The Welding Thread

[IronFreak]

i get my tanks filled at airgas. one day several years ago i walked in there with a cylinder or two on my way to work. i was wearing my pilot uniform and the salesman started shooting the breeze with me about aviation. ever since, they have been selling me gas at the same rate they sell to the oil refineries in the area. its been a while since i had one filled, but i think the last time i had a big one that size filled with argon, i paid less than 30 bucks. i have a big tank that i get filled with nitrogen to run my old plasma cutter. the last time i had that one filled i think it was 7 or 8 bucks.

yeah, I take it in now and its pricey.....which pisses me off. I go to a place called Linweld which was a locally own welding supply store for years. Mathison Trigas bought them out and our employee discount basically disappeared. A 300 used to cost me $28, now its $65. And since it had the Mathison stickers on it Airgas won;t touch it......buttholes.

To boot.....My shop has about 65 welders in it, we all use dual-shield flux core with an integrated Co2 system thought the shop. We buy truckloads of Co2 from them and they still killed any employee discount we once had.

[red2.4srt]

Supposedly I am buying the 300 off that guy for $50 tomorrow. Thankful for the lower entry point to TIG welding.

That's amazing. Snag them!

you are crazy to not buy both at that price. you will never find them cheaper than this.

2nd this completely!

i get my tanks filled at airgas. one day several years ago i walked in there with a cylinder or two on my way to work. i was wearing my pilot uniform and the salesman started shooting the breeze with me about aviation. ever since, they have been selling me gas at the same rate they sell to the oil refineries in the area. its been a while since i had one filled, but i think the last time i had a big one that size filled with argon, i paid less than 30 bucks. i have a big tank that i get filled with nitrogen to run my old plasma cutter. the last time i had that one filled i think it was 7 or 8 bucks.

Ah, you get the 'ol employee discount! I do that for a few of my good customers every so often. Keep it up!

I gotta watch doing it too much, they get keen on it and put me in Airgas Jail. LOL

[marshallnoise]

$80 for both. :D

[red2.4srt]

$80 for both. :D

Hell yeah man, nicely done!

They aren't in bad shape either!

[marshallnoise]

Not at all! Heavy suckers though. Anyone in Socal want one for $40 bucks?

[4x4_e30]

^^^ Yes!!!???

Welding helmets- I've been running this guy for about a year:
http://www.amazon.com/Jackson-Safety...ywords=jackson
Amazon has them on sale for $100 every month or two, which is a killer deal for what you get. When it's darkened, instead of the standard greenish yellow hue you get more of an aqua color. The visible contrast is amazing, I can see everything around the puddle, how the bead is laying down, if I'm coming up on a corner or a tack. Instead of the cheaper ADF's where the only thing you can see is the puddle or right next to it. The head gear is very comfy, and the helmet is relatively lightweight for an ADF. The sensors are sensitive enough to do low amp TIG work without getting flashed. Here's some arc shots I got, the camera doesn't do it much justice but it kinda shows the color:

[mitchlevy7]

For welding helmets stay away from that harbor freight stuff! Likes to turn off and on at will!

Just scored a miller digital elite from a coworker for $150 and he just put new plastic covers on the lens. It is AWESOME! Best helmet I've ever used.

I have been practicing TIG on SS after work and been getting better. Hard as hell to make it look good but I have pressure tested one and it held 200 psi (water pipe for an n54)

[flyboyx]

Not at all! Heavy suckers though. Anyone in Socal want one for $40 bucks?

you are going to kick yourself for selling that. take them to the welding shop and trade them both in for a size smaller. keep the second one full as a spare.

if you are going to buy a mig, get c25. if you get a tig, get it filled with 100% argon. if you buy both welders, get one filled with each.

[IronFreak]

With Mig welding I'd recommend 85/15 or 90/10 mix if they can get it. c25 is a 75/25 of argon/Co2. Its a good all around gas but Co2 promotes penetration and tends to be a bit messy. If you don't plan on doing anything over 3/16" something with less Co2 will do just fine, weld a lot smoother and result in less dingberries.

[red2.4srt]

With Mig welding I'd recommend 85/15 or 90/10 mix if they can get it. c25 is a 75/25 of argon/Co2. Its a good all around gas but Co2 promotes penetration and tends to be a bit messy. If you don't plan on doing anything over 3/16" something with less Co2 will do just fine, weld a lot smoother and result in less dingberries.

And to second this, i'd say you'll have more luck with those mixes in the larger cylinders. They're much more readily available, at least throughout the region I cover here in PA. You start getting into cylinders 80cf and under and anything other than a 75/25 is scarce. We tend to stock more of the 125/150/200/300cf cylinders in a wide array of 2 and 3 part mixes.

I've used our Mastermix 94%AR/5%CD/1%OX mix before and it works very very well with sheet metal. Just enough penetration for what you'd encounter and not too much distortion and heat soak. A lot of that can be prevented with spot stitching.

[marshallnoise]

you are going to kick yourself for selling that. take them to the welding shop and trade them both in for a size smaller. keep the second one full as a spare.

if you are going to buy a mig, get c25. if you get a tig, get it filled with 100% argon. if you buy both welders, get one filled with each.

I just don't see myself using it that much. But that is sound advice. I will see what the shop will do for me with both tanks. Two 125s would be nice.

[IronFreak]

And to second this, i'd say you'll have more luck with those mixes in the larger cylinders. They're much more readily available, at least throughout the region I cover here in PA. You start getting into cylinders 80cf and under and anything other than a 75/25 is scarce. We tend to stock more of the 125/150/200/300cf cylinders in a wide array of 2 and 3 part mixes.

I've used our Mastermix 94%AR/5%CD/1%OX mix before and it works very very well with sheet metal. Just enough penetration for what you'd encounter and not too much distortion and heat soak. A lot of that can be prevented with spot stitching.

Local company has a mix like this that they can Moongon, I picked up a cylinder of it for my mig last time. It works really well, did a few roll cages with it. I'll definitely use it again.

[pantelones]

I have been practicing TIG on SS after work and been getting better. Hard as hell to make it look good but I have pressure tested one and it held 200 psi (water pipe for an n54)

You doing open root pipe? I've heard that industrial pipe fitting with SS is a bit tricky...



I just started playing with stainless today, and it wasn't any harder than mild steel. I was using 304L for the plate and tubing, and 308L for the 16ga sheet. Also, .045 308L, and 1/16th SiBrz filler rod.

I started with a torch only bead (fuzzy), and then a .045 filler bead (top). Don't mind the "fish-eyes" I didn't care to taper off :tsk:

IMG_0125 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

Then I did a fillet with the plate and sheet pieces, but used the silicon bronze rod. I also used a piece of aluminum foil to keep the argon trapped behind the joint.

IMG_0112 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

I had to stop and start... My tungsten wasn't out far enough

IMG_0113 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

And the important part of this test...

IMG_0114 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

I put another fillet on the back that went horribly wrong; so I redeemed myself with a decent edge joint using the 16ga sheet, and no filler. I was a bit too hot on this, so the color is a rainbow instead of straw gold.

IMG_0116 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

IMG_0121 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

I was happy to see my foil "dam" works... You can see the "sugar'ing" that happened when I tacked it (right side), and the puddle was not 100% shielded by argon. The technical reason for this is that the chromium draws in carbon from the air, and creates chromium-carbide; this makes not only a brittle weld, but it makes SS much, much harder to weld due to the puddle wanting to sink, and eat filler.

IMG_0122 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

On to the tubing... (1" O.D. 16ga with no filler) This went well at the end, which is what is shown in the photo. I half ass'ed a purge set up, but is wasn't quite good enough. I only had one good bead (gold top part) after turning the amps down, and a lucky purge that worked. If you are new to stainless or Ti, you do NOT want the purples and blues, you want straw gold in the majority of your bead.

IMG_0124 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr


Oh and hoods... IronFreak if you are looking for good auto-darkening hood, I would recommend the Jackson Next-Gen or the 3M SpeedGlas hoods. I use the Jackson, and it was $280 when I bought it new 3 years ago. It has a 1/25,000 sensitivity, 4 sensors, a large viewing area, and a whole bunch of settings you can play with to suit your needs.

IMG_0118 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

IMG_0119 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

[Eric]

I made a bracket.



Idea

Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


almost finished

Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr



Not going to lie here... I'm pretty disappointing with my welds. Almost enough to toss this thing in the trash and do something else for a bracket. Now, on to the excuses.

- I've always been shit with fillet on aluminum. I don't know why, I'm just terrible at them.
- 1/4" aluminum with only 175 amps on an archaic transformer box suck big donkey balls. No puddle, no puddle, no puddle, blamo blown out peanut butter goo welds.
- 3/32 tungsten at 175 amps is no fun. It was crazy to watch the ball start to rip it'self apart, a high frequency vibration right on the tip, then when it dropped into the puddle, a big puff and tons of contamination.
- an aircooled torch, even with the gas cranked up gets hot as hell, even running a tack got hot, way hot!
- real work is way harder than running beads on 6" plate in school.

[IronFreak]

I made a bracket.



Idea

Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


almost finished

Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr



Not going to lie here... I'm pretty disappointing with my welds. Almost enough to toss this thing in the trash and do something else for a bracket. Now, on to the excuses.

- I've always been shit with fillet on aluminum. I don't know why, I'm just terrible at them.
- 1/4" aluminum with only 175 amps on an archaic transformer box suck big donkey balls. No puddle, no puddle, no puddle, blamo blown out peanut butter goo welds.
- 3/32 tungsten at 175 amps is no fun. It was crazy to watch the ball start to rip it'self apart, a high frequency vibration right on the tip, then when it dropped into the puddle, a big puff and tons of contamination.
- an aircooled torch, even with the gas cranked up gets hot as hell, even running a tack got hot, way hot!
- real work is way harder than running beads on 6" plate in school.

Few things to try next time on aluminum:

you're pushing to limits of 1/4" aluminum if all you have to play with is 175 amps, so give it a boost. have a torch handy, (butane works fine) and preheat the back side surface of your weld area. Get that thing up to about 200-250*.

Utilize the cleaning properties of AC welding, obviously do your surface prep before hand, but one you drop your hood, arc up and make a fillerless pass at a lower amperage and let the AC spot clean the welding surface, you'll visible be able to see it doing its job.

Lastly, TAKE YO DAMN TIME! Aluminum will suck the ever-living heat out of the weld, arc up, form the puddle and quick dip. On 1/4" with 175 amps, you have all damn day. If your welder doesn't have AC balance control or pulse capability.......do the foot pump! Get into a rhythm, Puddle, dip, push, pump, repeat. Gives you some pretty dimes.

What I see in those pictures can easily be cleaned up, try some of the techniques I mentioned and just go over them without using filler. You'll be surprised how well they'll clean up.

P.S. What torch are you using? I can run 175amps on mine without gloves and it's just fine, make sure it's rated for that amperage.

Here is a quick example of me using some of the stuff I talked about. This is a intake pipe for a 13B rotary. I had to cut the flange and take about 5* out of the angle. I also cut of the end where a silicone sleeve would slide over and welded on a v-band assembly. All I have is a Lincoln squarewave 175, the main flange was probably 1/2' thick. I just preheated and had no issues.