Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello all,
I would like to fab a pipe weld positioner. Mostly doing 4” pipe flange welding. I’ve seen a few online pics but wanted to get your input and ideas. What should be done and when should be avoided. Most of them I’ve seen use a 8-10” lathe chuck. Ive found some on eBay but really expensive. Is there another option? Also, I’d like to be able to adjust the angle of the work piece especially for TIG.
Any help would be appreciated. I’m in Sacramenro, CA if anyone knows of a used chuck.
Thanks!

I know im late to the thread, but check out local auctions at machine shops for chucks, i just bought four three jaw chucks all were bisons for 100 bucks and a weld positioner with a 16 inch three jaw sold for 200 bucks .i like to stop buy these sales even if im not looking for anything ,you never know what your gona find. Dont forget your local scrap yard , i hear scrap is up and old machines get scrapped regularly.

Mwjakel wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:06 pm Hello all,
I would like to fab a pipe weld positioner. Mostly doing 4” pipe flange welding. I’ve seen a few online pics but wanted to get your input and ideas. What should be done and when should be avoided. Most of them I’ve seen use a 8-10” lathe chuck. Ive found some on eBay but really expensive. Is there another option? Also, I’d like to be able to adjust the angle of the work piece especially for TIG.
Any help would be appreciated. I’m in Sacramenro, CA if anyone knows of a used chuck.
Thanks!

Never tried sharing an amazon list before but here it goes.

Here is a list I have been working on to build one also, list isn't final, primarily looking for a 500-to-1000-watt motor. Just not sure I want to pay for it, lol. Not sure what you call expensive. ...
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/5 ... _=wl_share

Here's a motor with gobs of power. It has full power and torque at 0 RPMs. Speed controlled, obviously. Comes with the drive, though you need to use a controller if you don't want to use the front panel to control it. I have one of this exact motor here at work, it's awesome. Powerful, quiet, would work perfectly for such a project. To be honest, it's a little overkill, but a smaller one really isn't less money. Don't be fooled by the size, these are insanely powerful motors. 0-3000RPM in milliseconds,and will reverse just as quickly. Also, they're made to do that all day long. It's not stressful on the components. Mine is powered by single phase 220vac or 3 phase 240vac.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174506202886?s ... 1438.l2649

You can buy similar items from automationdirect also.

Buggy is telling the truth about that motor. The darn thing twisted me right out of sneakers.