In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
ok my redneck not so tallented pumpkins
Ditch-Runner
Member Posts: 25,370 ✭✭✭✭
red neck pumpkin carving by yours truly ,, instructions = 5 minutes with a plasma cutter a couple old propane tanks and a can of orange paint and shasam [:D][:D] Halloween decorations that will last a life time [:D][:D][:D]
wife liked them that's all that mattered
wife liked them that's all that mattered
Comments
just left them out of the photo [:(] It was just a fast last minute thought to toss a photo up . so maybe next time I will have the stars and bars included .
quote:Originally posted by wiplash
Ifn it's Red Neck, yer missin some star's and Bar's. [;)]
I have them flags , hats and even socks , [^]
just left them out of the photo [:(] It was just a fast last minute thought to toss a photo up . so maybe next time I will have the stars and bars included .
quote:Originally posted by wiplash
Ifn it's Red Neck, yer missin some star's and Bar's. [;)]
They just had that, "General Lee" color going for them.
Now if you were Real Redneck, some Tannerite would make them eye's really glow in the dark! [;)] Bet the Kid's would love it! [:D]
Only suggestion I have is chains and padlocks. Somebody will either swipe them or throw one against your house for their amusement.
we live out in the country no danger of some one hitting the house with one , if stolen were out about 5 bucks so no loss ,
the tanks were two of the older style , they had been sitting around for some time ( years in a out building ) with the valves open .
we drilled a hole ( I know sparks are possible but we used water to help our odds also in the bottom before using the plasma cutter , no issues at all . . I guess we could have / should have pulled the valves and flushed them to be sure no real danger.
but thank you for brining up the issues in case some one else try's it. kids do not try this at home my best warning ,,
as a side story on cutting such things
we had a some what country neighbor a few miles away who scrapped metal and cars as a side line to make money , he hurt himself bad once cutting a gas tank apart ( cars gas tank ) it blew up on him a few years later he was killed doing it again . I will never understand his reasoning , other than the need for the money to keep cutting gas tanks up , maybe he did hundreds of times over the years ? and felt safe but it only took one maybe a little gas and plenty of vapor left in it
quote:Originally posted by Franzc
You could post the Punkin Brothers on at least 7 welding pages and get 100 comments on how dangerous they were to cut, along with 4 theorys on how to render a propane can safe for cutting, 3 of which would be wrong and put you in danger.
Only suggestion I have is chains and padlocks. Somebody will either swipe them or throw one against your house for their amusement.
As my old buddy RockyD says, "Experience is what we call the screwups we survived".
Propane cans and Freon cans both contain a strange magnetic attraction for men to fully believe the can may be heated safely, cut open, and welded with no hazard.
TAIN'T SO!!!
FREON type refrigerant cans contain residue, even after they have been vented for months, and when the metal can is heated Phosgene gas comes out. Weld on it and you WILL inhale enough to start coughing. Continue welding on it you're going to be sick, and if you're lucky not dead. Germany loved that wonderful heavier than air gas during World War I for clearing trenches downhill from German positions.
PROPANE is a whole different set of problems. Propane is oddly a refrigerant gas, and excellent substitute for R-12 if you don't mind FIRE coming from a leaky AC system.
Because Propane is odorless Mercaptin is added to every propane can in the US, it stinks bad and makes you aware propane is leaking. Mercaptin is added to new tanks when they are placed in service, and more is added every time the can is filled, carried by the incoming propane.
Propane is also a wonderful Penetrant, WD-40, PB Blaster and Kroil would love to penetrate as well as propane does.
Because steel is porous, a certain amount of propane does penetrate the inside wall of a propane can. When you begin heating the can, that propane will cook out, and CAN reach ignition proportion.
You also need to consider and deal with that teaspoon of mercaptin containing propane sitting in the bottom of the can. You can't pour it out the valve hole because valve bosses are generally run into the top of the can so there is a curb there. You can suck it out, after you remove the valve, but that's work.
I happen to proudly hold the record in this shop of launching a 100# propane can 183 feet across the lawn past a Lab Retriever by welding a handle onto the top of the can. That can had been empty of propane for over 3 years, sitting outside with the valve removed for 2 of those years. That can roared about 3 seconds after I struck the arc, and the Lab gave me strange looks every time I got near the welder for years after.
I learned from that EXPERIENCE. All propane and pressure vessels get vacuum pumped down to 29 inches, and proofed that the can and not just the valve was vacuumed. Then the can gets pressurized to 2psi with Co2, and that charge is again verified. Procedure works, Co2 is cheap, and I have no need to launch another can.
Yes, I know there are thousands of guys who say it can be safely done with water or engine exhaust. They need to do a little looking into what engine exhaust contains. It's generally a fuel gas.
If ya ain't absolutely sure, please cut your tank at least 1 mile from where I am or property I own.
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
Maybe Slippers could help you with some templates. [8D] Those look like fun targets, though I could see bullets coming back at you.
always good to get the low down on the projects
and sure glad you survived the tank rocket
when younger on a a construction site some one knocked over a oxygen bottle and knocked the neck off ..AAAHH torpedo /rocket come to mind
no one hurt but sheer luck
quote:Originally posted by Franzc
Tanks, and the penetrating & welding thereof are a long known seat of the pants science.
As my old buddy RockyD says, "Experience is what we call the screwups we survived".
Propane cans and Freon cans both contain a strange magnetic attraction for men to fully believe the can may be heated safely, cut open, and welded with no hazard.
TAIN'T SO!!!
FREON type refrigerant cans contain residue, even after they have been vented for months, and when the metal can is heated Phosgene gas comes out. Weld on it and you WILL inhale enough to start coughing. Continue welding on it you're going to be sick, and if you're lucky not dead. Germany loved that wonderful heavier than air gas during World War I for clearing trenches downhill from German positions.
PROPANE is a whole different set of problems. Propane is oddly a refrigerant gas, and excellent substitute for R-12 if you don't mind FIRE coming from a leaky AC system.
Because Propane is odorless Mercaptin is added to every propane can in the US, it stinks bad and makes you aware propane is leaking. Mercaptin is added to new tanks when they are placed in service, and more is added every time the can is filled, carried by the incoming propane.
Propane is also a wonderful Penetrant, WD-40, PB Blaster and Kroil would love to penetrate as well as propane does.
Because steel is porous, a certain amount of propane does penetrate the inside wall of a propane can. When you begin heating the can, that propane will cook out, and CAN reach ignition proportion.
You also need to consider and deal with that teaspoon of mercaptin containing propane sitting in the bottom of the can. You can't pour it out the valve hole because valve bosses are generally run into the top of the can so there is a curb there. You can suck it out, after you remove the valve, but that's work.
I happen to proudly hold the record in this shop of launching a 100# propane can 183 feet across the lawn past a Lab Retriever by welding a handle onto the top of the can. That can had been empty of propane for over 3 years, sitting outside with the valve removed for 2 of those years. That can roared about 3 seconds after I struck the arc, and the Lab gave me strange looks every time I got near the welder for years after.
I learned from that EXPERIENCE. All propane and pressure vessels get vacuum pumped down to 29 inches, and proofed that the can and not just the valve was vacuumed. Then the can gets pressurized to 2psi with Co2, and that charge is again verified. Procedure works, Co2 is cheap, and I have no need to launch another can.
Yes, I know there are thousands of guys who say it can be safely done with water or engine exhaust. They need to do a little looking into what engine exhaust contains. It's generally a fuel gas.
If ya ain't absolutely sure, please cut your tank at least 1 mile from where I am or property I own.
1963 I worked at Walz & Krenzer in Rochester where there was a beautiful yellow 18" I beam column with a hole through the web that exactly matched the 330 Oxy cilinder that punched the hole. The owner personally walked every new man down to that column on hiring and pointed out why he wanted every damn bottle in the building properly racked and chained. That was before OSHA came along to save us all.
Over 60 years I've seen a lot of brilliant moves that saved half a minute and could have cost a life. Today I am often concerned by procedures I see on the Inturdnet. Experience has shown me arguing with stupid ain't worth my effort unless I'm being paid to argue.
You CAN'T fix STUPID!
Best you can usually do is make damn high money fixing what stupid screwed up.
the oxygen tank experiment was 30+ years ago while refurbishing a Fridadair plant into the s-10 truck plant , I remember it went thru a steel wall (siding type metal ) and not sure what else before it came to rest there were so many contractors and such a huge job you had to watch your back( and front ) same job they pulled down one of the huge Manawalk
crane booms on top of the building
quote:Originally posted by Franzc
O2 bottles are a whole different ball game, 2300psi @70?f holds a hell of a lot more confined readily available energy that 10# 0f LIQUIFIED petroleum gas in any size can.
1963 I worked at Walz & Krenzer in Rochester where there was a beautiful yellow 18" I beam column with a hole through the web that exactly matched the 330 Oxy cilinder that punched the hole. The owner personally walked every new man down to that column on hiring and pointed out why he wanted every damn bottle in the building properly racked and chained. That was before OSHA came along to save us all.
Over 60 years I've seen a lot of brilliant moves that saved half a minute and could have cost a life. Today I am often concerned by procedures I see on the Inturdnet. Experience has shown me arguing with stupid ain't worth my effort unless I'm being paid to argue.
You CAN'T fix STUPID!
Best you can usually do is make damn high money fixing what stupid screwed up.