I'm not being snarky, as my mom would say...

There are a few blisters on my lips after working on the lathe yesterday... I had a big chip fly off the cutter and pucker up for a big smooch right on my lips.   I'm not talking about a little grade school peck - this was a blue chip that embedded itself halfway between my upper and lower lip and stuck there until I flicked it off.  

It's a good thing I make a funny face when I machine, otherwise I probably would have swallowed it.  

What I'm leading up to is a plea for safety goggles at least.  Don't play games with body parts that don't grow back.  Sure, blisters on my lips will heal, but if I had a sore back and was leaning over a bit more (for example), this flying chip would have ended up embedded in my eyeball.

I can't count the number of times I've seen guys working with no safety glasses.  Hopefully I won't hear of any of them not being able to work at all because they can't see half a foot in front of their face after an 'accident'.

Till next time, I'm milking the "can you kiss it better" line for all it's worth.

dw

I see a steel part and I want it painted black...

This powder is supposed to be one of the most durable powders out there.  I don't know anything about powder coating (PC from now on) so I'll just be happy with the way it looks for now.  I should be getting the bars and other parts in an hour or so.

WOO!

If you haven't heard, we'll be at Syracuse this weekend for the Syracuse Nationals.  It's a great show, with tonnes of 'extras' like entertainment at night, and lots of stuff to do during the day.  If you're the tech sort of person, you may enjoy Paul Horton's bracket seminars.  Check out the program for more details.  I'll also be welding Welder Series parts periodically through the day in the Haun Welding Supply booth. 

I hope I can get some time to walk around and take pictures for a little feature, too!  

If you're there, be sure to stop by our booth and say hello, check out our new products, and enjoy the show.

DW Horton

yup, still waiting for the powdered parts.  They had to order a custom black because the "matte" they were given was really just 25% semi gloss or something like that.  

We went back and forth a few times on whether to powder or paint. 

Powder:

+ highly durable.

- very difficult to add new parts to the frame if we want to test something.

+ even coverage

- more expensive than hand painting

Paint:

when I say paint, I mean Zero Rust roll-on paint.  It flows out very nicely and it's hard to tell we did it here.

+ cheap

+ control over finished product... done in house

- prep work

- can be messy

+ easier to remove for new product testing

So... we decided to paint.  I haven't started the frame yet, because I won't be around next week and I didn't want to prep it and then have surface rust on it when I get back.  I did start painting some parts though.  

Yesterday, the owner of the shop next door to us (RPM Motorsports) came by to tell us about a new service they'll be offering... powder coating!  They're going to have a huge booth right next door to us.  How convenient could it get... to promote their new service, they offered to coat all the removable parts - bars, batwings, adjusters, brake pedal, etc.  I started to think about all the time it would save, plus we'll be giving credit to them at shows and cruise nights, so I loaded up a box and they should be done in a few days.  The frame and frame parts are going to be a matte or semi gloss black.  I think this will be a nice contrast with the bit of shine we have - drilled aluminum axle, polished brake stuff, etc.  I can't wait to start assembling!

Frame curves!

One time it's ok not to be kinky! So smooth!

^ this is how they come in the box.

 http://www.welderseries.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_125

click for more details, or check out the home page for an assembly video. http://www.welderseries.com