Dressing welds, what do you use and how do you do it? (1 Viewer)

[pigmony]

There is nothing more satisfying than doing all the prep work just right and getting the fit up perfect so that you don't need to use any filler when tig welding. You still have the filler in your hand, you just don't end up needing it. Growing up learning to weld on farm equipment and livestock gates, making welds pretty was rarely the goal. Even now, when I do rust repair on my 40, I'm more concerned with the utility of replacing rust with good metal. But getting it right is just so satisfying.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

I have taken a lot of good tips from this guy. What I love is that he keeps it simple. Simple tools. Smarter not harder kind of tips.



He has a few great videos.

 

[Rusto]

As someone that just purchased a Hobart140 and is brand new to welding, this thread is great! Thank you. My 40 is doing pretty good rust-wise, but there will be some patches welded in by me before it's all said and done. I have a tremendous amount of practice before I get this point, but it sure is fun.

 

[Jdc1]

I have been learning to tig weld, one of my mistakes is over grinding my beads, resulting in making the metal too thin.

 

[waiting for time]

There is nothing more satisfying than doing all the prep work just right and getting the fit up perfect so that you don't need to use any filler when tig welding. You still have the filler in your hand, you just don't end up needing it. Growing up learning to weld on farm equipment and livestock gates, making welds pretty was rarely the goal. Even now, when I do rust repair on my 40, I'm more concerned with the utility of replacing rust with good metal. But getting it right is just so satisfying.

Its one of those parts of a build where people want to get it done and are satisfied but later wish they had done a better job.
I find myself going back to earlier patches as I learn to do it better.

Please share how you make your patches and what you use to get to the result you are happy with.

 

[waiting for time]

As someone that just purchased a Hobart140 and is brand new to welding, this thread is great! Thank you. My 40 is doing pretty good rust-wise, but there will be some patches welded in by me before it's all said and done. I have a tremendous amount of practice before I get this point, but it sure is fun.

Just take your time, like said before, it is rewarding to get it right. Get an old fender or something to practice on, works beterhand just a few pieces of sheet.

 

[waiting for time]

I have been learning to tig weld, one of my mistakes is over grinding my beads, resulting in making the metal too thin.

Same with me, that is where I learned to control the heat and use less filler. You will have less distortion, less grinding and a smaller risc of over grinding. Feeling your weld helps, it may look there is a lot of weld left to grind but when you feel it it is almost flat. That is where you get it right or to thin.

 

[pigmony]

I like to lay my patch over the area I'm patching, hold it in place with multiple small pieces of tape, and trace it with a sharpie removing and reapplying the tape as I go. I cut to the inside of my trace mark with either a cutting disk or a mini reciprocating saw. I use a small hammer and dolly to clean up any bending of the cut edge. I use abrasive wheels to remove the remaining material between where I cut and the inside of my trace line, stopping frequently to check against my patch and using my hammer and dolly to keep the cut edge true. The end goal is to have a hole that is as near to a perfect match to my patch as possible. Gaps generally need filler, but if you get the patch and the hole to be a perfect match, and you get your welder set up correctly, you need very little or no filler and it's just so satisfying. I hold my patch in place with magnets, but not too many and as small as possible. I've experienced magnets "pulling" the arc of my tig torch back when I made bicycle frames, which is pretty annoying. I start with 3 tack welds. (1 tack - the patch can flag and twist. 2 tacks - the patch can flag. 3 tacks - you've locked it in place. 4 or more tacks - only adds strength.) I double check all of my fitments and make any adjustments needed. Then I start filling in between my tacks with beads 1/4 to 3/8 of inch, moving around patch to avoid concentrating heat, and doing a lot of pausing to check and adjust as I go.

I also find it's a bit easier, in general, if your patch panel doesn't have corners with angles of 90 degrees or less. Sharp corners concentrate heat and can be harder to fit up tightly. Sometimes it's unavoidable though.

 

[waiting for time]

I like to lay my patch over the area I'm patching, hold it in place with multiple small pieces of tape, and trace it with a sharpie removing and reapplying the tape as I go. I cut to the inside of my trace mark with either a cutting disk or a mini reciprocating saw. I use a small hammer and dolly to clean up any bending of the cut edge. I use abrasive wheels to remove the remaining material between where I cut and the inside of my trace line, stopping frequently to check against my patch and using my hammer and dolly to keep the cut edge true. The end goal is to have a hole that is as near to a perfect match to my patch as possible. Gaps generally need filler, but if you get the patch and the hole to be a perfect match, and you get your welder set up correctly, you need very little or no filler and it's just so satisfying. I hold my patch in place with magnets, but not too many and as small as possible. I've experienced magnets "pulling" the arc of my tig torch back when I made bicycle frames, which is pretty annoying. I start with 3 tack welds. (1 tack - the patch can flag and twist. 2 tacks - the patch can flag. 3 tacks - you've locked it in place. 4 or more tacks - only adds strength.) I double check all of my fitments and make any adjustments needed. Then I start filling in between my tacks with beads 1/4 to 3/8 of inch, moving around patch to avoid concentrating heat, and doing a lot of pausing to check and adjust as I go.

I also find it's a bit easier, in general, if your patch panel doesn't have corners with angles of 90 degrees or less. Sharp corners concentrate heat and can be harder to fit up tightly. Sometimes it's unavoidable though.

I agree completely.
If you look at the Pro Shaper video you can see Wray getting the tiny imperfections out using a dolly and a slapper.
I started using mig wire as filler rod on close seams. It melts fast with low amps and requires little grinding.

 

[pigmony]

I've tried using mig wire too. I prefer using filler rods but only because I feel that I can manipulate it more easily in my gloved hand. Mig wire works well, it just isn't what I'm most comfortable with. I find that when you're really comfortable the welding tends to turn out better.

 

[waiting for time]

Tig welding tight seams requires little to no filler, this is why I got a tig pen.
I use mig wire as a filler rod and apply it with the tig pen.
As the the wire is to thin I changed the rubber O-rings in the pen for thicker ones and now it works with the thinner wire.

An other thing I ordered was a 1” roloc holder. I can cut down my 3 and 2” discs when they are used to give them a new life on the smaller holder. Plus a smaller disc gives mor control in the tighter areas.

Git some new discs too, the middle one is a hook & loop 3” abrasive pad I got in 240, 400 and 1000 grit.

 

[pigmony]

That tig pen is really slick. Where can I find something like that?

 

[waiting for time]

Your local welding supplier might be able to provide.
I ordered mine from CN together with some other stuff.

 

[waiting for time]

Another video on grinding and dressing welds.

I don’t fully agree on what he is doing in the first part with the roloc. He is using a 1” backing pad which lets the dis flex a lot more increasing the issue he focusses on plu the metal is bend upwards around the first weld.
It does however give some good pointers and definitely something I am going to try.

 

[macdaddy59]

Very informative. I will have to try this technique and how well it does. Thanks for sharing.

 

[waiting for time]

Tried it today.

It worked ok but the steel I was welding the new material to was not the best to weld on. With new steel it would have been better.

 

[bikersmurf]

Not sheet metal, but an example of how well a flap disc can remove metal by letting the disc do the work and not pressing hard. The shaft now fits the DD U-joint tighter than DD shaft.

The black is sharpie I'd been using to mark how deep & where to grind.

 

[waiting for time]

Used a small air tool with rotating steel brush to clean the welds before dressing. This helped in making it easier to see where to grind.
And used copper backing.

Came out ok.