#adjustable pocket welding torch

[sw5w]

[ Grumbling ]

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:53:46

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"At Chillicothe, as at most federal prisons where conscientious objectors were being held, objectors tended to be employed, along with embezzlers and other white collar criminals, in the administrative office of the prison, so that we objectors often knew what was going on in the prison and in the prison system itself well before many of the prison civilian employees did. So it was that I knew in advance that I was to be transferred to Ashland, and transferred there as an agitator.

This last came as quite some surprise, as it had seemed prudent to me – upon entering the general prison population and after looking around and listening about – to remain as modestly inconspicuous as possible without being obviously chicken. My fellow non-pacifist inmates, whatever their other social failings, were virtuously, even violently, patriotic. They were young, conventionally red-blooded; when denied all access to the sexual or criminal outlets of their choosing, patriotism did indeed become their last refuge. They were hardly those among whom a thoughtful worker for social justice and world peace would seek to win converts. There were, of course, a few pacifists who tried, but I, fresh from the psycho ward or not, was not among them.

(I would guess, as a matter of fact, that a more patriotic group cannot be found in any nation during wartime than in its prisons and reformatories. And I would suggest that this tells us something at least about one of the reasons why men are willing to go to war in the first place; not so much that they are all that hot to defend what they have and what they are, as they are to escape it.)

And while that may not have been an observation first made by me – as to what can persuade a man to put down his welding torch or pocket calculator and to pick up the real or symbolic gun and go off to kill or get killed instead – it was for certain an observation brought home to me at first hand, and most forcibly, as it was to other objectors, with a fist in the mouth or a knee in the groin, as this or that imprisoned patriot would have it.

We cowards numbered, I’m sure, not more than fifty; probably less, in a population of many hundreds. With such odds, it was remarkable that although we were most of us more than once beaten, none of us, at Chillicothe, were actually beaten to death.

...

(A bitterly sarcastic anti-war song I remember from those days, with president Roosevent as its subject, went as follows: “… I hate war, and so does Eleanor, but we won’t be safe until everybody’s dead …” It was sung by the American Communists while there was a pact in effect between Russia and Germany. They stopped singing it, of course, when Russia and Germany went to war. I go on singing it.)

...

Quarantine done, I was assigned to a dormitory and to a work detail on the prison farm.

I was deeply disappointed at my being assigned to a dormitory – I preferred a cell of my own – but, on the other hand, I was much pleased at having been assigned to work on the farm.

Most of all, I was surprised at how deeply disappointed I was, on the one hand, and how very pleased, on the other. It shocked me. Prison, I realized, was beginning to have its way with me. I was adjusting to its small closed world; I was beginning truly to care about its few and wretched options.

It appalled me.

Even so – as I remember it – even as it was happening and I was aware of it happening, it happened. It came to matter much to me that the breakfast eggs be scrambled soft, not hard; that the vegetable at the evening meal be green beans, rather than peas; that my prison blues come back from the laundry with a decent crease in the pant legs, I cared. I tried not to care, but I did.

And I was not alone. I remember one day looking down from my cell window at a small group gathered in the yard, at the center of which a conscientious objector was holding forth – one of our heavier thinkers, a leader of sorts – gesturing with clenched fist, face twisted with passion. Later, asking about it of one who had been among them, I learned that what that clenched fist and circle of nodding heads had been about was a description, from memory, of a tossed green salad with blue cheese dressing.

(I have thought since about all this, and to this conclusion, briefly:

Prison life, as with chronic illness, tends to foster an increasingly petty self-involvement. The prisoner, as with the invalid, largely because he must, turns inward. How else to fit decently within the limits of so shrunken a world? He becomes small, so that small things may seem large. In time, all sorts of little things come to matter greatly. He seizes at straws, not that he may be made whole or free again, but only that this day, this hour at hand, might have some meaning. He comes to nibble at life like a mouse.

(And this disgusts him.

(It is this about prisons, I think, that so surely erodes and destroys, that so outrages; which so defeats, from the start, the notion, the hope, that some good may come of it. It is as though we asked of the invalid that his illness make him well.)

Reluctantly, I moved into a dormitory.

My first work assignment on the farm was to operate a jack hammer a construction site there. This, without apology or explanation, I refused to do.

I refused, one, because I believe sincerely that a machine which deafens a man and will roll his eyes about in his head like marbles if he holds the thing wrong is a machine to which any man has an absolute right to say no. And I refused, two, because I knew that if I refused I’d most likely be transferred immediately into cellblock.

Which is what happened. I was also removed from the farm detail and assigned, again, to work in the prison shoe repair shop.

At Ashland, the shoe shop was a two man operation. I worked with a short-heavy, tough-minded black man whom I’ll call Gregg. Gregg had been addicted to heroin. The insides of both arms looked like the Milky Way; needle tracks like stars.

He had kicked his addiction cold turkey and alone. He went clean with an absoluteness that I sensed, in time, as having to do with even the flesh itself, the great strength of his arms, the power of his back.

There was a guarded ease about Gregg when I knew him, but no slack. I remember one of our first conversations.

So you’re a conscientious objector to war?

Yes.

Are you afraid?

Of war? No.

Why not? Gregg said.

I remember that he faced me and waited, a beetle-browed black convict, who was not, to my not-so-unprejudiced calculations, supposed to be that real or that smart.

I don’t recall an answer; I think possibly I shrugged. Gregg turned away. Shit, he said, a man’s not afraid of war, he’s stupid or crazy.

It took time, but we became friends. I had to watch it; Gregg had no tolerance for the bullshit at all. I think it seemed to him as deadly as dope.

...

The work pace in the shoe shop was slow. We spent long idle hours sharpening tools, cleaning and oiling the machinery, shooting flies with rubber bands. At one point Gregg made a set of darts fashioned from large needles used in leather work and wooden shafts carved from chair rungs. We used a wall calendar backed with cardboard for a target, and played keenly competitive dart games for about a week straight, continuously, until the guard caught us and confiscated the darts.

We slipped reading material into the shop with us and talked about what we read. For a time it was organic gardening. We read everything we could find on it, became knowledgeable about mulch and compost and the values of various kinds of shit.

(It was, I imagine, the first time either of us used the word that regularly in speech while actually referring to shit.)

We also talked a lot about worms.

The big thing with Gregg, I remember, was tomatoes. He meant someday to grow, organically, incontrovertibly real tomatoes.

Then we happened onto some material on the construction of houses – homes – made of rammed earth. We approached it cautiously. I recall clearly our initial skepticism. Rammed earth?

We became obsessed with it. For days on end we talked of little else but the problems and possibilities of the construction of human habitations, this side of the grave, made simply of dirt. We drew floor plans, made sketches; house, trees, sky and all. We schemed. We would do it, each of us, build a house of earth itself, a home – simply, as a beaver gnaws down a tree, a woodchuck burrows – when we were free.

In the meantime, we built time.

The shoe shop occupied a corner room at the front of the building that housed the prison laundry. In a small room to itself, between the laundry and the shoe shop, was the large vault-like tank in which the shoes to be repaired were first treated under pressure with formaldehyde. This treatment left the shoes reasonably clear of fungi and infectious bacteria, and stinking of formaldehyde rather than feet. It was my job to run the cooker, as it was called.

Behind the tank, in a welter of pipes and conduit, wine was being made. The wine makings were in several glass jars, and consisted of sugar, raisins and water. (Raisins were often served as a breakfast fruit.) At certain stages of the wine making process the brew actually put off an odor identifiable as that of fermenting fruit. During such times I operated the cooker with a frequency that I was certain would alert the guard, but which never did. By opening the tank door before the pressure gauge had quite returned to zero, I could be sure—while burning my eyes and lungs—that the acrid mortuary odor of formaldehyde would obliterate, for hours, the winey-sweet odor of fermenting fruit.

In return for my cooperation I was entitled to share in the finished product. It was sorry stuff. I drank it on occasion, chiefly to be companionable, and with a salute to prison, to war; it tasted like formaldehyde."

- Donald Wetzel, Pacifist: Or, My War And Louis Lepke. New York: Permanent Press, 1986/2016. p. 88-89, 99-102.

[talenttraininginstitute]

Welding safety: 5 tips for safer work

Welding safety: 5 tips for safer work

Welding or soldering is a process used to join materials. And because there are several types of process and each one has its proper application, welding safety must also be observed in each one.

As it is a process widely used in industry in general, welding is one of the activities that most involve risks to workers' health. That's because the activity consists of handling a flaming torch, and invisible risks such as radiation. https://talenttraininginstitute.com/en/safe-welding-course/

In addition, welding professionals are exposed to dangers such as burns, smoke, high temperatures, dust and even radiant heat are risks to which welders are exposed.

As a professional who is exposed to risk on a daily basis, this worker must be fit and qualified to carry out processes safely, and use protective equipment as recommended.

Welding safety tips

The use of PPE is essential for the physical safety of the welding professional. Therefore, the use is not restricted to just one, but to all the protective equipment necessary for the protection of each part of the professional's body.

Let's see below 5 tips for the welding professional to carry out his work safely. Follow the reading carefully!

PPE for Welding Safety

1) Suitable solder mask

The welding professional keeps his face very close to the welding site during the welding process, so it is essential to use suitable PPE for the face throughout the process to avoid damage caused by radiant heat, burns from welding sparks and spatter.

Masks must also have an opacity suitable for the process and intended application so as not to cause problems for the eyes.

A full face helmet or hand guard (portable iron face shield) may be adequate depending on the type of welding. Helmets and shields protect against arc rays, sparks and spatter that can strike your face directly while welding.

2) Protect your eyes

Being very sensitive, the eyes during the welding process are subject to serious and permanent damage due to any small spark or weld spatter. Just a few seconds of exposure to the rays of an electric arc can cause eye damage.

Protection by helmets and protectors is important, as they are equipped with a filter mask with appropriate dark lenses. Auto-darkening helmets are helpful as they adjust quickly based on light conditions.

Another layer of eye protection, such as goggles, is important to protect against impact hazards such as splinters and fragments that can ricochet under the helmet.

3) Use shaving PPE

Equipment for welding professionals must fully cover their body and be fire resistant to ensure their safety. The choice of Raspa is made due to its resistance and ease of movement.

Any exposed body part can be painfully injured by ultraviolet and infrared rays. Therefore, the use of scraping PPE is important.

For example, for the lower limbs, we have the Razor Legging. It is also important to use a Shaving Apron to protect the trunk and it can be like a barber. Welding Scrap Gloves are tough and should be worn at all times.

4) Cover all body parts

Before starting any welding activity, it is important for the professional to examine the integrity of his protective equipment and make sure there are no holes through which sparks can enter.

It is important to keep pockets, sleeves and collars buttoned to prevent sparks from penetrating through and causing serious burns. Don't forget the trouser legs that should go over the shoes and the gloves over the sleeves.

Cover all non-fireproof clothing items with suitable equipment, such as a Cowhide Apron or Shaving Sleeves.

Important! Never carry lighters or matches during soldering activities, as they can catch fire when they come into contact with sparks or excessive heat.

5) Ventilate the workspace

The workplace must have adequate ventilation in order to eliminate the gases, vapors and fumes used and generated by the welding and cutting processes, which can make the air toxic, especially in confined spaces.

In many cases, natural ventilation is sufficient, but certain applications may require forced ventilation, cabinets with exhaust hoods, breathing filters or masks with individual air supply to ensure your respiratory safety.

[entrepreneurshipsecrets]

A Comprehensive Guide to TIG Welding

TIG welding, which stands for Tungsten Inert Gas welding, is a welding technique that uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to heat and melt metal workpieces together. The weld area is protected from atmospheric contamination by an inert shielding gas, typically argon, which flows around the weld area to prevent oxidation and other types of contamination. TIG welding is a precise welding process that produces high-quality welds with minimal spatter, making it ideal for welding thin materials and for applications that require a clean and aesthetically pleasing weld. TIG welding is commonly used in the aerospace, automotive, and electronics industries, as well as for welding stainless steel, aluminum, and other non-ferrous metals.

Equipment and Safety

To begin TIG welding, you will need a few essential pieces of equipment, such as a TIG torch, power source, TIG electrode, and a shielding gas like argon. You will also need a welder's helmet, welding gloves, and protective clothing. Before starting your project, make sure your workspace is clean, organized, and free of any flammable materials or potential hazards. Always follow proper safety procedures, such as grounding your equipment and wearing proper protective gear.

Setting up Your Equipment

Before starting to weld, set up your equipment and adjust the settings according to the material you will be welding. You must have a clean and polished TIG electrode for your welding project. The electrode must be the correct size, type, and amperage for the material you are welding. For example, the amperage and electrode size used for welding aluminum will differ from that used for welding steel.

TIG Welding Techniques

Here are some of the techniques used in TIG welding: Torch Angle: The torch angle is important in TIG welding because it affects the weld's appearance and penetration. A torch angle of about 10-15 degrees from vertical is generally recommended. Filler Rod Placement: The filler rod should be placed in the heat of the arc, just ahead of the molten pool. This helps ensure the proper fusion of the base metal and the filler material. Shielding Gas Flow: The shielding gas flow should be adjusted to ensure adequate coverage of the weld area. The gas flow rate is typically around 15-20 cubic feet per hour. Arc Length: Maintaining the proper arc length is critical in TIG welding. The arc should be kept as short as possible to prevent oxidation and ensure good penetration. Welding Speed: The welding speed should be consistent to ensure a consistent weld bead. It is important to maintain a steady pace to prevent overheating the base metal or creating cold welds. Pulse Frequency: Pulse TIG welding is a technique that involves alternating the welding current between high and low frequencies. This can be used to control the heat input and improve weld quality. Post-Weld Cleaning: After welding, the weld area should be cleaned to remove any oxidation or contamination that could weaken the weld. This can be done with a wire brush or grinder.

Common Problems and Solutions

As with any welding technique, TIG welding can present some issues that can affect the quality of your weld. One common problem is porosity, which results from gas pockets forming inside the weld. Porosity can be caused by contaminated shielding gas or a dirty workpiece. You can rectify this by using clean gas and ensuring your workpiece is clean and polished before you start welding. TIG welding is an excellent method for producing high-quality, precise, and aesthetically pleasing welds. However, it is essential to have the right equipment, follow safety guidelines, and master the techniques to ensure a successful outcome. With patience, practice, and attention to detail, you can become an expert TIG welder and produce welds that will stand up to even the most demanding applications. Photo by Heber Davis on Unsplash Read the full article

[electroweld]

Welding Jackets for Maximum Protection of Electroweld

Electroweld provides the highest quality welding jackets for maximum protection when working. Not only does our product provide superior protection, but it features a variety of features to ensure that you stay safe and comfortable during welding projects. In this article, we’ll discuss the features required in welding jackets for maximum protection and why Electroweld is your best choice for top-notch welding gear.

When selecting a welding jacket for manual or automated processes, several factors come into play, including material type, fire resistance rating and weight. At Electroweld we understand that without proper gear and a suitable clothing system capable of providing maximum protection against sparks, heat and molten metal splatter is essential when working with tools that generate heat.

Our jackets are constructed out of a durable cotton blend material or heavy duty Kevlar material both intended to keep the wearer comfortable while protecting them from the intense conditions created by welding processes. The cotton blend provides optimum flame-retardant protection while keeping the body cool even in hot summer months, while our Kevlar option offers superior durability and even more enhanced fire resistance for those cases where extra shielding is needed.

In addition to superior material selection, our jackets feature welders’ caps with side shields designed to protect eyes from harmful vision impairing sparks during manual torch cutting or grinding, an extended adjustable length cuffs designed to reduce heat exposure on wrists and ankles plus additional pockets on sleeves and shoulders offering easy access storage solutions. Further still they also include a detachable liner which can protect other surfaces such as furniture or walls from cloth ignition due to sparks or heat transfer.

At Electroweld, we provide employees with top quality wearables tailored specifically for welding tasks providing unequalled protection through intrinsically safe construction materials along with innovative protective technologies needed by those working at elevated temperatures day-in-day out. We strive to make sure workers have the safety features they need which is why each welders jacket carries UL certification guaranteeing compliance with industry standards governing safety wear design and performance in locations classified as hazardous zones by OSHA and NFPA-70E - all so you can rest assured knowing that you're employing proper safety equipment certified by experts operating within these settings

Contact Us:

Phone number: (02) 9708 6660

Email address: info@electroweld.com.au

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

[focuriousity25-blog]

“I’m working on it!”

In the dimly lit chamber, the intruder moved with frantic purpose, a whirlwind of chaos amidst the ancient relics. His umbrella dangled from his arm as he rifled through the artifacts, muttering to himself. "Dead, dead, straightening iron—ah-ha! This’ll work nicely."

With deft hands, he dismantled the magical treasures, snapping and prying them apart. The cryptid's eyes gleamed with manic focus as he pulled a yellow and silver device from his pocket. A concentrated laser beam sprang to life from one end, and he began to reassemble the artifacts, welding pieces together with expert precision. Symbols and runes emerged under the narrowed beam, while scraps of metal were fused into the bizarre contraption he was crafting.

His muttering continued, a stream of consciousness punctuated by irritated concerns about curses and other arcane surprises. 

Meanwhile, the Beast and the Sorcerer had their work cut out for them as the creature, now focusing its attention on them specifically, was absolutely hammering down them, thrashing at them with limbs that grew from all over its form, striking at them with teeth that almost seemed to leave its mouth, even trying to spit at them a kind of acidic web-like substance the color as the rest of its body! 

But the great Doctor Stephen Strange wouldn’t be beaten easily, even if the thoughts and meaning behind Hank’s statement were somewhat shared. He had been doing this for quite some time, and there came moments where the sorcerer wished more than anything to pass the torch and hang up his cloak of levitation, but deep down he knew he wouldn’t, not yet, and neither would Hank, because at their cores, no matter their struggles or vocations, they were defenders, protectors, trying to make the world a better place in their own unique ways and keep it safe from harm, even if it meant at the cost of their own lives, so damn it all to hell he was going to give this fight everything he had!!! Seasoned with resolute, he hurled spell after spell, casting shields for protection and trying to box the creature in, he shot energy blasts and warped the very walls and portals to creatively evade and eviscerate. If only it was actually making a blasted difference…

"Outta the way!" the intruder shouted, leaping into the fray with his makeshift weapon—a bazooka of cobbled-together relics. He braced himself, his clawed feet digging into the ground as energy crackled ominously around his creation. "Been waiting to do this all gosh-darn WEEK!!" he cackled, a malignant grin spreading across his face.

KA-BOOOM!!!

The blast was overwhelming, a blinding torrent of light and sound. The creature was hurled back, flailing as it was propelled through a portal with incredible force. The shockwave nearly threw the intruder off balance, but he held on, anchored to the spot!

As the energy dissipated, the intruder discarded his weapon and hurried to the portal, stopping just shy of its shimmering threshold. He placed a hand on its surface, concentrating intently.

They could all see the creature’s silhouette on the other side, already racing back, but the portal reacted quickly, it shrunk, its fractals becoming fragments, fragments becoming segments, until once again it took the shape of the stained glass heart once more.

It was quiet in the chamber now. Too quiet. The kind of silence you get when you’re listening to blasting music in the middle of the night, and suddenly it stops. The intruder just stood there, holding the heart…before he started to dryly chuckle and dawning an incredulous expression.

“Oh, oh-hoho, wow…!” He put a hand on his forehead as if getting his bearings, before removing it and realizing…he was still shaking, and yet…he looked fascinated as he processed the aftermath.

Strange finally broke the silence. "What just happened? What did you do?"

The intruder, still shaking with adrenaline, replied, "That thing couldn’t be destroyed—at least not here and now. But it was still adjusting to this dimension's physics, so I was able to give it a magical shove,” his palms mimicked the action of pushing to illustrate, “back through the heart using the equivalent of a magical water cannon." 

"You... made a magic cannon out of the Sanctum’s artifacts?" Strange's tone was a mix of reluctant admiration of the on-the-spot ingenuity, and incredulity at the vandalism of some potentially sacred relics.

"I did, yes." The intruder nodded curtly. "I’m Koschei, by the way. Before, you asked-- my name is Valeyar Koschei. Or if you prefer my friendly nom de guerre, Black Cryptid." He gave them a neat little now.

“And the creature that briefly invaded these presumably hallowed halls was a rather nasty fusion between a kind of messenger and a pilot fish. Oh yes,” he held up a finger for emphasis, “I’m afraid the danger’s far from over, because as it happens there are more of these out there,” 

He gestured broadly as he held up the heart, “and there’s something far bigger and far worse, which intends to make full use of them now that it knows they exist.”

His expression turned grim as he contemplated the looming threat. "When it figures out how to activate these hearts like I did..."

The implication hung in the air like a dark cloud, and the intruder, Koschei, gave a cringed grimace, and sucked in a hiss, as if it didn’t even bear thinking about, let alone saying aloud. "OH!!!" He shouted as if startled by a realization. "In all the kerfuffle I completely forgot! Bagh, marathon or no marathon it's no excuse, how could I let slip something so CRITICAL!!!"

He sounded panicked as he frantically reached into his coat pocket...! And...produced a plastic bag, presenting to McCoy and Strange with a renewed happy grin. "Would either of you like a root beer drop?"

For some reason, Hank’s words made the intruder lift his head and let out a brief, genuine laugh. It wasn’t mocking or forced; rather, it seemed that despite the looming threat, he found true amusement in the remark.

Turning to face the furry blue man, he grinned with delight. “Now, now, one person’s ‘magic mumbo jumbo’ is another’s scientific gobbledygook—watch out.”

When Hank initially yanked him and Strange out of the path of the creature’s assault. The monster lunged past them, crashing into the stone wall- ironically into the exact spot the intruder had crashed into seconds before- creating a web of cracks. It appeared dazed by the impact, but only for the shortest moment. Its form shifted, the grotesque mass reconfiguring itself on the spot so its direction was once again aiming right for them, and it lunged once more, stretching towards them, having transformed from a mass of limbs into a monstrous, bubbling serpent. Despite Hank's attempt to distance them, it seemed to in addition to the ability to elongate like putty, rendering his efforts nearly futile!

This assault was thwarted by a glowing barrier suddenly conjured by Strange, his hands weaving intricate patterns in the air. The Sorcerer Supreme began chanting, his voice a low, resonant hum.

The intruder cocked his head, one ear flicking as if recognizing the incantation. “Oh-hoo, clever, very clever!” he exclaimed, clearly impressed as Strange completed the spell. A cascade of blades, fashioned from pure sound, erupted from Strange's mouth and sliced through the air towards the creature. Instead of cutting through its flesh, the blades permeated it, as if the beast had swallowed a swarm of furious hornets.

The creature’s form bulged and rippled under the spell’s influence. The intention was clearly lethal, and it was certainly causing the creature distress, but—

“I’m afraid that won’t hold it for long, but I must say again, very clever,” the intruder noted, admiration in his voice.

“This is the Sanctum Sanctorum,” Strange interjected, a hint of irritation in his tone. “It’s had quite a number of interdimensional break-ins. I prepared that spell specifically as a deterrent.”

Strange fixed the intruder with a piercing glare, to which he responded with a raised eyebrow.

“Tell us you know how to stop that thing,” Strange demanded.

“I know how to stop that thing,” the intruder replied confidently. “Well…I can send it back and close the Shattered Heart—the time corridor generator.”

Spinning on his heel, he surveyed the room swiftly. “Now, this Sanctum of yours, it acts in part as a magical repository, yes? Yes.”

Without wasting another moment, he dashed toward a pile of magical artifacts, scooping up trinkets with urgency.

“Just keep it busy!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the chamber.

[roci-by-book]

Nemesis Games [WIP]

“Towers of curved ceramic and steel made great piles, denser than mountains. Hair-thin wire hundreds of kilometers long stood on plastic spools taller than Filip.” (5)

“Filip shuffled down the rows of welding rigs and metal printers. Tubs of steel and ceramic dust fine than talcum. Spiral-core mounts. Layers of Kevlar and foam strike armor piled up like the biggest bed in the solar system.” (5)

“At the emergency ward, he found himself wheeled into an automated surgical bed not that different from the ones on the Rocinante.” (158)

“The passage was the usual design of inflated Mylar and titanium ribs.” (221-222)

“The curve was like the airlock on the Roci, and the design of the latch. Martian design. And more than that, Martian Navy.” (222)

"The bridge looked like the Rocinante's younger brother" (222)

“She pulled herself out of her crash couch and walked out to the common room. It was so much like the Roci’s galley that her brain kept trying to recognize it, failing, and trying again.” (262)

“Magnetic pallets locked to the decks and walls in neat rows. She wondered idly where it had all come from, and what promises had been given in exchange. She went to the nearest, plugged the array into the pallet, and popped it open. The crates unfolded.” (263)

“A toolbox in the machine shop had a bent hasp and, given a few minutes, could be forced open. The Allen wrenches inside would open the access panel on the lift wall between the crew quarters and the airlock, which was where the secondary diagnostic handset for the comm array was stored.” (304)

“While she worked, pressing the plastic into the seams, scraping out whatever had gathered there, doing it again, she tried to fit the new information into the larger scheme of things.” (306)

“When the deck was clean, she dropped the spatula into the recycler, stood, and stretched.” (307)

“In her bunk, her fingers laced behind her neck, she stared up at the blackness on the ceiling. The interface screen at her side was dead.” (311)

“The ship lurched hard, snapping the gimbals of the couches forty-five degrees to the deck.” (329)

“One bulkhead failed to open, reporting vacuum on the other side, and they had to backtrack.” (330)

“The comm array was unable to transmit either broadcast or tightbeam.” (330)

“She popped the straps loose and sat up, pulling her leg away from the needle.” (338)

“In the lift, she selected the machine shop and gripped the handholds as the mechanism dropped her down the body of the ship.” (338)

“The machine shop was empty, all the tools locked in place, but with enough tolerance that when the ship lurched, they all rattled: metal against metal like the ship itself was learning to talk.“ (338)

“She stumbled, her head crashing against the metal shelves.” (339)

“All the wrenches, epoxy welders, voltage meters, and cans of air and lubricant were strapped in place, She flipped through the close-packed layers to a line of Allen wrenches and plucked out the 10 mm.” (339)

“She gathered up a voltage tester, a wiring crimp, and a light-duty soldering iron and stuffed them in her pockets.” (339)

“She killed the lift between the crew quarters and the airlock, bracing herself so that the deceleration didn’t leave her trapped in the middle of empty air.” (340)

“The access panel was fifteen centimeters high and forty wide and opened on the major electrical routing through the center of the ship. If she cut though all the cables there with a welding torch, all the traffic would have rerouted instantly to other channels. Apart from a few warning indicators, nothing would happen.” (340)

“The screws were integral to the plate and didn’t come free, but she felt it when the metal threads lost their grip.” (340)

“Ten. The plate came free. She scooped up the handset, checking its charge. The batteries were nearly full. Connection read good.” (341)

“Channel eighteen was a comm array using the D4/L4 protocols that the Rocinante did for broadcast.” (341)

“Hand over hand, she pulled herself along the shaft and then into the corridors.” (342)

“The narrow corridors of the crew deck seemed too wide.” (344)

“The occasional ticking and popping of the expansion joins adjusting to shifts in temperature were like the knocking of ghosts.”(344)

“He undid the straps on his couch, floating forwards.” (346)

“He stopped at the med bay on the way to his quarters.” (346)

“Fred landed feetfirst on the wall, ankles hooked into the handholds like he’d been born in the Belt.”(348)

““All the bunks are the same,” Holden said. “Except mine. You can’t have mine.”" (349)

“The halls had the same anti-spalling covering that the bridge and the mess had, but marked with location codes and colored strips that would help navigate the ship. One line was deep red with HANGER BAY written in yellow Hindi, English, Bengali, Farsi, and Chinese.” (355)

“Across the corridor from Alex, Prime Minister Smith was huddled behind the lip of a doorway.” (356)

“Another burst of fire sang past, tearing long black strips from the walls and deck and filling the air with the smell of cordite.” (356)

“She drank the same version of chamomile tea that the Rocinante made, and it felt like having a secret ally.” (364)

“The mess was empty, the screens turned off and the crew set away.” (364)

“First drawer: gauze and bandages. Second drawer: one-use blood cards for maybe a hundred different field tests. Third drawer: emergency medical supplies like decompression kits, adrenaline shots, defibrillation tape.” (368)

“The medic had her sit up, the cushion of the medical table crackling under her shifting weight. The analgesic was a spray that went in Naomi’s mouth. It tasted like fake cherry and mold.” (369)

“The cabinet doors were open, spilling test cards and preloaded hypodermics across the floor.” (369)

“She fell to the side, her belly to the deck, decompression kits the size of her thumb pressing into her face as Miral writhed around to kneel on her back.” (369)

“She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t, so she just watched as Karal opened the door then closed it behind him. The lock slid closed.” (371)

“Wet with her saliva and no bigger than her thumb, it was the sort of thing any mech driver kept with her. A tiny ampoule of injectable oxygenated artificial blood and a panic button what would make an emergency medical request for an airlock to cycle.” (371)

“Fred held up the coffee cup. The name TACHI hadn’t quite worn off the side, red and black letters half-erased by use.” (381)

“The crash couch was bolted to the deck with thick steel and reinforced ceramic canted so that any direction the force came from was compression on one leg or another.” (407)

“The drawers were thinner metal, the same gauge, more or less, as the lockers. She pulled them out as far as they would open, examining the construction of the latches, the seams where the metal had been folded, searching for clues or inspiration.” (407)

“The tiny black thumb of the decompression kit, she kept tucked at her waist, ready to go if she could just find a way.” (407)

“The mirror was polished alloy built into the wall. No help there. If she could take apart the vacuum fan in the toilet...” (408)

“A simple EVA suit hung there, suspended in the null g by thin bands of elastic.” (423)

“The indicator went from green to red under her thumb.” (424)

“The airlock door closed behind him, the magnetic seals clacking.” (424)

“The lock was small enough he could put flat palms on both doors.” (424)

“Naomi thumbed the emergency override. Three options appeared: OPEN SHIP DOOR, OPEN OUTER DOOR, RETURN TO CYCLE.” (424)

“Without magnetic boots, she’d have to reach it with bare handholds, but she was close.” (426)

“She plucked the black thumb out of her belt, twisted it to expose the needle, and slammed it into her leg.” (426)

“The airlock indicator on the Chetzemoka’s skin blinked, the emergency response received, the cycle starting.” (426)

“There were handholds on the surface – some where deigned, but others were the protrusions of antennae and cameras.” (427)

“Maneuvering thrusters lit along the warship’s side, an ejection mass of superheated water glowing as it jetted out.” (427)

“And then, Mfume was gone, bolting up the ladder toward the cockpit faster than the lift would have taken him.” (431 - 432)

“Holden tapped in an order for another coffee.” (432)

“Finding Sun-yi and Gor wired into gaming googles shooting the crap out of each other in simulated battles – because as weapons techs with no one to shoot at they were getting antsy – stopped being weird and edged into sort of endearing.” (432)

“The hatch to the cockpit was closed, but Holden could still hear the wailing of the raï that Mfume liked to listen to during his shift in the pilot’s seat.” (433)

“Holden sat on the couch beside Fred’s and leaned in.” (433)

“The first disappointment was that the controls were in lockdown. She tried a few passwords – FreeNavy and Marcoisgreat and Filip – but even if she got it right, there was no reason to expect that they’d left the biometrics profiles turned off.” (448)

“The three EVA suits that remained didn’t have batteries or air bottles. The emergency rations were gone. She expected the toolboxes to be gone from the machine shop, but they’d taken out the racks that held them too, the drawers from the cabinets, the LEDs from the wall lights. The couches were all slit open, gel and padding pooled on the deck beside them. The drug delivery system and reservoirs were gone. The only water was in the drives; ejection mass to be spit out the back of the ship. The only food was the residue in the recyclers that hadn’t been processed back into anything edible. The stink of welding rigs and burning still hang in the air, so the air recycler was probably running unfiltered.” (449)

“The deck shook under her, the vibration of thrust setting up resonances that no system even tried to damp down.” (449)

“There should be a way through the machine shop. All machine shops were supposed to be connected at the back.” (449)

“The EVA suits weren’t powered and didn’t have bottles, but they had seals and reinforcement. She could take the cloth apart, and salvage some lengths of wire. Maybe something solid enough to cut with. And could she use the helmet clamps as a kind of vise grip or clamp?” (450)

“In a real ship, it would all have been protected by conduit. On this piece of crap, the wiring had all been fixed directly to the hall with a layer of yellowed silicone epoxy.” (452)

“Across the space, maybe four meters away, an indicator light went amber, and she was falling sideways. With the extra illumination, she could see the round, tree-thick body of the maneuvering thruster. She put out her arms, catching herself against a steel strut.” (452)

“Three sorties ago -- number forty-four -- she’d thought there might be a diagnostic handset. Not that should could speak into it, but she might have been able to tap out a message. But despite the fact that handsets like that were standard and required, there wasn’t one” (454)

“She scrambled down, moving from strut to strut, watching her hands and feet with every movement so she wouldn’t midjudge.” (455)

“The air in her suit didn’t feel stale or close; the carbon dioxide scrubbers worked well enough on passive that she wouldn’t feel the panic of asphyxiation. She’d just gently pass out and die.” (455)

[mimiplaysgames]

dammit.

Terraqua Week Day 1: #gummiphone

Summary: A marriage proposal is hard enough - if only Terra didn’t accidentally text his plans to Aqua. @terraquaweek

Read on AO3.

***

Some say facing your biggest fears is like jumping off a cliff - the hardest part is taking that first step, and the momentum will carry you the rest of the way. But who would be crazy enough to do that?

Terra needs a more suitable analogy for his situation. Proposing to someone is kind of a big deal, after all.

Better yet, he’s forging the ring for her. Normally, she’s the creative prowess considering her skill at handling metal; the Wayfinder taking residence in his pocket is proof of that.

Of course, he can’t ask her for help, he can’t let her know. He has alibis to hide what he’s doing. Every time they come to Disney Town, he tucks himself away at the blacksmith’s while she runs off to spend her time mixing potions in case anything happens - including any rowdy occurrences where Keyblades are simply too slow for what needs to be done (she’ll crack a smile and tell him that if he ever gets possessed again, she’ll just poison him to spare herself the trouble, which is fair).

The blacksmith’s is a good cover, since he’s been putting his knowledge of Keyblade armor to good use. Whenever she’s around, she’ll see Riku’s prototype hanging by the furnace. A ring is much easier to hide.

Well, it’s not yet a ring. It’s mostly a plan, Naminé’s crayon-filled blueprints in display on the workbench by his side - a mix of the tiniest sapphires imaginable, because something too flashy just won’t suit Aqua very well (even though she fights fancy).

He has his tools: his face shield, pliers, a torch, a drill, refined silver. Disciplining a hard element such as metal is soothing in a way, reminding him that he can accomplish anything if he puts his mind to it. To see the silver bend to his will, like it’s learning to be proper, is as rewarding as a teacher seeing his student succeed. 

It’s tedious work, perfect for getting in the zone. Welding shields and weapons, and mining for jewels, tests the body, but it passes. It’s not so bad to endure once the work starts.

The idea of marrying her came to him as easily as breathing. Of course he wants her by his side. He wants to wake up next to her every morning. It hurts when she has to leave; it heals when she comes back. Most of all, he will never tire of her smile. Never. 

Asking her to marry him however…

At least with making her ring - making sure the band is smooth and perfect, that the sapphires are placed correctly, that the designs are crisp - he could get lost in the flow and not have to think about his greatest adversary: whether she will say yes or no. 

Well, he could get deeply engrossed and forget about the rest of the world if that stupid Gummiphone would just shut up. 

“I’ve barely started,” he groans. 

It replies by ringing again, more texts. There’s no one out there who would try to contact him this much except for Ven.

“You’ll just have to wait.”

It rings again and Terra grunts, loud enough to be a warning even though the phone isn’t sentient and can’t get the message.

It still won’t stop. 

“I hate this thing,” he mutters to himself as he finally gets up and checks it. Surely he misses the days where friends just visited each other. The phone is very impersonal, and it keeps him connected all the damn time and how in the world can anyone focus this way? The keys on the screen are too small for his big thumbs to type in and it’s especially annoying when it’s late at night. 

The perpetrator is indeed Ventus, so distracting that Terra left behind a rod of silver with a sawed curve at the end. He hasn’t even begun the soldering.

Already a flood of texts fill the phone’s screen.

Ven Have you started working on it? ^^

Ven I wanna see! Take a pic :)

Ven #pleaserespond

Ven Please? ;-;

Ven YOU’RE STALLING D:<

“I don’t know how to take a picture,” he says to the phone.

If there’s anything that’s more overwhelming, it’s managing this dumb thing with the endless list of icons he has to scroll through just to find what he has to do. 

Before he can really investigate, Ventus calls.

Terra brings it to his ear. “Yeah?”

“Come on,” he whines on the receiver. 

“I’m trying to, I just don’t understand how to use this stupid thing.”

“Just click on the camera app,” he says like it’s the most obvious thing ever.

Terra checks the screen, but it’s all black, Ven’s name stretched across the top and the menu completely gone. Of course. He brings it back to his ear. “It’s gone.”

“No it isn’t, you oaf.”

What a tongue. A couple of months in the outside world and suddenly Ventus thinks he can take on anything bigger than him. “You’re spending way too much time with Lea.”

“Look,” Ven starts - which is a strange thing to say, he can’t see what Terra is doing. “Just click the button on the bottom of the phone - not the red one on the screen or it will hang me up.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” He’s beginning to regret even telling Ven about the ring.

Terra does as he’s instructed, the black screen swiped away, sending him back to the menu. Ven’s voice yaps to himself through the earpiece - Terra has found the camera and is already taking snaps of his (interrupted) work.

“Hang on, Ven, I’m working on it.”

“WAIT A MINUTE, I CAN’T HEAR YOU. YOU NEED TO PUT ME ON SPEAKER.”

Honestly, the thought of Ventus screaming at a piece of junk pulls a smirk on Terra’s face ever so slightly. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“WHAT?”

“Wait for it.” Terra says into the mouthpiece, hanging him up. It’s easier to stay focused this way. 

He wonders what he should title the text message with the photo. He starts with ‘aquas ring’ but it sounds weird - Ven already knows what it is - so he deletes it.

Just figuring out how to attach the photo is annoying enough. There’s so many better things to learn.

Me happy now

Send.

That should be enough, and he immediately sits back down to continue, assuming that Ven will take the time to gush over it.

But Ven calls again.

“Yes?” 

“You’re ignoring me.” This time he’s serious.

“I sent it.”

“I don’t see it.”

“Maybe it takes time?”

“It’s taking too long.” 

Ventus used to have the greatest patience in the world, always being left behind in the academy. Now after everything that’s happened, he simply stopped seeing the point of waiting around. 

It’s usually endearing in most cases.

“Well, what do you want me to say, Ven?”

“Check if it actually sent.”

Terra sighs - what else is he going to do? - and checks his phone. Swipe away the phone call, open texts. 

What he sees makes him shake.

“No… I sent it to Aqua.” He’s saying that to thin air, and brings it back to his ear to repeat it. “I sent it to Aqua.”

“Seriously?” Now he actually sounds concerned. At first. Then there’s a snicker on the other end.

“How do I take it back?”

“I-” The pause is too long, Ven calming himself after two more laughs escape. “You can’t.”

“I can’t delete it?”

“Yeah, but-”

“How, Ven?”

A door opens and shuts behind him. This isn’t the time to deal with customers.

But it’s Aqua. And her phone is in her hand. Wonderful.

Terra stands in front of his workbench, spreading his arms wide to casually rest them on the surface, hiding as much as possible. 

Of course this leaves Ventus back to talking to himself, his words indecipherable. 

“What is this?” Aqua asks him, showing him the screen where his photo is proudly on display. She’s curious if anything. “What do you mean by ‘happy now’?”

It feels like Terra is about to puke his heart out, and he’ll have no choice but to leave it on the floor to thrash by itself while he pretends to ignore it. 

“Supposed to be a question,” he mumbles.

She cocks both her eyebrows, rolling her lips inward because she knows him well enough to understand that he’s acting ridiculous. “It looks like a wand? I don’t get it?”

He’s too silent, taken too long to reply to Ventus who suddenly screams through the phone, “WHAT’S GOING ON? DON’T WORRY TERRA, I’LL SAVE YOU.”

Terra hangs up.

“He’s being rude,” Aqua says, smiling and shaking her head to herself. She steps closer and if Terra has never felt back pain from standing so stiffly, he does now. “So what are you making?” she asks innocently, like he isn’t about to burn into ashes from the heat in his cheeks. “You never told me about this.”

His heart hammers in his throat. “Something.”

She snorts. “I can see that.”

He points at her phone, the words unable to come so he forces them out. “I was supposed to send that to Ven.”

Aqua double-checks her screen, like she’s trying not to miss something. “What does Ven want with precious jewels?”

But Terra shakes his head, and his refusal to answer actually makes her smile fall. The point was to give her a gift that was completed, refined, perfect because she deserves more than that. “You just have to-”

Trust me. 

She does, even when she hesitates. Even today, after months of sharing a bed, after adjusting to a peaceful life with few Heartless, after re-training themselves to stop expecting something awful to happen in ten minutes and ruin their lives again, he’s never actually asked her to do that. She just does. 

It feels wrong to do so now. 

The sigh he allows to slip is shaky, long, uncontrolled. If there’s anything these insane years have taught him, it’s acceptance. 

He decides to be brave, finally, by looking her in the eyes. “It’s for you.”

Her eyebrows furrow, and she leans forward like she’s unsure what she just heard. “You’re making me something with gemstones?”

Then she blinks several times, like she’s just seen the light. Scatters the desk behind him. Licks her lips. Searches his face for the same answer again and again to the question suddenly bursting in her mind. 

“It’s a…” she waits. 

It’s hard to swallow the thumping in his throat, but he does, his eyes starting to sting. “Yeah.”

The gasp she takes in doesn’t leave her mouth, jaw dropping, eyes searching faster until a smile makes itself known. She bites her lips, her teeth showing as her cheeks puff up, and even though she tries to literally wipe herself calmly, her happiness is stronger. She can’t form words, but the laughter and the tears are more than enough.

“Com-” Terra swallows again, outstretching his arms toward her like he’s about to catch her. His own cheeks hurt from his grins. “Compose yourself, Master Aqua.”

The Master before him reminds herself, and she pats her cheeks like she’s trying to wake herself up, but her laughs again win this battle. Aqua throws herself around his neck, taking him in for a hard kiss because, still, words do no justice for the giggles. 

Happiness is something, Terra finds, to be something that needs to be protected the most. There’s something about the emotion that makes him feel like he’s home, but also incredibly vulnerable. Like looking over his shoulder to catch a thief trying to steal it away. 

But this is different. There’s a soreness when she pulls away, like his happiness is starving and she’s only fed it a small snack. It knocks on his chest, knocks on his forehead, knocks and opens through the tears out of his own eyes.

He needs to do it now.

He takes her phone and opens to the text messages, brings his photo to the screen. 

“Ah,” he sighs, “obviously it’s not done, but I guess-”

“M-hm,” she nods quickly, hiding her smile behind her hand. It’s too big to be concealed well.

His cheeks hurt more and he doesn’t know how that’s possible. Bending down on one knee, he holds her phone in the palm of his hand, a photo of a silver rod with a curved tip that still needs to be sawed off, soldered together, and drilled for holes, taking most of the space, with a layout of tiny sapphires arranged in a design that should transfer well if he does his job right. 

“Aqua,” he begins and there goes his heart again, threatening to lurch itself out of his mouth. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” She doesn’t allow a single second to take the spotlight, dropping to her knees to embrace him, to kiss him more and more, to mix their tears and their laughs together. 

It makes him forget there ever is a spiteful thief that hates the image of merriment, that in any second Ven can walk in here and ruin the moment. It makes him believe that happiness is as powerful as metal and as immovable as earth, meant to last forever. 

He gives her space to sit on his thigh, gripping her tightly because this happiness, this future in his arms, needs to be nourished. 

Hmm, he definitely should put that in his vows. Suddenly the idea that he has to confess all of these thoughts in a wedding in front of guests is now making him nervous again.

But he has to do it, scared stomach be damned.

“This is practice for the real thing,” he chuckles, essentially telling his nausea to mind its own business.

She grins and all he wants is to make her smile more. “Did you have better plans for asking me?”

“No.” He doesn’t know why he sounds so shaky. “I haven’t begun planning for it just yet.”

She kisses him again. “Can I watch you finish it? I can give you pointers.”

He nods, tracing the lines in her irises with his eyes. “Sure.”

“We can even measure my finger.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They linger there, like they’re expecting it to be unpleasant to peel themselves off each other. 

Aqua, his Aqua, gives him one more nibble on his lip, hugging him like they’ve been reunited for the first time in years, before she finally gets up and composes herself like the Master she is. She fetches a face shield too, before picking up Naminé’s plans. 

She says it’s beautiful, despite that it’s nowhere near finished. Her pointers are great, helpful for avoiding foreseeable issues, but the most fun part of letting her in this way is hearing her grin again and again. And even though he once churned with anxiousness at the thought, now he can’t wait to see it on her finger.

Facing fears is like jumping off a cliff. Sometimes, you’ll fall and get hurt, struggling before walking again. Sometimes, you’ll fly.

[toxitalks]

ROBSTAR WEEK 2019 - DAY ONE

i haven’t written robstar in a phat minute but aye here we go again. the grind never stops

how could you expect me NOT to write my favorite ship?

|| day one: wayne manor || day two: stardust || day three: lost ||

|| day four: fever || day five: tba || day six: tba || day seven: tba ||

“Robin, are you certain that this is… acceptable?”

Starfire fiddled with her fingers as she hovered beside Robin, the latter walking up the steps to the grand front entrance. The Tamaranean’s brows were furrowed with concern as she watched her accomplice produce a single key from his utility belt and slide it into the slot.

“It’ll be fine, Star,” assured the Boy Wonder, grinning with satisfaction when the key clicked, and the door opened with a gentle shove. “We’ll be in and out. And besides, it’s not like I’m doing anything I’m not allowed to. In a way, this is my house too.”

Starfire gave him an unconvincing stare as she reluctantly floated in after him, shutting the door behind her ever so gently. “I believe that calling this the ‘house’ would be the understatement.”

Robin shrugged to himself, slipping the key back into his belt and making his route for the winding set of stairs in the manor. He just had to grab a couple of his belongings from his old room when he would stay here—nothing wrong with that.

Yes, although Robin had moved on from working with Batman, he still had a right to the manor and his own belongings.

He was still Bruce’s son, adopted or not, and this was still his house.

He just had to hope he could get out without running into anybody else.

“House… manor… whatever you want to call it,” Robin shrugged as he trekked up the stairs with Starfire hovering beside him. He laced their hands together with a smug grin, seeing her green eyes widen in the dim lighting. “Still doesn’t beat my real home back at the Tower.”

Starfire hummed with thought, having snapped out of the initial shock that came from Robin intertwining their fingers. While her eyes did linger on their interlocked hands, she managed to vocalize her thoughts. “But this was once your place of residence, correct? I do not understand why we must be so… secretive.”

“I don’t want to interrupt anybody,” Robin supplied quickly, using the first excuse at the top of his head. He hoped Starfire would stop prying him about it, though the alien princess wasn’t one to drop things so easily. “That’s all. I mean, believe me, I would love to stay and chat with Bru- er, Batman, but Jump City needs us back as soon as possible. I told the others this would be a quick trip. In and out.”

“Surely the others are capable of maintaining our home for… at most, a few hours…”

“Yes, they probably are,” shot back the dark-haired teen as he sighed to himself. He guided Starfire down the never-ending hall to a specific door that towered over the both of them. “But I don’t want to stay long, Star.”

“If you insist,” responded the alien princess with a hint of disappointment in her tone. “Though meeting the Batman would be most intriguing if you were to ask me.”

When Robin shot her an irritated look from beneath his domino mask, she instantly sealed her lips shut. It didn’t hinder the look of smugness written upon her expression, however, as Robin rolled his eyes while he reached for the door handle.

“In and out,” Robin reiterated with a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lip. Though Starfire’s incessant insistencies wouldn’t cease, the Boy Wonder couldn’t deny that it made her only more adorable. “We’re supposed to be back before dawn.”

Humming in disagreement, Starfire only managed to shrug her shoulders as Robin pushed open the double doors leading to what the Tamaranean assumed was his previous room in the manor.

“The Batman’s home is quite large,” Starfire noted with a frown, floating in after Robin. The doors creaked shut on their own and the alien princess admired her accomplice as he dug through the cabinets and drawers that weren’t lined with a single speck of dust, as opposed to their home at the Tower. “That would leave vulnerability, correct? It seems as though a place of residence this grand would be easily detectable—has the Batman not made many enemies in the past?”

Robin frowned, continuing his search as he pulled open drawers in search of the spare wires and tools he’d once utilized to construct his own weaponry and arsenal. “Well, thing is, nobody really knows this place is where Batman lives.”

Starfire quirked a brow. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” replied Robin as he dug out a travel-sized welding torch, grinning to himself as he stuffed it into his utility belt. “It’s like… uh, like how I never take off my mask. Nobody can know who I am, right? If villains got word of who I am under this mask, they could target anyone I’ve made attachments to. Including you.”

His fist clenched as a cold shiver ran down his spine. Robin turned away with a whisk of his cape, leaving Starfire to hover after him, her hands clasped together anxiously.

“And that is something I’ll never let happen.”

As Robin bent down to expose the contents of yet another drawer, he flinched as Starfire flew behind him at such a speed it formed a gust, causing his cape to fly up. The Boy Wonder’s cheeks flushed pink, embarrassed that he’d been caught off-guard by something so minor and easily noticed. After all, the manor didn’t exactly bring back the brightest memories to him.

Continuing his work, Robin led the search for the materials he’d stored away long ago, hidden in various crevices of his previous room. He tugged open cabinets and reached for the few nuts and bolts he’d left there for himself in the future, stuffing them in whatever space he had available in his pockets.

Perhaps, thought the Boy Wonder, he’d have to raid the Batcave for anything else he might need back at the Tower. He was running low on explosive disk materials and liquid nitrogen did not exactly come by easily.

“Star? What’cha looking at?” Robin didn’t adjust his stare as he heard the red-haired Tamaranean’s awestruck breathing, instead rummaging through his past belongings.

“Robin? Who is the Earthling boy pictured here? He is reminiscent of... you.”

Robin jumped up instantly and whipped around to see Starfire with furrowed brows, admiring one of the many framed photos of himself plastered around the room. The dark-haired teen’s face turned completely red as he snatched the framed photo from Starfire’s hand and tossed it into a nearby drawer, kicking it shut.

Forcing out a nervous laugh, the Boy Wonder fiddled with the collar of his cape. “Don’t worry about it,” assured the teen with a forced smile, the crinkles around his eyes concealed by the domino-styled mask. “I-it’s a picture of, uh, somebody I… used to know?”

Despite Starfire’s unconvinced brow that remained lifted, the Tamaranean’s jade-green stare sized up Robin as he offered his fake smile, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly. She huffed in defeat and hovered beside her accomplice, frowning. “Oh, yes? Would that be correct? And why have I not been granted any prior knowledge of this boy?”

“H-he’s… um,” Robin fidgeted with his latex gloves, “well, hence the ‘I-used-to-know-him’ part, you know? W-we don’t really keep in touch anymore.”

Letting out a thoughtful hum, Starfire planted her platformed boots on the ground and stepped over to another framed photo of the same boy, smiling widely. He had chilling blue eyes and jet-black hair styled back with gel, his pale skin even paler in the lighting of the setting.

“…Richard Grayson?”

Hearing the name made a cold shiver run down Robin’s spine. He blinked a few times, feigning confusion, forcing a frown at Starfire as his brows furrowed together. “Who’s that?”

“The boy.” Starfire pointed out yet another photograph of said boy, this time standing beside a man almost twice his height with the same cold stare and jet-black eyes. His shoulders were broad and fitted nicely into a suit and tie, with one hand placed on the shoulder of the boy supposedly named Richard Grayson.

Robin stared in astonishment and took an uneasy step away from the framed photo. He swallowed whatever anxiety was welling up in his throat and turned away, beginning his trek back to the door he’d entered the room from. “That’s… not what we’re here to see. Let’s get going now, Starfire.”

As Robin reached for Starfire’s wrist to drag her out of the room and refrain her from uncovering any other hints about both his and Batman’s secret identity, the Tamaranean did not budge from where she stood. Instead, her foreign green eyes were affixed onto a single polaroid photo taped to the mirror.

“Starfire,” repeated Robin as he pivoted on his foot to find out what was hindering the Tamaranean girl, “come on, we really should be heading back to the Tower now. It’ll almost be dawn by the time we get back, and I don’t want to worry the team.”

Robin raised a brow as Starfire seemingly ignored his command, with the black-haired boy wandering over to observe what his teammate had been admiring. His eyes widened as they settled on the same polaroid taped to the mirror.

“Robin,” began Starfire, a slight smile creeping onto her lips, “your eyes are most beautiful.”

The Boy Wonder could only stutter as Starfire reached up to take the polaroid with a single hand, diligently removing the tape from the picture and hurling it into the nearby trash can. The Tamaranean Titan giggled as Robin’s face grew red with embarrassment, turning away and mumbling something about how it was probably some kind of cosplay, or even something from a Halloween party.

He didn’t protest, however, as Starfire skimmed her fingers against the corners of the photograph, treating the picture as delicate as a glass.

Neither did he argue as Starfire followed him out of the manor with the photo still clasped between her hands.

And as the two Titans began their journey back to their home base in Jump City, Starfire couldn’t help but admire the polaroid every few seconds.

She blushed at the image of Robin donning his costume on the first day, his eyes—for once—not obscured by his trademark domino mask.

They were as blue as the sky on a sunny day, as full of life as she knew the Boy Wonder to be.

And although this would likely be the closest she’d ever get to seeing his eyes beneath that mask, the sight couldn’t help but bring a smile to her face as they left—unbeknownst to the Tamaranean—Wayne Manor.

[arplis]

Arplis - News: The 10 Best MIG Welders

If you have a bunch of welding projects lying around waiting to be completed, there are two options available. You can hire the services of a professional welder, or you can do-it-yourself with the help of the right tools and equipment. If you like the sound of the second option, what you need is a reliable, affordable, and good quality MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welder.

Here are the 10 best MIG Welders.

Goplus MIG 130

The Goplus MIG 130 is an excellent choice for the DIY welding enthusiast because it is both affordable and automatic. It is also the perfect product for home improvement, general repair works, sheet metal work, and many more.

This machine is not powered by argon or carbon dioxide gases. Moreover, it uses a process known as gas-less flux-molding, where instead of the standard wire, it uses a tubular wire filled with flux.

Termed as a household smart welder, this is an excellently designed tool made of high-gauge steel painted with a cheerful yellow. There is a multi-functional control panel that provides four levels of adjustable welding speed control current settings and a wire feeding speed adjustable knob with 10 feeding levels.

If youre worried about the unit over-heating, stay cool because this machine has an over-heating protective circuit and two air vents that dissipate heat. Also, small accessories can be conveniently stored and transported in the little hidden storage area on top of the unit. Aside from the machine, you also get a welding gun, wire and mask, wire brush, metal tip, and a ground cord. Overall, this product is an excellent choice for beginners.

Purchase

Hobart 500559 Handler 140

Another great pick for beginners is the Hobart 500559 Handler 140. This solidly constructed machine comes from the Hobart brand that has enjoyed an exceptional reputation since 1917.

Handler 140 is a very popular choice among home welders and hobbyists because it is simple, sturdy, and easy to use. Plus, it is also affordable and convenient to carry around, making it an ideal choice for auto-body work, farm and yard work, repairs, and metalworking art.

You can use this machine on both steel and aluminum, as well as on cast iron, copper, brass, magnesium, and titanium alloys. It weighs 65 pounds, and it uses standard 115V domestic power and provides an extremely smooth, stable arc on metals of any thickness. Also included in the package is an all-metal wire-feed assembly, which delivers flux core wire.

The five-position voltage control selector is a boon because it gives you a stable, smooth arc no matter what the welding thickness. Youll also appreciate the clear and uncomplicated user manual, which is specially designed for the newbie user. The assembly instructions and safety precautions listed in the manual are excellent. All in all, this product is hard to beat when it comes to reliability and price, and it comes with a five-year limited manufacturer warranty.

Purchase

2019 Everlast MIG 140

This 110/120V Flux 140-amp welder is a lightweight, practical, and ideal choice for new girls and boys on the block. It is one of the Everlast brands offerings in the economy line of inverter MIG welders.

The machines inverter feature provides a better duty cycle against regular transformer-based welders. Its basic design makes it a super entry-level unit without compromising its power and performance.

The IGBT inverter design delivers a higher amperage output with an increased 25% duty cycle at a lower amp draw. The handy size and weight allow great portability within your work area and also to your job site.

This product is an exceptional tool for mild steel angle/tubing, sheet metal, angle iron, hobby or artwork, small job MIG welding, and many more. The kit includes a three-meter 15-series MIG gun, work clamp, Ar/CO2 regulator, and a starter package of consumables to get you all set and ready to weld.

This machines wire feed speed and voltage are amazingly adjustable, and though you may need some practice to get your required settings right, this MIG welder is a great value for your money.

Purchase

Miller Electric Millermatic 211

If you dont mind investing a little more for an ultra-light, portable, dual voltage welder, the Miller Electric Millermatic 211 is for you. Manufactured by Miller Electric, this machine is versatile enough to work on stainless steel, mild steel, and aluminum. It can weld up to a steel thickness of 3.8 inches and the same with aluminum. It is portable, making it the right choice for the weekend welder, hobbyists, home welders, and metalwork artists.

Youll appreciate the fact that this product is a silent machine, and it has a simple set up thats user-friendly for those new to welding. Plus, it is also reliable on dual voltage, as well as sturdy and long-lasting for everyday use.

The hook and loop cord wraps are a handy addition to this machine. This product also has a fan on-demand cooling system that only operates when required, and this is great for noise reduction and power economy, as well as the volume of contaminants, sucked in.

This product also comes with an MVP that enables connection to a 120V and 240V power source. Its patented Smooth-Start feature gives an even, spatter-free operation. Finally, it carries Millers three-year True Blue warranty.

Purchase

Lincoln Electric K2185-1

This handy MIG welder comes from Lincoln Electric, a 124-year-old Ohio-based company. It is compact, lightweight, and portable, and it is ideal for welding mild 24-gauge steel with a thickness of up to 1/8th inch. These features make it an excellent tool for home improvement works and hobbyists with small projects. It is also a great choice for the occasional or novice welder, who is ready to try wire welding.

When you purchase this product, youll get a spool-shielded, flux-cored wire, contact tips, and chipping hammer/brush, making it possible for you to weld with a gas-less, flux-core wire. However, youll need to buy a gas tank if youre planning to use gas. Nonetheless, youll surely enjoy doing custom metalwork as well as small job works on auto bodies, lawn-mower, or roll-cage repairs with your Lincoln K2185.

If youre skeptical that a welding unit that plugs into the wall can deliver the necessary penetration produced by a stick welder, then rest assured that this product can provide all the power you need.

Purchase

Hobart Handler 210 MVP

If youve used the Hobart Handler 140 welder, youre already familiar with the companys reputation for reliability and performance. It has been in business since 1917, covering all aspects of welding and cutting products, including design, testing, and manufacture. Plus, they have also added a comprehensive range of welding accessories since 2000.

The Handler 210 MVP is a feed welder, which is versatile enough to operate on both 115V and 230V input power. It is also conveniently sized so you can transport it easily in its small portable case.

This machine has seven voltage settings for 230V and four for 115V, with unlimited wire feed speed. It also has a standard flux-core wire process, and its built-in contractor can keep the unit cool during operation.

With this product, you dont need an additional control box/adapter for connecting the spool-runner gun. Plus, its convenient door chart is a great boon for both novices and professionals. It also gives initial settings for different wires, gases, materials, and thicknesses. Lastly, you can ramp up operations with this products wide range of accessories.

Purchase

Forney 309 140-Amp Welder

If you need high-quality welds for home-based projects up to inch steel, the Forney 309 140-Amp Welder is a good option. It has been newly re-designed to incorporate some useful features that were not in its earlier version. These include integrated feet to give more height to the machine and provide extra stability, torch with in-built strain relief, and a useful torch wrap to keep things more organized.

This product is a simple, easy-to-use welder that you can work on mild steel, stainless steel, cast iron, and aluminum for automobiles, fencing, small home welding projects, and many more. Whats also great is that all the parts are easily replaceable.

This machine is capable of handling wire sizes of 0.23, 0.30, and 0.35 inches very successfully because of the new dual-geared drive and more innovatively designed despoiler. Plus, its Euro-style disconnect gun can swiftly remove the torch temporarily if necessary.

Overall, youll find that the duty cycle is quite good without having to stop to cool down in the middle of the project. It plugs directly into your domestic power source and gives you clean, spatter-free welds.

Purchase

LONGEVITY Migweld 140

The LONGEVITY Migweld 140 is a China-manufactured machine; however, dont let this fact make you take a step back. This product is a high-quality, high-performance welder that delivers industrial quality welding performance for a pocket-friendly price.

Ideal for both newbies and professionals, the Migweld 140 from LONGEVITY is a versatile tool, capable of handling not just aluminum but also a range of exotic metals. Its also the perfect instrument for light welding, home improvement, and artwork projects.

This machine uses consumables that are regularly found in your neighborhood hardware store. Plus, it is quite simple to learn and operate on both gas-less and core flux wire welding. The compact design makes it easy to transport within your workshop and also to your worksite.

Standard settings are available on the inside cover, but you can change them according to your requirements and preferences. Its high-quality feed mechanism is very smooth, and youll enjoy completing lots of different projects for friends and family without any fuss and bother. Its also great for outdoor work, and it gives a clean and accurate weld with minimal slag. Lastly, the thermal overload protection is for the entire lifetime of the device.

Purchase

Weldpro 200-Amp Inverter Multi-Process Welder

This product is a versatile welder that facilitates not just gas and flux core welding. It can also surprise you with its capacity for true lift TIG welding, stick welding, and aluminum welding by using the spool gun option.

This product is a synergistically designed MIG/Flux Core space-saving unit that uses IGBT technology. Thats why you get such high power in a lightweight, compact machine and a smoother, cleaner weld with less spatter.

Compared to other machines in its price range, the Weldpro 200-Amp automatically adjusts voltage and wire-feed speed. It also allows you to fine-tune the machine according to your unique requirements and preferences. Also, its TIG feature enables you to do metal brazing if needed.

Youll love this products superior finish and the way it adapts for home use, DIY projects, metalworking in art projects, auto repairs, and indoor and outdoor work. Whether youre an occasional welder who doesnt get into the job every day, or youre a dedicated welder, this MIG welder is something youll enjoy having by your side.

Purchase

LOTOS MIG175 175-AMP Mig Welder

When you require power, performance, and consistency regularly, check out the Lotos MIG 175. With a weight of just 85 pounds, this machine can be easily moved and stored in enclosed spaces.

This product is from the Sunnyvale, CA-based Lotos brand that has been well-known since 2007 for supplying top-quality cutting tools mainly used by DIY enthusiasts and small businesses. Their products are affordable, and their after-sales service is one of the best. Youll be pleasantly surprised by their customer-focused ethos.

This machine delivers a great flow rate, fast set-up, and a robust torch, plus it comes with a free spool gun and mask, aluminum welding wires, solid wires, argon regulator, and a regular MIG gun. That means you can get started the moment you take it out of the box.

The MIG 175 is versatile enough to handle aluminum, thin steel, stainless, and mild steel, as well as industrial standard four-inch or six-inch wire spools. The re-settable overload protection feature ensures longevity.

Overall, this product is perfect for the extreme hobbyist who doesnt plan to mass-produce or do fabrication work, and it is also great for professional welders as well as beginners.

Purchase

MIG Welders

This machine can be used on a range of metals, including those of different base metal thicknesses. But, you need to ensure that you use the proper electrodes and shielding gas. Plus, you also have to utilize the appropriate power source, voltage, and any additional equipment that may be required for the project.

MIG welding was invented in the early 19th century. Although it is relatively low-cost, it provides quick, high productivity. Plus, it can easily be used on most of the commercially available alloys and metals.

This machine makes all kinds of fabrication simpler and swifter. You dont need much post-operational clean up because there is no slag covering on the weld bead. It is also perfect for mechanized welding, and if you need X-ray quality welds, this is the process for you. Though its a little more expensive than conventional stick welding, its a much faster and more efficient process. However, you need to ensure that the metal to be welded is clean, dust and rust-free, and is not contaminated by oil or grime.

There are plenty of great MIG welders available on the market, manufactured by some of the leading international brands, so it is easy to feel confused and overwhelmed by the sheer volume and range of products out there.

To find the best product, you should have a clear understanding of what you want to use the welder for, incorporate both present and potential uses, what your preferences are, and how much youre willing to invest.

The post The 10 Best MIG Welders appeared first on Improb.

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/the-10-best-mig-welders

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The Art of Countersteer: The Bow Tie vs. Blue Oval battle reaches full lock.

The sights, sounds, and smells of drifting are unique in the world of motorsports. The brash cars, billowing tire smoke, and shrieking engines lend themselves perfectly to the multimedia of today’s young enthusiasts who have grown up on video games and social media. Add to that a relatively low cost of entry, and it’s no wonder that drifting has blown up across America. Many local tracks now offer a night for drifting for as low as $25, and several sanctioning groups like Lone Star Drift FD Pro Am Series and The Drift League have sprouted up for hopefuls looking for a chance to break into the pro series, Formula DRIFT. Though the sport may be foreign to most HOT ROD readers, drifting is as much about ingenuity and engineering, high horsepower, and driving skill as the types of motorsport we typically cover, and looking through the specs of these purpose-built domestic cars may convince some of our audience to check it out.

The Origins of Drifting

More than just a pastime in vacant, snow-covered parking lots, drifting was born in Japan in the 1980s. It was first seen in the All Japan Touring Car Championship series when driver Kunimitsu Takahashi began to slide his car through the corners as a way to maintain momentum on the era’s low-grip tires. This controlled state of oversteer was later elevated to an art form by Keiichi Tsuchiya, highly accomplished race-car driver and co-host of the Japanese automotive show Best Motoring. Considered by many to be a master of racing in the rain, Tsuchiya has come to be known as the “Drift King” and was instrumental in the formalization of organized drifting as a professional motorsport. Tsuchiya and the staff of Japanese automotive magazine Option organized the first drifting event in Japan in 1988, the D1 Grand Prix, held at the Tsukuba Circuit. Formula DRIFT, its American counterpart, was formed in 2003, holding an exhibition event at Irwindale Raceway and its first stand-alone event at Road Atlanta in 2004. The series has since expanded to hold events at nine venues across the country for the 2019 season and fields teams with big-name sponsors like Red Bull, Rockstar, Falken Tire as well as factory sponsorship from Dodge, Pontiac, and Ford throughout the years.

Unlike traditional forms of racing, the winner of a drifting event is not determined by who is the fastest or who crosses the line first. Instead, a panel of judges scores each driver on several criteria focusing on precision car control and style. The judges reward drivers who can maintain a maximum amount of drift angle while maneuvering their cars through a series of turns, bringing the car to the apex of each corner, then carrying the slide to the outside of the turns (similar to the racing line). These maneuvers must be performed in a fluid and continuous motion, with minimal steering correction, braking, or pedaling of the throttle. Competitors run the course in tandem, in which case the following car must maintain the optimum line through the course as well as keeping his or her car as close as possible to the lead car. Imagine doing synchronized donuts in a snowy parking lot that, in most cases, would result in a humiliating video on FailBlog. In pro drifting, it’s a required skill.

During the 2018 Formula DRIFT (FD) season, we followed drivers Matt Field and Justin Pawlak, both of whom drive for the Falken Tire team. They pilot two of the most iconic American muscle cars—a Chevrolet Corvette and a Ford Mustang, respectively—and carry the torch for the age-old Ford versus Chevy feud into the world of professional drifting. Justin and Matt each run their own shops while designing, developing, building, and driving their own race cars. They are true hot rodders, who are passionate about every element of building wicked-fast vehicles and making them survive the grueling series.

Justin Pawlak: 2017 Mustang

Justin got his start in drifting while working at AEM Electronics in Hawthorne, California, getting involved with the sport at the grassroots level. In 2009, he opened his shop, Hot Line Performance, where he and his crew would do fabrication work, race-car builds, and engine swaps. His drifting skills were honed behind the wheel of a second-gen Mazda RX-7, in which he received his D1 Grand Prix and FD licenses. He graduated to a S197 Mustang once Falken Tire picked him up, and he’s been wheeling Mustangs ever since. Now his 2017 S550 chassis packs one of the hardest punches the Blue Oval can throw. Like all FD competitors, this race car began as a regular production vehicle, but to be competitive at the pro level, he needed to strip the car to a bare chassis and build it from the ground up.

Drivetrain

Unlike most cars in the series, Justin’s Mustang sports a list of parts available directly from Ford Performance and Roush Performance Products. The high-compression Aluminator 5.0L crate engine that is controlled by the Ford Performance Control Pack ECU and topped off with a 2.3L Roush Supercharger that breathes through the factory airbox makes 1,000 hp with stock internals and exhales through a set of Kooks 1-7/8-inch headers. The Coyote routinely sees 7,500 rpm and, despite the abuse, shows hardly any signs of wear and tear, as demonstrated in a teardown performed by Ford Engineers in 2017. That engine is nearly identical to the current setup in Justin’s car.

A complete Radium Engineering fuel system feeds the thirsty Coyote Ignite ethanol through a set of 1,700cc injectors from Injector Dynamics. The supercharger has been on the car for more than three years with no issues and is driven off of an ATI 15-percent overdrive super damper with a VMP Performance eight-rib belt kit. C&R Racing built a custom, rear-mounted supercharger heat exchanger and radiator. Mounting the radiator in the trunk area (just aft of the rear window) is common practice in FD. It helps with weight distribution and eliminates potential hazards to the cooling system in the event of a crash or rubbing with another car on track.

The robust driveline incorporates a Quick Time bellhousing, an Andrews Products A431 four-speed Transmission (commonly found in NASCAR Cup Cars) with an Exedy twin-disc clutch, and a one-piece prop shaft from Driveshaft Shop. The driveshaft and axles survived an entire season’s worth of abuse without fail. The ring and pinion are from Rave Gears, an aerospace gear company that supply companies like Andrews Products.

Chassis and Suspension

Competition-level drift cars must be stable when sideways. Bracing and gusset work are a must, but Justin took it a step further by stitch-welding the chassis end to end. He also fabricated the rollcage and crushable bash bars. Drivers go to this effort to eliminate any undesirable movement in the car that not only increases stability but makes for more precise suspension tuning. Despite that, it’s necessary to note the cars must retain their factory pick-up points (control arms, strut towers, and so on). Essentially, every element of the car’s structure between the front and rear strut towers must remain factory. Within those parameter’s, the sky is the limit for tuning and steering angle.

Justin and Tim Folkerts of iWon Suspension R&D’d the rear suspension and front “angle kit,” which allows the car to have about 75 degrees of steering angle. To eliminate bind when steering at such extreme angles, the factory dual front links and pivot points on the hub were eliminated in favor of a single control arm and pivot. Justin had to design not only the control arm but the spindle as well. The factory item was milled down to accept adjustable, fabricated pick-up points for the control arm and FK spherical tie-rod ends, all while retaining the factory hub to accept a Wilwood six-piston brake kit. Damping is controlled by KW Suspension coilovers in all four corners.

Interior

The car’s interior sports a factory dash with Roush gauge pods in place of the factory air vents. Those pods and top half of the center console are home to an array of AEM X-Series gauges with an AQ-1 data logger tucked away. Gears are selected via a JSP shifter and knob while a JTP handbrake lever attached to a Wilwood master cylinder can lock up the rear wheels on command to help initiate an oversteer condition. Sparco seats and six-point harnesses keep the occupants secure during 80-plus-mph initiations, and a Sparco quick-release steering wheel ensures Justin will keep the car traveling where he wants.

Exterior

Though the car is a 2017 model, the nose is that of a 2018 Roush Mustang with all of the aero goodies: splitter, aero pockets, and the upper and lower grille. That bodywork is affixed to the car via the factory, removable core support, an item that can also be purchased from your local dealer. This is uncommon in FD, as cars typically have a custom-fabricated front end that involves bash bars, but in this case, the factory core support is used as the front bash bar.

The rest of the body, except for the roof, is all carbon fiber, courtesy of Anderson Composites, which puts the car right at the 3,000-pound mark (800 pounds lighter than stock). The rear trunk spoiler also came from Roush, and the roof spoiler is from Classic Design Concepts. All of the glass in the car was replaced with polycarbonate panels that Justin cut to fit. To complete the look, white Forgestar F14s are wrapped in Falken Azenis 615k+ tires, a DOT, off-the-shelf tire.

Matt Field: 2013 Corvette

Known as the “Beast from the Bay,” Matt Field has been hucking cars sideways for the better part of a decade. Having received his FD Pro license in 2009, his first career podium finish was in 2013 behind the wheel of an S14 Nissan 240SX. That same year, he opened The Drift Cave in San Jose, California, a shop that specializes in building top-quality race cars. Before the 2018 FD season kicked off, he decided to leave the 240SX chassis and build a whole new car. The vehicle choice was a 2013 Corvette because it is far more capable than the S-chassis, thereby making it easier to develop; used Vettes are cheap right now, too, and as Matt sees it, they’re also the next popular all-American drifting platform. It’s the first time in several years a Corvette has been this heavily campaigned, and last season, Matt proved its worth by taking a salvage-title car to a Seventh Place overall finish.

Drivetrain

Though the Vette already comes LS-equipped, more power was needed. The RHS 427 LSX engine under the hood of Matt’s Vette and packs a bit more of a punch than stock. CBM Motorsports out of Colton, California, assembled the engine to be ready for supercharging and nitrous. With a Vortech YSi-B blower attached via A&A supercharger brackets, and direct-port nitrous kit from Nitrous Express getting sucked through a FAST 102 intake, this C6 is good for 1,060 hp and 990 lb-ft of torque to the tires. All of that power vaporizes ear drums through Borla headers and ATAK exhaust system.

Accel spark-plug wires and Holley EFI smart coils keep the engine firing true with a Mechman alternator keeping all of the electronics fully juiced. To ensure longevity, a CX racing oil cooler and ARE dry-sump system ensure it will hold up to every bang off the rev limiter. The supercharger is cooled by a Treadstone Performance intercooler while the engine’s coolant travels through a C&R Racing dual-pass radiator that lays flat in the trunk of the car. A pair of 1,950-cfm Spal brushless fans make for some icy coolant temperatures.

Earl’s Ultra Pro plumbing runs throughout the entire car and two Aeromotive 340 fuel pumps and a pressure regulator keep the Injector Dynamics 2000cc injectors well fed. The plastic outer shell of the stock fuel tank was retained and a Fuel Safe bladder was made to fit within it. A Fuel Safe dry brake is installed in the factory fuel-filler location.

Chassis and Suspension

Parts Shop Max handled the entire suspension of the car. Together with Matt, the shop developed the control arms, knuckles, sway bars, and adjustable coilovers for the C6 Corvette.

The C6 chassis is already very well-engineered, but for drifting, the cars need a little room to crumple without causing damage to the vital structure. After mocking up the rear body panels, Matt cut a substantial amount of the stock frame from the car and replaced it with bash bars that are engineered to fail in the case of the occasional wall tap or car-to-car contact.

Interior

Matt’s “office” is home to not only his Cobra Ultralite seats and Schroth Racing Enduro harnesses but the brains of the whole mechanical operation. Tucked within an HGK carbon dash is an MXS digital dash and data logger from AIM Data Sports that gathers the info that Matt and his team need. A Holley Dominator ECU serves as the brain and accepts Matt’s commands via a Motec PDM. Jei of Blacktrax Performance buttoned up all of the wiring from tip to tail of the C6.

At the controls and behind the Optic Armor lexan windows, a bespoke NRG Innovations steering wheel sits atop a Woodward steering column and the Parts Shop Max handbrake is within a finger’s reach of the wheel. A Tilton pedal box and reservoirs are tucked in the footwell, and to stay cool under pressure Matt wears a Coolshirt during competition.

Exterior

HGK came through with a full carbon/Kevlar body for the car, including a fan shroud. The carbon-fiber hood and trunk are from Anderson Composites, and APR added some style and aerodynamics with a front splitter and side skirts. This all contributes to a 3,000-pound vehicle weight with Matt sitting in it, a weight that must be adhered to, given his 295 tire size. Falken Tire’s iconic teal and blue livery shines bright as a throwback to the early days of drifting in the states. A set of 18-inch Rotiform WGR wheels are wrapped in the same DOT Falken 615k+ rubber as Justin’s Mustang and have accents color-matched to the car’s theme.

What’s Next?

Going into the 2019 season, Matt and Justin are on the hunt for more. After finishing 2018 in Seventh and Fifth Place, respectively, they have podium finishes on the brain. There is plenty of stiff competition, but in a judged motorsport that demands as much as drifting does of man and machine, anything can happen. Having been in the game this long, things are looking up for these guys, and we could be looking at the next FD champions in the very near future.

Drivers like this duo are already veterans of the sport and will someday, along with the rest of their comrades, be the “old guys” to which future drivers look up to for guidance and inspiration as they claw their way through melted rubber, blown engines, and crunched cars to take the ultimate victory.

The post The Art of Countersteer: The Bow Tie vs. Blue Oval battle reaches full lock. appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:10:36

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BULIN 3000W Stove Outdoor Camping Foldable Aluminum Alloy Split Gas Stove Cookware Picnic Burner for Hiking Fishing BBQ Hunting  

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Package Contents: 1 x Gas Stove, 1 x Pouch, 1 x Bilingual Manual in English and Chinese

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Learn 3 Mistakes Welders Make When Buying Auto Darkening Welding Helmets

There are three primary errors that welders make when shopping for best budget welding helmet, and it's miles distinctly pretty not unusual to listen that even an expert welder is making these varieties of mistake, especially while it is their lively hood on the road. You could think they could take better care, and get the proper system. These aren't precisely smooth errors to make either. Because on one facet of the dimensions, the helmet will defend you, and the side these errors are made, they'll harm you extra frequently than no longer.

Don't check the speed of the sensor; this could be probably fatal if not cautious:

If they don't test how quick it adjusts to the encompassing mild, then there's a top notch risk of hurting your eyes, and being a waste of time even to have. You need to make sure which you purchase a helmet with a pace of no much less than 1/20,000 of a second, faster if you may get it. 

Anything slower can be slower than your torch, that's the entire point of having the auto adjusting lens it the primary vicinity, the velocity of one/20,000 is simply slightly faster than what it takes on your torch to flare up.

 Don't check the variety the helmet can adjust the lens to: 

They go and buy the helmet, now not finding out which range of regulating potential it sincerely has. You need to have at least a number nine - thirteen, better is ideal too, try not to go for lower. If it's far too low, it's going to guard you now not sufficiently, and cause you to go brief blind as all you may see is the torchlight to your eyes.

 A top guide line is a current stage 10 for the welding hobbyist, if you are an expert, you then might need to go tons darker, once more, it all relies upon on what form of welding you do, and the way bright your torch is.

They cheap out and worry approximately the price of the helmet:

For starters, welders make an obscene amount of cash, and it baffles me after they move for the most inexpensive gear they can pass for just to keep a couple of dollars.

 And with a price variety of everywhere from the cheapest of $80 and anywhere as much as the couple of hundred dollar variety, try to go at the higher quit scale. You do not want a custom design, unless you are hardcore, but do not reasonably-priced out and get the one that doesn't do its job nicely.

 If you've got made those mistakes inside the beyond when buying automobile darkening welding helmets, then it is not to overdue to move lower back, and get one with a right speed sensor, a better variety of modifying ability, and on the higher give up of the feed point.

 Making certain you do no longer make these errors any greater ought to save your lifestyles, and your pockets in the end. It does do hurt to get it incorrect in this situation, so play it secure, and make certain you are prepared before shopping for your helmet.

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Foundry Knowledge

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminium and cast iron. However, other metals, such as bronze, brass, steel, magnesium, and zinc, are also used to produce castings in foundries. In this process, parts of desired shapes and sizes can be formed.

Process

In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods.

Melting

Melting is performed in a furnace. Virgin material, external scrap, internal scrap, and alloying elements are used to charge the furnace. Virgin material refers to commercially pure forms of the primary metal used to form a particular alloy. Alloying elements are either pure forms of an alloying element, like electrolytic nickel, or alloys of limited composition, such as ferroalloys or master alloys. External scrap is material from other forming processes such as punching, forging, or machining. Internal scrap consists of gates, risers, defective castings, and other extraneous metal oddments produced within the facility.

The process includes melting the charge, refining the melt, adjusting the melt chemistry and tapping into a transport vessel. Refining is done to remove deleterious gases and elements from the molten metal to avoid casting defects. Material is added during the melting process to bring the final chemistry within a specific range specified by industry and/or internal standards. Certain fluxes may be used to separate the metal from slag and/or dross and degassers are used to remove dissolved gas from metals that readily dissolve certain gasses. During the tap, final chemistry adjustments are made.

Furnace

Several specialised furnaces are used to heat the metal. Furnaces are refractory-lined vessels that contain the material to be melted and provide the energy to melt it. Modern furnace types include electric arc furnaces (EAF), induction furnaces, cupolas, reverberatory, and crucible furnaces. Furnace choice is dependent on the alloy system quantities produced. For ferrous materials EAFs, cupolas, and induction furnaces are commonly used. Reverberatory and crucible furnaces are common for producing aluminium, bronze, and brass castings.

Furnace design is a complex process, and the design can be optimized based on multiple factors. Furnaces in foundries can be any size, ranging from small ones used to melt precious metals to furnaces weighing several tons, designed to melt hundreds of pounds of scrap at one time. They are designed according to the type of metals that are to be melted. Furnaces must also be designed based on the fuel being used to produce the desired temperature. For low temperature melting point alloys, such as zinc or tin, melting furnaces may reach around 500°C. Electricity, propane, or natural gas are usually used to achieve these temperatures. For high melting point alloys such as steel or nickel-based alloys, the furnace must be designed for temperatures over 1600° C. The fuel used to reach these high temperatures can be electricity (as employed in electric arc furnaces) or coke.

The majority of foundries specialize in a particular metal and have furnaces dedicated to these metals. For example, an iron foundry (for cast iron) may use a cupola, induction furnace, or EAF, while a steel foundry will use an EAF or induction furnace. Bronze or brass foundries use crucible furnaces or induction furnaces. Most aluminium foundries use either electric resistance or gas heated crucible furnaces or reverberatory furnaces.

Degassing

Degassing is a process that may be required to reduce the amount of hydrogen present in a batch of molten metal. Gases can form in metal castings in one of two ways:

1.by physical entrapment during the casting process or

2.by chemical reaction in the cast material.

Hydrogen is a common contaminant for most cast metals. It forms as a result of material reactions or from water vapor or machine lubricants. If the hydrogen concentration in the melt is too high, the resulting casting will be porous; the hydrogen will exit the molten solution, leaving minuscule air pockets, as the metal cools and solidifies. Porosity often seriously deteriorates the mechanical properties of the metal.

An efficient way of removing hydrogen from the melt is to bubble a dry, insoluble gas through the melt by purging or agitation. When the bubbles go up in the melt, they catch the dissolved hydrogen and bring it to the surface. Chlorine, nitrogen, helium and argon are often used to degas non-ferrous metals. Carbon monoxide is typically used for iron and steel.

There are various types of equipment that can measure the presence of hydrogen. Alternatively, the presence of hydrogen can be measured by determining the density of a metal sample.

In cases where porosity still remains present after the degassing process, porosity sealing can be accomplished through a process called metal impregnating.

Mold making

In the casting process a pattern is made in the shape of the desired part. Simple designs can be made in a single piece or solid pattern. More complex designs are made in two parts, called split patterns. A split pattern has a top or upper section, called a cope, and a bottom or lower section called a drag. Both solid and split patterns can have cores inserted to complete the final part shape. Cores are used to create hollow areas in the mold that would otherwise be impossible to achieve. Where the cope and drag separates is called the parting line.

When making a pattern it is best to taper the edges so that the pattern can be removed without breaking the mold. This is called draft. The opposite of draft is an undercut where there is part of the pattern under the mold material, making it impossible to remove the pattern without damaging the mold.

The pattern is made out of wax, wood, plastic, or metal. The molds are constructed by several different processes dependent upon the type of foundry, metal to be poured, quantity of parts to be produced, size of the casting, and complexity of the casting. These mold processes include:

Sand casting — Green or resin bonded sand mold.

*Lost-foam casting — Polystyrene pattern with a mixture of ceramic and sand mold.

*Investment casting — Wax or similar sacrificial pattern with a ceramic mold.

*Ceramic mold casting — Plaster mold.

*V-process casting — Vacuum with thermoformed plastic to form sand molds. No moisture, clay or resin required.

*Die casting — Metal mold.

*Billet (ingot) casting — Simple mold for producing ingots of metal, normally for use in other foundries.

Pouring

In a foundry, molten metal is poured into molds. Pouring can be accomplished with gravity, or it may be assisted with a vacuum or pressurized gas. Many modern foundries use robots or automatic pouring machines to pour molten metal. Traditionally, molds were poured by hand using ladles.

Shakeout

The solidified metal component is then removed from its mold. Where the mold is sand based, this can be done by shaking or tumbling. This frees the casting from the sand, which is still attached to the metal runners and gates — which are the channels through which the molten metal traveled to reach the component itself.

Degating

Degating is the removal of the heads, runners, gates, and risers from the casting. Runners, gates, and risers may be removed using cutting torches, bandsaws, or ceramic cutoff blades. For some metal types, and with some gating system designs, the sprue, runners, and gates can be removed by breaking them away from the casting with a sledge hammer or specially designed knockout machinery. Risers must usually be removed using a cutting method (see above) but some newer methods of riser removal use knockoff machinery with special designs incorporated into the riser neck geometry that allow the riser to break off at the right place.

The gating system required to produce castings in a mold yields leftover metal — including heads, risers, and sprue (sometimes collectively called sprue) — that can exceed 50% of the metal required to pour a full mold. Since this metal must be remelted as salvage, the yield of a particular gating configuration becomes an important economic consideration when designing various gating schemes, to minimize the cost of excess sprue, and thus overall melting costs.

Heat treating

Heat treating is a group of industrial and metalworking processes used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is metallurgical. Heat treatments are also used in the manufacture of many other materials, such as glass. Heat treatment involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to extreme temperatures, to achieve a desired result such as hardening or softening of a material. Heat treatment techniques include annealing, case hardening, precipitation strengthening, tempering, and quenching. It is noteworthy that while the term "heat treatment" applies only to processes where the heating and cooling are done for the specific purpose of altering properties intentionally, heating and cooling often occur incidentally during other manufacturing processes such as hot forming or welding.

Surface cleaning

After degating and heat treating, sand or other molding media may remain adhered to the casting. To remove any mold remnants, the surface is cleaned using a blasting process. This means a granular media will be propelled against the surface of the casting to mechanically knock away the adhering sand. The media may be blown with compressed air, or may be hurled using a shot wheel. The cleaning media strikes the casting surface at high velocity to dislodge the mold remnants (for example, sand, slag) from the casting surface. Numerous materials may be used to clean cast surfaces, including steel, iron, other metal alloys, aluminium oxides, glass beads, walnut shells, baking powder, and many others. The blasting media is selected to develop the color and reflectance of the cast surface. Terms used to describe this process include cleaning, bead blasting, and sand blasting. Shot peening may be used to further work-harden and finish the surface.

Finishing

The final step in the process of casting usually involves grinding, sanding, or machining the component in order to achieve the desired dimensional accuracies, physical shape, and surface finish.

Removing the remaining gate material, called a gate stub, is usually done using a grinder or sander. These processes are used because their material removal rates are slow enough to control the amount of material being removed. These steps are done prior to any final machining.

After grinding, any surfaces that require tight dimensional control are machined. Many castings are machined in CNC milling centers. The reason for this is that these processes have better dimensional capability and repeatability than many casting processes. However, it is not uncommon today for castings to be used without machining.

A few foundries provide other services before shipping cast products to their customers. It is common to paint castings to prevent corrosion and improve visual appeal. Some foundries assemble castings into complete machines or sub-assemblies. Other foundries weld multiple castings or wrought metals together to form a finished product.

More and more, finishing processes are being performed by robotic machines, which eliminate the need for a human to physically grind or break parting lines, gating material, or feeders. Machines can reduce risk of injury to workers and lower costs for consumables — while also increasing productivity. They also limit the potential for human error and increase repeatability in the quality of grinding.