can do is get some of the wire lubricant spray it on a rag and use a clothespin to hold it around the wire before it goes in the feed roll. If the machine is 8 years old and hasnt had a liner change, it most likey is experiencing some rust issues of its own, cleaning and lubricating will help, but I got tired of it and just changed the liner. All feeding problems went away.

hmmm, thanks. Guess I'll have to dust off the user guide and figure out how to change the liner. I need another bottle of gas really soon, so at least the timing is good.

kiotiken · Nov 24, 2014

$20 for a new liner and they'll install it for me and show me how to do it for next time. Now if I can just resit temptation and not walk out with an aluminum spool gun, plasma cutter and a bunch of accessories, this will be a cheap fix. I'm going to sacrifice the last couple PSI in the bottle and get a gas re-fill while I'm there. I'll still give a new tip a try tonight, maybe that'll buy me enough time to use up the rest of my gas, but I think I'm out of business till I can replace the liner tomorrow. Guess I'll get a couple extra hours of sleep tonight!

Not much point posting pictures of my welding progress but the update is I'm about half done the final welding. A few more key welds and I'm going to try and pick it all up with the tractor and move it out of the garage. I want to try and get the splitter head back out and go at it with a grinder to try and get it to fit a little better. If my Kioti'll pick it up, that'll be a Kodak moment and I may have to revive the old "what's the biggest thing you've lifted with your FEL" thread in the Kioti section. I definitely have a plan B to get it out of the garage.

muddstopper · Nov 24, 2014

Resist the temptation to buy a spare liner, if it just hangs on the wall in a damp shop, it might not be worth putting in when you finally do need it.