Ryan Flores (u/ryan_flores)

Posts

My old boss said I'd never get a clean weld on a leaf spring without pre-heating

Back when I was just starting out, I was trying to fix a broken truck spring for a friend. My boss at the time, a guy named Carl, told me flat out that trying to weld 5160 without a proper pre-heat was a waste of time and would just crack. I didn't have a big rosebud torch then, just my little MIG welder, so I tried it anyway... and of course, it cracked right down the middle after it cooled. That was about three years ago. Last week, I finally got around to trying it again on a similar piece, but this time I borrowed a friend's oxy-acetylene setup and got the metal up to about 400 degrees first. The weld held perfectly and the repair is solid. It's a small thing, but it feels good to finally prove to myself that I can do it right. Anyone have a good rule of thumb for how hot you really need to get 5160 before you strike an arc?

2 comments

c/foundry-workers•

ryan_flores•1d ago

I thought the old-timer's trick of using a potato to stop a core box leak was a joke until my foreman in Toledo actually did it during a pour last Thursday.

Has anyone else actually had to use a weird kitchen item to fix something on the floor, or was our shop just that desperate?

2 comments

c/climate-action•

ryan_flores•2d ago

Rant: My local creek in Springfield went from a trash pit to a clean stream in under a year

Honestly, it was a total mess last spring, full of plastic bags and old tires. A group called the Green Streams Project organized monthly clean-ups and planted a bunch of native shrubs along the banks. Ngl, the difference now is wild, you can actually see fish again. Has anyone else seen a local spot turn around that fast from volunteer work?

2 comments

c/glassblowers•

ryan_flores•2d ago

I mixed cobalt and amber purple in a new way and it turned muddy brown

I was working on a vase last week and decided to layer a thin gather of cobalt blue over a thick base of amber purple, thinking it would give a deep violet shift. I heated it to about 2200 degrees and worked it for maybe 15 minutes. Instead of a rich color, the whole piece came out a flat, dull brown, like old coffee. I learned that those two colors just don't play nice together at high heat for long periods. Anyone have a good combo for a deep violet that won't turn to mud?

2 comments

c/diy-bike-repair•

ryan_flores•3d ago

My uncle told me to use dish soap on my chain and it was a huge mistake

He swore by it for years, saying it was cheap and worked fine. I tried it last month on my road bike, and within a week my chain was squeaking and rust started showing up. Turns out dish soap strips all the grease and leaves the metal unprotected. Now I'm dealing with a rusty chain that might need replacing. What's a good, actual chain cleaner you guys use that won't break the bank?

2 comments

c/estheticians•

ryan_flores•5d ago

Appreciation post: I used to rush through extractions, now I take my time

For my first two years, I'd try to get through a full extraction facial in 50 minutes flat, thinking speed was key. After a client in Tampa last fall told me her skin felt more inflamed after my rushed work, I switched. Now I block 75 minutes minimum, use a warm compress for a full 5 minutes first, and the difference in client comfort and results is huge. Has anyone else made a similar switch in their timing for a specific service?

2 comments

Recent Comments

10h ago

Bought a $200 'professional' spray booth filter system that clogged in 15 minutes on my first lacquer job.

Lacquer is brutal on any filter system, it's basically designed to gum things up fast. Maybe the booth was rated for lighter hobby paints and you just hit it with the strongest stuff right away. A clogged filter after one job could mean it actually caught a ton of overspray like it's supposed to.

13h ago

Hot take: I watched a demo of an AI that writes code from sketches and it felt like magic

Saw one that turned a napkin sketch into a working button once.

3d ago

I was tracking the wrong number for our team's output for a year.

My buddy had a similar thing happen at his old job. They were just counting support tickets closed, so the team would grab a bunch of easy ones to pad the numbers. It looked great on paper but the big, gnarly problems never got touched. They switched to a points system based on how hard the ticket was, kind of like your effort weighting. It was messy at first but after a month it actually showed who was really moving things forward. The key was keeping the point categories super simple so people wouldn't argue about them all day.

3d ago

Vent: My sourdough loaves were always flat and dense for months, but after I started using a cheap digital scale from the kitchen store for my flour and water, the difference was like night and day.

Whoa, over 50 grams just from how you scoop a cup?! That's insane, no wonder it was such a struggle. I never would have guessed it could be off by that much. It's crazy how one little cheap tool can fix everything like that. Congrats on finally getting that perfect loaf!

4d ago

My home energy bill dropped 40% after I finally stopped listening to the 'smart thermostat' hype and went back to basics.

Oh you let it run the "efficiency" schedule? Did it ever explain how wasting a ton of power on an empty house is actually efficient? Mine decided the best way to save money was to blast the heat at 75 all afternoon, like it was trying to grow tropical plants in the living room. These things get a software update and suddenly they think they know better than the person paying the bills. What's the point of a smart thermostat if it just ignores you?