Any tig welders in here? (1 Viewer)

[dbbowen]

The only thing my Everlast 185 doesnt have is AC wave form shape and pulse duration and %. Its pulse settings are just 1pps and 50pps. Other than that its good for all stainless exhaust i do and 1/8 aluminum. I would like to eventually upgrade down the road so i can experiment with different AC waveforms but for now it works okay. I honestly say it is about the same quality as my miller 211 mig gun I use.


These are super simple machines though. Once you get intothe bigger machines that will weld much thicker material and when you are using it professionally, I agree thats totally a different story.

 

[PIP]

One way to go is to gather like minded friends and have "community tools".

I agree. I have two close friends that are like me. We have lots of "stuff" and don't mind investing in good equipment. We don't co-own anything together, but we do plan our purchases together so we get complimentary stuff. Between the 3 of us we could form and pour just about anything out of concrete. We could machine and fabricate just about anything, literally. I don't think there's a single skidsteer implement we don't own. We can move any size equipment or machinery up to about 30 tons.

One thing I have come to find important is when a friend buys a specialized machine or piece of equipment I support it. I don't expect them to do anything for free. In fact I very purposefully pay them more than the going rate, make them take the money and emphasize how important it is to me that they take good care of their equipment and that I appreciate the priority they place on my needs. That fosters this awesome reciprocative environment where everyone involved feels appreciated.

That makes a difference. Instead of getting burned out doing favors with the machines, we can take our wives out to a fancy dinner, we can pay for maintenance and upgrades to those machines.

For instance, one of my friends was going to buy a 5 yard dumptruck to tow his 25k lb dozer. He didn't really need the dumptruck, he just needed a tow rig. I talked him into buying a CDL truck with a very nice 30K lb/50ft crane instead. We've done so much stuff with that crane. He tows his dozer with it regularly, but he also makes $500-$1500/week in work with that crane. He's done atleast half a dozen crane jobs for me and it's saved my butt having a crane like that at my call.

 

[BurntToast]

I agree. I have two close friends that are like me. We have lots of "stuff" and don't mind investing in good equipment. We don't co-own anything together, but we do plan our purchases together so we get complimentary stuff. Between the 3 of us we could form and pour just about anything out of concrete. We could machine and fabricate just about anything, literally. I don't think there's a single skidsteer implement we don't own. We can move any size equipment or machinery up to about 30 tons.

One thing I have come to find important is when a friend buys a specialized machine or piece of equipment I support it. I don't expect them to do anything for free. In fact I very purposefully pay them more than the going rate, make them take the money and emphasize how important it is to me that they take good care of their equipment and that I appreciate the priority they place on my needs. That fosters this awesome reciprocative environment where everyone involved feels appreciated.

That makes a difference. Instead of getting burned out doing favors with the machines, we can take our wives out to a fancy dinner, we can pay for maintenance and upgrades to those machines.

For instance, one of my friends was going to buy a 5 yard dumptruck to tow his 25k lb dozer. He didn't really need the dumptruck, he just needed a tow rig. I talked him into buying a CDL truck with a very nice 30K lb/50ft crane instead. We've done so much stuff with that crane. He tows his dozer with it regularly, but he also makes $500-$1500/week in work with that crane. He's done atleast half a dozen crane jobs for me and it's saved my butt having a crane like that at my call.

Wish I had buddies like that, all mine are accountants that call me to help them build furniture cause they don’t own screwdrivers/basic tools

 

[ntsqd]

Give them a basic Craftsman or similar quality tool kit for Xmas?

 

[dbbowen]

Wish I had buddies like that, all mine are accountants that call me to help them build furniture cause they don’t own screwdrivers/basic tools

Haha im an accountant. Thats hilarious. I am the same though. I have a horizontal watercooled bandsaw, AC/DC tig, mig, etc at my house, but my buddies drill press and other things are over here. It would be hard to buy all of these tools yourself and still have the money left over to do any projects haha

 

[Smithtec]

When I did sanitary stainless tubing, we used no filler. Just fuse the stainless. Requires a good fit up. Stainless wicks heat like crazy, you need to either move faster or back off the pedal to keep from over-heating it. If you're purging and welding through(full penetration), I would make a slight swirl with your torch(like whipping the mig), and watch for black specks in the puddle. That's how you know when you're through to the inside.

 

[dbbowen]

When I did sanitary stainless tubing, we used no filler. Just fuse the stainless. Requires a good fit up. Stainless wicks heat like crazy, you need to either move faster or back off the pedal to keep from over-heating it. If you're purging and welding through(full penetration), I would make a slight swirl with your torch(like whipping the mig), and watch for black specks in the puddle. That's how you know when you're through to the inside.

Ive been experimenting with this after watching Kanekid do fusion welds for exhaust tubing. I think for exhaust at least, you need a machine that can control pps and % for really good results, but just doing 1 pps with a good back purge ive been able to get good penetration without using filler. Youre right though fitup has to be PERFECT and i mean perfect, one small tiny gap and it just blows through

 

[Smithtec]

Ive been experimenting with this after watching Kanekid do fusion welds for exhaust tubing. I think for exhaust at least, you need a machine that can control pps and % for really good results, but just doing 1 pps with a good back purge ive been able to get good penetration without using filler. Youre right though fitup has to be PERFECT and i mean perfect, one small tiny gap and it just blows through

You don't absolutely need to pulse. I mostly used pulse on long straight runs making tanks and such. Going around tubing, the stops and starts make pulse difficult. If you have a gap in the fit, dab some rod in there before you go over it.

 

[dbbowen]

You don't absolutely need to pulse. I mostly used pulse on long straight runs making tanks and such. Going around tubing, the stops and starts make pulse difficult. If you have a gap in the fit, dab some rod in there before you go over it.

I JUST got a nice horizontal bandsaw so thankfully gaps arent a concern with exhaust as much anymore. Angle grinder and tig welding were not the winning combo haha

 

[ntsqd]

I use a 6x48 belt sander for final tube fitment/shaping. A friend made a fixture that he 3D printed for his band saw that allows him to set the cut angle and cut just a little offset so that he can sand or grind to the final fit.

 

[dbbowen]

I use a 6x48 belt sander for final tube fitment/shaping. A friend made a fixture that he 3D printed for his band saw that allows him to set the cut angle and cut just a little offset so that he can sand or grind to the final fit.

That sounds a lot more reasonable than the 300 dollar tigaesthetics fixtures haha

 

[Karate Chopped]

I JUST got a nice horizontal bandsaw so thankfully gaps arent a concern with exhaust as much anymore. Angle grinder and tig welding were not the winning combo haha

I was blown away by how much smoother my welds flow when cutting the members with the bandsaw (ie straight) than with a grinder (wonky woo).
Probably means I need a GF cutter next.

 

[Gangrene]

I was blown away by how much smoother my welds flow when cutting the members with the bandsaw (ie straight) than with a grinder (wonky woo).
Probably means I need a GF cutter next.

The main problem with TIG welding material that has been cut with an abrasive wheel is not the straightness of the cut, although the better fit up you can get the better. It has to do with the contamination left by the wheel in the metal. When TIG welding there is one rule above above all else, CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Any contaminates in the metal with wreak havoc with the puddle and lead to poor weld quality. You need to dress the metal with, I prefer a file and then scotch brite pad to make the weld area as smooth and clean as possible. Treat it like painting, the more prep work up front leads to better finish results.

 

[ntsqd]

My first sendcutsend parts project suffered from contaminates in some of the cuts. Oxidized steel in this case. The next project I media blasted all of the weld zones using "Black Beauty" (coal slag) and they all fusion welded perfectly.

 

[Karate Chopped]

I've definitely learnt that it takes 1hr to prep for a 10sec weld!

 

[dbbowen]

man i cant tell you how many times i got some 304 exhaust tubing cut, sanded on my belt sander, then scotch brited, acetone wiped and halfway through a really pretty weld, a giant sizzle of contamination and spatter everywhere. I dont know if it was my belt sander or the scotchbrite, but im at the point where im torching my 304 stuff before welding it because its getting a contaminant sometimes from somewhere. Dont know if its the sander, the cooling liquid from my band saw, or the scotchbrite, but the torch seems to help