Topic: Early Sandcast Found......

[754]

 I am pretty  sure Honda used robot welders , a lot longer than people  would think.. way before they were in common use.,

[Terry in Australia]

They must have been sh1t robots if I can weld better than them!

[Don R]

 I'd be willing to bet they used war surplus welding machines with whoever would try.

[PeWe]

Robots welds equally each time. If the weld process is wrongly set, it will be bad each time

Correct weld current and different setups depending on the gun with wire angle relative the path with correct speed.
The first electrical robot was produced 1973.

They might have had pneumatical simple things.

Tralfa in Norway started 1969 with their paint robots.

[BenelliSEI]

I suspect these early bikes were welded up by two guys, one on each side. The welds on one side are much nicer than the other!

[754]

Some of you missed the point..
 Early 750 definitely hand welded,  but the process  and look improved shortly after..
  Robot use on car bodies came in later 70,s at Honda, but not fully wekding them till into the eighties.
 My main point is welds on a 69 are way different in appearance , than welds from 72 or later..

 That is not to say, that individual assemblies were not welded  by robot earlier.., the centerstand , is a piece that could easily be machine welded vs say a frame.  I ran a robot welder a short while., interesting.. my brother used to orogram them..

[PeWe]

Car bodies mostly spot welding.
The stand must be arc welded as used on frames, exhaust pipes and similar. Probably MIG/MAG with (active gas CO2 causing more spatter)  as often used in Asia.

I have also programmed  industrial robots, mostly material handlers. Fun. 

The car body shops with hundreds of robots are  technically really amazing, how everything is working and controlled by PLCs. Really high tech today.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, I doubt that the early frames were welded by any robot, look like crappy MIG welds to me, that’s not to say MIG welding is crappy, modern robot welding is all MIG, I just think that Honda were in such a hurry to get their bikes out the door, they didn’t care too much about how their welds looked. Ducati still use MIG welds on their steel trellis frames, and they’re beautiful. I now own a couple of TIG welders, so I really must teach myself how to use them.

[PeWe]

The arc welding power sources have developed a lot the last 30 years.
Check Miller, Fronius and Esab as a few examples.

[Don R]

 True, I think one of the new pulse tig/migs could make a good welder out of me, even after years of welding for a living.  I have a miller synchrowave 250 tig and a 110V Hobart mig. I sold my Lincoln Invertek power supply with separate wire feeder, more than I needed and took up a lot of space.

[BenelliSEI]

Lockdown issue..... how to get two fenders, two rims and instrument backing plates chromed? Going to send them off and get the process started. Found a well respected shop, a few hundred miles away. Can’t seem to get there, so trusting the Post Office. Yikes!

[Terry in Australia]

Lockdown issue..... how to get two fenders, two rims and instrument backing plates chromed? Going to send them off and get the process started. Found a well respected shop, a few hundred miles away. Can’t seem to get there, so trusting the Post Office. Yikes!

Is that another "BOAT" thing John? (Break Out Another Thousand) I better go look at my HM341 pipes to see what I need from you, so I can help soften the blow.

[BenelliSEI]

Lockdown issue..... how to get two fenders, two rims and instrument backing plates chromed? Going to send them off and get the process started. Found a well respected shop, a few hundred miles away. Can’t seem to get there, so trusting the Post Office. Yikes!

Is that another "BOAT" thing John? (Break Out Another Thousand) I better go look at my HM341 pipes to see what I need from you, so I can help soften the blow.

Terry......  wish I could laugh (that is funny)! Probably more like 2 X BOAT!

[BenelliSEI]

Definitely NOT going to work on this project, through this riding season. But, determined to keep stuff moving around and collecting what I need for next winter. Finish the Chopper and then RIDE my bikes.

[Terry in Australia]

While we don't have riding seasons here in Oz John, winter for me is probably my busiest building time. Working from home 2 days a week has been a real bonus, and 5 days a week for a year during all our lockdowns was bike building heaven. I do love to ride whenever I have any time off (ridding 200 miles to my Ma's house on my K2 today, then 200 miles back tomorrow morning) but I like to sometimes kill a few spare hours before or after a ride tinkering too.

I painted my K1 frame on an unusually warm day a couple of weeks ago and if I wasn't doing a 400 miler this weekend I'd be painting the top case and cylinder block on the Horrible K2 engine to get it out of the way before my F2 970 build. I've now spent a fortune on Suzuki T350 rebel parts to turn that rusty turd back into a neat little bike, and the engine's top end, pipes, wiring, handebars and fenders will be arriving shortly, so I can now get the frame (the only good part of the bike I paid way too much for) blasted and hit it up with a can or two of Rustoleum.

I suppose what I'm saying, in a roundabout way, is that it's good to have a mix of riding and wrenching, regardless of weather. Riding is fun, wrenching is good for the brain.

[Prospect]

Not to highjack the thread but what is the non riding winter temperature down there?

While we don't have riding seasons here in Oz 

[Don R]

 I ended up with a rust bucket T350 myself a few years ago. If I had storage space I'd have kept it but it got parted out to a guy in Minnesota. The engine was half full of water, no title, it came along with a 750A in similar shape delivered for $50.

[Terry in Australia]

Not to highjack the thread but what is the non riding winter temperature down there?

While we don't have riding seasons here in Oz 

The cold doesn't bother me, and apart from Tasmania I live in the coldest state, it's just rain. While I don't mind a bit of rain, if it's bucketing down I leave the bikes inside, most of my favourite roads have lots of sharp bends, and so that's when I find something else to do.

[Terry in Australia]

I ended up with a rust bucket T350 myself a few years ago. If I had storage space I'd have kept it but it got parted out to a guy in Minnesota. The engine was half full of water, no title, it came along with a 750A in similar shape delivered for $50.

The guy in Minnesota wasn't a guy called Keith was it Don? I've been buying all my T350 stuff from him for the last few weeks and he specialises in old 2 strokes. Great guy, if it wasn't for the shipping doubling the price on everything I bought, I would have bought a complete bike from him. As it was, I bought everything but the bare frame, wheels and seat.

[BenelliSEI]

I suppose what I'm saying, in a roundabout way, is that it's good to have a mix of riding and wrenching, regardless of weather. Riding is fun, wrenching is good for the brain. (Quote from Terry).

Truthfully, I spend way more time in the shop than on my bikes. I do enjoy the wrenching a lot too! With the commitment to the Endurance Racing Championship (our first race is at Mosport in three weeks), I’ll be spending more time on the race cars than the bikes this summer. I do want to get some riding in too. Today was my 68th b’day, so get on with it!

[Terry in Australia]

Happy Birthday John! I forgot about the car racing gig, yep, that's a big commitment too. Are you still working, or comfortably retired? I've got 4 more years before every day is a bike riding/wrenching day.

[RAFster122s]

Happy Birthday John 🎂🎉🎂🎉

[Prospect]

Happy Birthday John!

[BenelliSEI]

Unemployed and retired for the past 8 years. May have to return to work when I’m 90, but for now, “living the dream”. Thanks, All.

[Medyo Bastos]

Happy birthday!


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