hgarwood
08-25-2008, 07:18 PM
Greetings, my name is Hal. I am an old fart trying to get back my youth. I was the son of an oil patch engineer. My father was known all over the world as Mr. Drill Pipe. He had a love of everything used in the pursuit of oil, especially anything that punched that hole in the ground. I took another career path and went to college to be an electrical engineer. During my college days my dad got me a job in a gas line compressor fabrication shop (1969-1972). First I was just a flunky but over the years, while attending college, I taught myself to weld. I got certified to 100% x-ray 3500 PSI pipe. I then left the shop, after graduating from college, for a short 8 year career in the United States Air Force flying during Viet Nam.
I then worked as a computer design engineer for NASA/Space Shuttle (1980-1984). In 1985 I went to work for myself as a consultant in the technological corporate world until now. I decided I was through with all the travel and being away from home, so I semi-retired myself.
With my experience welding, a life time ago, I decided that I would like to spend the rest of my constructive life working with my hands, creating/fabricating whatever comes my way in metal/wood/plastics (mostly metal). I started a new business out of my garage here in the mountains of Colorado. I jumped in head first with a large investment in equipment. The only problem most of my experience does not apply with the new fancy welders/plasma cutters/CNC machines. I am like a new kid in a candy store not knowing what the new candy taste like. To say the least I will be in a learning mode for quite some time before I can actually put out my shingle.
The one good thing is I am good at researching and doing my due-diligence about how to and what to invest in equipment wise. I sat down and determined what I want to do and what kind of budget I had. Not knowing exactly what I was ultimately going to manufacture, I knew there would be a big learning curve before actually making some dough. With all that said and being a neophyte after 35 years I may be using this site quite a bit to get your expert advice.
The center piece of the shop will be a 4’ x 8’ CNC Plasma Cutting Table. I decide on a small outfit called PlasmaRoute for my table. They met all the criteria I was looking for. They use non-proprietary software to control the process. The company is very good with working with your particular needs and budget. PlasmaRoute is always looking for new innovations, the fact is they have come out with a forth axis and a Pipe Cutting option. Here is a link to their website http://plasmaroutecnc.com.
The following is the large equipment I purchased.
Miller MIG 252 - New
Miller MIG 135 - For Small Stuff
Miller TIG Dynasty 200 DX with Weldcraft Water Cooler - New
Miller Spectrum 375 Extreme Plasma Torch - new
Hypertherm PowerMax 1250 Machine Plasma Torch – New (Powers CNC Table)
PlasmaRoute 4x8 CNC Plasma Cutting Table – New
48” Break with 16 gauge capacity
36 inch roller 16 gauge
I hope to learn a lot from this forum and eventually I hope to be able to intelligently contribute.
Happy Fabricating :),
Hal Garwood
I then worked as a computer design engineer for NASA/Space Shuttle (1980-1984). In 1985 I went to work for myself as a consultant in the technological corporate world until now. I decided I was through with all the travel and being away from home, so I semi-retired myself.
With my experience welding, a life time ago, I decided that I would like to spend the rest of my constructive life working with my hands, creating/fabricating whatever comes my way in metal/wood/plastics (mostly metal). I started a new business out of my garage here in the mountains of Colorado. I jumped in head first with a large investment in equipment. The only problem most of my experience does not apply with the new fancy welders/plasma cutters/CNC machines. I am like a new kid in a candy store not knowing what the new candy taste like. To say the least I will be in a learning mode for quite some time before I can actually put out my shingle.
The one good thing is I am good at researching and doing my due-diligence about how to and what to invest in equipment wise. I sat down and determined what I want to do and what kind of budget I had. Not knowing exactly what I was ultimately going to manufacture, I knew there would be a big learning curve before actually making some dough. With all that said and being a neophyte after 35 years I may be using this site quite a bit to get your expert advice.
The center piece of the shop will be a 4’ x 8’ CNC Plasma Cutting Table. I decide on a small outfit called PlasmaRoute for my table. They met all the criteria I was looking for. They use non-proprietary software to control the process. The company is very good with working with your particular needs and budget. PlasmaRoute is always looking for new innovations, the fact is they have come out with a forth axis and a Pipe Cutting option. Here is a link to their website http://plasmaroutecnc.com.
The following is the large equipment I purchased.
Miller MIG 252 - New
Miller MIG 135 - For Small Stuff
Miller TIG Dynasty 200 DX with Weldcraft Water Cooler - New
Miller Spectrum 375 Extreme Plasma Torch - new
Hypertherm PowerMax 1250 Machine Plasma Torch – New (Powers CNC Table)
PlasmaRoute 4x8 CNC Plasma Cutting Table – New
48” Break with 16 gauge capacity
36 inch roller 16 gauge
I hope to learn a lot from this forum and eventually I hope to be able to intelligently contribute.
Happy Fabricating :),
Hal Garwood