Short post again, and again no pictures ready.

I’ve recently been cutting out the inside pieces, again with finish cutting generously provided by Erik Bigelow (huge thanks for the help!) who was able to make quick work of them this week.

In the meantime, I’ve also been working on some test welds of different varieties, the same sorts of welds I’ll have to do on the truck. With proper fitment, I’m now pretty confident that my TIG skills with 1/8″ stock are adequate for doing butt welds, lap joints, T-joint fillets and outside corners (that being the big one, since the frame rails will require long continuous welds of this type). The welds may not look terrific as one tends to expect from TIG, but I think they’ll be strong.

Finally for tonight, I have a happy product endorsement to make. After being dissatisfied with a wide variety of different options, I’ve finally found a product that really works for removing the dark grey mill scale from mild steel, which must be done prior to welding. Norton 3X Rapid Strip wheels for angle grinders are exactly what I’ve been looking for. Every other product I’ve tried so far has had a difficult time getting through this hard, low-friction coating, even stone grinding wheels; you can really feel the grinder start to pull when you finally hit steel and the grinder starts to dig in, indicating that you’re just wasting time grinding on the mill scale as the tool doesn’t want to bite. Not so with the Rapid Strip wheels. These bright blue abrasive coated mesh wheels (imagine a loosely woven Scotchbrite pad with abrasive glued to the fibers) bite in instantly, and have enough flexibility to conform to the surface and leave a bright, wide streak of perfectly clean steel, ready to weld. I have no idea how long they’ll last, and honestly I don’t think I care very much. The only downside is they don’t seem to be available without the threaded hub; I’d rather use my grinder’s clamp nut instead and avoid paying for the extra part.

This evening Phoenix Motorcars held their second of two public events unveiling what they’re calling simply the “Sport Utility Truck” or SUT. The first was in LA; this one was in Dallas where several AustinEV members travelled to catch the show. What we saw was indeed a pickup truck with seating for 5, and there is also an almost identical SUV version in the works. I was pretty impressed with the vehicle in general, but was disappointed by some of the things the presenters were saying about it.

(Read on …)

I can’t be any more clear about the subject of this post than what I’ve selected as the title: this post is a review, it’s about a tool, and … well, it’s not a happy story. I don’t intend on doing this sort of thing here very often, as that’s not what this site is about, but when I get this angry I really want to vent. I’ve been duped, by slick advertising and a full-scale marketing blitz involving several participating companies (including Coleman, Radio Shack, and others), into buying a cheap gimmick that can’t hope to live up to the claims of its manufacturer.

(Read on …)