New Toy

In my absence last week Bill graciously set up and shook down my new welder. Miller's Diversion 165 is a 220v TIG system with all the bells and whistles. I scored it brand new for seven bucks more than the $1,700 I got for my four-years-new Synchrowave 200. The Synchrowave 200 is one step below that which a full-time pro needs to earn a living, so it was 10 times more welder than I needed for the 40 hours in four years I used it to build my last three motorcycles.

What sealed the deal for me on the Diversion 165 is the finger rheostat on the torch. This replaces the foot pedal that came on the Synchrowave, and it makes tacking a whole lot easier. No more shuffling the pedal, the torch and the ground around the work space to tack tabs and bungs. Since I'm left-handed, I'm also convinced it will let me control my heat much better than my club foot ever did. We shall see…

In other chopper news, I'm off to Sacred Steel August 4 to button down the copper tank Jason's been working on. The spy photos he's sent me look awesome, and I can't wait to wrap up the gas so Duane Ballard, Courtney Hallowell and I can move onto the stainless-steel oil bag/battery box combo. For more info on this project, please visit my build thread on ChopCult.

New Toy