The welders thread (3 Viewers)

[MrMoMo]

Miller push pull MIG, 5356 wire, 100% argon, about 21-23V.... That's all I noticed. Two different guys, one was definitely better than the other. I don't like welds in aluminum to be weaved, sucks dirt into the puddle. One guy was a weaver, (the pulley mounting block inside the channel) the other guy was not (the end cap). End cap welds are much nicer than the pulley block!

Yeah, 105 not my cup of soup either, but hey, respect...

 

[B y r o n]

Well, some of my projects are coming together. Bought a welder to get started with, Miller Multimatic 200. House isn't wired for 220 so bought a generator to handle that as one of its' tasks. Built a 65' extension cord to run the welder; NEMA L14-30P on the generator side across 10/3 SOOW Yellow Portable Cord 600V UL/CSA to NEMA 6-50R on the welder side. I bought some gas so I didn't have as much cleanup like with the flux core I'd been using. I needed to bend some metal and ordered a SWAG HD Finger Brake kit.

Of course before I could actually get started I needed to buy some larger wire, 0.035", to handle the 3/8" material and change a few parts on the welder like the wire guide in the gun cable. Things were going OK for the most part. I'm getting near the end of the assembly and go to weld the ram ring to the top of the brake bar. I had it held in place with a magnet and laid down what I thought was an acceptable bead.

I forgot about the affect of heat during welding.

So now I had a screw-up to fix. Thank heaven for Dremel. I made a cut through most of the weld and was able to persuade the ring to lay flat, with the help of a BIG rubber mallet and a clamp.

After making the second weld I went back and filled in the cut. The good thing is now I have a working finger brake.

As you can see from the cleanup across the front of the lower die I still need more practice welding.

 

[MrMoMo]

Isn't it always the way, you make that perfect bead, only to be the spot you have to grind out again! Looks good!

 

[B y r o n]

Well, I figured it was going to need a little rust prevention so I gave it a coat of paint.

 

[UnderDawg]

Pulling now no more push.

 

[hiluxjeremy]

Underdawg, try removing all mill scale from weld areas. I'll usually go a little ways beyond were you expect your bead to land. You'll get more heat into the material, resulting in a flatter weld profile and less tendency towards lack of fusion on edges and start stops. Particularly when pushing. (pulling solid wire is often the band aid result of trying to counter act this, the slightly hotter puddle usually generated seems to burn the scale a little better) Cleaner the better, with any process and any material. Apples to apples test is to make up two of exactly the same test joints, prep one, leave the other as you found it. See for yourself. Better yet, make 4, push two, pull two. Yes you can burn over all kinds of garbage in some circumstances, particularly with stick and few types of rod in particular, but the more you can stack the odds in your favour the better. Grind everything shiny if you're after top quaility. Not saying remove material, only the scale. Larger disks held almost flat against surface are the best way I've found to do this. Also, prep all your edges before tacking up rather than after for best results . Otherwise you'll still have scale right in the corner of your joint.

A comment on weaving v.s. stringer beads. A solid wire mig root pass be it steel or aluminum should not be weaved. The only way to get your root to fuse completely is with your wire directly into the corner. Every time your wire moves off the center of the joint your root fusion goes with it. If you need a larger weld than your machine is capable of producing in one go use more passes instead. One down the middle, one at toe of first pass and one aimed at top edge of first. Executed correctly you should get a weld with equal leg lengths and a nice flat profile. As always, practice practice practice. It'll make sense.

Metal work is a great big world. The more you do, the better you'll get. I learn something every single time I drop my lid. And I've been doing it professionally for years. Have at er!

 

[hiluxjeremy]

Heres a couple shots of a piece I built a while ago. Pictured is a factory turbo dump elbow from a right hand drive 4 door Hilux, necks down to just over two inches. Rest of the exhaust is 3 inch stainless built out of mandrel bends I tigged together before and after hours at a shop I was working at. Restriction in a diesel exhaust system means heat, heat is the devil. Remove the restriction, get the heat out, resulted in about 100'F reduction in EGTs under all operating conditions. Kind of hack and slash, but time is always an issue when your rig is also your dd. Flange on turbo side is 5/8" thick.

 

[hiluxjeremy]

Another pic

 

[UnderDawg]

Here's of my latest

Vertical downhill 1/4" Lincoln 255 Setting 25V 375 W.S.





3/16" T 19.5V 300 W.S.







Project









I'm making forward progress everyday. I love welding and fabricating.

Little haiku:

Enjoy each day boys as if it were your last. And always remain humble and gracious to as many people that deserve it. For those that doubt you, let your works speak volumes. For those that hate you, diminish there words and actions of spite with the kindness and thought they refuse to grant thee. For it is not you to throw the first blow,but it must be you that remains long after they tire and fall away.
Alright back to Metallica!!!
Jason

 

[MrMoMo]

That 3/16 T is lookin nice! Be careful welding downhill, you won't get the penetration you expect. From what I recall, "downhill" is not "legal" for any type of structural weld. (But great for making watertight tanks out of thin material!)

I ran across this article the other day, may be of interest to some folks here...

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/articles/Master-MIG-welding-GMAW

 

[B y r o n]

So I just tried a little fusion TIG welding before attempting to build my exhaust system. Seems I'm going to be MIG welding my exhaust as I was having trouble keeping an arc on some practice 18 gauge I was working on. At least with MIG I can spot weld without any burn through and welds are solid. TIG welding will have to wait for another project, after a lot more practice.

 

[MrMoMo]

Try doing a lap joint instead of a butt joint - and work the torch in little circles - I find that easier on really thin stuff...

 

[GLTHFJ60]

It's hard to do lap joints on exhaust parts.

It's been a while since welding TIG, but if I recall correctly, for thin materials I would give the welder some "throttle" then once I had a tiny puddle, I'd reduce the "throttle" until I barely had an arc, just enough to keep a tiny puddle. I'd weld for maybe a half inch, sometimes not more than 1/4", and stop, then go to the opposite side of the workpiece to repeat. Sheetmetal is almost all about controlling heat soak.

A good trick would be to use a normal welding helmet (not auto darkening). Lay your weld and then stop. Continue to look at your weld. As soon as you see the glow turn dark, the metal is cool enough to start up again. The amount of time required for the weld to go dark will increase as you work, but if you wait for that weld to go dark, you'll usually be OK.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Just a shout out or Kudos to a great product/company -
CK International makes some of the best tig welding stuff available , hands down . I had been trolling the boards a couple years ago and ran across a new style tig torch that has a swivel head that allows pretty much unlimited angles of attack on your work .
http://www.ckworldwide.com/130-150-amps-flex-loc™.html

Recently , after 1.5yrs of using this torch I developed an issue with the locking knobs actually melting ...hmm . These torches are rated for 150A continuous , most times I'm below that and have done bursts of 160A with it on occasion . The brass insert that locks the head melts the connection in the plastic knob so it's tough to lock/unlock the head since the knob just spins . So , ordered a couple of spares (I hate going back to the flex neck Weldcraft) and ran with those . First spare lasted one day and roughly 2hrs weld time - melted worse than the original . Second lasted much longer , but became loose quickly . Tore into the head looking for any issues such as corrosion or wear . Nothing , so placed a call to CK ...

The tech I talked with - Aaron was incredibly helpful and let me explain all I had tried before his answer - they had not seen this before . We went through every diagnostic I had checked - corrosion , wear , flow rates testing ect and no conclusion . He asked for my number and I waited for a reply - after a week I called him again . This time , I offered pictures of the knobs since I kept them for some reason on the bench and was waiting for a few more replacements from one of the vendors . Really hated using the flex neck Weldcraft in the meantime - it's just bulky and tough to use for precision work in comparison . Got an email back from Aaron about the photos after a couple of days , he said they are sending out a replacement torch complete . Wow , wasn't expecting that for sure - never even asked how old mine was or anything , just wanted my address . In another email he did say they had seen this once before and the solution was to replace the torch itself . I still don't see any physical difference after comparing the two and haven't fully ran the new one hard to find out if it runs hot enough to melt the knob - jury still out on that one . But talk about great customer service - I wasn't looking for replacement or expected them to warranty the torch , just looking for tech answers to fix the issue . Pretty impressed with their service overall .

Now , since he sent literature of their new Steady Grip - I gotta have one of those !
http://www.ckworldwide.com/steady-grip™.html

Sarge

 

[e9999]

I feel half blind when trying to weld, so I must ask: soapstone or silver streak?

 

[MrMoMo]

I feel half blind when trying to weld, so I must ask: soapstone or silver streak?

What shade lens are you using? I also find quite often that the lens on my helmet gets absolutely filthy - and I don't realize it. After I clean it off it's like someone turned the lights on and I can see again!

 

[e9999]

thanks for the suggestion. I wish it'd be that easy, but that's not it. Eyes just getting old and can use all the help they can get.

 

[bugsnbikes]

made myself a mig welder- a little noisy to use and not the prettiest welds but does the job and keeps burritos warm when the top is on:

 

[GLTHFJ60]

made myself a mig welder- a little noisy to use and not the prettiest welds but does the job and keeps burritos warm when the top is on:


View attachment 1028714

You've got to give us more info than that

 

[firestopper]

Just a shout out or Kudos to a great product/company -
CK International makes some of the best tig welding stuff available , hands down . I had been trolling the boards a couple years ago and ran across a new style tig torch that has a swivel head that allows pretty much unlimited angles of attack on your work .
http://www.ckworldwide.com/130-150-amps-flex-loc™.html

Recently , after 1.5yrs of using this torch I developed an issue with the locking knobs actually melting ...hmm . These torches are rated for 150A continuous , most times I'm below that and have done bursts of 160A with it on occasion . The brass insert that locks the head melts the connection in the plastic knob so it's tough to lock/unlock the head since the knob just spins . So , ordered a couple of spares (I hate going back to the flex neck Weldcraft) and ran with those . First spare lasted one day and roughly 2hrs weld time - melted worse than the original . Second lasted much longer , but became loose quickly . Tore into the head looking for any issues such as corrosion or wear . Nothing , so placed a call to CK ...

The tech I talked with - Aaron was incredibly helpful and let me explain all I had tried before his answer - they had not seen this before . We went through every diagnostic I had checked - corrosion , wear , flow rates testing ect and no conclusion . He asked for my number and I waited for a reply - after a week I called him again . This time , I offered pictures of the knobs since I kept them for some reason on the bench and was waiting for a few more replacements from one of the vendors . Really hated using the flex neck Weldcraft in the meantime - it's just bulky and tough to use for precision work in comparison . Got an email back from Aaron about the photos after a couple of days , he said they are sending out a replacement torch complete . Wow , wasn't expecting that for sure - never even asked how old mine was or anything , just wanted my address . In another email he did say they had seen this once before and the solution was to replace the torch itself . I still don't see any physical difference after comparing the two and haven't fully ran the new one hard to find out if it runs hot enough to melt the knob - jury still out on that one . But talk about great customer


service - I wasn't looking for replacement or expected them to warranty the torch , just looking for tech answers to fix the issue . Pretty impressed with their service overall .

Now , since he sent literature of their new Steady Grip - I gotta have one of those !
http://www.ckworldwide.com/steady-grip™.html





Sarge, is this a water cooled torch? Adjustable head would be very handy but water cooled would be a must for me.

Sarge